Just Get On With It ... Tax Credit Renewal

The deadline is TOMORROW!!!!

You know they don't need much excuse to stop paying.

You know the phone lines will be at least half an hours wait.

You know you have to do it. (if you claim tax credits that is!)

It is a necessary evil. For a customs & revenue (or whatever department they are this week) the form is actually easy to complete, particularly if you have your P60 to hand.


So, Just Get On With It.

Settle yourself down with a brew, get your paperwork in front of you and dial them on a phone with a speakerphone facility and one that can either reach the toilet whilst plugged in or that you can wander round with. (you never know when you need to go!)

Just Get On With It!!

Glossybox - My First Box

Yet again I have succumbed to subscribing to something through the post. I just love receiving parcels!

This time it's stuff to put on my face, not shove in it.

Glossybox send out monthly boxes of samples and, again, I found out about their service by reading blogs.


The monthly boxes are delivered by Hermes. They're too big for the letterbox but if your lucky to have a friendly Hermes courier, you can talk them into leaving it in a secure place or with a neighbour.

So, I'll cut to the chase, what was in the box!!

Glossybox Blusher Brush

A Pair Of HD Brows Tweezers

BM Beauty Pot of Mineral Bronzer

A card of several shades of Vichy Dermablend Perfect Coverage Stick

And what did I think..

The HD Brows tweezers are RRP £19.99 but are actually identical to my Boots tweezers that I've had for years and are still serving me well. With my thrifty ways, these may possibly be regifted!

The BM Mineral Bronzer. I'm a huge fan of Bare Minerals and other brands have just not lived up to their great coverage. I've had to use an empty lid from another product to try this as the pot was tiny. (full, loads if product but to small to swirl). It is a good bronzer, particularly if you like the golden sort of metallic finish rather than completely matt. I don't think I can be swayed to change from Bare Minerals though.

The Glossybox Blusher Brush. This was supplied as a premium product with a value of £15. In my opinion it is what I would expect free with a magazine type standard. It by no means matches up to the bristle density of other brushes I have which have been around that price. Quite disappointing.

Vichy Dermablend is a fab product. The sample had a wide range of colours which could be mixed to match your skintone or used alone. I have scars and they covered them. Better still it is great at covering dark circles in the top of the nose area. It doesn't feel like a thick concealer and wears well during the day. That's a winner.

I was slightly dubious as in the time it took for my box to arrive, there was quite a heavy Twitter backlash about broken products and non-premium brand products. But overall, it was worth £10 plus a couple of quid postage.

I've subscribed for another two boxes so I'll reserve judgement until then.

I've since found two other similar services which I'm facing a daily battle not to subscribe to!

If you want to try, visit Glossybox via this Link  There's no commitment and you can cancel at any time.

Have you subscribed or cancelled?


What do you think is the best "monthly beauty box"?


Disclosure Notice:  I have not been contacted by Glossybox to undertake this review, nor have I received any goods free of charge.  

Three of the Best Online Time Savers

You know me, I'm all for saving time and I owe most of it to online resources that are ready set up to help me get a head start.

So, what do I use...?

Running a business involves far too much time consuming paperwork as far as I'm concerned so when it comes to running the household, everything has to be online.  It's quick, it's easy and I know where things are, no routing round at midnight looking for a bank statement!

One of the best online resources I have for storing information is Dropbox.  It can be used for sharing files but also storing information.  

I scan all our utility bills and shred the paper copies so a central point for storing everything is great for me.  Don't worry about people seeing your private information you can password protect files.

The other use for Dropbox is file sharing.  Rather than clog up your inbox with large documents, you can give permission for another Dropbox user to be able to see your file.  And an uncluttered Inbox is a time saver in itself!  

A two in one product and its Free!!  It's available on your PC and as an iPhone app.

Shopping is my next time eater.  Tesco's iphone app is fab for doing a big shop quickly.  

I used to spend about 90 minutes shopping online on my laptop.  Now I can open the app, go the favourites page and just scroll down adding what you need to your basket.

The app even shows you what's on offer.

I can now rattle off a weekly shop in about 20 minutes and that includes foolishly asking if anyone needs anything!

Again this is a free app available for the iPhone.

Both a Money and a Time Saver my next recommendation is Fridge Buddy. 

Unfortunately this is not a free iPhone app, it's £1.49 but its paid for itself in reminding me when food needs using up thus reducing our waste.

Basically you input what is in your fridge and freezer in to the app, how many days until it's out of date and it will remind you when to eat it.

The really clever thing about this app is that you can share your fridge with another user.  Ideal if your partner can't read your mind!  I input what the item is and then under the notes section, I put what it is to go with.  You can even take a picture of the food if you're so inclined.  

Once you have eaten it, just click, "I've eaten This" and it will ask how many portions have been eaten, so it will even track your leftovers!

This has saved my bacon several times when I assume there's still some frozen Bolognaise in the freezer from the last huge batch I have cooked.  I check the app at work, realise I'm wrong so I can make a plan B.

It can be a bit time consuming entering your fridge and freezer contents into the app.  It really does need to be done everytime you shop.  But if you have iPhone literate children, they're fab at it and love doing it!  

So, I hope this post has inspired you to get online to save time.  This post is inspired by the BritMums #BGSaveTime Linky, sponsored by British Gas.  To find out more online timesavers, search on Twitter with the hashtag #BGSaveTime for loads of links to loads of great resources.  And if you think you haven't got time - you have! - you'll save loads of time online now!!

Claire 

Meal Planning Monday

I've had a right few mad weeks so meals have been grabbed on the hoof.

But I'm back to being organised this week. It's a new month and I'm determined this one won't get the better of me. I will be organised and thrifty to the end!!

So..here's what I am determined to feed the family this week...

Monday: Roast Beef dinner with Yorkshire Puds*

Tuesday: Shepherds pie made with leftovers from Mondays Roast (yes, I know it's actually cottage pie)

Wednesday: Basa fish** chips, peas & corn on the cob

Thursday: Spaghetti Bolognaise from the freezer

Friday: takeaway as I think Saturday is a Hockey night

Saturday: chicken & veg pasta bake

Sunday: Chips, Egg & Beans

So, the stars..

* I saw Lesley Garrat on the ITV Saturday Cooking thing with Nadia Swahalahalha and she used to have Yorkshire Puds with raspberry vinegar on as a desert!!

** Basa is a lovely soft fish, ideal for the kids and only £1 per fillet!!! I buy Youngs lightly dusted Basa from Morrisons and stock up as its not usually available. Another cheap, soft, boneless fish is Vietnamese River Cobbler. Tesco usually have this in.

More meal planning inspiration can be found on At Home With Mrs M

Cowboy Casserole

Perfect for a Sunday when you want a dish you can prepare quickly and leave.

This can be made in the slow cooker or in the oven.

Serves 1 adult & 2 children

Ingredients:

6 Sausages
1 carton of passatta
Tin of baked beans
A Knorr Beef Stockpot (or other beef
Stockcube)
Half an onion chopped finely

Optional Ingredients:
Button mushrooms

Method:

Tip all the ingredients except the sausages into a casserole or your slow cooker.

Stir in the stock cube until mixed in

Brown the sausages in a pan slightly, not too much. If you want a soft sausage (!) just put them in raw.

Put the sausages in the casserole

Top up the liquid with water if the sausages are not covered.

Put a lid on it and cook for about an hour or for 6 hours on low in the slow cooker.

Serve with Champ or Bubble & Squeak

Enjoy!

Grazebox

Grazebox deliver little snacky boxes through the post. (they fit through the letterbox, fear not! You could always get it delivered to work)

I've read a few blog posts about the service, so thought I'd have a go and see what it's like.

This is what was in it..

A cashew nut, cranberry, raisin & choc button mix. Was delish!

Cheesy cashews & rice crackers. Nit delish at all in my opinion. Cashews are much better honey roast than cheesed.

Apple & Cinnamon flapjacks. As you would expect. Nice if you like flapjacks.

Firey seeds. I'm not a seed fan so gave these to mother. No report back as yet!

So, I know what you're thinking, Why would I buy a box with something I don't like in?

The box contents are kind of random but you can log onto the website and mark the selections you...

really don't want (bin)
Will try (try)
Like (like)
Would like more often (love)

It's a good service but quite a luxury one really. Those thrifty people amongst you could take inspiration from the site and make up your own boxes. (note to self: take inspiration from the site and make up boxes myself)

My first box was half price but I got a friend code so you can try for FREE!!

Just click go to www.graze.com and use the code 97NFJ4NA

It's definitely worth it for free, you can even pick which boxes you want using the LOVE option.

Disclosure: I have not been approached by www.grazebox.com to write this review nor have I received payment or goods for review purposes. I happened upon the service from reading other blog posts and I like getting things in the post!

Project Mortgage Payoff: Budgetting Spreadsheet

Well there's a title guaranteed NOT to be clicked on!!

But that's my starting point on shifting the millstone of my mortgage. After yesterday's post about my renewed enthusiasm, this is my first step to making changes.

So. (in a Will I Am fashion). I've downloaded a budget  spreadsheet from  www.moneysavingexpert.com and filled it in. I used the spreadsheet version so I don't have to be online to view it.  But there is an online version you can log in to as you wish.

My conclusion...reduce outgoings and increase incomings. Not rocket science and quite frankly, I knew that already.

So. How?

Well money god Martin Lewis always says pay off debt before you save. So good news for Next, you're first as I can pay you off in one go. How? By shopping at Aldi rather than getting my shopping delivered from Tesco. More about that in next Saturday's post.

For those with larger debts to pay off, a sensible and achievable amount is 10% on top of your monthly minimum payment. When I last payed off a credit card I paid..

Minimum monthly payment + the interest added that month + 10%

It made a massive difference.

And when you've paid it off, that amount can either be paid off your next debt or saved to pay off the mother of all debts - the mortgage.

So anyone with me so far?

The less daunted and still enthusiastic Claire