Updates and some money making schemes

Firstly, hopefully this will be one of the last times I have to stay late at work to use the internet to update my blog because we should be getting internet in the new flat when we move in next week! Horray! We figured that we can afford it with the new lower rent, and it’s also getting really annoying not having internet at home and having to remember to do everything after work and in my lunch breaks. PLUS, we can watch BBC iplayer which will mean we don’t rent so many films!

Secondly, Josh didn’t get his ideal job. If I had written this 3 hours earlier I would be ranting but I have just about got over the disappointment now. They wanted him to work Sundays, and he didn’t want to work Sundays. We have already been told we are being too picky, but he doesn’t want to be missing church. That’s the decision he has made and he’s sticking to it. I feel frustrated as nothing seems to be going right for us but all we can do is keep trusting that something will come up soon.

In the meantime I have been coming up with some handy moneymaking schemes and as long as we keep to our (tight) budget we should be okay.

As I have mentioned before I would love to be able to make a living by selling my pictures, cards and other crafts. When I was at university I began selling my cards under the name ‘Just Original Creations’. I sold enough cards here and there to make a bit of pocket money for uni but stopped making them during my finals and when we first got married due to lack of time.

Now, as money is tight we are thinking of every way possible to make money and so I decided to revive Just Original Creations and put some items for sale in the bookshop I manage.

I have started off by producing a couple of seascape themed photo-frames each containing three photos with a chunky plain black frame. I have only made two so far because we didn’t have the money spare to buy loads of frames but I sold 2 within 3 days of putting them out in the shop and already have another on order. I really need to get round to making up some more as I seem to be onto a winner!

Also, have you ever heard of fotolia or istockphoto? I hadn’t until last week but apparently you can upload your photos and then companies or individuals pay around 60p to buy each print. There are loads of really good quality photos on there so it’s not a dead cert you will make any money but we have loads of really good hoverfly and butterfly pictures which seem like they could fit into a fairly untapped niche market. If we don’t try we’ll never know!

Frugal Meals #1 The easiest tomato soup you’ll ever make

Now I’ve managed to pull myself out of my winter stupor enough to be interested in cooking decent meals again I’m determined not to break the bank with organic food. Therefore, as always I’m on a mission to buy and cook good, wholesome, healthy, organic meals each day on a budget.
It’s not going to be easy as food prices have gone up noticeably in our local shops (I paid £2.69 for one organic red pepper the other day!) so that means I have been busy rummaging through my emergency ‘frugal meals’ recipes, and thought I would let you in on the best over the next few weeks.

Money, Money, Money

Unsurprisingly everyone is blogging about money. Well, I just wanted to give you an update on our ‘frugal January’, so you’re getting it from me too, horray!

 

Well, I’m happy to tell you we were within our budget this month. We had a few unexpected LARGE pay outs which would have normally meant we would have spent well over our budget but because we really cut down we were still within the budget which is great!

 

So what did we do? Here are some of the things that really helped us save the pennies…

 

Frugal January

We are having a frugal January, which means cranking up our simple living and spending as little as possible.

This isn’t the same as the buy nothing challenge we did last year because I found that incredibly difficult – as soon as I’m told I can’t have something I just want to rebel and buy lots. It just makes things difficult if you are invited out by friends but you feel guilty the whole time you’re there because you’re spending money.

 

So instead we are just spending as little as possible, and we’ve done really well so far – even having spent a hideous amount on new glasses we are still well inside our budget for this month.

 

We’re taking little steps to help us along the way. For example we’re eating veggie this week because we want to buy a joint of meat for a dinner party we’re having on Sunday. On Wednesday we ate before we went out to meet some friends in a (casual) restaurant and just shared a cheap starter when we were there, and we’re staying at home or playing games with friends instead of paying to go to the cinema.

 

The key for me to not buy things is just not go near shops. I don’t have a particularly materialistic attitude and don’t covet things unless I actually see them! Having said that, even when in a stationary store yesterday I managed not to buy the amazingly beautiful pink suede organiser/ diary.

I saw, I coveted and I conquered!

2009 Resolutions

This time last year I was blogging about my resolutions for 2008. We were still fairly new to the idea of simple living then and my resolutions reflected that. There were big changes to be made and as a result, our eagerness made some of our resolutions a bit naïve.

Proposal

Our office is probably the best example of a non-ecofriendly work space around. Although it’s a small space we leave both our copiers, all three computers, two printers and a scanner on all the time, even when they aren’t in use.

We are paper eaters too– I don’t even want to think how many trees we consume each year. If the church congregation need to know something, why just tell them once? Instead we could print it out on several different leaflets and drum it in that way. Lights and heaters are left on everywhere too.

 

Reclaim Christmas! Shop less. Live More.

If you know me and you don’t get a Christmas card from me, don’t be offended. I’m not a scrooge, and I don’t hate you either. I just don’t do cards for people that I see at Christmas time.

 

Don’t get me wrong, Christmas cards are a great incentive to pull your finger out and get down to writing all those letters to your far-away friends that you have been putting off for months. Then they are really worthwhile. But why write a card to someone you see every week?

 

To Mabel

Have a great Christmas

from Josh and Rachel.

 

Hmmm, that’s really worth wasting some card for…Did you know that 333,333 trees are used for Christmas cards every year?

If I can see you it seems much more meaningful to give you a hug and wish you a Happy Christmas to your face, rather than handing you a piece of card.

 

So, when you’re sat writing your Christmas cards, think before you write. Am I just doing this for traditions sake?

 

Check out this site for some more ideas on how to reclaim Christmas.

 

Okay rant over… 9 days to go before we are on holiday! Eeeeeeeek!

Downsizing

 

Josh and I recently had the chance to move flats. We were offered a good deal by couple from church and would have been paying significantly less that we are now.

 

So, we had a dilemma, save £400 over 8 months and move into a flat that although essentially nice, is much smaller than ours, with the shower and sink in the bedroom or stay in our recently refurbished flat but pay more each month.

 

I’m sure all the money saving buffs will be going crazy, but we decided not to take it (well actually Josh, being a good hubby made the decision because I was dithering around) just because of the absolute fuss it would have been to move, and because the cons outweighed the pros. I’m still a little nervous that we made the wrong decision but there we go – our current flat is very lovely so I should just stop worrying and get on with life.

 

ANYWAY…thinking about downsizing made me consider all the things I could get rid of if I needed to, which I realised was actually quite a lot. So I have decided I’m going to bite the bullet and get on with getting rid of the stuff that I have been putting off for ages. I’m not talking about rubbish – I’m talking about things that although are in working order, I don’t really use and could be sold, freecycled or taken to a charity shop.

I’m looking forward to the extra space it will bring! Now I just need to find the time…