Thieving S#@#@#@s!

Last Thursday we had a day out in Liverpool.  Me and Little L left baby E with her Daddy and headed out with my sister and niece.  The occasion was my niece's birthday this week.  We were having a great time. Over lunch we chatted about how nice Liverpool is now for shopping with Liverpool One and a big variety of shops.  Then later we were in a shop all looking at slightly different things.  Me and Little L were looking at rather expensive dresses for a summer wedding (I want to get the girls matching dresses ....so cute), anyway these were out of my price range really and I was just pointing them out to my niece when I looked down and my handbag had gone.   

I had it over the handle of my pram and it wasn't there, such an awful sickening feeling that I wouldn't wish on anyone.  I initially ran over to the previous card shop I had been in and the security guards started looking through the CCTV to check whether I had the bag going into and coming out of the shop.  My sister stayed in the shop we were in and their security guard was looking through the store CCTV.  I ran to the bank to cancel my card, we went to the phone shop to try to track my phone.  By this time we realised I would never see my beloved fossil bag again, my purse, my phone with photos of my girls all gone.  My things that I bought with my hard earned money gone.  Then some 30 minutes into the saga one of the security guards got a message that they had found my bag in the original clothes shop we were in.  I went down to the shop with a security guard fully prepared for an empty bag but no my phone and my purse were still there.  My bag had been hung on a hanger with a babies outfit and stashed in the centre of a rack full of ladies clothes.

I will never be that lucky again.  The thief perhaps panicked with all the security guards etc, or maybe intended to return for it later when things had died down.  But one thing is for sure I was being watched and whoever it was lifted that bag so quickly as my hand hardly ever leaves the pram handle.  I can only think it was when I was reaching up to a rail of dresses.

So a happy ending for me this time.  I have since cleared out my purse (I don't need all my bank account cards and other cards in my purse) and I have bought these from Ebay to secure my changing bag onto the pram handle.  

I see other people with prams who have there changing bag or handbag over the handle like me and whilst I thought I was vigilant it only takes these scumbags people seconds to lift your bag so please be aware.  

Edited:  the above purchase from Ebay proved unsuitable so I bought this, a bargain and perfect for the job.

Heat or Eat?

One of the main energy suppliers SSE announced yesterday an 8% rise in gas and electricity prices. Although we aren't with SSE our direct debits have gone up this month due to our fixed price deal ending last month and despite lots of searching our monthly bill has gone up by about 10%.  If we chose to heat our home modestly with central heating our bill would double instantly so no we don't heat with gas but we do have a wood burning stove and without that we would freeze.

I listened to the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 this lunchtime and they were discussing this.  One lady phoned in and was really struggling single, no dependents so no benefits/help, low paid job and after her bills etc she had £20 a month left over.  She survived on toast and margarine and during the winter got home from work and went to bed because it was so cold and she couldn't heat her tiny flat.

She wasn't choosing to heat or eat.  She couldn't afford to heat and could barely afford to eat.  That is not a life it is barely an existence.  David Cameron and the politicians have no idea at all what it is like for lots of people in this country spending four/five months of the year freezing, barely able to afford food, and often living very lonely miserable lives.  Where will this end?? 

So please spare a thought for others if you are lucky enough to switch the heating on when cold and to buy nice food.  Not sure how these people in food/fuel poverty can be helped but we give food to the local food bank at the toddler group we attend when I remember, so maybe there is one near you or perhaps you know someone/have a neighbour you could help.        

How to be a stay at home mum?

On Sunday we had our great friends S and B and baby J around for the day.  They recently had a baby (the recipient of these by the way Zoom Cardigan and Bootees ) he is utterly adorable and I certainly can't remember Little L ever being that small and wobbly headed.  Anyway we got chatting about the dreaded when are you going back to work???  And B being very honest said February and admitted that she is dreading it and would do anything not to return.

Having had over two years of going to play groups etc with Little L I have heard this many times but when it comes down to it most people do go back to work after their maternity pay dwindles down to the minimum.  And whilst they say they really don't want to go back to work they do and parcel off baby to Grandma or Nursery.  When we decided to have children after many years of thinking about it we knew that one way or another I would be a stay at home mum.  And so far I am but that didn't happen by accident or by some kind miracle, it has involved years of saving, scrimping, thinking ahead and now sacrifices, some might say of, no foreign holidays, no new cars, very few new clothes, no fancy phones, no nights out, freezing in winter, eating on a tight budget and many more things.  To lots of people this might sound pretty depressing/boring but it's worth it to know that Little L gets the best care day in day out i.e. from her Mum (I'm no super mum but mummy is better than Grandma or some randomer at a nursery).  And they do all go to school when they are four so you can go back to work then.

So a question could more people be a "stay at home Mum" if they really wanted to??  Or are some sacrifices in quality of life/luxuries a step too far to take??

At the moment I am trying to sell stuff on Ebay and need to get my ass into gear and sell some hand made wares on the internet.  But for now we are all very happy with our arrangement, skip diving and eating smart price beans ....... only kidding.

A year of change

Just over a week ago we got the news that we had been dreading.  My other half is being made redundant.  The possibility of this has hung over his head for the last 18 months and then last Friday his boss dropped it on him.  Happy new year you are going to lose your job!  Seventeen years of hard work and bye bye.

So this year will be a year of change, changes to our plans, our focus, jobs etc. 

I saw this on Tina's blog the other day and thought it quite fitting for us:

"I welcome change, and regard it as a friend. This present uncertain situation has more power for good than for evil. No matter how complicated the plot, it can be the opening sentence to a new rich chapter in my life."

~ Thomas Bartram 

We are trying to see this as a challenge and count our blessings for all that we have. 

And finally keeping me sane this week has mainly been our very supportive family but also:

This is a brilliant book, I got it for Christmas and I definitely recommend it for novice or expert knitters.

Some exciting new knitting on my needles, will share details soon promise

A mini snowman made by my sister, I love the snow but I'm glad its nearly gone

Bye for now

To spend or not?

 

So I was thinking whilst drinking my coffee this afternoon about my attitude to money and spending.  Living on a budget and frugally can sometimes be a curse (of course it is rubbish having no money).  Over the last 8 years whilst me and the other have lived together we have had periods where we had enough money and again periods where money has been tight.  And now we are definitely in the money tight period as we only have his wage and we have moved house just 8 months ago and the bills are more here.  Even when we had two wages we were always saving hard to move house and relocate to a area with higher house prices.  But more importantly to eventually be able to start a family and for me to not go back to work and look after baby myself.  But all this saving and thinking hard about money actually sometimes makes it impossible to spend any.

 

Take our old house, we lived there for seven years with rubbish single glazed windows and that house was soooo cold.  We had ice on the inside of the windows in winter (OK we didn't have the heating on tons because we didn't want to spend lots on gas).  After little L was born we were dreading the winter with a small baby in a freezing house and so after a lot of debating we priced up have new double glazing throughout the house and it wasn't as much as we thought.  We got a great family firm to do it and couldn't have been more pleased with the job.  It really was a lot warmer, no drafts etc and to top it off we accepted an offer on the house whilst the windows were being fit (yes so we actually bought the buyers new windows!).  Afterwards and since moving I have thought why didn't we just have the work done sooner??  But somehow being warm is a luxury we have long since accepted we can't afford.

 

Now in our new house we are considering putting a multifuel stove in and taking the gas fire out.  With a good quality stove and we will have to get a HETAs approved engineer to fit it (not because we can't do it but to be covered with insurance etc for the mortgage) and also there is a chance we may need a chimney liner.  So the costs seem to be spiralling a little.  We have the money saved but somehow being warm is a luxury and I just can't decide whether to go ahead, as that money is presently part of the emergency/ rainy day fund.  Other people just spend money left right and centre but me and lots of you out there scrutinise every purchase and spend.

 

So yes sometimes being (a human calculator) tight/sensible with money is a curse!