Letting go

Over the past few weeks I have been avidly reading some thrifty blogs. Some of the bloggers out there are just incredible at spending absolutely no money! Thrifty Queen is the most hardcore blog I've seen and she is incredibly productive- quilting, baking, sewing,, upcycling whilst doing a full time job. Frugal Queen, I salute you! I've also really enjoyed reading the blogs by a thriftymrs and just a little less by Dolly Mixtures. In fact, I think it was her blog which opened my eyes to this way of being.

In the past, I've always been very careful with how I spend money and if I want nice things, I save up/ ebay other things first. I also buy most our furniture from ebay and prefer handmade stuff from the charity shop than big chainstores. I hate going shopping in "real" shops and would much rather go to a carboot sale or buy from Etsy or Folksy. I love reading the Money Saving Expert Grabbit boards and have bought some brilliant toys through there. So the thrifty blogs are not completely unfamiliar to me, but I realise that I could do more.

One of the things I've learned from the blogs is that being thrifty is not about being stingy or having a miserable life with no joy in it. It is about thinking hard before you spend your money, making things yourself and with love and sharing this love with the people around you. It is also about leading a "lighter" life- less stuff, less worry about acquiring more stuff, having a calmer home and a calmer mind.

I'm not going to stop buying nice things but I am going to have a good old think to make sure it's something I really want and need before I do so.

With this in mind, I have started to have a major declutter. I have gone through my drawers and thrown away clothes which dont fit me or that I dont like but felt guilty about giving them away. I have advertised my beloved pushchair in the local paper. I have deep cleaned my bathroom and given a load of toys to the charity shop. It feels really good.

I've also decided that it's time to let go of some mental clutter that was bothering me. I was feeling miffed that a job I had expected to get when my boss retired was cut, as part of the NHS cuts. I was fed up with trying to find babysitters when all my friends seemed to have lots of support.

And do you know what? This week, amazing things have happened.

I have been approached to do some work by three different people. I have had old friends get in touch. I was given free tickets to see Jack White and had a great time dancing. And I had an offer from a friend to babysit my kids next year so I can go and see my favourite band in London with my husband. How good is that.

Do you have areas of your home or life that could do with a good declutter? Honestly, I feel as though I am on a roll now. Dont just think about it, do it!

52 weeks of happy- week 1

52 weeks of happy is a great idea from one of my favourite blogs, Little Birdie.

                                 www.jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=1294&friday-randomness-bad-ideas-optimism

So here are my 4 favourite things this week that are making me happy.

1. Singing along with my kids in the car to the Beach Boys...ba ba ba, ba ba baran (or is it Barbara Anne) !! Pretty similar to this youtube video, if you want to join in :)

2. Winning an amazing carrot cake in a raffle at work, in aid of Macmillan nurses. Everyone in my team was desperate to win this, so I am going to donate it back to the team and we can scoff it together.

misofunky.com

3.  It is the Beatles' 50th anniversary, so I am going to include this lovely picture, which makes me smile whenever I see it. This vintage print is from pedlars.co.uk.

4. I should put something about my kids in here, shouldnt I? But I've got to be honest, they are driving me crackers this morning, having spilt apple juice on the carpet, splashed water on the floor, creating general mayhem, not allowing me to write this blog post as they wanted balamory karaoke on cbeebies and woke me up at 5.45am. My husband has just taken them out, so I can get some work done. So what I'm grateful for right now is....






Silence. That's better.