I was discussing Miss Frugal the other day with someone much wiser than me last week and they said something to me that I thought was very true and something I hadn't really thought about before: Part of growing up is learning that some of the decisions you make will be wrong. I filed that little quote in the 'useful parenting advice' section of my brain until we had a situation yesterday where it was appropriate.... Those of you who've been around for a while will know that Miss Frugal can't eat any form of processed meat as it causes quite bad abdominal migraines at worst and at best, … [Read more...]

Sometimes it's hard to smile.You just want to lock the door, close the curtains and pretend that you're the only person in the world.I sometimes feel like this.  Not often but it happens.Because sometimes I miss my mum so much and it makes me sad that she's not here to see the things that I can see.She'd love to see how much Miss Frugal loves clothes and make up because she used to be exactly the same and she'd be so pleased to see that Master Frugal loves to read as she used to always have a book close by.  If she was here, she'd be playing dressing up and putting make up on … [Read more...]

A little while ago, Argos sent me a go kart for Master Frugal to review but between the weather, a car crash and my Dad being in hospital, it's only been this weekend that we've actually got to have a proper play on it!When we first got the kart, I was so excited to it that I couldn't wait for Mr Frugal to come home from work so I unpacked it, laid everything out on the living room floor and began.  How hard could it be, right?But if I'm honest, it was a lot harder to build than I thought and it took me two hours to do and even then I still had quite a few pieces left over....When … [Read more...]

 I think I'm probably one of the last people to discover Pinterest.  I should rephrase that actually because I knew that Pinterest existed and I even set up an account for myself but it's only been in the last month or so that I've discovered just how useful and fun it actually is.For those of you who don't know,Pinterest is kind of like an online scrap book or mood board.  You can set up different boards and you then 'pin' images that you find around the internet to those boards.  I have about twenty boards covering everything from moneysaving, crafts, food, cakes and inspiration … [Read more...]

OK, so it wasn't quite a near death experience but it was close....I was driving to work today, singing away to Miss Frugal's One Direction album (just because I know all the words does not mean that I'm a fan right?) when I saw a large wheelbarrow lift up slightly from the truck directly in front of me.I slowed down straight away but another gust of wind lifted the wheelbarrow up and blew it right out of the truck and straight towards me.  I know this sounds a bit over-dramatic but it really seemed to be coming at me in slow motion like something out of the Wizard of Oz in the tornado … [Read more...]

Before I had children I had a perfect image in my head of how things would be....My children would always be clean and smart, they'd never answer back or behave in a less than impeccable manner and I would have a tidy house and manage to put a delicious looking tea on the table every night at 5pm.  I would never raise my voice and I'd  always find time to put make up on before I left the house.The reality is very different....Although they do start the day clean and smart, they rarely make it past half past nine before they look like they've been dragged through a hedge backwards. … [Read more...]