Growing Your Blog

Right now if you go to the following link:-

https://ultimatebundles.com/sale/tgbtk2018-download-ebook?a_aid=a40&a_bid=621f991f

you can download a free ebook on how 40 successful bloggers grew their blogs. They are all real life stories and the book answers lots of questions about which strategies work and which do not. It also makes clear that growing your blog takes lots of work and quite a bit of new learning !

A long time ago I decided not to monetize my blog as somehow it doesn't seem quite right to be making money out of people looking for frugal advice. However, others do not feel the same way and have been able to be a great blessing to others through their blog earning money, so I guess it's just a question of what you feel most comfortable doing !

Have a look at the ebook and see what you think ?

After lots of outdoor work yesterday and a play about St Michael and the Dragon, today we are going to rather more sedate Michaelmas celebration with a couple of lectures and a concert.

Michaelmas time, Michaelmas time!
Time is turning under the plough,
Under the stars, under the signs,
The ploughman toils with deep furrowed brow.
He turns his thoughts against the cold,
Buries his fears 'neath the Earth's deep mould.
Frost, like fire, burns white on the blade,
Of his iron share that red fire made.

Michaelmas time, Michaelmas time!
Time is bending over the scales,
Over the bread, over the wine,
The ploughman bows his head at the rail.
He turns his thoughts towrads the flame,
Raises his eyes to the thanksgiven grain.
Stars, like spears, gleam over the tower,
Of the house of God in Michael's hour.

Michaelmas time, Michaelmas time!
Time is changing the guard of the world.
Deep in his heart, dauntless in mind,
The ploughman guards against time growing old.
He stands and studies the star-patterned sky,
Fixes each spark in his wishing-well eyes.
Stars, like seeds, strewn over the land
And under the plough by Michael's hand.

I love this song as I think it captures so well that slow slide from the end of Summer, when you are not sure whether Autumn has arrived to the frost that is sure to arrive by November !

credits

Frugal Friday

Just a quick run down of the frugal things we did this week as the final year of my counselling course has started and as suspected, that means I'm getting pretty busy !

We picked butternut squash and sweetcorn and both were delicious but that is the end of the plants now as it got close to freezing at the start of the week. We ate the corn off the cob and used the squash for soup. Now I have lots of them in the utility room where it is cool and dry. I even found 2 more when I pulled out the vines !

I improvised a final cold frame using the guide we use for planting square foot beds and a large piece of plastic from a bulk order of toilet rolls. Once the beds were cleared of the sweetcorn and the butternut vines I planted spring onions, radishes and spinach in the hope they would sprout before it gets cold.

We ate a chicken on Sunday and then used the carcass to make stock. We also made pizza, chocolate cake, chapattis and pancakes. The menu plan and shopping plan have been made for October and I'll go shopping for it this weekend as I am much busier during the week now.

I got 2 free packets of seeds with the 'Kitchen Garden' magazine and made a final shopping list of what is left to buy and make for Christmas. I was delighted to see that the cotton flannel I am currently knitting can be paired with a delightful handmade soap I was given to make a gift for a god child. So that was one less thing to buy. Now I only need chocolate and some baking ingredients for some homemade gifts and my list is finished !

Martin Lewis Money Show

This was shown on ITV on Tuesday night and is still available on catch-up at the ITV hub. The main theme was saving for Christmas. Hannukah etc. and the show is well worth watching if you have resolved not to over spend !

I learned a few new things, including you are not automatically entitled to refunds on damaged gifts, only the purchaser is ! However, the most moving thing was in the middle of the show where Martin Lewis just sat in a chair and spoke directly to the camera about the harm that overspending does to people and how unhelpful the feeling of having to reciprocate is ! I have certainly struggled with this in the past. Then they showed a couple of small segments where families in Northern Ireland had chosen to do things differently, it was great ! 

It might seem too early to be talking about the holidays but as the show said, it's only 90 days away and even fewer working days ! Most of my stash is already put away and I'm not going to feel bad closer to the time that the gifts, even for family are only small. The most important thing is the love that comes with them !

Free Cookbook

Amazon currently has this book free to download for the Kindle. It is very worthwhile and I would recommend getting it if you want a few new ideas about how to curb the grocery spend.

It contains lots of family recipes with interesting history behind them, for instance the Macaroni Salad is from Aunt Eva and the recipe starts with some memories about visiting her on her farm and helping with storing vegetables for the winter.

All the recipes are straight forward and use cheap ingredients, but it is fairly traditional fare, so you won't find much for vegans here.

The recipes are divided into sections such as: Breakfast; Mains and Sides and there is even a section called Extra Tight Budget with six recipes for when you really need to keep costs down. The recipes are all easy to make and my family would eat them, so I'm glad to have a copy of this and am looking forward to trying a few new things, like Cabbage Rolls and Slow Cooker Bean Burritos.

There are only three pudding recipes in the book, so I guess it would be quite good for weight loss as well !

Competition !

Moneywise October's  magazine has a competition to win a copy of this helpful book. Now in its second edition it is written by Andy Bell who is the chief executive of an investment platform. It aims to show you how to build a long term investment strategy using low cost, tax efficient strategies. We certainly need this sort of advice when savings rates are so low.

If you fancy a copy of the book Moneywise have 10 to give away and I have won a competition with them before so it's worth a go.

Simply go to  

moneywise.co.uk/competitions 

enter your name and address and keep your fingers crossed ! BUT don't do it until October arrives as the competition is in the October magazine which I just got through the post. If you go right now though you can still enter September's competition to win some nights in Edinburgh and also register for a free book about an investment trust. ( I think the above is more useful, so I'll be making a note on the calendar to enter on 1st October !)

A Windy Outing

A windy outing to the Whipsnade Downs yesterday and we saw this extraordinary sculpture. Do you know what it is ?

No, I didn't either but it is the intake pipe for the ventilation system in the visitor centre. Apparently the wind bows through the gaps in the sculpture and is funnelled underground to blow into the centre to keep it cool. I thought it was very ingenious !

We had a lovely walk from the Tree Cathedral to the Chiltern Gateway Centre and I can thoroughly recommend a visit up there. We saw lots of kite flying and a glider coming into land, very exciting !