I'm really starting to struggle with the phase of parenting I am going through right now. Parenting so far has come easy to me. I am trained in Early Childhood so when both my girls were born it was a natural transition for me. Sure I had my up and down days but we adapted easily to routines, fun activities , discipline etc.
Now though as my oldest daughter is about to turn 12 and my youngest turn 9 I am finding it the hardest so far.
All of a sudden the things we found fun to do together [playdough, painting, craft, playing in the sand pit, going to the local park etc] seem to be diminishing. These things aren't 'cool' anymore. There's a change in the air and I feel lost, scared and unsure.
I'm not trained or familiar with this age group. I am constantly torn between wanting to give them their independance and some freedom but worrying that I will give too much or not enough.
I am second guessing myself constantly.
Do I let them cross the road and wait for the bus by themselves? Do I let them walk to the corner store on their own? Do I let them have sleep overs at friends places that I don't really know? How much freedom should I be giving them on the laptop / internet etc? What can we do together on a limited budget on the weekends that they think is fun?
Sometimes when big decisions are to be made [such as what high school should miss 12 yr old attend next year], I am conflicted with where I should be sending her and where I am comfortable sending her.
I feel torn between society's expectations and my own. I want to empower my children to make decisions for themselves yet feel as a parent I should be making the final call on these decisons as they are, after all , children.
Do others feel like this? Is it this hard for all parents? Is it something I am always going to struggle with? What things can I consider that might help me in the next few years? I'm open to any advice / input from others. If I bounce these thoughts off others I constantly get told that I will always make the best decisions for my children. But will I?
The Simple Life of Us.......
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Saturday, August 16, 2014
My best tips for saving money
I wanted to share some of my best tips for saving money with you all.
I seemed to live simply before I even realised that, that is what I was doing. It somehow just happened as I have never had a very high paying job and either has my hubby. We seemed to just cut costs when we had to and learnt tricks along the way.
Grocery Shopping / menu planning
The first part of living simply and the main thing that we cut back on was grocery shopping.
We menu plan EVERY fortnight [and when we don't, we spend more money that is necessary].
We sit down every monday together and look at what we have in the cupboard and the fridge and freezer and we plan meals around what is left. Then we write down any ingredients needed for those meals and that is what we buy.
We stay away from school snacks / packets and bake from scratch, we pop our own popcorn, we buy fruit and veg in small amounts more frequently to avoid throwing out anything that has gone rotten.
We freeze our bread and bread rolls and defrost when needed rather than letting a loaf go bad.
I also freeze the baking I do, muffins, slices, cakes etc in portion sizes so they are ready for the lunch box and we do this also for my cats chicken wings and kangaroo mince etc, all frozen in portion sizes and then defrosted.
We don't buy resealable bags instead use containers, we wash dishcloths and don't buy disposable ones, we make our own laundry powder that lasts about 3 months and costs about $7. I use vinegar to mop my floors and in a spray bottle with water to wipe my benches and that is it. I also use it in my bathroom so I avoid spending money on household cleaners too.
We shop at Aldi as it's so much cheaper and only buy odd items at Coles if needed.
We go to Woolies during the week and grab the marked down meat and freeze it straight away.
We always eat the leftovers.
We freeze portion sizes [for example we know if we use 500 g mince for spagetti bolognaise it's too much when added with pasta so we freeze in 250 g lots and get double whilst still cooking enough for us to enjoy a meal and possibly leftovers the next night. If we cook a slowcooker meal instead of having the exact same thing for left overs we make a pie with puff pastry and pour the leftovers in and top with more pastry and add some veges and it feels like a totally different meal.
We don't buy cordials, juices, fizzy drinks and only drink water only with the odd smoothie made or a coffee or tea for us adults.
Budgeting
Now our combined income is low. Like I mean the four of us live on approx 40k a year. We have a mortgage and a car loan,car registration, insurances[car, house and health], rates, internet and phone bills, electricity , and probaly more I can't think of and we never miss a payment.
How I do it is.....
I add up what each payment is fortnightly and total it... When I get paid that full amount goes into a bills account and all of those bills are direct debited. There is always enough to cover it all so I never have to worry about owing money to anyone.Whatever money is left is then spending money [which includes my car petrol, school things that pop up etc].
If anything extra pops up then I will pay and go without anything I want in order to make sure I am paid up in full.
Electricity
We save money on power by turning all lights off at night when a room isn't in use. We charge our mobile phones in the car where possible. We use hot water bottles for warmth and occasioally use our gas heater.
We turn every powerpoint off when we aren't using the appliance [except the fridge].
We don't have a dishwasher so we hand wash.
We rarely use the clothes dryer unless it's raining for days and even then we hang the clothes over a clothes horse to dry as much as we can then put in the dryer for less time than what would have been required originally.
Everyday living
I often buy free books on amazon for my kindle rather than paying for books.
We op shop for clothes / books and homewares [basically all of my clothes are opshopped] and we also buy cheap specials from chain stores [e.g I just brought my nephew $1 long sleeve shirts from K Mart and my daughter $3 ones when on special].
I Layby big items if needed and pay off bit by bit.
I do surveys on Valued Opinions and often get sent $20 vouchers from coles or bunnings etc and put them away for christmas time when money is always tight.
I shop around, online, instore etc and search for the best bargain before I purchase any item.
We don't buy newspapers but make the most of the free local one and online news. We stopped buying magazines.
We accept hand me downs. Most of our furniture comes from our parents when they have finished. We rarely buy anything new.
We are happy not having the biggest tv, an ipad, ipod, etc and live without.
Beauty Products
I use coconut oil for hair treatments and moisturising.
I use bicarb and water as a hair wash and facial scrub.
Honey as a face mask.
Any my best tip of all?
Don't buy unnecessary stuff that you don't really need.
I like to live by the quote
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
I hope this helps you with some ideas. There are probably 100 more ideas that I have forgotten but these are our main tips that we ude all the time :) Money is way harder to earn then spend, so I spend it wisely ....
Much love...
Kristy
I seemed to live simply before I even realised that, that is what I was doing. It somehow just happened as I have never had a very high paying job and either has my hubby. We seemed to just cut costs when we had to and learnt tricks along the way.
Grocery Shopping / menu planning
The first part of living simply and the main thing that we cut back on was grocery shopping.
We menu plan EVERY fortnight [and when we don't, we spend more money that is necessary].
We sit down every monday together and look at what we have in the cupboard and the fridge and freezer and we plan meals around what is left. Then we write down any ingredients needed for those meals and that is what we buy.
We stay away from school snacks / packets and bake from scratch, we pop our own popcorn, we buy fruit and veg in small amounts more frequently to avoid throwing out anything that has gone rotten.
We freeze our bread and bread rolls and defrost when needed rather than letting a loaf go bad.
I also freeze the baking I do, muffins, slices, cakes etc in portion sizes so they are ready for the lunch box and we do this also for my cats chicken wings and kangaroo mince etc, all frozen in portion sizes and then defrosted.
We don't buy resealable bags instead use containers, we wash dishcloths and don't buy disposable ones, we make our own laundry powder that lasts about 3 months and costs about $7. I use vinegar to mop my floors and in a spray bottle with water to wipe my benches and that is it. I also use it in my bathroom so I avoid spending money on household cleaners too.
We shop at Aldi as it's so much cheaper and only buy odd items at Coles if needed.
We go to Woolies during the week and grab the marked down meat and freeze it straight away.
We always eat the leftovers.
We freeze portion sizes [for example we know if we use 500 g mince for spagetti bolognaise it's too much when added with pasta so we freeze in 250 g lots and get double whilst still cooking enough for us to enjoy a meal and possibly leftovers the next night. If we cook a slowcooker meal instead of having the exact same thing for left overs we make a pie with puff pastry and pour the leftovers in and top with more pastry and add some veges and it feels like a totally different meal.
We don't buy cordials, juices, fizzy drinks and only drink water only with the odd smoothie made or a coffee or tea for us adults.
Budgeting
Now our combined income is low. Like I mean the four of us live on approx 40k a year. We have a mortgage and a car loan,car registration, insurances[car, house and health], rates, internet and phone bills, electricity , and probaly more I can't think of and we never miss a payment.
How I do it is.....
I add up what each payment is fortnightly and total it... When I get paid that full amount goes into a bills account and all of those bills are direct debited. There is always enough to cover it all so I never have to worry about owing money to anyone.Whatever money is left is then spending money [which includes my car petrol, school things that pop up etc].
If anything extra pops up then I will pay and go without anything I want in order to make sure I am paid up in full.
Electricity
We save money on power by turning all lights off at night when a room isn't in use. We charge our mobile phones in the car where possible. We use hot water bottles for warmth and occasioally use our gas heater.
We turn every powerpoint off when we aren't using the appliance [except the fridge].
We don't have a dishwasher so we hand wash.
We rarely use the clothes dryer unless it's raining for days and even then we hang the clothes over a clothes horse to dry as much as we can then put in the dryer for less time than what would have been required originally.
Everyday living
I often buy free books on amazon for my kindle rather than paying for books.
We op shop for clothes / books and homewares [basically all of my clothes are opshopped] and we also buy cheap specials from chain stores [e.g I just brought my nephew $1 long sleeve shirts from K Mart and my daughter $3 ones when on special].
I Layby big items if needed and pay off bit by bit.
I do surveys on Valued Opinions and often get sent $20 vouchers from coles or bunnings etc and put them away for christmas time when money is always tight.
I shop around, online, instore etc and search for the best bargain before I purchase any item.
We don't buy newspapers but make the most of the free local one and online news. We stopped buying magazines.
We accept hand me downs. Most of our furniture comes from our parents when they have finished. We rarely buy anything new.
We are happy not having the biggest tv, an ipad, ipod, etc and live without.
Beauty Products
I use coconut oil for hair treatments and moisturising.
I use bicarb and water as a hair wash and facial scrub.
Honey as a face mask.
Any my best tip of all?
Don't buy unnecessary stuff that you don't really need.
I like to live by the quote
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
I hope this helps you with some ideas. There are probably 100 more ideas that I have forgotten but these are our main tips that we ude all the time :) Money is way harder to earn then spend, so I spend it wisely ....
Much love...
Kristy
Saturday, August 9, 2014
The annual tradition of hibernating
Once again I'm hibernating. It seems to be becoming a winter tradition for me now. But these 3 months hibernating feel good. They feel needed.They are refreshing and calm and simple.
So what have we been up to?
April was a Busy month. My younger brother got married and it was the most amazing wedding and such a special day.
We then took a trip out west for 4 days to visit my Nan. I hadn't seen her in 5 years and it was so nice to spend time with her and for my daughters to spend time with her. I also enjoyed 2 weeks off work which was much needed and much appreciated. Whilst visiting we stopped off a the observatory and the girls love it up there. A lot of the trees were growing back after horrible bush fires.
This winter we had our first ever frost. We live in such a warm coastal climate a frost is rare yet we have managed about 3 so far. Crunchy ice on the ground is not something we are used to and luckily we don't get it often. One particular morning as I rushed off to work I took a quick photo as proof as I couldn't believe my eyes.
I June I broke my left big toe by a broken cupboard door dropping onto it. It was extremely painful and only now starting to feel better yet still achy at times. You can see the left toe is so swollen :(
We've also had big decisions to make for our little family. Decisions I'm still not settled with. Decisions that have made me, as a Mum unsettled and unsure and stepping out of my comfort zone.
Decisions about my oldest daughters schooling. All I can do now is hope we chose the right decision. Hope that she will be happy and that everything works out.
And to finish this little post is a pic of my little man Jovi. He's growing up so fast but luckily is still very snuggly.
Until next time :)
So what have we been up to?
April was a Busy month. My younger brother got married and it was the most amazing wedding and such a special day.
We then took a trip out west for 4 days to visit my Nan. I hadn't seen her in 5 years and it was so nice to spend time with her and for my daughters to spend time with her. I also enjoyed 2 weeks off work which was much needed and much appreciated. Whilst visiting we stopped off a the observatory and the girls love it up there. A lot of the trees were growing back after horrible bush fires.
This winter we had our first ever frost. We live in such a warm coastal climate a frost is rare yet we have managed about 3 so far. Crunchy ice on the ground is not something we are used to and luckily we don't get it often. One particular morning as I rushed off to work I took a quick photo as proof as I couldn't believe my eyes.
I June I broke my left big toe by a broken cupboard door dropping onto it. It was extremely painful and only now starting to feel better yet still achy at times. You can see the left toe is so swollen :(
Decisions about my oldest daughters schooling. All I can do now is hope we chose the right decision. Hope that she will be happy and that everything works out.
And to finish this little post is a pic of my little man Jovi. He's growing up so fast but luckily is still very snuggly.
Until next time :)
Sunday, January 12, 2014
2014
It's been a while since I've been on here. Winter 2013 came and went and my hibernation continued. I had to take a step back, I did this on all social media type sites. I watched from afar on facebook, pinterest, you tube, and blog posts.
I turned into myself and focused on getting through each and every day as best and as slowly as I could, savouring each moment.
I think sometimes I get so overwhelmed by everything. I read other peoples posts on facebook, others blog posts and watch you tube clips and Pinterest pins and I start comparing. I start to feel that maybe I could be better, could do better, could have more and I forget where I am and what I have achieved.
This blog felt like it was pointless at times because I was living so slowly and our daily rhythms so mundane that no one would want to read what I was writing. So I stopped.
Once I realised this happening I decided to step back. I decided to stop comparing, stop wishing and wondering and just start living in the moment. And to do this I had to take a break.
A constant inspiration though was only selectively reading a few blogs that are very likeminded to me to keep up my motivation and keep focused on my own goals.
For now though, I do have plans for this blog for this year. I don't know how often I will post and I'm not going to make a new years resolution like past years as I feel there is too much expectation. But what I will do is take each day as it comes and post when I have the time, energy and personal inspiration to do so.
I hope you hang around.
I'll leave this with a few pictures of the past few months :)
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My little Australian Mist Jovi is growing up....
Thanks for visiting :)
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