New look for a new life

So it would seem that again I need to apologise for not blogging!  Life has changed again.  The King has returned and all is very good in our household.  Sometimes it would seem that you have to go through some really horrible stuff in order to get back to the good stuff, to see rock bottom before you can get back up again, to realise what you had to appreciate it.  Hope that makes sense.  Whether it does or not, we are back to being a single income family and I am back to being a Budget Queen (with a whole lot more backbone and strength than I had before).

Essentially we are beginning again, so I decided to change my blog design to reflect that.  This one seems to be brighter and happier which is how I feel about life so it's fitting.

I haven't got much budgetty stuff to write about today, I've basically been going through the motions for the past couple of months, but I'm going to make much more of an effort.  I now have two days to myself as the Prince has started kindy (where has my baby gone??).  That should give me time to post more often, to try out recipes and even photograph them and share with you!

In the meantime, smile and be happy, you never know what is around the corner waiting for you! xxx

Ch-ch-ch-changes... (yes, you should now be singing David Bowie in your head)

Well. Despite my last post about becoming a better blogger, I haven't.  I do have good reason though.  My life has been turned upside down and inside out and my heart is broken.  The King has left.  Sadly he does not feel for me the way he once did and so the decision was made to separate while we are still good friends and can be amicable for the kids.  Staying together would have led to resentment, hate, possible cheating, hurt, all the bad, nasty icky stuff that we don't want to have happen.  So that is where we are. 

So now this blog will be all about my new challenge.  How to survive as a single Mum with two children.  How to get through this, well let's be honest, bloody awful time, and to come out the other end stronger and so much more self sufficient.  I won't lie to you, I'm scared, very scared.  It's going to be tough, I'm going to have to be even more thrifty to make sure that we get by.  And it's not just about the money side of things, emotionally this will be really difficult too, for both the kids and for me.

So where I am at right now is trying to figure out my finances.  I've finally got an idea from Centrelink for what I'll receive from them so now I can do my budget.  I also need to have a "big proper grown up talk" with the King to sort things out fairly and properly too. 

Bear with me, I'll be back to blogging properly again soon, and I'll be learning lots and lots of new tips as well.

The King is gone, Long Live the Queen!!!

Blogger or Slacker?

I do like to blog, and I am just learning I admit, but over the past month or so I've been quite slack.  I've thought a few times that I needed to get back here and post something.... but then I haven't (obviously). Life does get in the way on occasion and mine seems to have been a little more busy than usual.  Not for any particular reason.  There were school holidays and I spent more time with the kidlets, I had worrying news from a friend and she continues to fight her battle with the Big C and my thoughts are with her often, and we had a few minor changes in our life.  But now I'm back here and I'll try to be here more regularly.  I enjoy blogging and sharing how we make things work, I also like hearing tips from others, so don't be shy!!

So... school holidays were fun.  I did some research and found some free activities to do with the kids.  We spent some time at our local library - they always put on special things during the holidays.  We did Easter craft and Autumn craft there.  I also managed to find out about free cooking classes held at the markets by a fabulous group called Kinderchefs.  The Prince and Princess had a wonderful time and came home with what they had made.  Great morning!  Kinderchefs also run cooking classes (for a fee) during school terms and holidays.  You can find out more here.

I also took a tip from another website and put my kids' names down for the Kids Club at Hungry Jacks.  So now at their birthday they receive a letter and a voucher for a Kids Club Meal.  They also receive vouchers to use for the rest of the year.  It doesn't cost you anything to join either and they love to get mail addressed to them and the opportunity to be taken out for a treat.  IGA also runs a similar Club, again it doesn't cost you anything to join and around their birthday, your child will receive a letter and a voucher for a couple of items for free from your local IGA.  The Prince celebrated his birthday yesterday and with his voucher he received a 200g tin of Milo and an orange.  In December the Princess received a packet of choc bits and a kiwi fruit.  They just love going into the shop and finding their items and presenting them at the checkout.

So there's a couple of little money savers for you!  You can join up for Hungry Jacks kids club here and for the IGA one here.

Happy Budgeting Everyone!  I promise to blog more regularly now (hopefully, life permitting).

Being a Responsible Adult (and how it sometimes sucks)

I have been umming and aahing about whether to blog about this.  I like to keep my "public self" as positive as possible.  I also initially started this blog with the intention of writing about how well we manage our budget and still do a lot of what we want.  But life is life and we don't always get what we want even if we try really hard to do so.

Wow, that sounds really cryptic doesn't it?  Sorry about that. 

I'm sad because despite our very meticulous budgeting we won't be able to go away for a family holiday this Easter.  Even though it would have been the cheapest we could do it, driving, staying with friends, taking all our food, it's just not possible if we want to be Responsible Adults and keep on top of things.

And we do want to be Responsible Adults that keep on top of things.  Although for a few moments I just wanted to be an irresponsible child and stamp my foot and say "No, I want to go anyway".  In all probability I could have wheedled the King into agreeing to go with promises of further shopping cutbacks and all sorts of other things (which then would never have happened, I can't let my family STARVE). In the end, though, we had to think that it was better to stay at home and use the money towards bills, and the Princess's school camp early next term, and the Prince's birthday in May and normal Responsible Adult things.

I know this is the right thing to do.  I know that we will be better off for it.  But gosh darn it, I was looking forward to catch ups with our friends interstate and my sister and her little boy.  I was looking forward to our first family holiday since the Prince came along.  But this is life when you live to a budget. 

I'll get over it.  We hadn't told the kids about the possible holiday so they will never even know what they missed.  We'll still have a lovely time as a family over Easter.  And we'll spend it with my parents on Easter Day.  As I said, I wasn't even sure if I should post about it, but I did say in my very first introductory blog post that this is our story.  A good story always has happy parts and sad parts, good parts and bad parts.  And it's definitely a part of a Budget Life story, so it had to be told.  I guess that it shows that even though I believe that you can live happily on a budget, sometimes you just wish you didn't have to!

Anyway.... onwards and upwards!  School holidays begin this Friday afternoon so I'm going to research some activities to do with the kidlets that are Budget Queen friendly.  I think we'll do some Easter craft, cooking, see what's going on at the library and who knows what else?  Stay tuned to find out!

And thanks for listening to me whinge.  I feel better for being a Responsible Adult now.

Growing your own

I love the idea of being a little bit self sufficient.  I can't say completely self sufficient because I'm not about to go milling my own flour or slaughtering my own animals or anything like that.  What I am able to do is grow my own fruit and veggies.

We weren't very organised over summer and only managed to get two cherry tomato plants in.  Our kids LOVE cherry tomatoes.  This summer wasn't very friendly though, very humid and not really a lot of sun.  So although we have quite a few tomatoes on the plants, they are taking quite a while to ripen up and if they don't do it this week I think they will be a lost cause.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, we have some more ground cleared and it's time to think about what we can plant for winter.  We all love broccoli so that will be a definite.  I'll need to make a visit to our nursery and see what else they have and what will grow in our climate. 

Growing your own also helps you understand what is in season and therefore what will be cheaper to buy.  This can make a huge difference to your shopping bill.  Even if you don't have green fingers or don't have the time for gardening, knowing what is in season is very useful when you are on a budget.

Hopefully we will be able to get to our garden this weekend and get some veggies in.  It's a great project for the kids too, they love seeing the plants develop and then eating what they have grown.

Even if you only have room for a few pots, growing something you can eat is really rewarding. And money saving!!

The Promised Recipe with pictures

Well here we go.  This recipe is one I make fairly often during winter when we are looking for a warming dessert.  It is also one of the King's favourites.  Apple Crumble - my way but based on a Nigella Lawson recipe.  I think it is a good choice as apples are just coming into season so will start to be good value for money (however, you can easily substitute an 800g tin of pie apple if you need to! I won't tell).  I decided to do this one yesterday as the Prince and I found about seven apples ready to go on our tree, hurrah for self sufficiency!

So here we go.

First up, you need apples..

Yes, there are only two here, the others were already being peeled before I thought about taking a photo.  Ooops.


Peel, core and slice about six or seven apples (or more, really it depends on whether you like lots of fruit or more crumble!).  Pop them in a shallow pan with some sugar (about a tablespoon), a dash of vanilla, some cinnamon and ground cloves and a little bit of water - not too much, probably only 2-3 tablespoons.

Now cook these, covered, until tender.  JUST tender, not mushy, remember, they will get another cooking in the oven later.

They smell rather fabulous right now.  Allow these to cool a bit while you get on with the crumble mixture.


So this is what you need for the crumble..

Sugar, SR flour (yes this is unusual for a crumble, but it's a good unusual!), butter and almond meal.  Please note Budget Queeny use of no name products.  They are fine for baking and waaaay cheaper.

So, in a bowl, mix together 250g SR flour and 150g sugar.  This is also a departure from tradition, but I like my sugar to be incorporated into the flour and butter mix, not forked through afterwards.  Take the plunge - try it this way.  Once you have mixed those together, chop 150g butter into smallish cubes and throw them in the bowl too.

It's better if your butter is cold.  Mine wasn't, it was warm yesterday.  Sorry.

Now you need to rub the butter into the flour/sugar mixture.  Rub it using your fingers and thumbs.  It's actually quite therapeutic. (It is also really difficult to take a picture with one hand whilst rubbing in butter).

You need to keep on rubbing until you get a mixture that looks like, well, like crumble.  I don't like the description you usually get that it looks like breadcrumbs.  I think it's chunkier than breadcrumbs.  Well, here's a picture anyway, to show you what you are aiming for.

Now you just need to tip in a quarter of a cup of ground almonds and fork that through the mixture.  It gives a boost of flavour to the crumble without being overly almondy.  If you have nut issues, just leave it out.

It's worth noting that you can do the apples and the crumble up to this stage in advance and just keep them in the fridge seperately until you are ready to cook.  Really handy if you having people around for dinner and want to do something hot but that can be prepared earlier.

Now that you are ready to cook - preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. (Such a funny word celsius, always looks misspelt - please do not tell me if it is).

Place your cooled apples into a greased pie dish.

You will see that I only have a thin layer of fruit.  This is because I make it more crumble heavy because I am a good wife and that is how the King likes it. You can go more fruit here if you like, I don't mind.

Cover your apples with a good layer of crumble mixture.  This recipe does make a lot of crumble, so if you don't want to use it all you can pop the leftover in a snap lock bag and throw it in the freezer.  It's then ready to go next time you are ready to crumble.

And now you are ready to bake!  I would bake it for around 45 minutes or until golden.  I left ours in a bit longer so it went golden brown and very crunchy.  Check on it from about 40 minutes or until it is cooked to your liking.  This will also depend on your fruit and crumble ratio.

Here it is!

Serve it up with icecream, custard, cream, all three if you feel so inclined...

You can use this crumble topping mixture with any type of fruit, just try and use what is in season because not only will that be the best quality, but also the cheapest.

Yum!!  Hope you enjoy. 

We did.

Budget Cooking

Sometimes being on a budget seems to limit your creativitey a bit.  I find we tend to fall back on the same meals quite often because that's what we can afford.  I suppose I even get into a bit of a rut of cooking the same thing each fortnight because it makes shopping easier and preparing meals becomes a no brainer.  However, there is only so much bolognaise one can take and sometimes that means looking for inspiration. 

I have many recipe books (the King would deem it a bit of an obsession, but in truth I don't buy them, but I do request them for birthday and Christmas presents - especially Nigella).  So if I'm feeling a bit uninspired I will often browse through those for ideas, sometimes a dish I haven't made in months (or years even) might pop up at me and make it onto the rotation for a while, giving something else a rest.  I also browse a few different sites on the net for ideas.  I especially spend time on Taste (recipes and forums) and more recently on my new favourite - The $120 Food Challenge .  Sandra is amazing - she has $120 a fortnight to spend on food (less than us even!!) and she blogs about her fortnightly dinners, desserts and baking treats.  Each recipe has a costing provided as well so it's great for budget savvy people like us.  I find it great for providing inspiration, or a twist on an old favourite and I know that she's in the same boat as we are so that it will probably be something we can afford.  Have a look and I'm sure you will find something there to inspire you.

I do have my own recipes that are great budget savers and over time I'll share them with you in this blog.  Making things in larger batches and freezing half is really handy for those "can't be bothered" nights and means you don't fall for the temptation of take aways. I also love to bake which helps us a lot as I don't buy prepared cakes, biscuits, etc. for lunchboxes and snacks. I'm always after new recipes too, so if you have a favourite I'd love for you to share it! In fact, I'll try to post up a recipe and photos of said recipe sometime in the next week. Now there's a plan, and there's nothing like having a plan!