Trying to stay frugal

I am still trying to keep on the financial straight and level but I have strayed recently and been out spending money. Not particularly big money but nevertheless money we could have saved. The main area of weakness was eating out, 2 meals out but sometimes I think you do deserve a treat. On the positive side I have still got some bargains. From the church sale in the last few days I got a few books that my daughter wanted 30p each. One was a ' Horrible Science' book that she hasn't put down since. The books from the church are always in such good condition, it is as if they have been read once then donated. We went into a charity shop recently and my daughter spotted one of the Harry Potter books she would like. Quite well read and battered , the book was marked up at £3.99. We didn't buy it. I felt it was overpriced for a second hand book, which is a shame because they are donated and I think the shop is pricing things too high. Also from the church I picked up 4 DVDs, quite recent films ; Crazy Stupid Love, Unstoppable, Expendables and the Adjustment Bureau. These again were priced at 30p each so an excellent buy and good for movie nights. Have you picked up any bargains lately ?

Trying to stay positive

Sorry for the long absence. Its been a few weeks since my last blog but when I logged in today I had the pleasant surprise of two new followers 'Counting Pennies ' and ' Annette Webb'. Thank you both for joining.

The last few weeks have flown by. Its now been a month since my house was sold and we are getting on well in the rented place. To be honest my house sale went through quickly and easily so I got suckered into thinking that a new purchase would be the same. Not having bought a property in over 15 years I forgot about the process involved. Dealing with estate agents ( apologies for any estate agents reading ) , I have found them to be dreadful. I have dealt with about 7 different companies and they have all been the same. Silly stories, exaggeration, lack of contact, misinformation and forgetfulness. I am just so glad I didn't have to pay nearly £5k for the privilege of them selling my old house. They seem to look down upon you like something on their shoe. I just don't get it ? We are chain free, have the deposit in the bank and the mortgage agreed. Some of the agents have seen the paperwork to prove it. I kind of thought the phone would be ringing off the hook asking us to view but nothing. I really am surprised. We last went to view a place last weekend. I feel like I'm a bit fed up now. Sometimes the pictures and descriptions are really disappointing when you seem them in real life. One house we went to view, we would ask ' whats this' or 'whats in there', to be told we couldn't look as its a mess !! How do people expect to sell and why do they expect people to buy when you can't look at something ? We have a property in mind that we may ask for a second look.

Happy faces at home

Its been few and far between lately. We have been so busy , sorting and unpacking its never ending. We have also been out to look at a few properties although nothing has caught our fancy. We are going to look at some more houses over the next week.

March 1st was Offer Day for all the school children moving up to senior school. We applied on line for our school choices and waited up until midnight for the email. Except it didn't arrive, the system crashed !! We stayed up a while then got up early but still nothing. Finally we got the email as we were about to leave for school and were thrilled to discover we had got our first choice. We were all delighted as the school has an excellent reputation and is rated as outstanding by Ofsted. Its such a huge worry that's now behind us. The last fortnight has been a bit surreal, a house sale and a school place. We feel that we are finally moving forward. Now things are calming down a little , I hope to be blogging some more.