Hi and welcome to another Friday Feeling blog. It has been a busy week. Monday Henry had his Paediatrician Appointment about his development and seeing what else the health centre can do to help support Henry's development as he is behind in some areas.

It can be difficult to hear that being a parent, but Henry is progressing and doing new things each day that I know by watching and observing him that he will catch up. Some Children it just takes time. Every Child is different. The more experiences he has the better it will help with his growth and learning to speak more so he can eventually say full sentences.

Then on Tuesday and Wednesday we took a drive up after meeting daddy from work up to the Epsom Downs. It is our favourite thing to do, now my hubby finishes at the same time everyday rather than different shifts each week. It can make it difficult to plan anything when parents work different hours. We just want to make the most of the time we have together, I am really enjoying those times.

Thursday Henry and I went to #LEGOLAND, with nanny and Henry's cousins, Ava and Ruby. I hadn't been there since secondary school back when it was called Windsor Safari Park. I hadn't been there since it changed to being #LEGOLAND and it was a great day out. I will post about this more on my Tales of my Travels page next week. I would recommend the resort to those who  have #youngchildren, they will love it.

​​​Today we were supposed to be going to see Tears for Fears in concert but due to events we aren't able to go, and so were going to go to Nottingham instead to visit my husband's brother but he has now moved back to Lincoln so going to see if we can get a transfer there instead to see him in hospital. Please do not ask further wish to keep this private for my husband's family sake.

Then Saturday I am going to have a my haircut and spend some time just Elv and I chilling and having some time to ourselves, then Sunday spending some times with our son, and perhaps have a coffee or two.

So here is to the weekend and lets hope it is a good one.

Many thanks for reading,


Carrie X ​​​​

Another end of the week and boy has it been a week. I have still been careful with my money and it is good to have that money saved for emergencies which we did need this week. We did fix the gate on our living room door but Henry managed to brake through it. Definitely going to be stunt boy when he gets older. So we are now going to have to think of Plan B. What that is, not sure yet but will have to get something sorted for the living room door ASAP.

I managed to find my running buzz again as I hadn't had the same vibe to run as before and stopped for a few weeks. Getting back out there yesterday morning at 5am felt good. Then walked from Epsom to Ashtead then got the train back and then later walked to meet Elv after work. so my legs are aching a bit today.

Ashtead is quite a small place but as some little business shops, charity shops and local stores. It was about 2.4 miles from where we live and was nice. Good weather yesterday to be out. ​

Who else loves the film You Got Mail, I love that film with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, I never get sick of the film they had that on this week. Such a great film, then I wanted to watch more of our films we have indoors to discover our Xbox isn't working. It won't turn on. It has not been a good year so far with technology. Hopefully some good luck will come my way some point.

Looking forward to today when my hubby gets home, we are planning to go out somewhere today for a change. I think we can all do with a fresh environment for a few hours or so. It is going to be the first weekend with no football or tennis, but we do have the Olympics in Rio coming, so looking forward to that. Come on Team GB.

I have a new Haul video up ready to be published, so once it is I will add to my website and let you all know.

Anyway going to leave it there for today. Have a fab weekend and see you next week.

Many thanks for reading,


Carrie X ​​​​

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End of another week and I really want to go for a run, but I know it isn't wise as I am still bunged up and running tends to aggravate me when I have a mixture of Hayfever and a cold, that is still lingering. So because I really wanted to do some exercise, and because I had a good workout yesterday, and wanted to keep the momentum up I decided to go for a long walk instead before heading back home after dropping Henry off at nursery. I took Henry out yesterday to walk the same route, Henry loves being outdoors and it was really nice to just go for a leisurely stroll in our local common.

When I walk that is where I start to get most of my ideas from, for my blogs, books and videos. ​It is the best therapy to help clear the mind and help the creative side of my brain working.

I got say it was really nice to just be with nature in the mornings not having to rush anywhere else.​


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​Following on from my previous blogs see links to these above (Monday Check-in, Blog Tuesday and on this page Friday Feeling page) where I have been talking about finding the girl who was a super saver. I have been really careful this week. It has really made me count and be cautious with every penny. I am really having to hold my self back from splurging and making sure I keep to my budget as much as I can. If you haven't read my other blogs then I have been writing about being more responsible with my money. I want to be the girl again, who was once a proper Savvy person and who saved like it was the most important thing in the world. Since doing a proper budget which I have been doing this week has really started to get touch with the good feelings of saving, rather than spending. Breaking it down, doing a spreadsheet on things we have purchased this year, has really been an insight and opened my eyes to the fact that I can now see where I have been wasting my money.

​It is nice to see amount go up instead of down.

I am not saying it isn't ok to have a splurge but now I will save to have those and not splurge all the time. I will admit I do hoard, but there are times when this has worked in my favour. I always have a receipt should I need to return an item. Or if we need a set of instructions for something I know I have it and all household items instructions are all together in a folder.

It is things like clothes, using up toiletries before I go out and purchase more and food making sure that, that all gets used. I know I don't need so many of everything and focusing on what we do need. Minimal I have come to see does help to make rooms clearer, rather than have them jam packed full of stuff. Well I am getting there, still need to work on this, but I don't need to keep 100's of magazines anymore or items that I may use one day.

Part of my super savvy side I had when I was young is still there a little, but it is those times I am bored and think mmm, I'll just have a look on Amazon and  have a browse or I just pop into TK Maxx for a browse, and there have been times where I have had the willpower to walk out without buying something but then I will get that rush of adrenaline and before I know it I am at the till and buying again.

Now I will purposely walk around town after I drop off Henry to nursery so I don't go into TK Maxx or any other shop as most of the shops in Epsom don't open until 9am. I loose the urge to go to the shops once I have got home and once I picked up Henry. ​​​

I did have to get a few extra items this week, so did go over my budget, but I know there will be times that I will, due to running out of items. That is ok. I am still monitoring what I buy, and already even though I have gone over my budget still saved more this month already by being more careful about what I buy and how much. 

​Henry this week finally worked out how to open our doors, and can now open the door that leads out to the hallway from our living room. Once they begin to learn a skill they keep on opening up the door, closing it, slamming it if you are not careful; so can lead to trapped fingers and so not able to relax now until little dude is in bed in the evening or when he has his afternoon nap. So even though it is another milestone in Henry's development, NOW NOWHERE IS SAFE.

I have bought some safety catches and door clips, for our cupboard doors, our fridge as he has learned how to open this and has worked out that, this is where we keep the yogurts. I realised he had worked this out when I saw two pots of yogurt at the top of the stairs, as if Henry was saying "Please I want these, open them up if possible so I can have them".

Also we will be putting either a gate or a lock on the living room door, because there are times when I will be cooking in the kitchen or cleaning, where I want him to be where I can easily see him. Not possible when he is opening and closing the door, running upstairs to cause mayhem to then slide back down and cause more mayhem downstairs.

So been a busy week and with parenthood no week is the same really as I am sure Henry will be doing more new things come next week. So glad the Tennis and football are on. I know some can't wait for these to finish, but these two sports seems to be along with SpongeBob be the only things that will have Henry sitting down for a bit.

I will do an unboxing video of the items I bought from Amazon, I have one other item to come. In terms of money, things are looking up already, don't want to tempt fate but having taken control and be more savvy I do see a positive end.

Anyway have a good rest of Friday and weekend. I will blog again next week.

Many thanks for reading,


Carrie X ​​​​

 Hello it is Friday once again. I am full of cold, I thought it was Hayfever at first as I did keep getting itchy eyes. However I am so blocked up from the back of my throat (sorry for the TMI) to the front of my nose and it is so irritating. 

If you read my blog on Monday Check-In. Sorry this is a mistake meant to say Blog Tuesday page I wrote about how I am really budgeting my money and was giving myself £10 a week to spend, and on myself I spent just £1.50, which was good. In total, on food for Henry, snacks, bread and milk total was £16.79 pence. Not bad. I need to buy more nappies but going to use my Boots points to pay for these. It has been £30 to £40, so has made a massive difference. 

What it has really made me see is where most of my money goes. You may think well that's obvious, but sometimes we can be reckless and become unaware of how much we are spending a week. We become in denial at times, or think we have to reward ourselves as "We can't take it with us when we go" i.e: die. Sorry to being morbid, but how many of us have had that attitude or have said that. I can definitely put my hand up. 

However when you have bought those pair of £60 shoes knowing you now going to go further into your overdraft or credit card, which is high anyway and got your childs nappies, food and baby wipes to buy, you have to think what is important?
Do you want to be paying this debt off for the rest of your life?

It has made me look at the little things we spend our money on. for example I could see that being more cautious with our money our food packaging draw has become less clogged up, and haven't got a food bag blocking us from opening it up, and we can see what we have got and what we needed to buy.

It made me think about alternatives on how we can still store our food without spending lots of money on food bags and packaging. We have plenty of plastic tubs so any leftovers can be stored in those in the fridge, so don't need clingfilm or a food bag for those. If it is a fruit or vegetable or cheese for example, then use up our blue freezer bags we already have got. They can be used for storing food in lunchboxes or in the freezer, so it made me see I don't need the fancy food bags with the zipper across. They are nice but do I really need them. NO.

It also made me address the cost of how much to spend on food packaging items and where. The Poundland shops are good on some items when it comes to spending and saving money, which is one of my joys, but it isn't if you go to the pound shop and still blow your budget for the week. It's defeating the object of saving. You can get items for lower cost in stores like Wilkos. So Instead of spending a pound each on Clingfilm, kitchen foil and food bags, why not go to Wilko's and purchase it for less than a pound. Ok you may not get as many bags, but I find at times, the more you have of something, the more you use. When you have less of somethings it makes you be more cautious on how much to use, to make it last longer.

Sometimes the "Less is more" approach does make sense on certain things.

I almost had an impulse buy in Wilko's, because as I approached the queue for the tills, I could see they were doing Nivea Shower Gels for 95p and I got that urge, "Ooh should I get some just in case it goes up in price?" I really had to hold myself back and think "No, use the ones I have".   

It does take discipline, making the choice between need and want. There is a difference between the two. Do you need another pair of shoes to add to your 16 pairs you already have? 
No, they are a want item. 
Do you need to buy more nappies for your toddler? 
Yes, if you are running low. I have found that bulk buying of nappies does save you a lot more, than buying them individually, but if you have a points card and have enough points to cover the cost of a packet then that is also a great way to save. 

So when buying something, sometimes making association with if it is a need or a want item, can really help make that correct decision. 

The difference between the girl who was a saver when she was a young girl to who I am today, was that with money I had a more respectful caring attitude towards it, and it was a good relationship. Then I began to choose between having a lot of clothes to having a lot of money, going out every night or weekend, to saving money and the relationship with money began to be a rollercoaster relationship, not being able to get to grips with it. 

Attitude I have come to learn, now I am 37, going almost onto 38 years old, does make all the difference in relationships, whether they are with an object, lifestyle choice or with a person. Having respect and taking control, working on your own personal demons, why I couldn't get to grips with money, is the starting point for me to start building a good relationship with money again. I know this will be helpful to others, as sometimes you can fall out with money, but it is about having the right attitude to put right again. 

No life isn't as, Jessie J, sings, all about the money, but having the right attitude does. 

Here I have linked my two new Youtube videos which you can watch on my channel now. 

New Monthly Mother and Baby Chat Video 
Charity Shop Monthly Challenge- May 2016
Days in a life Video- Saturday 20th May 2016


Many thanks for reading, 


​Carrie X