Container gardening

I have been working on growing my own fruit and vegetables in a container garden. As I am renting I am not allowed to dig up the ground. So I have LOTS of pots growing lots of food, and in some cases...none, or very little, lol. I am definitely still at the experimentation stage. I have discovered that I can quite easily grow tomatoes, lettuce, spring onions, basil, blueberries and strawberries. I am also attempting celery, spinach. cucumber, corn, zuchini, choko. Through research, I intend to increase the yields I am getting, and expand what I am growing. The plans are beginning now for autumn and spring crops later this year including beans, peas, pumpkin, babaco (yes, spelt correctly), potatoes, sweet potato, lemons, broccoli, cauliflour, garlic, onions, parsnips, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and eggplant, plus what I am growing already. So it will be a big job, but I am really looking forward to it.

I hope to get a worm farm in the next couple of months, and our rabbits are definitely helpful from the fertilising side of things as well.

Another 6 weeks has passed....

I have received my lastest electricity bill and am very happy. It has dropped again, and is in credit quite a bit. Waiting on my gas bill.
In an attempt to get more organised around the house I have put in place some routines that should help me around the house and remembering where and when I need to be. My next step in this is to take note of what I have done during a typical day or two. I also need to set times for Lachies lessons, and use this time for time with Ben too.

Time flies....

Where did January go? I know where I went...off the savings wagon!! I have been very naughty and overspent big time on fabrics. Although a huge amount of them were 50% off, and most are allocated to a certain project, I still spent way too much. So back on the savings wagon for me.

My new initiatives are electricty and gas usage. I started reading the meters weekly on Tuesday 15/01/08. The first week was great, the next one everything went up. So as of last Tuesday (today is Saturday) I have started turning everything off when not in use. I even turn off the computer, modem, printer when not in use, and the phone when I leave the house. Figure it all adds up. I also bath with Benny two or three times a week, which reduces hot water, and I haven't used the airconditioner in well over a month.

I have also gone through Lachies winter clothes to see what he needs, and what had to be handed down. I found two pairs of trackpants that had holes in the knees. PreviouslyI would have thrown them out, but this time I repaired them and they look great, and will be fine for play clothes. I also managed this with a pair of my pj pants that the elastic has gone on. Total estimated savings...$35! Not bad.

I've cut the grocery budget again to $75 a week for the three of us. This was my first week at it, and I managed to come in at $52.90, plus I will need around $10 extra for more fruit on Tuesday. Managing to come in under budget this week is great! I'm very pleased.

Some new ideas

I found some great ideas forsaving money with my sewing. I got the following tips:

* Recycle as much fabric/buttons/zips as possible from clothes that the kids have outgrown, or have worn out.
* Find cheap fabric for making play clothes from places like ebay.
* Repair and alter clothes before throwing them out if possible.

With these ideas in mind I have gone through all the clothes I was about to get rid of and found:

+ Enough denim fabric to make a large floor cushion for the play room.
+ 3 pairs of pj pants for me that can be altered for winter (otherwise I had to buy some)
+Extra bits of fabric, and buttons for quilting etc.

I have also purchased heaps of heavily discounted fabric from ebay to start up my collection including some very cheap knit fabric for shorts and long pants for the boys.

I am very pleased with this so far. I just need to set aside some time to start all my fun projects.

First steps

I've found some great savings ideas in the Simplesavings vault. So far I have barely scratched the surface and found pages of hints for sewing.This should save heaps on clothes for the boys and I.
My first steps though need to be simple. So I am getting back on track wtih electricity and water usage. Cut back where I can and get the bills down as much as possible. I also need to stop making mobile calls from home and make no calls from my mobile to anyone. This should get the phone bill under control.....for now!! lol
Will keep you on track.

Getting started

I've decided I really need to scour the simplesavings website for some new ideas to save money, and continue with what I have been doing. Some of the things I have started have fallen by the wayside like watching water and electricity usage, and menu planning. I'm doing way too much impulse buying and need to spend more money on things like bulk shopping, an dother things that will save money like my vege garden, homemade gifts and sewing clothes where financially beneficial. I'm off to do some research.

The Beginning

I am hoping that this blog will help me to keep track of my savings and also get me setting more goals to cut back on my spending. I have a 6 week detox starting soon and I plan to have enough food precooked for the boys each night so I can concentrate on what I need to prepare for me, and not be tempted to feed them takeaway when it gets too hard to plan two different meals. The less temptation for me the better.
I am curently cooking up everything I can from the fridge and freezer and seeing how many meals I can get from all of that for freezing. Today I managed to finish of the shoulder ham and used the remaining small amount of ham to cook up a double quiche. This will be cut up into single serves for the boys. I still plan to cook the following:

Spaghetti bolognaise
Meatballs
Meat pie filling
Casserole

I'm not sure what else I have in the freezer, but I will finish that off and buy more as needed till I have enough to last the full 6 week period. Then I can start stocking up for the detox.