Clearing Clutter & EBay Sales

I am back onto my mission to clear the clutter in my house and give items to family, to charity or to sell them on eBay. I am suprised how easy it is to list items using my iPad and the eBay app. It is fairly quick and simple given that I can take photos with my iPad and don't have to bother with a camera and then loading them up onto a laptop etc. I appreciate that the photos are not always razor sharp but most do the job. It has made life much easier.

 I recently cleared out my bedding chest and found two new pillow shams that I have never used. I had bought them for using at our previous house where my bedding was cream. I now use white and these do not match. Given that we have lived in our current house for 10 years, it was time to let these go. I had bought them at £30 for the two - half price and sold them for the same amount (less costs to eBay and PayPal) so a little loss but I was just glad to see them go.

I am still selling my shoes, make-up and am now starting on my clothes. Over the last couple of weeks, I sold these loafers from Marks & Spencer and worn only a couple of times. Although they are my size, the sizing comes up small and they pinched my big toes. I'm glad to see these go along with a navy Nails Inc gel effect nail polish that I was given as part of a set. I know blue varnish is very "on trend" at the moment but it is just not me. 

I have also started to list unwanted and unused handbags. Many have come free with perfume or skin care gift sets but there are only so many beach bags or totes that I can use at any one time. I am not selling them for much and am pleased to find I am starting to free up some space at home. I still have a long way to go and need to be patient as I do not sell that much each week. I might get 1 or 2 sales a week but then again I have not got that many items listed. 

Having said that I actually had quite a good week this week and sold 5 items. These were a boxed Royal Worcester mug given to me as a gift (sorry but an un-needed present), a pair of shoe boots that pinched and were a little too tight for me, two tops that I no longer liked and were also a little too tight and a brand new swimsuit that is just gorgeous but far too small for me. I suppose I should explain that I am a terrible yo-yo dieter and over the last few years my weight has fluctuated greatly so clothes are often too big or too small. I do have some clothes that fit at anyone time but plenty that don't so I need to sell them.

Although I have sold some clothes already, I am almost bracing myself for selling the huge amount of clothes I have stored away in suitcases in the garage. Many are too small or too big or just not wanted. Some are new with their tags still attached. I get annoyed with myself for buying items and then not wearing them. How foolish. I hope that once I start to list the clothes I will realise the error of my ways and learn to live with a smaller wardrobe. How do these women manage with their capsule wardrobes that turn into 20 outfits?

I think it will probably take me until the end of the year to clear everything out and get things straight and have a house that is a little less cluttered and more streamlined. I am happy with this long term goal and as I am keeping a record of all my sales, less costs, it will be great to see how much I will have made from my unwanted things.

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Meal Planning

I rarely plan what meals we are going to eat each week mainly because I use the reduced items that I buy several times a week on the way home from work. I am also always looking for new recipe ideas and am a sucker for the latest foods that supermarkets promote.

After defrosting and organising my freezers in my garage a few weeks ago, I really felt that I should start to plan our meals for the week so that I would not end up with freezer burn on food again or with items that have been in the fridge or freezer for far too long. I ended up having to throw some food away which hurt me in my pocket greatly. In addition David has taken to constantly asking me what is for lunch, what is for tea (not dinner - I am northern after all). He seems to be mentally planning his meals and if I deviate from what I have told him he gets slightly huffy. 

I also have lots of items in my pantry that need using - mainly sauces, cooking sauces, jams & chutneys. There are some tinned and dried food too. It has got to the stage that I can't find things easily and have to move packets and jars around to find what I am after. It is time for a change.

Firstly I have started to write a shopping list. I will see how long I last writing them but I found that I had to write a list at Christmas time to ensure that I didn't forget anything. This worked a treat so I have found a little lined ring-bound pad for my shopping lists. I add to it whenever I remember I need something.

Secondly I have been meal planning for the week and incorporating items that I have in my freezer and pantry and then just buying items to match up with these to make my meals. There are just the two us (plus PG the cat) so planning meals has not been that difficult. I found that I was doing this anyway starting a week or so ago to make sure we were using up all the leftovers from our Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year meals. We had turkey soup made from the stock from the turkey carcass with the left over vegetables thrown in plus there was prawn & avocado salad which were leftover from the starters. I had some smoked salmon left too which was served with scrambled eggs for breakfast. This is the plan for this week but I have drawn a blank for Thursday. I need to look in my freezers in the garage but I'm not venturing out yet as we have had snow overnight and it is cold and slippery underfoot

Thirdly, we have realised that we have not been eating very healthily over the last few months. Too many carbohydrates, sugar and general garbage food such as crisps, chocolate, cakes and biscuits. Our portions have become larger too. Overall we have put on weight, clothes have become just that little bit too tight. So more healthy eating. I don't mean total denial of the things we like as this will just lead to a binge but a few gradual changes so you don't notice too much. One of things that we both agreed would be a good idea is to have more fish and some meat free meals. I need to plan these into the weekly menu.

I'll see how I get on and whether I stick to lists and planning and whether I save any money which I am hoping will happen with less food waste. I'll keep you updated.

One thing I have noticed is that I have really started to scrutinise my shopping bills from the supermarkets and so far I have been overcharged EVERY TIME. Not one has undercharged me for items but Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Sainsburys have all overcharged me. Sometimes it has been scanning an item twice or charging me full price for a reduced item. Waitrose charged me £2 for some packs of napkins that were on offer at 75% off so should have been 50p each. I bought four packs so that was a £6 overcharge. Marks & Spencer had some Chinese meals reduced from £4 to £3.10 and then reduced again to £1.10. I bought 4 and was overcharged on two of them which came up at £3.10 each so that was a £4 overcharge. Sainsburys scanned a £2.49 cake through twice and charged full price on two reduced items which ended up being a 97p overcharge. So in a little over a week I was overcharged £13.46. The supermarkets must be making a fortune out of us all on overcharging. I have had to go back every time to get a refund and that is all I get - a weak apology and no compensation for the inconvenience. Naughty!!!

First January Weekend

I meant to post this last weekend so apologies for the delay but here it is.

I never know how much I spend on groceries and drink in our house. I read some blogs where people keep a strict budget and strict tabs on their spending. I thought I would try to keep an eye on how much I am spending just so I know. I have downloaded a free app called Accounts Free and have just set up two accounts in it - one for groceries and one for alcohol.

My first two logged amounts were from my shopping trip to Waitrose on Saturday morning. I had written a shopping list (more about this in my planning meals blog) but as the shelves looked like they had been picked clean I could not buy some of the items I needed. I bought some staples such as bread and milk as well as yogurt and fruit for packed lunches at work this week. 

There was a 75% off shelf for their Christmas items so I bought some none essentials as I could not resist the bargains. I bought a good sized box of mixed shortbread for 79p - the only one left and two boxes of Heston Blumenthal mince pies at 87p a box. I will put these in the freezer for taking to a weekend away that we have planned in February. David does not like mincemeat so I would end up eating the whole box myself which is not good.

I also bought some half price items including two large Lindors for £5 each. These are best before the end of September so one will be for my Dad for his birthday in March and one for my nephew for his birthday in June.

 I had a £25 John Lewis/Waitrose gift card as part of a Christmas gift from my Dad so after using this my bill came to £18.21. 

We had a roast chicken dinner on Saturday evening. The chicken was ready stuffed and half price from M&S at £3.50. We had roasted potatoes and finished off a half price pack of mixed M&S vegetables with gravy. Dessert was the last of an icecream roulade bought for Boxing Day. 

The legs & thighs have been put to one side for Monday evening tea and the chicken carcass used to make stock for a chicken and vegetable soup made in my small slow cooker.

Lunches at work this week are sandwiches made with prawns and avocado bought for starters over Christmas. I bought additional avocados at Waitrose as they were reduced to 79p for two. My Dad brought round a selection of 5 cheeses that had been bought for him as a gift. He is not a massive cheese eater whereas David is like a large mouse and will eat it every day. I will make Brie and (my own homemade) cranberry sandwiches for myself but just cut up some cheese into chunks for David to eat on its own as part of his lunch.

I also had two reduced packs of fresh figs from M&S (35p a pack) that I bought to use as canapés but this did not happen so I have sliced them into a fig & honey yogurt and will add a spoonful of granola to have at lunchtime.

The decorations came down this weekend with the lounge being stripped on Saturday and the dining room on Sunday. I always think the house looks so bare when the decorations are taken down and put away but after a while I adjust to it.

Sunday afternoon we visited the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester for a fantastic concert - the Glenn Miller Orchestra. It was very civilised with the concert starting at 3pm and finished by 5.30pm. It was a wonderful evocative afternoon with that fantastic big band sound, 3 different singers and a dance act too. We loved it and found it just a charming way to spend an afternoon. I wasn't able to take any photos of the act but here are a couple of photos of the hall from our seats.

A New Year

Happy New Year to you all I hope that 2016 brings you health, wealth and happiness. It is the time when people think of resolutions and fresh starts and although I have no resolutions as such, my head has been full of plans and some lifestyle changes that I would like to make over the following weeks.

Clear Clutter 

I want to get rid of a lot of possessions that we have in the house, garage and shed that we no longer use, need or want. I noticed that the cupboard in the hall would not close properly the other day, then David noticed it too. It won't close because it is full of my coats - too many coats and some of them no longer fit me. I also noticed yesterday that I have three coats (two unworn) hanging on the side of my wardrobe gathering dust. So two things spring to mind. I need to sell some of these coats on eBay and I need to lose some weight. 

Clearing clutter can be overwhelming at times if you can't resist carboot sales and finding bargains and so manage to acquire a lot of things. I thought I would just do the "little and often" trick which my lovely Dad told me many many years ago. If I have a large project that needs doing then he said that the trick to getting it done is making a start and then doing it on a little and often basis and soon it would be completed. At the time I was tackling a very overgrown garden when we bought our current home. Wise words that I have always followed and so my plan for this year is to clear a cupboard or a drawer rather than a whole room which may be overwhelming. First will be the hall cupboard and those coats.

I can't believe how many coats and macs I found. It is embarrassing. I can't tell you how many. I am selling three on eBay and have already listed them. They either don't fit - sadly too small or I don't like them anymore. Not keen on the teal green one and can't think why I bought it in the first place.

Some I love but they are just a little too tight so I am storing these in a suitcase so that I can retrieve them if I manage to lose a stone (fingers crossed) as I think they should fit then.

Others I am keeping because I love them.

Meal planning

I never plan our meals for the week and so can be slightly disorganised. I threw away the legs from our turkey (the shame - I can't believe I have confessed to this) because they were at the back of the fridge behind all the other left over food and I forgot about them. That was until I wondered what was wrapped in tin foil at the back when I moved a half eaten cheesecake. Ah ...turkey legs well passed their best. They were thrown out on the lawn on New Years Eve for the foxes. What a waste of money and delicious food. 

Healthy Eating

I forced myself to get on the scales this morning and yes I had put on weight. I knew I would because I had guzzled Quality Street by the handful, crisps and peanuts and had large cooked meals for Christmas and Boxing Day. We had also drunk a fair amount too. Luckily it was only 2lbs that have gone on but my trousers felt tight over the last couple of days. I have felt uncomfortable and David has also complained of the same problem. We won't go on some fad diet, just eat a little healthier with smaller portions, less booze and less cake.

Wardrobe Make-Over 

I have not felt very stylish of late and have let things go. I usually get a manicure every 3 weeks but have not bothered since October. I have been wearing about 20% of my clothes over and over again and need a change. Outfits have been hastily put together and I have not bothered with finding my usual accessories that pull an outfit together. This has been down to laziness and weight gain. I need to go through my wardrobe and put together some outfits that make me happy and give me a feeling of being stylish. 

I have just realised I have kind of made some resolutions after all. I'll see how I get on over the next few weeks and let you know. If I don't achieve all of them or only part of them then that's okay and I won't beat myself up about it, but it would be great if I managed to achieve some.

Shopping at Home

Over Christmas and New Year I realised that I own far too many possessions and that they can begin to swamp you. In particular, I have too many candles (not tea lights), too much make-up and toiletries and too much food in my pantry and freezers. 

I should count my blessings that I have so many things and I am certainly not complaining about having too much of anything but I am beginning to feel swamped. I am ending up not enjoying the things that I have because I cannot find them as they are lost in the back of the garage, in the loft or tucked away in a cupboard or drawer. I have been known to buy a duplicate of something because I cannot find it. Please tell me that I am not the only one to do this?

I need to simplify my life and have decided to cut back on shopping on line and in the shops and have decided to start shopping at home. There is that slight thrill when you are out shopping, holding those cardboard bags containing tissue wrapped goodies or carrier bags full of delicious food. I need to quell the desire to go shopping and instead do my shopping at home.

I realised this was the answer on Sunday when I noticed that I was running out of facial toner. I was thinking of going on a trip to the nearby Trafford Centre which would not have ended with the purchase of just facial toner as you can imagine. Then I had a thought that maybe I had some already. Sure enough I found 5 mini bottles which had come in gift sets. One from Boots No7, two from Kiehls and two from La Prairie. In total there was enough with these 5 bottles to make up a full sized bottle so no need to go shopping.

Not only will this idea make more room in our home, garage and loft, it will make me feel a little more free from feeling swamped and will save me no end of money. I will let you know what I find as I carry on with my shopping at home resolution for the rest of the year 2015.

Weekend Away Bargains Part 2

I mentioned yesterday that I had visited a number of charity shops and a small shopping outlet so as promised here are the details of what I bought.

I visited the Oxfam shop in Cleveleys  which is a favourite because it is like a charity clearance shop. Charity shops have become very expensive over the last few years and I have noticed some items priced up more than you would pay if you bought them new. This really applies to the chain store charity shops rather than the small independent ones. This Oxfam shop is a clearance shop for other Oxfam shops and has items priced at what you would have expected years ago. I bought 7 blank greetings cards at 10p each rather than the original price of between £1.99 and 99p. 

I always keep a box of greetings cards ready for up and coming birthdays and special dates so that I have them on hand. When I see them at a reduced price I buy several and keep them in the box. This way I am not stung with an expensive price if I am needing a card for a special occasion. I bought some blank ones and a 'thank you' card. A couple of years ago David and I found some expensive Valentines Day boxed cards on one of the car boot sales near Fleetwood and bought two of them at a cheap car boot price. We now get them out to give to each other each year rather than buying a new one every year. I can never remember what they look like so I don't get bored with them and instead we spend the money saved on a lovely bottle of champagne. It has become a bit of a joke between us.

I also found a cute heart shaped handbag for my niece from the British Heart Foundation shop in Cleveleys. This was £4.99 and was originally from River Island and would have probably cost about £20. It has the most adorable animal print lining and can be used with or without the shoulder strap. Her birthday is in November so I will give this to her as part of her birthday present. In the same shop I found a Marks & Spencer Autograph shirt for David for £4.79. This would have cost about £35 when new. I will give this a wash and iron it and he can have this as part of his birthday present for his birthday next month. As a family we used to spend a fortune on gifts for each other and now we get annoyed if we know someone has spent a great deal of money on each other. We do not really want for anything so small gifts from car boot sales and charity shops are really enjoyed as we would rather spend the money saved on holidays and weekends away.

In Fleetwood there is a small shopping outlet which we visit once a year. Over the last few years we have bought a few things from there but not much. I find that these outlets are not always what you hope they will be but having said that I usually find some bargains in the Hallmark shops. This visit they had a number of offers available and I took advantage of three of them. They had luxury Christmas crackers on BOGOF (buy one get one free) so I bought 12 crackers (2 boxes of 6) for £5.99. I usually buy crackers in the January sales but for some reason I did not buy any this year.

I also bought some Yankee Candle tea lights as they were reduced from £6.99 and £6.75 to £4.89 with an additional 20% off so each box of 12 tea lights cost £3.91. This is more than the £3 I pay when I can buy them on the Cheshire car boot sale but still a good price and I wanted to buy these to get the final offer. I bought "Wild Passion Fruit" which is lovely fruity smell and will be great in the summer, "Under the Palms" a coconut fragrance which will be again lovely during next summer and finally "Paradise Spice" which smells of slightly spicy vanilla cookies. I think this will be a good fragrance to burn at Christmas as it reminded me a little of the Christmas Cookie fragrance.

The cost of these items came to over £17 and they had an offer on that if you spent £15 you got a free "goody bag" which was the third offer. There were all sorts of items in the bag and these included:

• Boxed set of 50 note cards with envelopes
• Boxed set of 7 Thank You cards with envelopes
• Funky gift wrap & tag
• 3 sheets of pink spotty tissue paper
• Couple of gift tags
• 5 blank and birthday cards
• Silver gift bag

These all together are probably worth over £20 so I think I did reasonably well with my shopping at this shop. There was not much else to be had at the other shops although my sister managed to buy a couple of half price T Shirts.

Monthly Plans for September

At the start of every month I make plans for what I am going to do at home. I reviewed my plans for August and have managed to achieve some of them but not all of them, so some of the plans have rolled over to September. The plans I managed to achieve were:

• Organise our garden shed that has numerous pieces of garden equipment simply dumped on the floor.  At the back of the shed were some lovely Cath Kidston style cushions for our patio chairs which I could not reach. After the tidy up I managed to retrieve these and decided they were too nice for the patio so have brought them inside and they are currently being used on the chairs at our kitchen table.

• Continue with the Sunday Car Boot sales (weather permitting) to gain as many bargains as I can while the car booting season is in full swing. You will have seen my postings about my finds at the car boot sales that I have been to.

The plans that I have not achieved are:

• Empty one of my 5 (yes I have 5 smallish freezers) to a level that it can be deep cleaned and provide some space for new fresh reduced food. This is now on my plans for September and I am determined to achieve this.

• Sort out the front garden into some kind of order due to my neglect. I have concentrated too much on the back garden. I have made a start on this but then lost interest and the weeds have come back and some shrubs become overgrown so I am back to square one. The weather forecast is good for September so I really need to get stuck in and do my best to restore some order.

courtesy of a pair of pears

New plans

• I have stored quite a lot of presents that I have bought for family in the garage. These have come from car boot sales over the summer and as I buy them I do not make a note of what I have bought and for whom. This means that sometimes things get forgotten or I end up buying far too much for people on the basis that it is a bargain.  It then ends up not being a bargain because I have spent too much. So, I need to get everything out to see what I have and make a list of what I have for each family member. They then need to be put back but all together in one place so they are easy to locate come December.

• I need to make a start on organising our dining room which is starting to look like a dumping ground. This should only be a morning or afternoon task but I keep putting this off and it starts to become a little depressing looking into a messy room everyday.

Holiday Packing & Today's Freebie

I am sure that I am not alone in that I hate packing for my holidays. That sounds like I am really spoilt because it is lovely to go away and I count my blessings that I can go on a couple of holidays every year. However, I still hate packing, so to make life a little easier for me I have a number of tactics that I adopt.

• Always have a packed toiletry bag.

I keep samples of toiletries (read my Samples Post here) when I find them and also buy small travel size toiletries from car boot sales for taking on holiday. When I return from my holiday and am emptying my case I take out any bottles and tube of toiletries that I can use up at home and re-fill my toiletry bag before putting it away full and ready for my next trip. I have two toiletry bags; one I use for sunny holidays abroad and a separate one for weekends away in the UK. Both get the same re-filling treatment so that they are ready to be packed into my case.

• Use your empty case or bag to hold holiday essentials.

Once I have emptied my case I put holiday essentials back into the case ready for next time. This includes items such as plug-in bug machines and tablets, beach bags and beach towels, travel adapters, travel kettle and beach shoes (those rubber soled ones for walking on pebbly beaches).

• Put "holiday only" clothes together in a storage bag.

Maybe I am a bit different in having "holiday only" clothes or maybe a lot of you do this. I find that I tend to wear kaftans or sarongs only on a beach holiday over my swimwear so put these straight into a storage bag once they have been washed and ready for the next holiday. I do not iron them after washing, and just put them washed into the bag, so that they just need a quick iron just before packing. This makes holiday clothes easy to find and I can easily remember what I took last time and what got worn the most. I am constantly striving to reduce the amount that I take away with me after being stung for excess baggage on a return trip.  This has happened only once and will never be repeated. 

• Keep a collection of holiday read paperbacks

I buy paperback books from car boot sales and charity shops throughout the year and store them in a box in the garage. When it comes to packing I just go through the box and pick out which books I want to take with me for some poolside reading. The most I will have paid for them will be 50p and many have been 20p. I refuse to buy books from high street shops as their prices are extortionate.

We have a number of Samsonite suitcases which we have again bought from two car boot sales; the Cheshire one and one that is held indoors at the local grammar school. These suitcases are so solid and hardwearing that they should last a lifetime. We have paid between £1 and £8 for the ones we have and when we are not using them for our travels we use them for storage. These cases usually cost from around £130 upwards so I am always suprised that they come up for sale for so little. We do not buy all the ones we see because sometimes we do not like the colour or they may look a little too worn. We once bought one that was unlocked but the combination was forgotten so it could not be locked. We bought it anyway after knocking the price down accordingly and I patiently went through every combination of numbers to find the correct combination. It took me nearly an hour as the number was in the 800s and I had started at zero. The triumph I had when I found the correct combination was great.

Today I received two full sized products in the post that I got free by signing up to the Supersavvyme website. This is owned by Proctor & Gamble and they are a great company that makes a lot if every day products that we all probably have used at some point. Today I received Pantene Age Defy shampoo and conditioner. These usually retail for £5.99 each and are on offer at £3.99 each at Boots. Not bad getting nearly £12 of product delivered to your door for free.

So no posts for a couple of weeks while I'm away but I look forward to posting again when I come home.

My love of wicker hampers

As you can imagine, with all my car boot sale finds I need some storage to put my things into so that my home does not look too cluttered. This is where my love of wicker hampers and baskets comes in. I have all shapes and sizes and have them in the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms.

My favourite ones are from Fortnum & Mason. Clearly I have never bought a hamper from them directly as they are a little too pricey for me, but I have bought them when empty from car boot sales and from charity shops. I have 4 of them in the kitchen and use them to store a variety of things. The smaller ones kept on the shelves act as first aid boxes and hold aspirin, paracetamol, plasters etc.  The two larger hampers hold cook books and occasional naughty treats such as boxes of chocolates and biscuits.

I have a few hampers in our bedroom. The bottom one stores a selection of toiletries which I have bought at car boat sales and which are waiting to be used. There is an element of stockpiling during the summer months as car boot sales only last for a few months of year. I have to buy enough to last me through the year in a 4 to 5 month window and I always like to buy a few things extra if I think they are real value for money. I have been buying quite a lot of shampoos and conditioners from one lady as they are only 50p each. She has been on the Cheshire car boot sale for a few weeks off and on and so I have bought a couple of bottles each time I have seen her. She is clearly a trader and there are quite a few regular traders on the car boot sale but if the price is right then I am buying from them and 50p is cheap enough for me.

The top one stores all my bits and pieces of paperwork and the like. I have them all stored in separate folders and within easy reach. I spend all day and every weekday in an office environment so do not want to have to deal with my home paperwork in a similar office environment at home. I find a wicker hamper very different to work storage so I am happy to store everything in this one place.

I do not have any large sets of drawers at home so use other storage boxes mixed in with the hampers. I have three cloth storage boxes with leather trim that have originally come from Marks & Spencer. I bought two of them in the sales at M&S and a couple of years later I found a matching one from the Cheshire car boot sale. This only cost £1 and I think looks good on top of my hampers.

Monthly Plans

At the beginning of each month I like to think about what I plan to do that month at home. The plans sometimes go out the window because of other demands or like many others I simply don't have time or can't be bothered. However there are many months where I do achieve some or all of the plans that I make and I always feel so virtuous when I manage to achieve some if not all of them.

My plans for August are as follows:

courtesy of a pair of pears

• Organise our garden shed that has numerous pieces of garden equipment simply dumped on the floor. At the back of the shed are some treasures that I can just glimpse. Some candles and some Cath Kidston style cushions for our patio chairs spring to mind. I need to retrieve these so that I can enjoy them while the summer weather lasts.

• Sort out the front garden into some kind of order due to my neglect. I have concentrated too much on the back garden because I can see this from where I sit in the lounge, but I cannot see the front garden. Out of sight and out of mind. It needs some reorganisation with the removal of some shrubs and plants that have outstayed their welcome.

• Continue with the Sunday Car Boot sales (weather permitting) to gain as many bargains as I can while the car booting season is in full swing.

• Empty one of my 5 (yes I have 5 smallish freezers!!!) to a level that it can be deep cleaned and provide some space for new fresh reduced food. I want to prevent food sitting in the freezer for too long and getting freezer burn and in addition there are some items towards the bottom or back of the freezers that I have forgotten about. Time for some pot luck evening meals!!

Do you make plans that you manage to keep or do you have moments like me where you just can't be bothered?