the baker's wife

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T08:01:00.003+11:00

I'm sitting in our little office at the back of the bakery. It's 8am on Christmas Eve and we are done.

Well, done but for the bread selling. The baker just left, after starting at 3pm yesterday afternoon (so that's 16 hours of baking). And I am here, having arrived to help at 1am. I'm trying to get away, but I'm waiting for some danish to freeze solid for a customer to bake their own while we are closed.

This is our first Christmas as small business owners. It has been a huge year, and we have dealt with so much, well out of our areas of expertise, I can't even think how we have done it. Even the baker said this week 'Wow, Christmas! I thought we'd be divorced by now!'. Thrilling that we aren't. Thrilling that we are still going. Daunting to wonder how we will do it for another year.

Some BIG business must do's in 2010
- hire and keep a baker with interest, talent and skills. They can provide them , or we will train!
- do my own books. It's not hard but for some reason I'm terrified of messing up the computer. The motivation is to keep the book keepers salary for myself!
- get the furniture, permits and staff I need to open the shop later and Sundays.
- better and more beautiful, creative baking. Can't wait to see what recipe books Santa brings...

Best wishes for the season.

christmas cards

2009-12-10T19:35:00.003+11:00

Tis the season and the christmas cards are rolling in fast. Collecting the cards this year has become a lovely part of the afternoon routine for my family- checking the letter box, bringing in the pile, opening the cards, talking about who they're from, what's on the front, why we don't have snow here at christmas...Cards are really helping build the Christmas momentum in our house.

However, since we own a business we are getting a lot of cards from people we deal with, suppliers and such. I have to say, a card from a business is not such a joy. Maybe I feel like this because our first card was from the broker who sold us the business (who gained about $5000 from the transaction) with whom we have had no contact since. Then a card came from the accountant's office, signed by everyone in the office. Which is nice, but currently we are still waiting on our tax figures from our 'swamped' accountant, but apparently she's busy signing christmas cards. Then a sales man who I deal with sporadically dropped in a card. But he was really only checking out what we are using and if there is a sales opportunity there.

I do realise that christmas is a massive marketing tool. Every business book recommends sending a christmas 'something' to your customer data base to remind them you exist. But isn't christmas supposed to be about something else? Family, friends, personal reflection during a sacred and spiritual time. It's not the best opportunity for people with whom you have an account to 'remind you they exist'. I get those reminders every month..

What about those who don't participate in Christmas? I have received nothing from my Indian drygood supplier, nothing from the Jewish papergoods people. What about the faux pas of sending them a card? In our multicultural world, it's potentially a very bad decision to use a religious holiday as a business opportunity. What say you on that, marketers?

So, I've decided that a business custom thank-you and New Year acknowledgement on the Christmas statement, along with our holiday trading hours is the most appropriate action for us. I'm comfortable with it and it's as sincere as I can be. Afterall, it's just business.

2009-12-07T19:18:00.002+11:00

Hey! A wonderful chef and his wife (with whom I have both worked) have just bought a restaurant. Yay! Congratulations to them and best wishes for a great start on their own.

It's called Colenso and it's in Woodend.

Check out the menu on their website www.colenso.com.au and pay attention to the Prix Fixe menu on Friday and Saturday nights. Gorgeous and great price too.

A lovely weekend away in a little B&B wth dinner and breakfast at Colenso might be just what the body needs.

FYI- Woodend is about 40mins from Melbourne at the foot of the Macedon ranges and the spa country (meaning not far from Daylesford).

food-centric tales

2009-12-07T19:08:00.003+11:00

Today playing chasey in the backyard, my son named himself the Gingerbread Man
(run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man,)
and he named the baker, his father, the Muffin Man.

Yes, absolutely, everything in our house revolves around baking. Yep, everything.

the cake

2009-12-06T21:05:00.003+11:00

Christmas cake is a very hard thing, both as a baker and an eater. I suppose, as with all food, it's about personal preferences. Dark or light? Heavy? Moist and crumbly? Nuts or not? Gross red cherry things or not? Boozy? Citrusy? Jammy, figgy puddin' cake?

I find it really hard to do christmas cake. The time and the cost make me hesitate, and then the recipe variations are too many. I've really yet to find my true cake, the one I would make every year forever. The christmas cake my grandchildren would remember me by. I'm still trying.

But, of course I had to make something for my customers. So we have cake. It has no butter in the recipe and heaps of soaked, boozy fruit. The cake is really just there to hold the fruit together. It's a nice cake, baked weeks ago and aged as it should be. I was worth it (the trouble, time, effort and stress), but I want better.

What's my perfect christmas cake? I think it is not light or dark, but a golden medium colour cake, with moist, juicy fruits of all kinds, even cherries. It also has walnuts and the fragrant hint of marzipan. It is crumbly and cakey, not a heavy fruity brick. And no white icing.

Once I made a marzipan fruit cake from a Nigella recipe I think it was. I'm searching it out now, for my second wind of christmas cakes in the bakery. I'll be doing a 'quick Christmas cake' for the last two weeks in December, a bit cheaper than the Christmas cake, because it's more a simple fruit cake. In fact that's probably where I'm going wrong in my quest. I'm reading Christmas cake recipes, when I really want to get myself a brilliant fruit cake recipe.

The same issues can arise when making fruit mince pies. But for me this is easier, because I know how I like my fruit mince pies to be and so I make them that way. Pastry with a bit of baking powder and egg, so it's cakey, light and soft. It creates a gentle pillow around the fruit and carries it beautifully into your mouth. And warmed with cream it's like a little sweet pudding from heaven.

But I've had criticism about my style of pies, from my very own household even. All I can say is there's no right or wrong, it's a preference. Shortcrust mince pies and light christmas cake are fine for some people, dark, heavy cake and soft pillow pies for others. I just hope I've got enough cuatomers who like my christmas style, and then enough pies and cakes for those who do!

betrayed

2009-11-26T19:40:00.003+11:00

Staffing is a constant, ongoing issue in the small business world.
Getting
1. the right people to
2. do the job you want them to do
3. for the money you can afford to pay them

is a multi-factor nightmare.

At the moment in my shop I have five people employed who fulfill one of the three criteria. I would not be alone in finding it difficult to secure the best people, since they rarely present for the jobs I have to offer.

So I have invested considerable time in getting my staff up to speed, on food safety, operating procedures, company policy, customer service goals, minimum acceptable work levels. Some of this stuff is so obvious, I really do loathe having to tell my staff about it. I get embarrassed when someone has not noticed something obvious that requires their attention because IT'S THEIR JOB.

I have one staff member who has pushed and pushed for more hours and changed work circumstances, and got everything she's asked for. Today I found out that she has handed her resume to a casual staff member to get assistance in looking for other work.

This is the first real conundrum for me as an employer. When I was an employee jumping from job to job with no loyalty was all part of hospitality work. It was one of the privileges of having skills to sell. Now as an employer, having it done to me is really shocking. For a start this employee does not have skills to sell. The time I have spent training, the effort I have made to give her the work she asked for, relegating other staff so she can get her hours, I expected a bit of loyalty, but no. I don't get loyalty or commitment or anything but a FU behind my back. I'm hurt and annoyed.

How do I react? Currently I have a useful person doing a consistent job. I need this in my business right now. And so far as the future, I had plans to offer her the full hours she wanted and develop my business with her as part of that core team. I don't want to do this now. But perhaps she's going looking because she doesn't know what I may to offer her. Perhaps she simply doesn't like the job.

I have another staff member who is a consistent but sloppy worker, and who cannot change her behaviours or attitude, as much as I coach her, encourage her, put up with her. Her attitude is the pits. She often comments that customers are being difficult (asking for things we sell, for crying out loud!), and she sneers at people. I have made a huge effort to train all staff about our bread so they can speak knowledgeably when serving, but listening to her talk to customers, she doesn't care. At all. I tolerate this because she turns up every day at 7am, 5 days a week and I need this in my business, because it's something I cannot do. Presently I'm desperately trying to find a way for her to exit the business. I'm sure she has no idea about this. So she will eventually feel betrayed for her loyalty, once she is aware of our plans.

Some of my problems are about communication. I am absolutely not good about confronting people in the moment or after a problem has passed, or taking people aside for a talk, pointing out failures, doing any of that 'one minute manager' stuff. And I need to, because putting up with the mediocre is costing me time, wages and the end result is my customers are affected, so my business is affected.

I often think about how I feel when people I know come into my shop. Mostly I'm embarrassed about the run down, dusty way it often looks, the grotty plates on display, the smeary glass and badly displayed (divinely delicious) bakery items. NO WAY should I feel like this, when I pay people to sort out these things. Shiny, clean glass, beautifully displayed food, with the correct name and price on them and happy, happy service is all we have going for us, and some days we do even have that...

These staff have gotta go.

stuff going slow

2009-11-23T19:10:00.003+11:00

Yesterday we went on a day trip to visit some friends in Romsey. It's great going there, so close but far enough out of town that you feel like you're in the bush. And you can smell the paddocks and mountains, not cars and traffic. You can even hear any cars and traffic. It rained the whole way there, which was pure joy.

These friends are chefs, and a visit there always involves a lovely eating experience. For those of you who are not chefs, this does not mean we get a multi course degustation, matched to wine. In my experience when chefs cook for chefs, the smart ones go simple, fresh and use the best. It's the best way to cook anyway and leaves you plenty of time to chat and gossip. We had braised chicken and rice followed by a tomato and cucumber salad with some amazing, creamy feta that turned this simple dish into a luxurious lunch finale.

Well, lunch was being prepared when we got there and from a cupboard appeared something I haven't seen in ages- a pressure cooker. Saucepan style, handles that clip together and a little steam whistler on top. My children and I perched at the end of the kitchen bench watching that contraption whistle like a train, mesmerised. Lest it be said that our braised chicken was ready within the hour, tender and bone meltingly sweet and soft.

I decided right then that I have been stupid all this time, and I'm gettin' me a pressure cooker. Stuff your slow braised, 8 hour, overnight anything. The environmental impact of running the oven on 70 degrees for 12 hours for your pork belly or even just running the electric slow cooker overnight ..well, it flies in the face of current energy consumption directives.

That aside, the major factor influencing my home cooking currently is time. Most days I have less than 20 minutes to get a meal on the table and I rarely have the energy to get organised the night before. If I eat pasta more than once a fortnight I go spare, it's never enough of a meal for me, I actually get why Italians have it as an entree. A baby in the house means stir fry is off the menu for a while (regardless of what the baby books say about finger foods, crunchy veg and the joys of mopping noodles off the floor, I'm not doing it.)

But with a miraculous pressure cooker, I can have my usual go-to dishes, faster. Braised chicken and lentils, lamb and potatoes, even bean soups are go. And when I've run out of ideas, I'll just cruise the cookbook section of the op shop. Once I've picked through the microwave cooking and the 'Taste for Life' anthologies, I can see some gems being unearthed there. Can I do creamed rice in it? Wouldn't that take like, 4 minutes? Imagine how fast I could get a bolognese out of there, for sure. Gosh, I could throw together the meat sauce at the same time as the bechamel and have lasagne ready in an hour. That could save my marriage.

Hold me back, I'm off shopping....

2009-11-20T19:51:00.003+11:00

Hello. In the spirit on NOBLOPOMO (blogger challenge month to post every day) I thought I'd head over here and give a bit back. Reading other stories all the time feels so take, take, take.

To catch up those wondering what's been happening, I am flat out being the baker's wife at the moment, and for the past months. Our staffing crisis has not been averted and so I find myself doing a whole lot more than what I'd ever intended. Anyone with Human Resources advice better than 'make up a manual and give them warnings' feel free to drop a line...

Lucien turned one in October, which was the highlight of the month. My russian shop hand made his cake, a magnificent creation called a 'russian honey cake'. It was layers of ginger/honey biscuit sandwiched with sour cream and walnuts in layers, like a chocolate ripple cake the size of a plate. It was beautiful. Lu was especially impressed and stuck his long baby finger straight into the creamy mass, ignoring the candle, which Gabriel was trying to blow out from two metres away. Which means he was spitting on it cake from a distance. Wonderful.

Our vege garden is going gangbusters, thanks to that fantastic rain, and even today enough of a spattering to stop me having to water it. Gabs is so proud, he walks along and names all the veges and is constantly sticking things in the soil telling me it's 'to keep the mozzies away from our vegies,'.

So that's our brief update. I'll be back here sooner than last time I hope, but no promises.

2009-09-10T19:50:00.002+10:00

Wow, I didn't realise I'd dropped off the radar for that long.

This all consuming life of small business and children continues to swallow us up. But things are improving. We are almost fully staffed in the bakery now, and everyone seems to be chugging along happily.

We took a week to do some maintenance and recover ourselves before the next big onslaught. A well deserved break away from thinking non-stop about our business. But now there is fall out about that time away. I'm dealing with customers who may be lost, who were angry about not being able to get bread for a week and want us to know it. Even though I gave them notice, verbal and written.

Will I always be a slave to these customers? When will I be master of my own destiny? Is this the capitalist punishment? Subject to the whims of the market and forever on edge? Feeling like we could never close again for fear of our livelihood? What are the alternatives?

Before I forget them, this is my list of the joys of having a week off:

-all the boys in the big bed, wriggling, jiggling and giggling while I growl and grumble

-family breakfasts of 'dippy eggs' and endless piles of toast and jam, with kids playing cars around the kitchen table.

-tickles and giggling and not having the tele on at all because we are so busy playing and running and reading and doing, together.

-dozy, snoozy afternoons, hot milo and bikkies.

-being able to talk to each other all day and all night.

-going to dinner at a friends restaurant and tasting the love in the food.

-remembering that we love food too, and there is a reason we are doing all this.

-being so thrilled and rested and inspired after a week off, I baked a gateau basque and it was beautiful.

I'll be back again, sooner than last time....

the garden

2009-08-08T19:41:00.002+10:00

This weekend we are working on putting in the vege garden.

Determined not to let our business completely rule our lives I am pushing to have something to do while at home with the boys. Outside, making messes and having fun. Because there are lots of parts of life that aren't fun and don't involve happy play time with Mum at the moment and this MUST change.

Vege garden, chooks and plenty to keep two boys busy.

two plates and a knife

2009-08-06T19:29:00.005+10:00

There is a type of customer out there who drives me nuts.

They are a pair of women, over 65. They are smart casual dressed, in well pressed pant suit. You do know what I mean. Uptight doesn't even begin to describe them.

They come in and proceed to order. One coffee each, and one sweet item to share. Two plates and a knife please. And they sit and sit and sit with their purchase of under $10 between them.

They will complain about the service. The waiters can spot them a mile away and they know these low spend table sitters do not tip, so they won't bother with them.

What makes me nuts is why can't they just buy something each to share. Then you can taste two freshly baked goodies. You came out anyway. What's the point of a coming all this way for coffee and half a bun?

I know that being a food person means that I want to eat. I am interested in how food tastes, what tastes good, where I can get it and who makes it. I eat without concern for cholesterol, vitamin content, weight gain or guilt. I know other people do not do this. They go through life on a quest for fibre and fish oils, grappling with their desires, struggling to suppress the urge for mud cake and croissant.

Until they're 65 and sitting in a cafe on a decaf soy latte, trying to saw a monte carlo in half. What a shame.

gen y need not apply

2009-08-04T21:02:00.004+10:00

A long term staff member of ours left today, as in quit. No notice, no warning, no explanation.

How can he do this? No, that's not an indignant, self pitying 'How can he do this to us?' question. I mean how can he just decide one day that he's no longer going to work? What of his own responsibilities?

Well since he's a gen y, he's still living at home with Mum and Dad well into his late 20's. Having his ego massaged, being told he's a golden child, no need to stress your self daahlink. So he can quit his job without worrying about making the rent or paying his bills or having to feed himself. That's all being done for him. He's so comfortable, he can just quit and mooch around home, having his washing done and playing the Wii until he feels like working again.

Gen Y may have been told they are on the path to milk and honey, the best jobs for the most money are coming their way. And it may be true, but gen y are not going to conquer the world with all their wealth, because they are going to starve to death once their boomer parents die.
Like Aztecs, this golden age generation will just disappear. And the rest of us will be like 'oh yeah, remeber those little f**ers, geez thank god they're gone, weren't they a waste of time...'

We aren't pissed that you've left, loser, it's that you gave no notice. Even one week would have been enough. But no, just the walk out. Hard to believe someone could be so short sighted. Quitting does not bode well for a decent reference, does it?

in the Queen's english

2009-08-04T19:22:00.003+10:00

Advertising for staff avails me of some spectacular and extraordinary resumes. Here are some highlights of what I have been reading lately...

Potential employees assert that they possess the following qualities-

Willingness to sacrifice pleasure and rest for the sake of work. (! I love this candidate!)
Profound knowledge of the hazards of institutional baking work and ability to observe adequate safety precautions.
Remarkable ability to operate bakery equipment and to plan and maintain the required production.
In-depth ability to assist in the instruction and supervision of others in baking operations.
Uncommon ability to work under conditions of high temperatures. (Instant connection here, since I too possess this uncommon quality.)
Have a quality to give presentations and convince and motivate masses through effective communication and knowledge.

and to win me over..
I would be more than honoured to work in your esteemed organisation and give a dedicated and unmatched service to the best of my potential, if and only if given an opportunity.
or a last ditch attempt..
we are 2 guys looking for this job we have a car and we are avilable.

You know what? I started this post because I thought it was amusing. I have read so many emails and resumes, all but begging me for work in twisted, funny student english, in bad, should-know-better, Aussie english. People doing their utmost to convince me that they can do this job and are willing to write anything to get a go. But right now, it's making me sad.

Resumes, however lacking do build a picture of someone, and so many of my applicants obviously have aspirations in other fields. Microbiology graduates, aeronautical engineering graduates, people with real qualifications and genuine intelligence attempting to build life here, starting off by baking.

Yes, baking does require intelligence, commitment, grunt and sweat. I know some of you out there can do this job. But why? Doesn't this country need micro biologists and aeronautical engineers as well?

Please lord, just send me some bakers and find jobs for the others as well.

nothings..

2009-07-29T19:38:00.004+10:00

Today I was thinking, isn't it funny that when I watch the Movie Show I rarely feel the need to see the movie anymore, but when I watch First Tuesday Bookclub I still want to read the books?

And when I watched Masterchef I yelled at the television all the time, but now it's gone, I miss it.

my Lou

2009-07-28T20:18:00.006+10:00

I finally found a moment to take Lucien to the Health Nurse for his 6-8 month check up. At nine months old (yikes!). Obviously I wasn't worried about his development in any way. Have a look at the photo, he's a baby, plus, plus.

We it's actually official now. He is a champion baby. Because we hadn't spent much time around other babies, I'd totally lost my judgement about his size and heft. But the nurse confirmed my suspicions today. His weight is average for a 12 month old and his height and head circumference is average for a 15 month old! At nine months! Go Lou!

People had commented on how big he is, and my line was usually something about him having taken an evolutionary leap, and with us being tall and all....Now I have some stats to thrill them with.

This week he has mastered crawling and zooms over to me whenever I appear. The new mobility has borne new attitude too and he's constantly tussling with Gabriel and growling at him when he can't get what he wants. Good on you Lou, my nugget champion.

a medal

2009-07-27T20:08:00.004+10:00

Very early this morning I had one of those parenting experiences that should earn you a badge of honour for service to the infant community.

Lucien has a cold- blocked nose, phlegmy cough, generally annoyed. No temperature, so he's not dopey or too unhappy. But he is unwell, and this cold has his throat on a hair trigger. When he woke for his usual 5am bottle he guzzled it down, then sat up, coughed and threw it all up, all over me and himself and the couch.

No matter, I changed him, wiped the couch and got new pyjamas on myself. Then he sat up on my knee, burped and followed through with a huge vomit, again. So I changed him, wiped off the couch, changed me and I brought him into my bed to snuggle down and snooze until dawn.

In my bed, he coughed, it caught in his throat and heave ho, away we go again. Yep, threw up all on my bed, the doona, my last clean pyjama/t-shirt and himself. Again. Bugger. I never knew 240mls could stretch so far.

So I stripped the bed, made it fresh, found the last clean item he had to wear, dug out my year 12 school t-shirt (like, the bottom, bottom of the wardrobe pile) and at 6.05 we finally snuggled in. I had been awake and changing clothes for an hour. At 6.25 Gabriel woke and could not be tricked into going back to sleep, Lucien could not be settled either and so we began the day. It's a tough morning, let me tell you. For a start the washing pile is already half a metre high!

Only when I'm flagging at 8pm in the evening and berating myself for not getting on top of everything I need to do before the next day do I remember. 'Oh yeah, you have been awake since 5am. Time for bed, brainiac."

It wasn't a particularly gross ordeal, nor stressful, Louie wasn't screaming or distressed. Last night was not really badge of honour stuff like midnight rushes to casualty or like when 3am gastro strikes. It's just sometimes I wish I wasn't doing this alone. Right now, in particular, this morning, I wanted a helper. A husband who was home to share part of this burden with me, just someone else to help. But we always want what we can't have, right? This is the lot of the baker's wife.

the gen y problem

2009-07-24T20:03:00.000+10:00

We are currently hiring staff for the bakery. The key position we are trialling for is a second baker. It's really, really hard to find the right person. Our bakery is a very small family business and this is our first big appointment. It's really personal to us. This new employee will be eating from our food bowl, if you get me. They are a significant part of us. No drongos, no drug addicts, no baggage please. You can see we are going to have a problem.

So far we have had responses from bakers with significant amounts of experience (15-20 years), or international students with a baking training qualification (the course runs one month) and a masters degree in IT. The first group is over qualified. They can do everything and so want more than $1000 a week. We cannot afford them. Apparently no one can, they're looking for work. The second group are working for their residency visa and I suspect they may lack the conviction necessary to work at our bakery. We are serious bakers. We think our bread is very important.

We actually need a young, unattached, qualified baker with about 5 years experience. Someone ready to climb the ladder to success, have a shot at the title. But we have had this person in too, and they also did not work out. Why? Two words. Gen Y.

It wasn't until I started bleating on to my friends about what a disaster this gen Y kid was that I discovered I was up against a cultural phenomenon. My experience is a shared one. There are HR and management essays, whole courses devoted to the hiring and handling of gen Y! The further I have delved, the more I understand them. No that's not true, I absolutely do not understand gen Y. But I can recognise the symptoms of being one.

Here's some tips on spotting a gen y, and this is not a spoof..
-intense focus on their feelings, need to discuss how they feel about stuff
-exaggerated sense of the importance of their opinion, lack of sense of when it is appropriate to express it.
-exaggerated sense of entitlement, they want the best position for the best money.
-Gen Y are the 'training' generation, so they have little regard for the importance of demonstrated skills and experience. Afterall they did pay to do the course. Also remember, they are the generation who have never heard the word fail, never got a graded (A-F) school report, were always let down gently by their educators, given extensions, re-sits, special consideration. Attendance at school was enough for gen y to pass. Sorry, not pass. To obtain a grade of 'satisfactory'.
-they lack 'persona'. This is a bit of management training jargon from a friend of mine. It means gen Y's don't get that you wouldn't speak to your boss the same way you speak to your friends. As an employer you will hear about their full on weekend, what they are planning for their next 'sick' weekend and probably why they'll need a sickie in the near future.

That's a few pointers. However, now I can recognise them, I have absolutely no idea about what to do with these people. I want to hire them, they could be the future of my business. But they all seem to be so unwilling to commit to anything, they can't tell me what they want to be doing in six weeks, let alone longer term (for god's sake people, when an employer asks you a long term goal question, lie! Develop your persona! I'm not going to hire you if I think you're just going to work until you can afford your next trip too Byron Bay.) One foot out the door, always looking over their shoulder for the better opportunity that they all think is coming. The attitude sucks.

Hiring in the current day- oldies, internationals or gen y. And they say it's an employers market!

time is everything

2009-07-23T19:43:00.000+10:00

Since our life changed so dramatically recently, there have been some big adjustments to be made.
I was the most exhausted I have ever, ever been, living in a funk but still expecting to be able to make difficult decisions and maintain our former life while in the first months of running a busy but struggling small business, with no experience and limited access to resources. Many, many things gave way under the pressure. Cooking and cleaning were the first to go.

Now we are six months on and I have had a chance to get my head back. Every aspect of how we live has been examined and evaluated. Mainly because the baker is flat chat baking at the moment, so everything else falls to me, and I am but one person. Home and garden, children, paperwork, phone calls, extended family contact, managing the bakery shop, banking, meetings, sales calls......there is only so much one can do, whilst trying to maintain a breastfeeding regime and get a teeny bit of broken sleep.

Thankfully I have equally as busy friends who can offer some great advice. Recently on this blog , some terrific time/food/family management ideas were posted and actually managed to implement some of them. As my kids get older and the baker is home a bit more, other tips will come in real handy (like getting the baker to cook or clean!)

Then another wonderful web cruiser sent me this link and life became easier still.

So this post is for those who need a but of help. Everyone actually.

Blogging recommenced!

2009-07-22T19:43:00.000+10:00

Oh my goodness. Yes, I'm back. Well, it's only been what, 9 or so months since I last posted. Surely some of you out there are still checking in with me?! Thanks if you are!!

I see from the last post that you are waiting patiently to find out all about my baby. Well he did arrive, and so much more I'm going to give you the abridged version so we can get on with the real business of blogging.

So, on the 29th October last year Lucien Robert arrived. A beautiful, huge baby rushed into the world (truly, waters broke at 9:50 pm, he was born at 11:30pm. Phew!) and commenced his delightful reign over our lives.

Two weeks later we learned that the business the baker works in was for sale. Interesting. And if it could not be sold by Christmas, the owner would close and everyone would be out of a job. Hmmm. Alarming.

So we tootled off to the bank, baby tucked under one arm, financial history under the other, and by January we were business owners. Yes! A bakery of our very own.

I'm hoping you can see now where the last nine months have disappeared to. Three months of new baby and harrowing business purchase negotiations then without a pause the running of our own business, with two children and seriously mortgaged. Things got real interesting...

I've decided that the focus of my blog is going to be about the business. Previously it was about saving money as a home maker. Now I'm going to talk about business making as a home maker. What we have learnt in the past six months I never, ever read in any small business books, nor was there any mentor who could help us with the serious decisions we faced everyday, and still do face.

This is of course the first lesson of owning your own business- no one is going to tell you how to run it. There's no management manual, no book of accounting, no decision making checklist.

The point is, I talk to my hospitality friends who run businesses, I talk to accountants and lawyers, to people who advise big business, but a guide about owning a hospitality business is difficult to find. Perhaps we can build one together.

I'll also be posting about my family and stuff I cook, since that's really what I'm comfortable talking about. So keep checking in. I'll do my utmost to reward your interest!

wiling away the hours

2008-10-06T00:39:00.000+11:00

Blogging at 12.48am, due to my inability to sleep comfortably anymore. Only 18 days to go now. This has been a funny week. Since the new kitchen was successfully completed (hooray for my DIY champ husband!) I have a little more free time in my day, and have been musing on life little issues...

-daylight savings was something I loved before I had a child. It really is a thrill for those who like long evenings and alfresco eating, or who have dogs to walk along the beach at sunset, or who aren't as uptight about adhering to routines as I am. Now, it's a bit of a pain. The day is already long enough, having started at 6am. Come chat with me in a few years time, and I'll probably be loving the light again. Today I just want him to go to bed at the usual time.

-acupuncture is a brilliant thing. I will not stop saying this. If you have anything bothering you, from a cough to pregnancy, go see an acupuncturist.

-my friend from the city brings me this awesome honey, with brilliant flavour, intense, like rosemary and blossom nectar. Collected from his own hives by a little man, it seems to be unprocessed, so is super bacterial and healthy. The joke is that she gets it in Clifton Hill, but it is harvested down here, in Sorrento and cannot be bought anywhere BUT her little store Clifton Hill. Talk about your food miles...

- Yet again I find myself annoyed at tradespeople. Mechanics, currently. Our red car has really died, but not before we spent considerable money attempting to save it. I have an inkling that responsibility for it's problems may rest at the feet of our mechanic, who failed adequately diagnose the initial issue. But he seems to put it all down to luck, as in our bad luck. Where to from here? Then the whipper-snipper we just has serviced is conking out exactly like before, and under inspection the baker found a little hole in a part that probably should have been detected by those servicing the thing. Shouldn't it? So now it has to go back. Time and effort and money wasted, again. Why can't they do the job properly first time?

- we have spent so much time in Bunnings now, that I can spot their stuff in other people's houses. Like my Mum's house could easily be the house that Bunnings built, like ours is becoming. Doors, kitchen, even the bin in the bathroom I recognise. The issue here is that I need to spend time somewhere else, doing something else..

for pumpkin season

2008-10-05T00:12:00.000+10:00

I have just made a wonderful pumpkin cake, and since we are coming up to the time for cheap, abundant pumpkins, I want to share it. It's a great one for kids, not because of the pumpkin, but because it's quite low in fat and sugar, yet is sweet and moist. Thank-you must go to Gabriel Gate.

Grease a 20-22cm loaf tin and set the oven to 180c.

Steam 200g pumpkin to soft and allow to cool.

Using a food processor or beater, cream 60g butter, 1/4c caster sugar and the zest of an orange to light an fluffy.
Add two eggs then mashed pumpkin and 1/4c milk.
Add 2c wholemeal self-raising flour, 1/4c each of chopped almonds and walnuts (the finer the better, you end up with a cake the texture of flourless orange cake, quite dense) and 1/2 c chopped dates. I also added 1/2t cinnamon and 1t vanilla.

Pour into tin and bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool for 10 mins before unmoulding onto a cake rack.
Enjoy.

For those new to my recipes, 'c' means cup, 't' means teaspoon.

My lack of photos is annoying me, the problem being that our computer is too full to load on anymore. I'll see what I can do tomorrow. Then, if there's any left, you can see this golden, lovely cake and desire to cook it yourself!

the beginning of something new

2008-09-27T10:03:00.000+10:00

My baby (not really, he's 18 months now!) is having his first sleepover at Nanny's house tonight. I'm so excited. Probably because he woke us at 5am this morning and could not be tricked into having another snooze, so breakfast was at 5:40am instead of the usual 6:30-7am. But not tomorrow, sonny jim. Ha ha!

I do believe that with your children you have to be 'ready' to do something, like leaving them with others for the first time, pushing their limits and your own trying by something new. Others will encourage and push you to do things- my Mum was all set for us to go to a large family gathering at a restaurant when he was 2 weeks old, which I was not doing at all. And I was glad we didn't go because I wasn't ready to tackle that scenario. But with this sleepover I am totally ready. I thought to myself this morning that I will feel no guilt at all leaving someone else to cope with him for one night and morning. So I must be ready. Because if there's one thing I am it's a guilt ridden mother. Especially about leaving him. But he so loves it with my family and he sleeps most of the night, so what is there to worry about?

Now if only we had a bathtub to luxuriate in, my evening would have been perfect.....And for sure I'll be awake by 6:30am anyway, but ooohh, not having to get up is a secret thrill. And not being woken up by the sound of someone whining and grizzling is another secret pleasure. And I'm saving the good parts of the paper to read with my hot cup of tea at breakfast. Without having to sing Wiggles or Bananas tunes. Oh, the life I miss!

my decree

2008-09-25T08:18:00.000+10:00

My kitchen has disappeared, temporarily. We are building a new one this weekend, but the plumbing comes first, then cabinets, then life goes on.

What shocked me was how much I had crammed into my second and third drawers in the short time we have lived here. I chucked out so much detritus, and it has only accumulated in three months! I knew I was cramming stuff in there, but I couldn't see why, and then I had to unload it all and voila! All was clear.

You must do this too. Go to that drawer that you just keep stuffing crap into, even if it's your socks or undies drawer, and pull it out. Find out why it's so full, and free yourself. I reckon I'm going to do this at least twice a year from now on. Because amongst the detritus there was gold too.........

the organic thing

2008-09-25T01:41:00.000+10:00

On the 5th Sept the government announced compulsory unit pricing in all supermarkets. Hooray! Those of you who follow this blog closely will know that I am a huge advocate of this price labelling system, which I have seen around Europe and the UK but thought we'd never get here, such is our retailers dislike of competition and fairness for consumers...

And, as with the way of the world, you put something out there and the universe sends something back. Since announcing our push towards organic life I have found two great articles concerning this matter. One from our brilliant friends at Choice, surveying and reviewing organic foods. This was very interesting reading. I loved finding that I don't have to watch out for potatoes and that we should all watch out for our information sources. The UK/European research does not always apply directly to us, since we have different rules and circumstances, especially concerning production of meat.

The other was this article from my beloved Guardian.

It's a bit of homework for you if you are interested.

Overdue

2008-09-22T02:40:00.000+10:00

Thank-you, kind friends, for checking in and sticking with me! I hate starting off with apologies, but nearly two months since a post is just unforgivable. I am sorry to have neglected my duties as a blogger and have resolved again to try harder. In reference to the last post, we got sicker before we got better, there was much blubbering on the couch before we recovered. I found rejuvenation through acupuncture, which has helped immensely both with my sciatica and chesty cold. I think I'm the best that can be expected one month from my next due date. I feel much, much better, and am my mobile, agile self again.

Trying a bit harder at blogging involves squeezing more from my day and at this stage that seems like a huge task. My list of 'must do's' is as long as my arm including 'clear out and set up the baby's room', 'organise self for hospital stay and G for sleep-overs at Nanny's house,' along with the dumb things that I've let slide like changing addresses after we moved, cancelling redundant bank accounts, tax and related book-keeeping chores. No small tasks these, and yet the time to do it just escapes me.

I can't see why, since G, my darling, 18month old first born has adjusted to daylight savings before it's actually begun, and is now waking at 6am. I preferred it when he woke at 7. We were able to trick him by resettling him in our bed and getting another hour of peace. Not so any more. He's awake, he's hungry and he will not lie still. Up we get. By 9am it feels like the day is half over, when it's only just begun, and we still have 2 hours until sleep time (of one hour only, argh!), and then another six or so hours to fill. But by the time we do morning things, go to the library/pool/toy library/food shopping, snack, sleep, lunch, play, wake Dad and prepare dinner, it's 4:30, I'm knackered and it's time to wind up for the day. It is a relentless day, without relief.

But the upshot of early rising and my feeling better is that we have been spending quality morning time in the garden. G loves to 'help' and we have the makings of good vege patch and many, many strawberries coming this summer. We have put in a forest of aloe along the shady side of the house, and are hoping that they will love the crappy, dry soil and conditions there. My compost is humming, our lemon trees have taken root for future years of joy and I am very happy about it all. Just waiting to put in the tomatoes and basil, but we'll have to accomplish that post-new baby.

Another hurdle we've faced during my two month blogging hiatus was my Dad being diagnosed with cancer in his tongue and jaw (no, he's not a smoker, actually, just unlucky). Well, Mum and Dad's life has become a circus of hospital and specialist appointments with day long stints in waiting rooms and Dad is just home from almost a month in hospital after an horrific operation to remove the cancer and repair his mouth. He is not the man we sent in there. That man was mobile, agile, vibrant and just had a callous on his tongue that bothered him a bit. The new Dad looks like he was hit by a truck, bewildered by everything that's happened in the past month alone, and having actually survived this unbelievable operation, is now facing radiation therapy and chemo to finish all this business off, we hope and pray.

We've had to adjust to this life quickly. I went from having them as the other main carers for G to being a part of their care-sharing regime (one of my sister's is intellectually disabled, lives at home and needs a certain level of supervision most of the time, and my grand-mother is 82 and living alone with degrees of success.) Helping with this, where we could, was not an issue, at all, as family is family, of course, you know.

In terms of my life, it just means I've had less time to get to that 'must do' list, and much less time to blog. Furthermore, my mother-in-law, another helper for me, has just jetted off to Europe for six weeks.

Oh, and I decided that I must have to kitchen finished before the baby comes, so this weekend we are demolishing the cabinets and building new, shiny flatpack ones, chiselling the tiles off the walls, doing the electrics, and having a dishwasher installed. I suppose it's one less thing on the 'to do' list. It means that other stuff isn't getting done since I'm emptying and storing the existing cabinets of their contents, holding panels for drilling and generally fretting about whether or not we can pull it off. We have limited DIY experience and this project is an expensive one to cut your teeth on!

So, well, that's us in an short update. There will be more, and sooner than later, so stay with me!

falling to bits

2008-07-31T08:13:00.000+10:00

What a shocker. We are falling to bits in this house. No, not the house, the inhabitants. How did it get this way? We are on a super health drive!

Well, it started when I spent last Sunday dutifully washing up at work and since it wasn't busy, I was in the sink for about three hours. Three hours, pregnant and hunched over.

So by about 5pm I was hobbling and the next day I couldn't walk. Or the next. Sciatica, and still 12 weeks out from having this baby. In the words of my chiro- we are going to be battling this for the next 12 weeks. Which reduced me to tears, since I need to bend and carry and can't even barely stand and most certainly can't take to my bed for hours, since I have a 16 month old. I knew this would happen, as I suffered the same thing towards the end of my last pregnancy, but not with 3 months still to go. Grr.

But the baby boy is struggling even worse than that. Last week he got his first childhood illness- foot, hand and mouth disease, then came through that to develop a snuffly nose this week. He capped this off yesterday by dropping a heavy wooden chair straight on his big toe and smashing it. Blood, screaming, swelling, writhing, blood. It was really awful. But it's mostly ok- not broken or needing stitches, just fat and blue.

So he and I are both hobbling, he's sneezing and dribbling, I'm intermittently crying from tiredness or pain, since G's ailments are waking him up so no one is sleeping properly and we are a big old mess.

Thank goodness for the baker, who can still bend to do the bath, lift the rubbish bin and not complain when I'm complaining too much and have eaten all the chocolate gelato from the freezer. What a soldier.

organics revisited

2008-07-29T14:07:00.000+10:00

Just a note about our mission to be predominantly organic. It's really disrupted the budget. I'm now back to my old habits of trying to find the best and cheapest, but this time organic and some of it is a bit shocking. I never really believed that organic was so much more expensive, I always thought it was just a bit more. A tin of tomatoes, the cupboard staple for us, regular, from 55c to 99c. Organic, $1.67 or more. Three times the price. Milk, regular, 2 litre, $2.80-$3.50, organic, $4.98- $5.33. This is really putting me to the test.

2008-07-27T09:35:00.000+10:00

I am loathe to admit this but there is a void in my day since Big Brother finished. And I wasn't even a big fan. But for my half an hour wind down, after the baker has gone to work and I've put G to bed, the pointless machinations of the people in that program were lite and distracting.

I wish Bridgette or Nobby had won. Unhinged people are funny. Battlers are not. And I just know channel 9 is going to mess it up.

feed me

2008-07-26T07:46:00.000+10:00

Feeding a toddler is fun and tricky. Or not fun and distressing. Sometimes it's fun and distressing at the same time. Timing is everything, as is repetition. It's a learned skill and something I'll probably obsess over forever.

I know that it's tricky, not only because of my own experience, but because I browsed 'kid's food' at the library and found just how much has been written about this issue. It's serious. I left with three books, just as a starter! And then there's what I find online.

I read a bit when G first started on solids and have topped up my reading when my motivation has been low or I've found myself at the end of my tether with a baby who goes for days on only avocado, sultanas and yoghurt. It's a huge topic to cover, with nutrition, fussiness, development, and then the massive allergy issues. Something I know our parents really didn't worry so much about. 'Peanut butter and eggs for everyone! Soy? Isn't that for dim-sims?'

But my interest in food and nutrition was re-invigorated recently. I was having a guilty moment, reflecting on how much my unborn baby has been ignored during house preparations while I considered the detrimental impact of the chemicals I had been practically bathing in for two weeks. What was I thinking? Bleach, sugar soap, paint, carpet chemicals, metho, caustic, all being processed by my body into that of the tiny foetus inside me. I still shudder thinking about it.

I decided I had to take some steps to right my potential wrongs. I was worn down, dry, wrung out and felt yukky. Imagine how G and that poor baby were feeling! But where to start? I had taken loan of a book from my bosses wife, an avid 'natural' mum. This book I knew of before, but I had only glanced it's way, as it seemed a bit too full on for me.

Anyway, I read it and found it wasn't so radical, afterall. Through this chiroprators advice I could see a way to making changes that could benefit the whole family, back-up our commitment to our health and well-being without having to immediately strip back our whole life and start again. Me and my babies would feel better.

Firstly, organic. As much as I can get where we are. I started with the chemicals. As I may have said before, I am a devout, passionate enjo user, so we don't have any household cleaners anyway. But my hands were still shredded from all the washing with detergent, and that stuff is not the purest I can buy. Switch. Same for the body and baby washes. Organic, phosphate free etc. G's skin is already improving and I feel better about it, if nothing else. As other things of this type run out I'll simply be replacing them with the pure stuff. Washing powder all switched, with no bother since I hated the fumes from regular powders anyway.

Then to the kitchen. Organic milk was simple to get. Yoghurt ditto. It stretched the bakers brain to accomodate the cost, since I'd been so pro-cost cutting, but I just looked at him like 'we HAVE to, ok?' and he hasn't said much about it since. But I'll tell you what I've noticed- regular milk stinks to me now. I'd rather have black tea. Revelation. I have also sought out alternative cheeses- sheep's milk and goat's- to vary our dairy consumption. It was easier than I thought. Pecorino is a great sub for parmesan, in fact a bit sharper if you like that, and goat's cheese comes from spreadable through to hard, so there's enormous choice. And the sheep's feta (from Bulgaria) is so tangy and delicious, a better accompaniment for my avocado on toast diet cannot be found!

Then the other switches I've made have involved seeking out alternative grain/wheat/flour sources. Not just organic, but different flour, to vary our diet and displace a bit of our white flour consumption. Millet flour, buckwheat, quinoa and rolled barley (like oats) have all found a place in our cupboard without a hitch. When I've been baking I go half/half flour substitution, without much difference, except for the flavour. Millet flour has a mild flavour, while buckwheat can be quite overpowering for some things. Fine for adding flavour to plain baking (scones, pikelets, fritter batters) but where there are other ingredients, like nuts, fruits or chocolate, it can over-ride those easily. Which just makes your cake taste funny. And the gluten in these flours (or lack of) can really mess your recipes up. A case of try it and see, and make sure you write down what you did. Or like me, you'll forget and forever be testing recipes!

In some cases I didn't even have to seek out 'special' foods. For many foods it was as simple as reading the ingredients list. Stupid, I know, but a bag of sultanas HAS an ingredients list, since it's not just sultanas in there, but often oil and sometimes a preservative of some kind, like sulphur dioxide. It's very common, such that you'd think it was normal, but if you look hard enough, you can find natural sultanas with nothing else, in the supermarket. Dates too. Apricots and figs you may have to hit the healthfood shop for. It's worth thinking about if you are concerned about food sensitivities and your toddler. Once again I am struck- cooking for yourself from basic ingredients will always win out, cost and healthwise. So why are our supermarket aisles choc-a-block full of crap?

I'm seeking out organic meats. I think contacts must be made through the local farmers market. Vegies is a tricky one, since I'm so addicted to my home delivery box, and it's such good value. I have made a commitment to get our own organic garden going, so we can supplement with 'own grown' delights.

Making these changes was so simple, in terms of finding alternatives easily in supermarkets and healthfood shops locally. But the choice to do so covers so many issues I shan't be going into it here. I can feel the personal hysteria bubbling below the surface. From farming techniques, processing and transport, sale and cost, across the spectrum of mass food production issues to an individuals health preferences and lifestyle aspirations, the choice to try and be more natural and organic is political, environmental and personal. I know about all these things, but for me, it's about health and well-being, vitality and simplicity. While meeting the budget, that is!

Funny what happens. I was just trying to find something to feed my toddler!

What's been going on?

2008-07-25T10:33:00.000+10:00

Behold, where once there was a kitchen, now there is none. And from behind ancient wood panelling a door appeared. Then came the wallpaper revelation and the saga of removing the thirty year old wallpaper.
Gobbing great streaks of liquid nails on the dappled concrete walls. Rotting lino. The kitchen bench sitting in the middle of the room. A baker with a heavy heart.
The pregnant lady on a ladder. Shouldn't somebody have done something?!?
But then, it was cleaned. And all painted. And the floors went down. And it was ok.

There is a mania that occurs, for me, anyway, when you move house. It comes through not being organised, and living in a muddle of boxes and spending all your time getting everything 'the way it should be', instead of maintaining a decent and balanced lifestyle.

Usually I have it all sorted within a week or so and life goes on. But this time it's different. Living with a toddler demands good organisation- you can't be hunting for a pan and shuffling about for the grater when it's lunch time. It's LUNCHTIME. That's what they demand. So the speed with which I have been able to settle in has been halved, since a lot of my day is planning and preparing for a toddlers needs and then having to go out and do things with him, since a house full of boxes is too much for him and me to cope with.

But just last night, in one of those mid-pregnancy energy bursts you get, I managed to unpack and clear out several of the boxes that have been bothering me, line up my cookbooks, sit on my couch, in my newly carpeted and painted loungeroom and think about cooking. So I think we are getting there. Today I even took him for a walk in the pusher. This means I did not spend an hour unpacking, and that is something, too. Walks are much better for everybody, aren't they?

I have even made some head-space for blogging. Be ready for some great, cheap cooking, gardening and spending anecdotes once again, as I/we re-focus on our life and asses the aftermath of the move and renovation...... In the meantime, I hope the happy snaps justify my absence over the past month.

we're in

2008-07-15T00:08:00.000+10:00

We're in!

I don't even know where to start.

Unfinished rooms are now stuffed full of boxes. Temporary curtains cover our paint and grime streaked windows. The to-do list is long and full of shitty jobs needing something from Bunnings to be completed. I am annoyed about the job done on our floors. I am going to send two angry letters to the stores we have dealt with. Just as soon as I can find the printer....Thank goodness for my Dad and his ute, the runs to the tip have been endless. Thank goodness for my Mum and her patience. The baby boy has been well occupied by her during this rollercoaster ride, which is brilliant. One less thing to worry about. Any thought of the new baby has been pushed aside until my poor addled brain can think straight again. The only thing keeping me on track there are the obstetric appointments!

But, we're in!

Photos and more soon. We just got the internet re-connected, I have too much mail to deal with.

the surprise

2008-06-22T12:46:00.000+10:00

The house has consumed our lives. Poor G has been with Nanna and Grandad non-stop for the past four days. He is fine there, and well occupied and adored, but he's a bit lost. He clings and grizzles all the way home, all through dinner and struggles to go to bed. It's going to take a bit for him to recover from this experience. And then he'll have to move into a new house!

The baker and I wake up energised, full of plans and strategies. We get to the house and wander in circles, attending to bits and pieces. People come by, we stop and give them a tour, explain what's happening. By then it's about 4pm, time to collect the baby boy and wind up for the day again. I feel like we are getting nothing done. It's very frustrating.

But so much has happened!

We had a lot of little jobs to attend to preparing the walls for painting. We set to pulling off the faux wooden panels that lined the walls. Reveal lines of ancient glue needing to be scraped off with a blade or removed with solvent. Reveal a huge gap between concrete panels on the feature lounge wall. Gap filler, metal strip, leave it?

That was sidelined when we found the carpet rotten in front of the bathroom and along the wall in the little bedroom, meaning that the shower may be leaking. Huge issue, since we are putting down all new floor coverings and do not want them ruined by damaged plumbing. Investigate that. No real solution yet, but much discussion about ripping out the shower and putting in the bath. Back to the panels. Reveal sticky 70's wallpaper lining the kitchen walls. Steamer and scraper needed. Reveal a hidden door in the loungeroom wall.

Well, this was something we wanted to do later on- put a doorway through the kitchen to the lounge. But look! It's here already! However, on the other side of the door our kitchen bench and wall cupboards cover it. They are attached to the wall. Do we demolish the kitchen and utilise the doorway? How can we live without a kitchen? Why would we not use the doorway when we wanted it anyway?

So the kitchen is ripped from the wall and the termite riddled door smashed through. Wow. But oh, wow, you know? Suddenly we are in the middle of a renovation. One we were not going to do. In fact the discussions have been all about a kitchen and bathroom renovation. The two most expensive and time consuming things to do in a house! Money and time we do not have. We have time for paint and carpet.

The simplest ideas have snowballed and we are having to decide and react quickly in circumstances completely new to us. On a deadline. Thank goodness for those family members who have shown up with their reno experience and skills. This week I have realised how good it is to know useful people, and how many useless people there are in the world. Including the 'customer advisors' at Bunnings.

So where are we after three days? It's amazing, really. The bedrooms have been washed, holes patched, and two of the three ceilings painted. Tomorrow I am going to finish the bedrooms. And wash the hall. And prepare the doors, maybe. That's half the house done.

The baker has fixed the ceiling, scraped the glue. His Mum painstakingly removed the wallpaper, so tomorrow he'll be fixing the gap in the lounge and set about washing the ceilings and priming the walls to paint. I think. He may have other plans.

We must call the carpet guys and demand 10% off the quote they gave us. We must call the laminte guy and have him back to re-measure, since the kitchen has gained another couple of metres of floor space. We must find a plumber to confirm where our leak is. I have to call the water people and the council.

Oh, and tomorrow our current house is open for inspection....

the smell

2008-06-20T12:38:00.000+10:00

We have the keys to our house. It's ours.

But it doesn't feel like mine yet. Mostly because it doesn't smell like anywhere I'd live. Smokers. Grr. Did the tenants have, like, 25 people chain smoking 24/7 for the past four years? How can a place smell like that?

And grime. Grr. The young, male tenants who lived there before us did not clean anything, for a long long time before we came. There's dirt on the inside of the windows. The kitchen is a greasy grime fest- I'm actually going to have to throw away the kitchen blinds, they're so putrid. They didn't even vacuum before they left. What is wrong with them? I mean, I couldn't leave a house looking like that.

Being pregnant I'm not allowed to bleach or use caustic or bomb the house to clean it. Fighting the urge to White King the whole place is taking all my energy. I like a clean house and I like to clean my own house, you know? I am a passionate Enjo user, but I'm not using my beautiful cloths on that house until I have sugar soaped and bleached every surface. Then we can go chemical-free cleaning!

Also I know it's silly to spend too much time cleaning, as we are ripping out the carpet, painting the walls and doing something to the bathroom, within the next three weeks. But I just can't have it so grubby in the meantime. Because of the smell.

the house

2008-06-17T08:40:00.000+10:00

Settlement on our house TOMORROW. Finally we can get in there and it will be ours! Well, the responsibility will be ours. Owning the building will take another 30 years, according to the bank.

So much checking and running around to be done all last minute. Plus appointments with builders to look at repairs and minor improvements, carpet and floor guys measuring up and all we want is to start ripping that hideous fake wood paneling off the walls.....

mother's group

2008-06-05T12:42:00.000+10:00

Thank goodness for Mother's Group.

This free resource that new mums are encouraged to join is my saving grace in times of trial. I love it, and all the mums I have met, who, with their wonderful and desperate stories, and delightful babies, make my week, every week.

We are currently battling disrupted sleep (again). Initially, after brilliant mothers group counseling we tackled controlled crying (very successfully) at about 11 months. I thought it was going to be smooth sailing after that. And it was until a couple of weeks ago. Now G wakes at 11pm and 4am, without fail. Like a new habit. And me going in there does not settle him, it seems to make him worse. I pat and calm him, he gets worked up, I leave, he quietens and sleeps. But if I don't go in, he's inconsolable. And at 4am, he just wants to come into our bed, which I am trying to avoid. But I end up patting him for an hour and it's just seems pointless when in our bed we all just drop off and sleep until 7am.

Knowing I'll be able to float this problem at mothers group makes the waking and tiredness a bit bearable. It's the light at the end of the tunnel, the ten mums who may have a clue about what is up with my baby, since I am totally stumped. You think your baby is unique, and he is, but at MG you learn that babies are all pretty much the same, developmentally.

Lo and behold, several of the good sleepers had been waking and disrupted too. No-one had the answer yet, we couldn't find a solution, but we compared notes on possible causes- cold nights, new teeth, full moon - and what strategies had already been attempted. But for me the relief was in acknowledging each others trials and issues and knowing you're not the only bleary-eyed freezing zombie, stalking the hallway at 4am.

I never expected that MG would be like this. I was so self sufficient and felt so capable in my pre-baby life, I'd never relied on others to help me much. But honestly, I couldn't live without it, and if I didn't have these girls, I'd be at the mercy of every baby self-help book and a lost and confused soul (presumably with a screaming and neurotic baby!).

Free support and advice, solicited or not, true and correct or not, this resource is one of the most important available to new mums. Other mums, with no agenda, nothing to sell you and not 'invested' (like grand-parents and well meaning family members) are a breath of air in those first weeks. And longer....

a million dollar tip

2008-06-03T12:56:00.001+10:00

Here's a free business idea for someone with the cash and space to do it. Ready? Set up a children's farm/petting farm, near me.

It's so silly that there isn't one. My Mum's best friend used to run a brilliant one near here. She was busy all the time with schools, parties and groups and on weekends it was sheer madness. Over-fed chickens and ducks and tormented pigs and goats everywhere. The kids just loved it. She and her family ran it for years, then the lifestyle got the better of them and off they went to see Australia. The new owners only open irregularly.

We were so thrilled when G started to understand what animals are, I was desperate to take him to the zoo or a farm. It just seems ridiculous that we couldn't find anywhere to show him a cow or a chook. We live well out of town, and yet to find a 'farm' we had to go to into the city. And it cost us $8 each to walk through, which is just wrong. You can't even feed the animals, just look at them. For all my moaning, we did have a fantastic day, G loved it, moo-ing and clucking all the while. He was thrilled with the geese and the ducks.

But surely there's some call for this kind of resource locally? What do the kinders, schools and general public do? Wait for the annual, local agricultural show? Not see farm animals at all? Take up the challenge and open a farm, dear readers, someone, anyone. It's a million dollar idea, just sitting there, waiting.

mini-break

2008-05-29T20:37:00.000+10:00

I've had a lovely week off work, and realised how good it is to be at home all the time. It's a big step for me, who rushed back into a job when G was just five months. Not because we needed the cash, but because I'd always worked before and was lost as to what I was supposed to be doing. But it's easy to see now. I should be at the park, feeding ducks, going to the pool, putting bread out for the birdies (see left. I know- bend your knees, pregnant lady!), checking for doggies over the back fence, taking adventurous walks, climbing through tunnels, sewing, knitting, sorting out piles of baby junk, preparing good lunches and dinners for my starving boys and taking time to look after my own health and well being.

I was also amazed at how quickly we got into a rhythm and the effect it had on G, who adjusted his pattern to one big sleep in the middle of the day. He also passed another milestone, mastering climbing (see left).

The week allowed me to see where I fit into this picture and how life is when I'm there. I know I miss things, working the few hours that I do, but it was much more than that. It was having enough energy to get through the whole day. Feeling on top of the chores and our meals and the washing pile, and still wanting to hit the park or the playground without thinking 'I can't be bothered with this today,'. That's how G (and I) benefit from me being home.

I'm on the countdown to the end of working....Just as my boss needs me to ramp up and take on more work! It's lucky for him we have grand plans for the new house. Currently I have a large 'carpet monkey' on my back and am grabbing every extra hour I can (and calculating the broadloom metres as the clock ticks past each hour.)

the chiropractor

2008-05-27T04:16:00.000+10:00

With regard to health, I have natural, holistic leanings, balanced by a respect for Western medicine and its place in the world. I embrace the principles of yoga, even if I am slack in my practice, and read keenly about naturopathic and Chinese medicine. I am probably attracted by their foundations in nutrition and bodily processes as a point of interest. I am lucky, since my sister has studied naturopathy, the texts are lying about Mum and Dad's place.

That said, I have never undertaken an elimination diet of any kind or consulted with anybody to assess my yin-yang balance. I have obviously not suffered an affliction so dire as to resort to drastic measures. 'Cut out wheat? Oh, no, I'm fine...'.

But something that has caught my attention is the 'new' chiropractic. My sister-in-law converted me back to chiropractic care after G was born. While in London I had heard a lot about cranial osteopathy for newborns, it was the 'in' thing for hip London mums. Apparently the gentle manipulation of a newborn's head plates can undo any damage they may have suffered during birth and set right issues such as reflux and crying. But back in Australia, I couldn't find anyone who wanted to talk about it, even my own osteo, and so let it go.

Then my sister-in-law told me of her amazing success with her allergy/asthma kids through chiropractic care. Which I thought was ridiculous. I had given up on chiropractors ages ago, the twice weekly visits and pointless crunching. For physical pain I was into the osteo and the physio as a better solution for me.

But it turns out that chiropractic care is now being used for naturopathic type functions. By encouraging your nervous system ( housed the length of your spine ) to work at optimum levels, your body's own processes can fight reactive conditions such as allergies and asthma. And everything else, they'll say, since the nervous system is central to the functioning of your body. Chiropractic care is then best way to manage your spinal/nervous system.

The more extreme purveyors of this practice will advise you not to immunise and poo-poo germ theory. This attitude flies in the face of my healthy respect for western medicine. But the beauty of our health system is you can take on what you like and avoid what you don't. I am critical and cynical, and read widely before embracing the radical claims of a left of centre practice.

We took little G along for a check-over at six weeks old, and without even getting a history from us, the chiropractor was able to tell us the few issues he had been suffering (feeding difficulty on the left due to a sore neck, unwilling to lie on the floor because his sacrum was 'out', random mild reflux and crying). He was adjusted and we set off wondering how it would all go. Brilliantly, as it happens, and we haven't looked back. An adjustment after each immunisation, and our monthly check-ups hold him in good stead. I can only suggest that it must have helped us avoid the colds and infections that have passed through mother's group. Any time I feel he's very unwell we head off to the regular doctor, who looks at this clear-skinned, sparkly eyed child I have and tells me if he was sick, he'd look sick.

Having embraced the chiro for our son's 'wellness', we have been pretty slack on taking it up ourselves. But this week I bit the bullet and checked both the baker and I in for an assessment. The baker was a bit shocked by his diagnosis, but is on board with having regular treatments and I am loving the neck and shoulder relief, and the chiro telling me we will be avoiding sciatica with this pregnancy. Hooray.

In terms of savings is this another case of spending money to save it? Hmm...well, I haven't cancelled the health insurance yet, since starting this, as it pays back quite well, and I figure since I'm paying for it, use it! But I'm sure we are spending money when two weeks ago we were not. However, maintaining our health is an imperative with the mortgage burden. Visiting the chiro has inspired me to find time for a bit of self-guided yoga practice, good for general living and reinforcing the chiro's work. The government has recently been banging on about preventative medicine, after telling us we are all too drunk and fat to look after ourselves. I'm sticking with it.

2008-05-03T12:53:00.000+10:00

I'm not joking about my second trimester energy levels. They are just soaring at the moment. And I can think again. I think about how I feel and what I want to do and eat, whereas before now, I was a zombie. I couldn't decide toast or tea, let alone make it!

I made myself some muesli, as I crave high energy, high nutrient, slow release food. I make it without all the awful, shriveled, inappropriate fruit they put in. Mango and paw-paw, I mean, really? And no fluffy, puffed bits, or oatbran noodles either. Old school- oats, wheatgerm, toasted with honey and all the good nuts and seeds. A few natural sultanas and a packet of dried blueberries I found in the back of the pantry. It's a comparably cheap but luxurious breakfast. Also there's a secret twist in the recipe, learnt from a lovely B'n'B lady in Byron Bay many years ago. I'd love to tell you, but I won't. Unless you ask.

Recently I received a gift of some gorgeous Meredith blue cheese, purchased before the giver knew I was pregnant. Not being one willing to miss out, today I decided to make it into cheesy biscuits, so everyone could enjoy it, though I will of course eat the lions share. They are flaky and melting, with a hint of mustard and freshly ground pepper. Divine.

The final highlight of another high energy day- I took baby G to the pool for the first time. What a ball we had! First we checked out the pelicans at the pier, fed our old bread to the swarming seagulls and then headed in to splash away a bit of time. Not long though, swimming totally knocks him out, and he was all ready for a morning sleep by the time we got dressed and walked back to the car. Which was all part of my cunning plan. Except that I was all tuckered out too! I going to make this a regular weekly date for us. He swims for free and I pay less than $5. Another item to factor into the budget, but happily.

Just a quick reminder- the last episode of Doc Martin tomorrow night. I'm going to curl up on the couch, barrel of cheesy bikkies and cold glass of Maggie Beer's Desert Pearl wine (non-alcoholic, another thoughtful gift, purchased when the giver did know I was pregnant!) and giggle and sob for an hour. Have a lovely weekend.

Golden, luscious love.

2008-05-02T14:28:00.000+10:00

The colder weather has invigorated my appetite for cheap home-made puddings. Over the past two weeks we have had Lemon Delicious (using up lemons from the heaving tree), Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding (trying a new recipe from a 'cooking for toddlers book', but that much sugar is NOT for a toddler!) and tonight, Golden Syrup Dumplings. Except that we had no golden syrup, so they were brown sugar and treacle dumplings. No matter. Still so good.

I actually made them today at work, to sell tomorrow. My boss thinks we won't sell many, but I know he's wrong. Our first customer today demonstrated this for me. Harriet is a lady of a certain age with flair, a lust for life and a yellow Peugeot. The farmhouse kitchen I work in is right at the end of a rutted dirt road past a turn off to nowhere. I'm amazed we have any customers, let alone ones who would find getting there such a challenge. But she's a devoted regular and she interested in the more unusual things we cook. She wants tagines, not casseroles, rhubarb pudding, not fruit cake. She loves the flavour of juniper in her pork pie, as it goes with her taste for gin, she says. I get her.

Today she came in and once she'd collected together her purchases, I asked if she likes Golden Syrup Dumplings.
'Ohh, hmmm,' she said, eyes widening.
I said 'Great, I've just made some, but I bet you don't make it home with them, they're still warm,' and at that, she surged past the counter, around to my bench, fished out one fluffy, sweet orb of dumpling, still hot from its pan and promptly gobbled it up. An eighty-something old woman, twin-set, tweeds and sturdy shoes, cheekily swiping one of my dumplings, dripping syrup on the bench and grinning like a sugared-up loony!

It made my day. And since today is my wedding anniversary, I decided to make my husband's day, too.

Golden Syrup Dumplings.
It may feel a bit daunting, but just think of these as scones baked in a pot of syrup. Easy-peasy.
I wish I had a photo, but it would be of the empty pot. Sorry, next time.

for dumplings-
1 cup self raising flour
40gm softened butter
pinch salt
1 egg
50ml milk
Rub together the flour, salt and butter. Stir together the egg and milk and pour into a well in the middle of the flour mix. Stir together with your fingertips until a dough forms. Don't knead it, just bring it together.

for syrup-
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons golden syrup
squeeze of lemon
Place all ingredients in a wide bottomed pot and stir over heat to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil and drop in golf ball sized pieces of dumpling dough. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Serve at once with dollops of heavy cream. Do not mention to anyone if there are leftovers, you'll be kicking yourself when there's none for a late supper.

Happy Anniversary, baker man.

2008-04-28T07:35:00.000+10:00

Dear, beloved friends, you have been so patient with me, while so much has happened here...

This month we bought a house! As I moaned earlier, this is a long process, where decisions must be made quickly, but the time between decisions is fraught with worry. That is all over now, and we are heading towards settlement, trying to choose carpet and paint colours for a home we have seen twice.

It's great though, a big step towards our other goal, of owning our own business. Brilliant.

Meanwhile, it has come to pass that we are also expecting our second baby! Very exciting. It explains why I found decision making so difficult the past few weeks and why I've been feeling nauseous every afternoon at 4pm. So onward and upward to November. We'll be well settled in our new home, freshly painted and carpeted, summer seedlings established by the time the new little one is here. Although saying that now makes me feel exhausted. So much to do!

Our savings plan is under heavy, heavy scrutiny, since we will shortly be back to one income.
Also, owning a house has brought along a new world of expenses to consider, and it seems that everyone wants money from us. My biggest bugbear at present is insurance. They prey on your worst nightmares and then find a way to really hurt you. Get this- one policy will pay you an amount if you get a serious illness, but this payment renders your life insurance void. So if (ahem, when) you die, your family will not be entitled to a lump sum payment, since you already received one while you were alive. But, there is a buy-back option, where you can opt to buy back your 'death' insurance, in the event of having cashed-out on the serious illness policy. Thoughtful, no? It's a really ugly business. I have encountered a lot of sheepish looking sales people, peeping guiltily out from under dropped eyes. They know it's bad too!

We are doing our utmost to avoid and minimise new expenses, without being foolish, but there's not much room to move now. Our repayments are managable, just, and we need to use this time with two incomes and no mortgage to get a bit of cash stashed for later. It's tricky, because I find myself tempted into spending by thinking 'Oh, soon we won't be able to do this at all..'. Self sabotaging must end.

Now that my energy is level and my stomach sits steadily, my savings enthusiasm has returned also. I am very aware that this will only be for the next three months, and I'll be making the most of that too. The investigating I have to do over the next months (I hope) will be useful for everyone. Now that we're moving with reasonable notice, I can properly check out telephone, gas, electricity and internet providers and set us up with a good deal. Movers, decorators, conveyancers, insurers will all be needed and utilised with minimum expense to us. I hope!

Achievable vs Sustainable

2008-04-15T14:17:00.000+10:00

I have a personal philosophy concerning change. I have been thinking about it since recently a couple of my friends have embarked on life changing projects that are spectacular and dramatic. And so have we, with this savings project.

My philosophy came about few years ago, when the baker and I embarked on a weight loss program, let's call it WW. We did brilliantly and still maintain ourselves around the old landmines of Christmas, Easter, birthdays and such. But we worked hard. You had to do a lot of thinking and planning. You had to make some choices and changes that would be there forever. It wasn't a short term stint, we followed that program for more than 12 months.

To successfully complete the program, you do six weeks of 'maintenance', where you work out how to stop losing weight and live 'normally' again. About half way through our journey I found myself using this finishing point as a motivator. Like 'Ohh, I'm going to have butter on my toast again when I get to maintenance,' and 'Ohh, I'm going to have 60gms of cereal when I'm on maintenance,'. Then one day the leader suggested that I add up all those things that I was going to go back to eating on maintenance, and see if I could do those things while successfully maintaining my weight. I would not.

I had to look again at what I was doing everyday, the choices that I'd made that I wasn't intending on continuing with. And I had to think again about what I could do, as opposed to what I would do. My choices had to be achievable, and sustainable. I could live without buttered toast, but I wouldn't. I had to choose something else.

Thus my philosophy was born. Achievable vs sustainable. I find myself living this way again with our savings plan. We certainly do without many, many things, but what about later? What are we just going to go back to buying, having, using? And what are we using, having, buying now without even thinking about? Are we denying ourselves some things and mindlessly consuming others? The powdered milk episode is a perfect example. I can use it, I did use it for a few weeks, but now I don't. I don't like it. So I'm back buying regular milk and looking for alternative product substitutes.

I had to think about my philosophy as I shopped at our local, huge supermarket for the first time in months. I didn't have the time or energy to go to Aldi, so, list in hand, budget in wallet, I hit the shiny, tempting-product laden aisles of the megamarket.

I did well. Very few branded items, nothing other than what was on the list and within budget. I saw aisles and aisles of things we don't use or need, and I saw what I buy week in, week out. I realised that shopping at Aldi has re-trained me, and I know what we need. I also noticed that there's very few things I'm leaving out or missing on the weekly shop, which is good. A sign of sustainable changes.

I hope a burst of my philosophy helps my dear friends who are facing similar choices to reach their own goals. Can you see yourself doing this in a month, by Christmas, next year? Will you still be doing it then? Will you be able to? Check back. The end goal is a massive motivator, but if the way you're living now isn't a part of the end result, you will find yourself doing this over, and over again. Change is hard, change is challenging. The hardest part is to stop fooling yourself that you've made a change when you haven't.

To my more paranoid friends- the last paragraph is not directed at anyone specific. The 'you' isn't necessarily you, I could mean me, not you. You are all brilliant and I am ever supportive of all your endeavours.

kickbacks

2008-04-10T07:29:00.000+10:00

And there I was whinging about the cost of health cover!

Those of you completely disinterested in health insurance will have no idea that presently my health fund is being bought out by a larger, British based health fund. And to encourage the members to go along with it, they're offering cash payments to smooth the way. Woo-hoo!

I'm sure there are lawyers and such who would be horrified by my statement. I'm sure it's much more complex than that. If I'd really read the fine print I may be upset about the takeover, but all I saw was the four figures at the top of the statement letter and where to put my bank details. I'm so easily bought off. But an unexpected windfall is a brilliant way to start the week. It always seemed to me that this kind of thing happened to other people. This time, it's us. Hooray!

the fresh Autumn

2008-03-31T21:52:00.000+11:00

Something about the change in the weather always re-invigorates me.

We headed off to the library and came home with arms laden with gorgeous and inspiring cookbooks, house renovating manuals and world music. It's exciting to be excited.

There are grand plans for the vege garden, for furniture painting, for a chook shed. We wait for mild, misty mornings to go foraging for mushrooms. I love not having to haul water back and forth to the plants, and having washing cool on the line, instead of drying all crunchy and burnt.

I start to cook more. Richer and more sumptious meals, preparing to lay down that extra layer of squidgy winter fat to get us through the cold weather.

The baby boy dashes across the garden in his first pair of shoes, scraping the toes off and tripping over everything. He loves it outside. Today we pulled all the tomato plants and saved the last few tomatoes to dry for the seeds. Time for brassicas, after a good mulch.

Things are happening, and it's marvellous.

toy library

2008-03-21T15:27:00.000+11:00

In another example of spending money to save money, we joined the toy library this week.

It was unplanned, which is bad. I got caught out a bit. I thought it was just a part of the regular library, so we sauntered in with my library card, we picked out a few toys and hit the checkout desk. Where we were introduced to what the toy library is really about.

Joining the toy library costs about $1 a week. So it costs $60 to join. But then you have to be made aware of what it is you are buying into. Being a not-for-profit community organisation, they rely heavily on membership and fundraising to keep going. As a member, you commit to helping out three hours a year in the 'shop'. You commit to participate in the two major fundraising events, the Teddy Bears Picnic and the Fashion Parade. You also commit to participating in other fundraising events that my arise and you are encouraged to join in with the committees that run the organisation. Sell raffle tickets, make sure the toys are always cleaned before returning them and count the pieces before you bring them back. Phew.

If you don't want to do all that, you can pay $20 and be absolved from the fundraising activities. Time in the shop can be diverted onto willing relatives or others.

It is an amazing resource. They have puzzles and games across all ages, dress-ups and large toy equipment that you can book for parties and such. They have push toys and instruments and, just everything. I'm really happy we joined, and I'm going to put the annual membership cost down as a gift request for the baby boys birthday each year. If no one else wants to pay it, then we will, because it's such good value. Better than a crappy toy and it goes all year.

I was wondering if I would have spent $60 on toys this year. We are given lots and the garage sales around yield up blocks and such regularly. I'm a cheapo, and I don't go into toy shops anyway. I loathe them. So much crap. And he's only one. Like how much does he need? Once he can go outside and knows not to eat the leaves and dirt, well, toys will be a thing of the past, won't they? There'll be 'outside'. But $60 isn't hard to spend. Would I have spent it?

Frankly, if the whole saving money project hinges on $60, we're stuffed.

desperate housewife

2008-03-18T08:38:00.000+11:00

The lack of inspirational tips and posts has been due to us seriously trying to buy a house.

A lot of brain energy goes into buying a house. You question ourself over and over about the property, the layout, the fittings, it's true value. You're trying to double guess the agent, get the jump on the other buyers, the vendors, you role play scenarios with the bank, thinking through the timing, the rate rises. You worry about the neighbours, the noise of the freeway, the rental potential, re-sale value. It's circular and ultimately pointless, because one simple phone call ends it all, and you have to start again on a whole new place.

However the process does reinforce your understanding of what you can afford. When you are pushed to come up with another $2000, $3000, $5000 to finalise the purchase and the graph on the loan calculator soars skyward.....well, it's only another $5000 to them, but it's years and thousands more to us.

The last attempt was the most affordable house we've looked at yet. Within our budget, but also easier repayments. Or so I thought until I discussed it with a friend of mine, who pointed out that our cheap loan would still require us to pay $400 a week. Yikes! Really? Oh dear.

Seems my grasp on the mathematics of this is still a little shaky. I'm well into the household budgeting process, but the manipulation of the loan figures I've been leaving to the Baker. I can't worry about everything....But of course, now I am.

How on earth do other people do it? Did they have massive deposits already saved? Do they not eat, drive or have children? $400 a week? Why are so many people coercing us into a mortgage, like it's a good and better life? I get why people choose to rent- even high rent is still cheaper than a below average mortgage!

That's the best part of the joke. We are looking to borrow well below the 'average' mortgage of $300,000. Like we are looking at buying an ex-commission house in an area of questionable reputation. No queues of people fighting to get in there. And yet this 'blessing' of cement pre-fab-70's-kitchen-stinky-carpet home ownership is going to cost us the better portion of our weekly income, for thirty years.

I feel sick.

cheap easter

2008-03-17T09:27:00.000+11:00

We have a lovely little Easter weekend coming up. But I'm only mentioning it to demonstrate another savings tip. The lesson here is that you must know your resources and use them.

My brother in law works for a hotel chain, which offers cheap city rooms for family and friends. And when they host for special events, like tennis or the Comedy Festival, there can also be free tickets to the events. Boom, boom.

So Easter weekend is a night in a hotel, complementary tickets to some stand-up and free baby sitting by willing uncle and aunty. Marvellous. Much better than a ton of chocolate.

I say that it's a savings tip, but maybe I'm mentioning it because I'm thrilled about our first real, adult outing since the baby boy arrived. Not counting a failed dinner out at a supposedly great restaurant while on cheapo holidays in Sydney. I just hope we can squeeze in Yum-Cha, too!

free haircuts

2008-03-11T08:05:00.000+11:00

Funny the things you forget about.

Many years ago, a friend and I spent the better part of a free day in Melbourne at the School of Hairdressing, getting a free haircut. I think we were 15 or 16.

I remember having my scalp combed until it was raw. I remember the fear and trepidation on the face of the trainee, almost closing her eyes with each snip of the scissors. Every slice had to be checked before and after. It took hours. My friend only wanted a fringe cut. By the time she was done her forehead was also red and raw, and we had been there two hours, to have two centimetres of hair cut off.

I was only reminded of this when my own hairdresser recently asked the baker if he would mind having his hair cut by a trainee. All supervised and monitored and she'd correct it at the end, of course. And free, of course. They just need the practice. How could he say no?

Two hours later, he came home, a little grazed on one ear and a bit patchy but happy enough. He'd had a bit of a laugh, having his head compulsively combed and re-combed. But he thought he'd probably go back.

There has been a gradual stepping down in hairdressing expenses in our house. I used to justify extraordinary costs, since I don't spend on other girly stuff like make-up or beauty treatments. The baker went from $15 cheap cuts to decent salon cuts. So my hair was about $70 or $90 or $150 a go and his was $60. About every six weeks.

This stopped when we went overseas and when we came back pregnant, the baker went back to cheap cuts and I didn't bother at all.

Then I heard about hairdressers who come to your house, and being house-bound and feeling shabby and post-partum, I went for the idea. But the bonus is that by coming to you, they charge heaps less. Our haircuts cost $55 for the two of us, and the baker didn't look like he'd been shorn by a blind shearer. Love it.

Now it's even better, with the baker's hair being cut for free. I'm back to not cutting mine, so another expense has been circumvented. Doesn't even feel like a sacrifice.

a leak and an ache

2008-03-10T05:50:00.000+11:00

It always happens that when my bank account reaches a minimum threshold, my teeth start to ache. It's like they know that I can afford a root canal. I have ignored this ache for more than two years now, between going to London (saving and so not willing to spend on teeth), coming home pregnant (dentists not liking pregnant patients, me unwilling to spend the money again) and now. There are two sensitive spots, on opposing sides of my mouth, so I can't ignore it anymore. Chewing on either side is an issue, and I am a professional chewer.

Suffice to say, I'm not dropping the medical insurance extras until this episode is over. But eventually we will drop the extras.

Having some savings seems to also coincide with something going wrong with our cars. Yesterday I noticed that green liquid was leaking from the front of my hard-working but crappy little Astra. I'd love to ditch a car, but currently we seem to need two. You definitely know about expenses when you have lived with one car and then upsized to two. Lordy! It's about $3000 a year just to own, insure and maintain the thing.

So, tomorrow I have to make two phone calls that may set our savings plan back by months. It's disappointing and necessary. Just the kind of spending I hate.

time to moan

2008-03-05T17:01:00.000+11:00

I was not going to use this forum to whinge about interest rates and housing affordability. This blog is about finding a way to get on with it and get over it. But, sheesh. It's causing me some consternation.

The situation for everyone who wants to buy a home is that each interest rate rise reduces the amount that we can borrow. For us it is a significant amount. It will take us twelve months to save what the last two rate rises have cost us.

Meanwhile house prices go up alarmingly fast- houses we saw in the sub-$250,000 range are now $269,000. This increase has only happened since November '07. Six months and $20,000 difference.

The alarming part is that even on our stringent saving schedule, we can't keep up.

The irritating part is the advice from people who know us and who should know better don't 'get' our position.
"What's wrong with the house across the road?",
"Hmm, that $350,000 house across the road is lovely, thanks for pointing it out, but as we've told you before, there is no way we can buy that.".
"Hmph, well, have you even looked at it? You could offer a bit less,"
"No, because we don't think they'll accept an offer $100,000 below the advertised price. Most likely it will sell for $420,000.."
"Nah, really?"
"Yes, really,". Grrr.

There's nothing we can do but keep saving and keep searching. But it is a dispiriting process. I daydream that we save for so long that we can pay half and can get a great house. Who knows where we'll be in five years? What about when I am working full time again, on a decent wage? Imagine saving a whole adult wage! Great, but will I have a house before I'm forty? Will I be drinking powdered milk for that long?

PS
I promise to lift the tone of my posts after this. I've lost my sense of fun and joy in what started out as an amusing project.

Happy Birthday baby boy. One year already! See how time flies?

soon, I promise

2008-03-01T15:15:00.000+11:00

You're wondering what happened to the home-made yoghurt, aren't you?

It's on hold until after next week. There's an issue with the milk burning in my saucepans. I have to work it out. Mainly I need to do it when I can concentrate 100%, instead of trying to make dinner, feed a baby and wash dishes while making yoghurt. This cannot be multi-tasked.

Keep watching.

homework

2008-02-27T10:26:00.000+11:00

I'm churning through the bills presently. I'm seriously considering ditching the health insurance 'extras'. It makes me shudder, as I've always insisted on the complete coverage, and we do get the benefits from it- regularly visiting the chiro, osteo, physio, and the dreaded dentist. But I was thinking that if we took the 'extras' fee and directed it into our savings, then we could just pay the 'extras' when we go, like other normal people. My aunty, who is a nurse, put this idea into my head many years ago. She seemed to think health insurance was a joke, before it became compulsory.

Health insurance is our biggest monthly expenditure. It's outrageous. And we still pay to visit health care providers- they all charge more than the scheduled fee. We are looking at saving $100 a month by dropping extras. Our annual health costs are much less than $1200 a year, even with a baby. By putting that difference into our own savings, instead of the insurance company coffers, we should come out on top, given good health, over time.

I'm just going to check our figures again. And affirm that it is possible to just save this amount. It can't be resumed into everyday living. We can't mentally think we have more money to play with. It just has to go into the savings without question. It's health savings, and we may need it.

This challenge makes me nervous. It's a real test of my resolve and will, and has direct consequences for our health and well-being if I fail.

2008-02-26T17:19:00.000+11:00

I've been keeping a mental list of the brilliant money saving things I have done this past week. Reflecting on it now, it seems that they have all involved spending money, which is not a great money saving tactic.

The baby boy's first birthday is coming up. I planned to get him a little, plastic hook-up swing to hang in the back-yard. This week I successfully got one on ebay, $26. New they cost $49.95, so I've done well.

As mentioned in a previous post, February is birthday month. I was very close to making something for the birthday people, but never quite got there. Those ideas will go into the project vault for the next gifting occasion. So, one got books (my favorite gift to purchase ) from a large store that offers 35% below retail. I came in under budget. Usually I would spend the difference boosting the gift, but since I'm now in the cheapo league, I kept the difference and felt proud. I haven't told the gift recipient that I write this blog. Don't you tell either.....

The other birthday person is a tricky one, and there was no skimping there, but I managed to get just what I'd planned, and that is quite a step. I'm prone to panicking and impulse buying. Staying on budget was the goal. Well done me.

While I was shopping, I saw an Easter special, and got 20% off the price of eggs. They were lovely, different chocolates and that saving was worthwhile. I'm going to have to buy these things at some stage, no? I'd rather get something nice, in a timely fashion, than be raiding the supermarket on Easter Saturday and paying full price on the dregs. That said, it was an unplanned purchase. As was the book I bought for baby boy, and the plastic farm animal figurines. Hmmm..

Not a great week of saving, more like necessary spending. I feel like I need to be across my budget forecasting by twelve months to see the impact of my curtailed shopping. I can only believe that it's better than before, and keep up the practice.

fizzy tangy yuck

2008-02-21T16:20:00.000+11:00

Grrr. I've made it twice now, but that magical yoghurt recipe is not working for me. It looks gorgeous- creamy and thick, white and pure. But for all this, I get a mouthful of tangy fizz. Even when I dug down a bit, (thinking the top layer, which wasn't submerged in the thermos may have been tainted), it was wrong. I hate that tongue tingling taste of failure.

To me it makes perfect sense. Milk product kept at a tepid temperature for 12 hours is going to be a disaster. It's a food safety law. But I had been convinced by the home-yoghurt-makers that the magic of yoghurt would win out. Beautiful bacteria would triumph.

Not so. Twice. Of course it's a contamination issue. But I had cleaned and dried all my equipment. Started with fresh yoghurt. It's new skim milk, too. Not much else you can do to get it right, according to the recipe.

Because it's supposed to be sooo simple, I'm never going to quit now. It's got me. I have to be able to do this. People who can't cook can do this! Right. It's only one recipe of many. Making yoghurt is as individual as making homebrew or curing salami in the back shed. Trial and error. Since I'm using cheap powdered milk, I'll tolerate a few errors..I have checked back to the "French Women Don't Get Fat" recipe. Once I've washed and dried my equipment (again), I'll get out that thermometer, and try it (again).

My garden is not a tangy, fizzy failure. Time, water and sun will see us with such lovely produce. Green, cool and quiet, even with MB playing in the cage. A place to contemplate what can happen when one woman interferes with milk....

great tips

2008-02-18T05:00:00.000+11:00

I got some brilliant feed back from my devoted readers, early on in my call out to 'thrift-ers'. And in an ongoing commitment to this blog, amt is proving a powerhouse of ideas. But I am feeling the pressure build. It seems that each issue I consider raises tangled branches of ideas to explore. This is brilliant, but I find it quite pressing. I feel that by taking my time over this stuff, I'm letting dollars slip through my fingers. But every little aspect of life must be considered. I remind myself of the tortoise and the hare.

Isn't it always the way that once you focus on something, it seems to pop up everywhere? Before, I wouldn't have noticed a thing about saving. But then I started this, and within a week, Helen found me a website and then I heard of another on 774, there was a string of articles on the tabloid news shows, and even the baker stumbled across a blog about saving money on another site. Not such an original idea, then..

Helen's turned out to be the best. In fact I was a bit gobsmacked that the Cheapskates lady was trying charge me to use her site. Like 'pay me, and I'll save you money,'. Really! But I did glean something for free- her home-made yoghurt recipe.

I have a yoghurt thermos, but I didn't really ever like the yoghurt it made. I didn't really trust those pre-mix packets. Then I heard the Cheapskate lady tell Richard Stubbs (774, afternoons) all about making it and how easy it was. I thought why not? I'd read all about it in 'French Women don't get Fat', but it seemed to require thermometers and special devices and much time and patience. Wouldn't suit me at all. This new recipe is easy. It's setting as I type this and I'll let you know how it goes.

In order to make the yoghurt I bought some powdered milk. I haven't seen this since I last stayed over at my Nana's house, when I was little. She's always used it, I think. And then I thought, why don't I? Currently we buy two types of milk. But the baker's been preferring the baby boy's whole milk. So we're down to 1 litre of skim and three of whole, a week. I'm happy enough with the idea of powdered milk, so I decided to try it out myself for a week. The bag makes 10 litres and cost about $6, so it's 60c a litre. Better than $1.41- $2+ for a litre of skim milk. By a lot.

I had some diet and health questions- surely fresh milk is better? My Nana is living proof that it's not. She's more than 80 years old and all things considered, fit and well. Bones intact, hair, teeth and nails all gleaming (I think the teeth are false, though). Powdered milk not proving any problems there. I checked out the Choice and Dairy Farmers websites, which had limited information. The yahoo Q&A forum discussed that the difference was in the taste. I know that already. I have a lovely cold jug of powdered milk waiting in the fridge. Tepid or freshly made, it can taste, hmm, powdered.

So the milk is under review. Yoghurt is setting.

I'm following a few suggestions from the Saving Mum website. I'm considering the washing powder recipe. And I've jotted down the Playdoh recipe for future reference.

The tips from everyone have been brilliant, and quite varied. I'm still working my way through them. I go back and reference the lists regularly. There's fodder for many months of blogging. I was quite proud that I was already using some of the tips- perhaps I'm not so bad at this afterall!

a d&m about aldi

2008-02-13T15:20:00.000+11:00

We went on a family excursion to Aldi yesterday. Our first visit to such an establishment, but most likely not our last. Although I wasn't that excited when I was there, it has left a lasting impression on me. Actually, it's been a bit of a revelation.

Yep, it's cheap. But that's not it.

I have said before, I hate shopping. Well, this includes supermarkets. I hate having to trawl up and down those huge, huge, life sucking places. It takes so long, even just to run in and get milk. The time and energy it takes to simply do the shopping is dire. Consequently, by trying to avoid it I spend too much, because I buy a months worth of groceries at once. Either that, or I end up doing over the budget by 'shopping' at the milkbar.

Then there's the amount of choice and the time it takes to work out the prices. The things that always get me are cheese and washing powder. In London, (it must be the law) there is the tag with the price and the cost per weight/piece/mls. It was brilliant. Here, I'm standing in front of the dairy cabinet trying to work out the price of ten different cheeses at 350gms, 750gms and 1kg. For crap cheddar. Forgetting there are other cheeses in the deli section as well! Argh. I makes me bonkers.

At Aldi I realised just what I need to buy at the supermarket. Basics are all I go shopping for, and it's all Aldi has. Not aisles of specialist ingredients, Asian, Mexican, ready-made, fresh frozen blah, blah, blah.. No endless rows of everything to fill the cupboard and blow the budget. Nope, just the basics, all in a space covering under an acre. Perfect.

Moreover, it's not just the basics, but the bare basics. No choice. Or not much. One brand and no branding. My first revelation- how much I am influenced by labels and packaging. When wrestling with price comparisons has drained my energy, I end up grabbing any product I like or have seen advertised. That's how brand identification happens. We are a Devondale/Surf/Weet Bix family. Without even thinking about it. And here emerges the larger issue. In my mind we are NOT a 'no-name' family. Buy why?

Early in life an image was planted in my mind of someone sweeping the factory floor and scooping that stuff into a no name yellow-and-black bag. My impression of home branded products is that they are the scraps off the end of the line. And I can't shake that image. Some of the products are not tip-top, like the watery, nasty baked beans, and the chocolate. It is worst grade. But things change, don't they? Well, this could be the test.

Currently I have an issue with nappies. I know that Aldi nappies are cheap and have had them recommended by many people, but I can't come at the idea of no name nappies. I know they they are not made from the sawdust and scratchy cotton leftover from other sanitary products, but I'm still reluctant to embrace the savings. Which are considerable. My earlier rabbitings about the Huggies sale tells you that I will pay up to 38c a nappy. Times 6-8 nappies a day times seven days times the number of days until MB is toilet trained. A lot. Aldi nappies come in at much less than this. It adds up quickly. So what is wrong with them? Or me?

Here I realised how indulged I actually am. Because I have a choice. I choose to shop and buy what I do. I think I'm being restrained but really, that's not the case. If I want to I can fill my trolley with anything that takes my fancy, whack it on the card and not think about it again. I can buy whatever I want. I choose not to, presently.

Undertaking this process and raising my own awareness, I now see people who don't have a choice. They have to think about everything the do, carefully, or live with consequences that can snowball. A life of 'need this but missed this bill so didn't pay that so couldn't pay this'....It's a way of life I fear, but not one I live with. I only ever had to drop off a luxury or two to get by. I worry about not being able to have what I want, when there are those who fear not being able to get what they need. Presently I am quite aware of what we need to live, and what is left over is, well, brilliant. Because we have something leftover after taking care of our needs. Using a cheaper nappy would give us more. So I think I'm going to get over it.

We shopped for most of our basics at Aldi and I spent under $50, even with impulse buys (gotta test the chocolate, don't we? I think it's a real Cherry Ripe in a different wrapper!). The milk is 60c cheaper than the cheapest I can by locally. Even factoring in the travelling- 8kms, not so convenient- it's worth the trip.

No way to know but to try.

the golden gorilla

2008-02-12T16:18:00.000+11:00

In the early days of my wee boy's life, I was a bit housebound. I think it was the shock of it all. We also had to adjust to one income, rapidly. But shopping was so hard. I used the online delivery supermarkets, for the convenience, and the local shops for meat, fruit and veg. We did ok. We weren't saving though.

Then a (dear, true) friend recommended the Golden Gorillas. They are a fresh fruit and vegetable delivery service that comes weekly or fortnightly and brings fresh fruit and veg. A big mystery box of goodies delivered to your door for $35.

Now, I know that every time I go the the green grocers it costs me $30 at least, and that's more than one visit a week. So already, I'm in the green. But then the delivery actually came. It was about three times more than I would buy. Amazing. And fairly consistent quality, which is important to me. You don't get to choose, but you can say what you don't want. It's a lovely challenge for a house-bound chef. Surprise dinner.

As the first week rolled past I became aware that we had a bit of stuff left. I made soup, stew, a roast and had people to dinner to use up what we had. Great. Same at the end of the next week. So I stepped it up during the week. The running joke became 'Veg and three veg for dinner tonight, darling'. We became vegetable eating machines. It was good for us. I lost a couple of kilos of baby weight, and my husband lost the last of the Paris pastry weight he bought home. All good.

This past summer the Gorillas went on holiday for three weeks. What a shock. We went straight back to our old habits (three aging apples in the fruit bowl and the same limp veg staring out from the crisper). I was shocked. I expected to have to spend to keep up with what we were used to. But I didn't. Without the knowledge that more would be arriving I couldn't motivate myself to cook and eat what we had. Ridiculous, no?

Nevermind, they're back and we are loving what it saves us, loving home delivery, and my baby loves all those mashed vegies and stewed fruit. Viva la Gorillas!

cheap recipes

2008-02-08T11:06:00.000+11:00

I had a flash the other day. It must have been going around because emzeegee had the same idea. The secret is cheap recipes.

I have an enormous cookbook collection. A book for everything, and I love every book. Since undertaking my saving task I noticed that many of my books require specialist ingredients. Expensive, beautiful foods that will make you a meal to remember. A meal to remember while you are crying over your credit card statement, in your rented house.

I needed to find a better source. I looked at what was about. Recipes for the people- Better Homes and Gardens, Good Taste, Delicious, Nigella, Jamie etc. Even they would have me out there buying eye fillet or salmon ($28 per kg), creme fraiche, proscuitto, gourmet cheeses, raspberries, blueberries..

Then it struck me. It's not about the ingredients, it's the recipe. I'm reading expensive recipes. So I changed what I am doing. No more out spending time, energy and money trawling for cheap ingredients. Do my research at home and find cheap recipes.

What makes a recipe cheap? Few ingredients, and not much of the expensive stuff. In main course and savory meals, you must look at what the bulk of the meal consists of, and what binds it together. Rice, potatoes, noodles, lentils, polenta, burghul and cous-cous bulk out a meal cheaply and beautifully. Utilising seasonal veges also makes a recipe quite cheap. Meat, cheese, prime pieces of fish or the need for protein portioned, like you get in a restaurant, will blow your recipe budget.

When you bake (if you do) then eggs, butter, chocolate, nuts, almond meal and honey will get you. These luscious ingredients make your baking luxurious and indulgent, which is why you would bother to make it in the first place. But the generations before us baked cheaply and filled the biscuit jar three times over for the cost of a flourless chocolate torte.

Out came the old Country Women's books (again!) and the vintage Good Housekeeping books, which I kept for the pictures. A quick scan and I found Asian, Middle Eastern and Jewish cuisines particularly lend themselves to cheap eats. In fact, the trend for peasant cooking like Italian, provincial French, Spanish and Portugese, brings us an abundance of great recipes. Out came clippings and old copies of anything I had from my Mum.

And I found a gem. Yum-yum Cake, from Joan Campbell. It's very easy and has water in it, for crying out loud. How cheap is that? Start with

1 cup raisins
1 cup sugar
125g butter
1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon and cloves
1 1/2 cups water
50g cocoa, sifted
pinch salt

Combine these ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil, simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool.

Then stir through
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
3 drops vanilla

Pour into a prepared 21cm ring tin and bake at 180c for 35-40 minutes.

When it's cool glaze with
150g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon honey
60g butter
which you have melted gently together in a bowl over hot water.

The glaze will bust your budget, but it was hard to go cold turkey on the first cheap recipe! Because there's no eggs, it keeps well for about a week. If it lasts that long.

free food

2008-02-07T16:30:00.000+11:00

I go on about how much I spend on food, but I have noticed we get a lot of food for free. This is saving us a packet.

-My mum makes me lunches to have when I drop MB off to be minded for the day.
-We regularly share the harvest from my parents garden.
-The baker brings me fresh bread daily as part of his keep.
-My boss gives me the weekend leftovers.
-We share the amazing, organic bounty of their garden, too.
-The maternal health nurse often gives out baby food samples, which we love.
-My Nana makes relish, and has a neighbour who shares his home grown corn and beans with us.
-My other babysitter 'replaces' the tea-bags she uses while minding MB with a box full.

Now that I'm making the most of everything, such gifts make a big difference. Not paying for two or three lunches, never buying bread and utilising the fresh produce that graces us saves a lot. I notice, because I'm not having to shop as much, and at the end of this week, there may even be some money left in the kitty!

It's not a new phenomenon. We have always shared and traded goodies with family, friends and acquaintances. Just now, it's really proving to be to our benefit.

In return, I try to be generous with what we have to share. Our vege patch is providing gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, lettuces, herbs, radishes and strawberries, with pumpkins and cucumbers on the way. I made jam and pate (livers, so cheap) and am sharing that with Mother's Group, my friends with new babies and the family members who will eat it. Extra bread is gifted to parents and my appreciative boss. Sharing the beautiful things you create is one of the joys of cooking. And really, it doesn't cost much, does it?

the brown robe

2008-02-02T15:50:00.000+11:00

After the excesses of Christmas, and with such a strict New Year savings regime to adapt to, it would be nice to get a break from gift buying, even for a month. Having thought all December about the perfect gifts, to do it again as soon as January is not fair. But no, those birthdays just keep on coming, and February, and March.....

I do have a gift budget, which has been cut back, but it's not tightass. I like to be able to find the right thing for the right person. In my mind. In the real world I hate shopping. I'll use the internet where I can (not cheap, as postage usually interferes with the bargain) and gift cards or vouchers if there's nothing the loved one really wants. On the new budget, I'm trying to see how crafty I can get and save on gifts.

Before you hear this story, I must mention that I sew. Not well, but competently enough to make basic things and repair the baker's workpants. Others in my age group think this is quaint and odd, and I don't mind. In the household I was raised in it is completely normal to sew, knit, do needlepoint, cook and garden. What else would you do with your time?

I decided to make my sister a dressing gown for her birthday. A day-spa inspired, rich chocolate brown linen wrap. Light and airy, natural and flattering. I pictured her with her coffee (which she doesn't drink), crusty baguette and The Age, breakfasting alfresco Saturday morning on the sunny deck of her shared house. Maybe I'm daydreaming about what I'd like to be doing....

It was no issue to make it. I had the material already. As a sew-er I am afflicted, so when I go to a material shop I buy reams of material for projects I've no time to make. Sew-ers like me have drawers stuffed with bolts of cloth waiting to be sewn. From years ago. The brown linen was such a piece. An easy, breezy pair of pants for summer holidays two years ago, that never got made. Perfect.

I snaffled the pattern from my Mum, along with some other material from her drawer that caught my eye (it's a compulsive affliction) and my sister's budget gift was underway. Hopefully it would be easy, since the earliest opportunity I had to make it was the evening before her birthday. No time to cop out and go shopping. Budget intact.

It came together beautifully. Linen is a great material to sew with and the pattern was a breeze. I was guessing at the sizing, but I figured if it fit me it would fit her. She's smaller than me but it's a robe. Fine tailoring is not the issue. Just to make sure, I slipped it on the check the fit.

I gasped. It did fit beautifully, a triumph. But sewn up as a luxurious day-spa wrap, my gorgeous brown linen looked like a Benedictine monks habit. Truly. Like an extra from the DaVinci Code. A bit too Return of the Jedi. Could I get away with it? Would she notice? It was still sumptious, luxurious and hand made. Just a touch more conservative than I anticipated.

I thought through my options. It's 11pm, at this point, the day before her birthday. No shops, no idea of what she wants if I do go, and every chance of a budget-breaking panic spend if I manage to get to the shops before our lunch. Check the robe again. She won't be leaving the house in it. It is light and summery, a lightly crushed look making it so lived in and comfy looking. Hmmm, will she notice?

I folded it in tissue, like something I'd bought at an expensive shop. I wrapped it in new gift paper, not scraps from the recycled wrapping box. I slipped it into a brown gift bag, to complete the spa style theme. Raffia and all.

I confessed the problem of my gift to Mum. She is ever forgiving and would never dream of criticising something made with love. She said it would be ok. At lunch, as my sister opened it, we both held our breath. But bless her, if her eyes didn't light up and she's exclaimed "Oh, great. I know, I need a gown. My housemate has about three....(I stopped listening at this point, since I was so relieved she liked it).

So, one budget gift, happily received. I did shop for my other sister, her twin- a pair of cork Masseur sandals (yes, they still make them, yes, they're still daggy) which she loved and I bought on sale- 50% off! So the two January birthdays are done.

I am in heavy planning and catalogue scouring for the February birthdays. The Februarians are savvy shoppers and home made will not fly with them. I'm also searching ebay already for the March and April birthdays.

Happy Birthday A & S!

the truth about mince

2008-01-31T16:05:00.000+11:00

OK, I have spent the week scanning catalogues, butchers windows and the places where I shop for meat and I have made a discovery. Mince is NOT the cheapest meat. Not at all.

The various grades alter the price, and the day you shop for it can affect markdowns. But the per kilo price puts mince up there with other meat cuts. We will not be eating as much mince as anticipated.

Which is just a relief for me, as I was not looking forward to a year of minced meat at all. In spite of my chirpy, upbeat tone, and optimistic outlook, my year of mince posed quite the spectre. The pasty, mushed up texture gets me very quickly, and however it's disguised, it's still mince to me. Now I have to perfect reason not to buy it so regularly.

So what have I bought?
Lamb neck ($3), lamb shank ($1.99), chicken necks (.67c, and which look like severed penises and attracted a crowd at my stockpot), BBQ sausages ($4.60). Odd sounding cuts, but much more interesting to cook with than mince.

I can try one of the gorgeous tagine recipes from my Claudia Roden cookbook with the lamb neck, and a soup with the shank. Make strachitella (eggy Italian soup) with stock from the chook necks and I can stretch a pack of sausages for many meals- two in a pasta with fresh garden tomatoes, top a homemade pizza with a couple, curried sausages, sausage stew with some eggplant and potatoes or barbequed with fresh 'slaw. That's budget meals for a week, without too much trouble and not a meatball or hamburger in sight.

To celebrate I made my favourite vegetarian meal, pilaf. It's a rice dish, of which there are many versions across the world. You may know it better as biriyani, kedgeree or pilau.

I make mine by sauteing some cubed vegies (onion, garlic, pumpkin, peas, zucchini) until they're sweet and slippery, then throw in 1/2 cup of red lentils, 1 cup basmati rice and 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring it to the boil, cover tightly and turn it onto the lowest flame. Cook for 12 minutes. Once your time is up, without lifting the lid, remove from the heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Then you are ready to season and fluff with a fork.

If you lift the lid early, precious steam escapes and the rice will fail. The standing part is crucial. If you don't take the time, your rice will be gritty and undercooked.

To make it truly gourmet, you can add some toasted almonds, toss in some shredded chicken or stir through chopped fresh herbs at the end. It's actually a great vehicle for leftovers, but it deserves pride of place as a meal in it's own right. I haven't worked out the cost, it's so cheap.

Don't get me wrong, I love meatballs, but gosh, they're expensive, aren't they?

where are the goalposts?

2008-01-31T03:05:00.000+11:00

I am a little at sea. I have embraced my task, but I'm puddling along, minding the pennies, but not feeling like we're really getting anywhere. I know why- the budget, and the goalposts. Or lack thereof. I need a chart and a graph.

It's exciting to start something new, with lofty aspirations, your heart bursting with optimism. I made a plan, and have a map of what I need to do to get there. As new issues arise, they are listed and will be duly addressed. Banking, bills, tax, interest, shopping, gifts. Plenty to investigate and keep me busy and focused. So what's with the slump?

Saving by scrimping is a slow and cumulative process. Money I haven't spent this week will eventually appear in our account. But previously when I have set a saving goal, I was a contributing earner and it was much easier to just stop spending that income and save it for a while. Now I am trying to magically accumulate more money, and every little overspend wears me down.

Like this week, for example. I got an unexpected overdrawn fee from my bank ($30), did a bulk shop at the supermarket ($60 more spent than usual) and the baker received a notice to renew his licence ($112). So the .80c that I accumulated in the Jar seems a bit ridiculous. The goal was missed by a considerable margin. From that point I start to juggle money in my mind, trying to carry over credits from one week to cover debits of the other and it gets me into a complete mess.

I can budget. How else have we managed two overseas trips in the past four years, on modest incomes? Great budgeting. Since becoming a single income household I have checked and reviewed our budget several times, seeking ways to minimise our expenses. Now I'm doing this. Like I said, it's time to get creative. Is it working yet?

I've set the bar- the weekly saving of $192. This is my third week of blogging. Do we have $600 more in the bank? Well, no. We have $200. Quite short of the mark. But I'm working up to it. Watching the pennies so the (pounds) dollars take care of themselves....There will be a chart and a graph shortly.

bargain alert

2008-01-29T10:02:00.000+11:00

'Huggies' bulk boxes of nappies are on sale at Safeway. $29.99. Get them now.

In my experience this sale cycle repeats only once every three months, so buy two or three boxes. And consider that your baby may grow and get the next size up too. You will use them and will curse when the price goes back to $42.

Has anyone tried the Aldi nappies? They're supposed to be cheap and good. I was given a copy of the Choice article about disposable nappies, but they failed to mention Aldi. Huggies win, and I actually agree. Nothing worse than being woken from a night time (read:longer) sleep by an unhappy baby in a leaky nappy, who then needs feeding, rocking and patting before you all can go back to bed. Just because of a crappy nappy. Save yourself the pain and spend the 8c.

Note: I have posted the link to Choice, which is a brilliant consumer tool. But the article I mentioned is available to subscribers only. However, do have a look at what's available for free. You'll find an archived article discussing nappies from 2003. There's very useful information there, if you're looking to make a big purchase (like a cot or car seat) but have no idea about what to look for. And it's not just for babies. Many aspects of consumer interest are covered- whitegoods, blackgoods, banking and finance products are rated and tested. Your thinking done for you. Love it! And for the better part, it's free.

The Jar

2008-01-27T17:15:00.000+11:00

I know when we are not skint, because I find money everywhere. Pockets, bedside tables, window sills, the car ashtray, the back of the couch, forgotten purses, the bottom of the washing machine. When things get tight, these areas are looted and the cash disappears. When I wasn't working, prior to the birth of MB, there was no loose change to be had. Not a cent.

Presently, there's tidbits of money floating all about our house. I notice more now since our young baby can reach up to flat surfaces and sweep off articles to then chew and explore. I am sure he'll get a five cent piece, any day now. And we'll be off to Emergency. Our habits have to change.

So I've made a jar. Not for 'goldies' or big money, just the shrapnel that we don't use. It's the 5c jar and all the floating money is going in there. To prevent a choking baby, to prevent disappearing money. I'm not saving it under pressure, it's not for fun, or a special occasion. Just a little bit more money saved. Let's see how much.....

the food issue

2008-01-21T22:56:00.000+11:00

I realise that I have not previously mentioned I am a chef.

Of course, those who know me already know that. You all already know that food and eating matters to me. Our conversations will be turned onto food at any point, at any reference. It is a life of immersion. Cook for work, cook to relax. I have a good understanding of farming and growing, production, cooking, food politics, restaurants, markets, reviewers and writers, of those who contribute to our daily food life.

I won't buy cheap food, just because it's cheap. I can smell the rotting stink as I pass by cut price fruit and vegetable shops. I seethe with rage when I find items bought there deteriorating less than a day after purchasing. Even green bananas. I won't by cheap meat if it's water pumped, preservative drenched, bulk buy, compromised quality. I think that's false economy. I don't want to support bad farming practices by buying cheap cage eggs. I want to encourage good farming and small producers by using their produce, but small scale farming foods are generally more expensive.

Undertaking this experiment, I have found that food is a large expense in our household. Eating is a ritual, a joy, a hobby, our daily obsession. If you look at a budget planner, then buying, preparing, eating and sharing food fills more than the 'food expenses' column. We also cover off 'gifts' and 'entertainment'. Reducing what we spend in this area is imperative, but very difficult. See my challenge? It makes me wince. I'll be thinking about this a lot.

the great loaf

2008-01-21T21:09:00.000+11:00

Quick off the mark, our first meal of meatloaf. Such an evocative symbol of economical home cooking. Good for a meal and three lunches at least. Delicious, really. Sadly we devoured most of it before I gained the presence of mind to take a photo. I'll get the hang of this blogging thing soon. More importantly, what of the math of the meal?

I used
500gm regular mince, $6.48 from Safeway. (Having scanned the catalogues this morning, this is not cheap mince. At current prices, I could have paid $2.20p/kg less.)

Boosted with one large onion (.12c),
one wilting carrot from the bottom of the vege bin (written off a week ago),
one zucchini from Dad's garden (free, with love),
one egg (.50c, free range),
1/2 cup breadcrumbs from the back of the cupboard (.05c)
and some secret herbs, spices and seasoning.
Grate veges, mix everything gently but thoroughly, 'enloaf' in a lined tin and bake at 180C for about an hour.
Total cost: $7.15

In a salute to the Country Women's Association and their gem of a leaflet 'Mince Matters', from where I drew inspiration, I served a baked potato and lightly boiled pumpkin and peas. Splodge of sour cream and some great relish on the table and a grander meal was never had.

Feeding two people for four meals, the cost per person, per meal is .89c. That is pretty good, I'd think. But you have to watch the add ons. Potato, pumpkin, peas, sour cream and relish all add about another $2 each to the meal, pushing the cost to $5.80 for the two of us. And I ran the oven for and hour and the stove for 20 mins. So we are in the realm of $6 for dinner for two. For dessert we broke into the chocolates that we received for Christmas, so the cost was not increased further. Phew!

Since I promised the baker I'd cook my way through 'Mince Matters' this year, you can look forward to some mystifying dinners. There's a dish called Stroganoff requiring mince, a can of tomato soup, a cup of rice and a pot big enough to boil it in. For CWA recipe lovers, yes, there's a dish requiring a tin of apricots. I'll have to work up to it. Bon Appetite

experienced thrift-ers needed.

2008-01-21T14:02:00.000+11:00

This is a shout out to those of you who are good savers and non- spenders. I want your tips.

I know you're out there, I have long admired your abilities. AM, who can live so well on $12000p/a. Emzeegee who was devastated by her last years income statement- you lived somehow, didn't you? Well, how? Al, who always has a full bank account, somewhere in the world, and used bank interest to finance many of her escapades over the years. HELP.

Daily living, long term strategies, all of it. Because, actually, I'm really bad at thinking about this. I'm not really financially minded. No training in it, and I never allowed myself the time to learn to think about money. I always had enough to cover for my failings. I've paid the over-drawn fees, the late payment fees, the higher phone bills. I worked to pay for holidays and then worked to pay off the cards. I shop for brands and pay little attention to catalog specials. It's symptomatic of a spender. These habits have got to go.

A little help, please!

and so we begin..

2008-01-19T15:59:00.000+11:00

It is a resolution of mine to 'blog' this year. Now it's mid January. A slow start, but I feared putting my crap out there and then not being able to take it back. So I spent the better part of the month thinking of a purpose for my blog.

The other resolution this year is to save money. Yeah, right, who doesn't have that resolution every payday? Well, of course, but this year there is going to be a big push for cash. We want to buy a house. Actually, we want to set up our own business, but having tried to do this recently and been denied, we discovered we need a big, equity building asset to realise our dream. We are well short of the cash needed to do this.

Adding to the saving challenge, our household recently went from being DINK (ol' super indulged double-incomers) to BBNE (baby bonus not enough!). We knew it was coming, it wasn't really shocking until about six months on. Then the gaps in our life opened up. I became one of those people who has trouble getting from one pay to the next, and I have not ever been like that. I have always had a paying job, income was always due me and I have never worried about paying for anything. I was always on that hamster wheel, running full tilt from adventure to adventure.

So, I reviewed our life. Scanned the bills, considered the expenses, the necessities. We trimmed up the edges, decided what we would live without, cobbled together a budget and we are afloat. But saving has become quite the challenge. Time to get creative. That's what this is all about.

Being a new Mum, I can't just get a job and get on with the savings plan. Well, I can but I don't want to. Working outside the home has far reaching consequences for me, my husband, the baker, the new littleone (MB) and our lifestyle. Is it necessary from me to work for us to move forward? Surely there are some good housekeeping principles, masterful home economic practices, thrifty, natty ways to save a buck that I can master? If I'm not out there bringing it in, I can sure concentrate more on keeping what does come in.

Time to get the real deal on super-cheap living. Is meatloaf so economical? Can you eat it 5/7 days? What about our health, if we do that? In fact with modern food manufacturing, is home-made the cheapest option anymore? And again, what of our health if we eat cheap? Which supermarket is the cheapest? Is it good economics to 'shop around'? Birthday presents, Easter, Christmas, dinner parties, baby expenses, medical expenses,- there's some serious, unavoidable expenditure to be planned for. It might be a cheap year, but you can't cheap out on gifts, can you? Who can help me? Where's the free advice, the price comparisons, the calculators and spreadsheets to really make this work? And I'm going to hunt up some fun challenges- feed a family on $30, five meals from one chicken, 10 ways to reduce your electricity bill and such, just to shake things up. I'll be reading and reviewing the literature as well, as expert advice is not going to hurt. I think I'll begin by re-visiting to that old savers classic 'How to Pay off your Mortgage in Five Years' by Anita Bell. Just gotta dig it off the back of the shelf.

So what's the goal? How much can we save? Is it possible to save $10,000 this year? That's not spending $192 dollars a week. That's bringing in more than a few belt notches.. But it's very important to do this. And I don't yet know what's really possible, do I? $10, 000. More? Wow. Just imagine!