Well nothing overly exciting this week except my current electricity readings.... down 0.3 kwh's per day - so its still going downward but I suspect this is around where we will sit for a while...
Other news - not much I'm afraid!
I did take advantage of the massive pre stocktake sales that are on at Spotlight at the moment and bought some VERY cheap VERY cute fabrics to make some more lovely little outfits for the girls - but I made sure to pick some prints that will still be suitable in a few years in case I end up not using them straight away.
Actually, I have made my first pair of hemp undies and a matching bra and the elastic I needed to make more sets and the hooks for the back of the bras were more expensive that all the fabric combined! I'm actually really happy with the underwear and will definitely be making some more - very comfy and super easy to make! I can post pics if you demand, but they are available on Nappycino for members to view there....
Oh and I do need to make a little WIP box for my blog - here are the current WIPs....
- Princess Cape for Miss H - only the trim and neck to finish
- Pink Dress for Miss E - only just started but it will be a quick one
- Nappies for the baby of K - just need to snap 2 and apply hook & loop to 1
- 2 pairs of pants to be turned into shorts - hem length marked on them but that's it!
- 1 pair of jeans to turn into a skirt... sitting in box still in 1 piece
- 1 dress to adjust side seams on
- 1 skirt to make less floaty
- and a million pieces of fabric sitting with their corresponding patterns that need to be made as well!
But I have been managing to sew every day for the last week or so and it has been excellent so hopefully that list will slowly decrease!
Gosh time is flying by at the moment...
Firstly I have to say I've done our budget analysis and whilst there were a few categories we were over budget on, they were the ones that a single purchase could easily cover the whole months' budget - for example, household stuff - Emma needed a doona so for us to buy one to suit our allergies it was a lot more than a single months household budget would ever be, but we don't need to buy it again thank goodness!
Emma was in desperate need of some long sleeved tops and a Wanted Ad didn't provide any, but a quick trip to our op shop did - so for $8 I was able to get 4 shirts and a pair of pants for next year as opposed to the fortune I would have spent had I gone to the shops for them - so I'm very happy with that! I just wish our op shops opened on the weekends so I could go shopping whenever the mood strikes me! I'm still on the hunt for a pre-loved Sunbeam or Kenwood mix master though... can't seem to find one of those here at all :(
The not so good part of our budget was of course groceries. Whilst I have accepted that due to our treatment program I will be spending more than I would like on groceries I do need to work out how to shop a little smarter to save as much as I can. Vegies are now being sourced at the local farmers markets which does save money and supports local growers as well as providing a nice little morning outing just for me so that is a huge step forward for us. I now just need to work out a better way of sourcing the meat that we need - its quite difficult to get the butchers here to tell me how old the meat is when they get it and unfortunately that is a major thing for us to consider.... Anyway, meat is my next project as far as groceries go :D
Our electricity usage has also decreased so I'm very excited about that! I am actually looking forward to getting our next bill - well, I'm not, but you know what I mean! LOL
This week we only used 35 kwh's of Offpeak and 102 kwh's of Peak electricity which is around 19.6/day - so a reduction of almost 3 kwh's per day! Very happy!!
My Vegie garden is officially a disaster zone, and we didn't get a chance to replant last weekend, so hopefully that will happen this weekend. We are actually starting to consider not putting ANY ornamental plants in our gardens as we renovate the house, and make the gardens purely productive... but I need to do a bit more research into that before I can go making too many plans.
The sale of our block of land settles next week so once that has all gone ahead we can start to get serious about planning our reno's.... that will be a very interesting time for us...
I'm also feeling a massive urge to get back to my readings about Buddhism - my life needs the peacefulness I gain from this so its imperative that I start again. I have actually requested an mp3 player for Mothers Day so I can download meditations and learn to meditate as I also believe that it will be such an important tool for me to learn. Of course DH and the girls may have other ideas LOL...
Oh and I have been sewing! Here is a pic of a dress I whipped up on Sunday afternoon for Emma - she helped me do most of it too :D As a bonus it also fits her little sister!
Here is a pic of the outfit I have made/embellished for my nephew for his First Birthday. I bought the jumper and added the pocket and made shorts to match. His birthday isn't until May so I can't wait to hear how it fits!
And finally, this isn't made my me, this is a Vintage tablecloth that has been turned into a beautiful little dress that I bought for Em - the poor girl has really got no clothes so each fortnight or so I'm slowly trying to increase her wardrobe - and this will fit for a long time I think.
And I think that is quite enough from me!
Todays readings and last weeks usage of Electricity are as follows:
Peak
21029 - Used 124 = 18/day
Off Peak
8682 - Used 34 = 5/day
TOTAL Used 158 = 22.5/day
So whilst our Peak electricity hasn't changed our Offpeak rose 1 kwh for the week. I'm actually pretty happy with this because it was Georgie's birthday over the weekend and I did a LOT of extra cooking so the oven was on for almost 3 days straight and there was more washing up so hot water usage. I guess this means next week with no parties and us staying home and staying calm that we should see a bit of a reduction - here's hoping!
I have now officially ceased my book-keeping job - handover was last Friday. But its my Aunt taking over so if she has any hassles we'll be in contact but that is fine.
We find out next Monday if the sale of our block of land goes unconditional - fingers crossed!
My Vegetables in Pots garden is looking VERY sad :( I used a homemade garlic spray to help deter some very hungry caterpillars and other little creatures, but it seems to have also made our vegies very sick. So on the weekend coming I suspect I will be starting our planting from scratch AGAIN. Its very disappointing but due to our allergies we are extremely limited in what we can and can't use as deterrents so these things will happen again no doubt! But until our own vegies are growing and able to be picked I always have the Farmers Markets :D
We are doing really well in our bid to buy only preloved or WAHM clothing for the girls - in fact a recent purchase for Emma fits both criteria! She has been hounding me for *pretty dresses* so I found a lovely little dress made by a WAHM out of a vintage table cloth - what more can I ask for! Can't wait for it to arrive now so I can check it out!
Also on our clothing mission I was so happy to discover a local little store called Piggy Girl. Everything in store is made by the store owner - a mum - out of preloved clothing - every item is a reconstruction! Here is a pic of the little outfit we bought Georgie for her birthday - I just love it and she looked so cute in it on the day! Its a little shorties overall set with a beautiful skirt sewn over the pants.
Still haven't done our monthly analysis - I'm kind of over book work at the moment so I'm not going to even give myself a time line to do it by because I want to have a bit of a break! It doesn't change that we are still thinking every purchase through and trying to make the best possible choices - it just means that I don't know how well we are sticking to our budget - and I guess until the land is officially sold I should be keeping a better eye on it as we no longer have my income... *sigh* guess I'd better do it then!
Love
T
I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, but here is week 1 of my electricity usage...
Readings
8648 - 33 kwh used
20905 - 124kwh used
For a total usage of 157kwh for the week or around 22.4 per day.
Our last bill showed our averages at around 31/day so this is good!
Oh and if anyone actually reads my blog, be sure to check my maths ok - I don't want to be telling any fibs :D
As far as our other changes go...
- This is my last book-keeping week.
- We have signed contract to sell our block of land.
- I have been to the farmers markets once and they were great and the vegies lasted a fortnight - so I have to go back this weekend.
- Once the land sale has settled we can start work on renovating our house.
- By the end of this week I hope to have our first monthyl budget analysis done.
Love
Theresa
