There is always something to do

Over the past couple of posts and their comments we've shared how we organise our finances by tracking spending, saving what we can and cutting back as much as possible. That is all usually done to enable us to live well on whatever income we have and to either save or pay off debt.  The final piece of the puzzle is to use the information you have about your spending and create a realistic budget that will give you the life you want to live while you pay off your debt, and when money is left over, saving it.  Those savings may well be used for a house deposit, buying a car, or identifying family needs or treats.

So that is your next step, or if you've already got a budget, review it.  Here are two links that I hope will help you in this process. The first is the Australian Government's Moneysmart website with many calculators, apps and articles on money management.   The second is a post I wrote in 2013 - Budgeting - take control of your money.  Good luck!

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We've had a busy time over the past few days. We looked after all the grandkids on Saturday and Jamie on Sunday, and the rest of the time was taken up mainly with seasonal tasks like gardening, harvesting and juicing as well as frugal home management.

With a roast chicken in the oven, I zipped out to the garden for the accompanying vegetables. About 45 minutes after they were picked, they were eaten. 

I love Autumn. It's my favourite season, not only because the weather cools down and I can cook warming stews and soups, but also because I know there will be a six month block of good (cool) weather. We do the bulk of our food gardening in Autumn and Winter and that is in full swing now.  Hanno has been picking lemons off both trees and juicing them so we have plenty of juice for cooking now and for cordial in summer.

Yet another whole orange cake.

This is a passionfruit marigold bush that I'm going to take out next week.  It brightens the Winter garden but I really dislike that colour. 

The violas and thyme are dwarfed by the daikon and turnips.

Another whole orange cake has been baked, I made up a couple of baskets of vegetables for Sunny to take home and this afternoon, as soon as I finish this post, I'll be planting out the sprouting broccoli seedlings I grew from seeds.  The garden is growing well, mainly due to the excellent preparation Hanno work spent time on a couple of months ago. That work will continue to pay off for the coming six months while we continue to harvest fresh organic vegetables and fruit right in our backyard. 

A basket for Sunny to take home - kale, lettuce, turnips, basil, parsley daikon and eggs. 

We have an over abundance of lemons, we're now picking the oranges and when the grandkids were here on Saturday, I really enjoyed them picking oranges with Hanno so we could squeeze them fresh to enjoy with our lunch.  Such simple pleasures!

It was a very nice task sitting on the back verandah in the late afternoon sunshine, cutting up rags and ties. The radio was playing, I could hear the birds in the garden and all was right in my world.

I cut up a worn out sheet to make another batch of absorbent cleaning rags and cut the elastic edges off the sheet for tomato ties.  The fridge was cleaned out, bathrooms cleaned and all sorts of bits and pieces taken care of.  There is one sure thing here, there is always something to do.

Quite a few readers have asked about Gracie and yes, HRH Princess Grace was taken to the beach yesterday for a walk around with real people and other dogs. She loves meeting new people and she's very good in the car so it's always a pleasure to take her out and get a bit of variety in her life.  We used a new groomer last week - Julie from My K9's Keeper, a hydrobath service, came to our place and washed Gracie. I told Julie how difficult it is to wash her but Gracie was on her best behaviour with Julie, she must have known she was a dog trainer too. We've booked Gracie in for monthly baths with Julie because Gracie liked her and we were both very happy with how she handled her.

So that's me. What have you been doing these past few days?  If you have time, let me know your news.  xx