poor girl

at 25 Beautiful Homes magazine has just spent the last couple of hours, asking me questions for the feature on our house.

She sent me the jpegs from the shoot. I was pleased to see, the house looked like our HOME. Readers of my blog will know I was concerned on the day as a lot of my “stuff” was removed, making some of the rooms look soul less to us.( original blog here )

Here's some of the pictures that were taken on the day.

I had written eight A4 sheets of answers to her questions!!

Eight !

You know me, I talk a bit….. I have a lot to say…….always…….

The magazine wanted to know, where I had bought all the items in my home. I was surprised at how many came from Dunelm Mill and Matalan ( they are like a Target ,to you Americans reading this ) I hope it proves that you don’t have to spend a lot to get a unique looking home. I like to mix, one off pieces, with cheap sale items and I keep my eyes open wherever I am. Even in Tesco's.

I do the same with my own personal, fashion style. An expensive bag (here), jewellery with a Sainsbury top with a fur collar added, and a pair of  £4 pumps from Primark. That look is actually harder to achieve, than buying everything out of Next. That goes for your home as well as your own personal style. Mix it up a bit, open your eyes to lots of other places that offer something different and unique to you.

Now my penny pinching doesn't stop there. I do the same with food. I LOVE to cook, I rarely just reheat a pre-made meal. I always check out one of the cheaper supermarkets first to see what they have on offer. i.e Aldi or Lidls. Then I do a larger shop in one of the big supermarkets, always just keeping to what is on offer. Morrisons is my current favourite place to shop. I wait and bide my time until something I want goes on sale. Then I do an expensive shop in Waitrose or M & S every so often.  Again, keeping to their offers.

I spend about half the amount on food as my friends and family. But I always have a freezer and larder full of food . There are always homemade cakes, Ben & Jerry's ice cream in the freezer and fresh vegetables and meat to hand. I have cupboards full of ingredients to put a Thai meal, pasta dish or cupcakes together at a moments notice.

I remember being shocked once, years ago ,when talking to a friend about the price of chicken. We were living on a VERY tight budget with two young children. I once had, at that time just £8.00 to feed us four, for a week!! But I did it ,with the help of a calculator in my handbag and the knack for putting meals together from very little.

My friend had no idea how much chicken cost. Not a clue. She said she just grabbed something from the shelf, with not a care in the world. At that time I was buying the £1.99 Tesco Value chicken to feed us for a week!! But do you know what I felt sorry for her, not for myself. I could be a lottery winner and I would still be canny with what I buy. I guess it’s just inbuilt. And luckily both of my children seem to have inherited that gene…..

I couldn’t resist including a picture at this point, of my friend Judith when I took her shopping in Aldi this week. A very funny experience, she was a cheap supermarket Virgin.

I popped her cherry good and proper and I think she will be making a repeat visit , but maybe in camouflage next time…..