BUDGET

I have been inspired by many books, blogs and friends about the idea of a budget. A friend of mine created one a couple of years ago for me but I never really looked at it after that. However, with a new outlook and the desire to move out of home and into my own house, a budget is what I needed. As mentioned before, I have started a food budget which includes planning meals for a week. I have given myself a budget of $100 dollars. So far I have spent $70 dollars and I haven't even bought much meat so I am a little worried. Despite this I am enjoying going through cook books and highlighting meals I think will be cost effective and delicious. As I also want to be as healthy as I can, I am going to try and buy less packaged food and store bought snacks and bake a lot more. I usually go to this shop and buy a muffin which cost me $3.50. This is very un-frugal so I decided to bake my own and they are delicious and it probably cost me $3.50 for all! I will freeze them so they won't go to waste.

Inspiration or crazy?

I often read about older people who have done wonderful things for their age. For example, ran a marathon at 90. However, today I thought maybe this man was more crazy than inspiring. As you can see from the photo, he is on a motorised wheelchair and crossing a three way highway! I know when I get older I won't be able to drive a car, but there were pathways he could have gone on and crossed down at the lights. This would have been safer for him and other drivers.

Well I am very excited with my new blog and have already got one follower. Yes, thank you Jen. I told you in my last blog that I am trying to be frugal and creative when it comes to food. I have been inspired by other blogs about meal planning and how it is great to save money as you don't waste food and buy stuff that you really don't need. I love that some blogs take photos of their food and any wastage. I suppose when you know other people maybe looking at it then you will try to be creative and not let everyone see how wasteful you are. Well I will show you some meals but as I share a house with my mum who loves to buy and waste, I can't do it. However, I am trying to inspire my mum to plan meals so we can cut down on overspending and wastage. I will let you know how this goes. I have started to buy a fruit and vegie box which is cheaper ( I think) will check this out from a wholesaler. It costs $40 and you get a mixture of fruit and vegetables. From this I will try and create our weekly meals. So tonights meal was inspired by a singles mom blog. I tweaked the ingredients a bit as I didn't have it all and wanted to use what I had in the cupboard and fridge , but I used the zucchni, sweet potato, pumpkin and capsicum from the box. I just cut them up, added garlic, pepper and salt and fried them and added water to soften them a bit. For the chicken, I marinated it in red wine vinegar, soy sauce, olive oil and mixed herbs. It tasted ok and mum said she liked it and would eat again!! I was also thinking I could add rice and take it to work the next day which will save me buying from the local shops:)

Inspire

I suppose I should start and tell you why I called my blog Inspire. Well it is very simple, I have been inspired by my Best friend. This wonderful person has inspired me to do many different things in my life over the last ten years that I have known her. I would not be the person I am today because of her. She has a fab blog which I love reading everyday and seeing her beautiful photography. It has given me a kick up the butt, I know I will never be as creative as her (that is her thing) but I can try and be as thoughtful. I am not going to use the old excuse that I have no time or too busy! She works just as hard and still manages to do all these wonderful Fab things! So I am going to stop my mindless watching of TV and start putting time aside to do things that are thoughtful and creative. My blog will be about things that have Inspired me to do something. For example, I have made my own New Years cards from old photos that I had stored in my drawers collecting dust. In my excitement I have already put them in envelopes so I can't show you any. However, it was very frugal and as I am saving for a house, I need to cut down. It cost me about 50 cents per card and they were all personal and as they were from photos I had taken so they should be unique. I will also talk about my endeavour to stop wasting food and create some inspiring meals that are tasty and frugal. I will pass on any thing that is good. I have taken most from other blogs so I will make sure to say where I got them from. Until tomorrow.