She looks great! Here the girls would be wearing some black low heeled ankle boots with the black tights. Charity shops are as rare as hens teeth here and something I really miss. On the occasional trips back I do I will be sure to find a few if only for English books!

I also worked while bringing up three children. I had to in order to help with bills. I was at every sports day, every parents evening, helped with school outings, reading etc. when they were little ( three in four years) I worked nights leaving them sleeping with dad in charge. I kept this up until they were all at school when I would be home to take them and collect them at the end of the day. I always made cakes etc, knitted jumpers and cardigans and made dresses for the girls. I would have loved to be a stay at home mum but did not want him indoors to be stressed trying to provide for us. We all make choices in life depending on the cards we are dealt. It is not a competition and there is no right or wrong with this one.

Being a fan of coconut oil I always have some. We have a newish shop here called Action (I live in France) that sells it at a very good price. Plan to make some some this afternoon when the big Esse is lit ready for the Sunday roast! Will let you know! Him indoors loves dark chocolate but I prefer milk. If I can find a way of making my own that we both like that is what I will do. As I have a bee hive and still have some of my honey from my first crop I will use that! Thanks!

Well said. As we are all on different budgets and it is very true that one mans junk is another mans treasure, there are no set targets. For me I am determined to live within a budget and also save for a rainy day! We are putting all the money we can into renovations, investment for the future. We do not intend to ever leave here now we own it totally but you never know what the future holds! As part of working at being frugal I am also trying to reduce what we put in landfill.

I am new to your blog but am finding it helpful. I have a few variations in that I live in France ( no Tesco) and am vegetarian. I grow a lot of fruit and veg and have chickens, ducks, geese and bees. The birds are for eggs only! I am looking for new green, chemical free and money saving ideas. So far I have changed to using bars of soap, no more liquid stuff, ditched paper products like tissues and kitchen roll, ( I have made small towels from flannelete and terry towelling to use in place of kitchen roll). I reuse glass jars to freeze things in so no longer buy freezer bags. I will not bore you with all I have put in place but there are several products I no longer buy. Cooking from scratch is the norm here. Love your blog!