Ways of saving money on your Christmas shop

 One of the reasons that Christmas costs so much every year is because of the food bill. People always go overboard on Christmas and spend a lot more then the ever age weekly shop. Here are a few tips to keep the cost down this year. 

Have you tried using a Seasonal Planner?

If you ask anyone who knows me, they will confirm I am the least organized person in the world. I am always forgetting birthdays or remembering the date of a birthday but not realizing that date is so close! 

Review of Bomb Dot Com Glitter palette

Well 2020 has thrown us another curve ball. Just as we were all getting back into our routines, we are put into a second lockdown. And although I am not denying that it is needed and will hopefully ensure that we are able to see family over Christmas, I just don't like the fact that we have to do it. 

10 MOVIES THAT EVERY GEEK SHOULD WATCH (AND WHY?)

 Various drama movies sometimes make no-sense. For geeks like us, I have searched and gathered some brainy movies. These movies are based on science and fiction that will recharge your brain cells. 

Review of Box of Favours

I love having a little sister. Sometimes she gets on my nerves but I love having a sister with such a large age gap.

Saving money this Christmas

 This year has been a bit bonkers. We have had several months of lockdown and revised opening hours meaning many people have lost their jobs or had to take a pay cut because they have been or are currently still on furlough. 

Is my house haunted?

This week I thought my house was haunted! 

Matilda’s back at school

 Matilda went back to school this week. This was the first time in 6 months that she had been to school. 

Matilda is such a social butterfly and was really missing her friends during lockdown. During august, we were able to do some social distanced picnics with some of her friends but she was unable to see so many of them. As a result she was so excited to get back. 

The night before we named her uniform, made her lunch and got her school bag ready. She set her alarm and went to bed no problem. In the morning she woke up before her alarm and got ready quickly. 

On the way to school the nerves starting to kick in. She was unsure what classroom she was going in, unsure who her teacher was and unsure of what changes would be made.  We tried to reassure her but it’s difficult when we don’t know the answers. 

When we reached the school Matilda spotted some of her friends and the nerves seemed to disappear. The school had staggered entrance times so only her year were there and she was able to follow her friends in where she was directed to her new classroom. 

When she came out she was so excited about the new year. She likes her teacher and her work within lockdown seems to be paying off as her reading range has improved dramatically. Although Matilda doesn’t like that she can’t socialise with friends in other years as they are insulated from other all other year groups. 

The school seems to have done all they could to make things run smoothly with all the new adjustments and it’s working. Hopefully Matilda can enjoy her final year of primary school.

What have you done during lockdown?

 Lock down is easing and we can start to return to some sense of normality. 

I am a community carer and therefore never stopped working but my hours did drop for a few weeks but has since picked back up. However my voluntary work did stop and as I was a unable to meet up with friends I did find myself with more free time. 

At the beginning of lock down I made a list of all the things I wanted to get done. I have a book that I wanted to read, about 20 badges that need sewing onto my  Brownie camp blanket, finish my knitted blanket and learn some basic Dutch. 

In the 4 months of lockdown I haven’t really achieved anything! I have started my book but only read about 3 chapters. I can now say 3 words in Dutch although my mind seems to have learnt one useful word and 2 words I am very unlikely to use ( thank you, aunty and dragon!). I am not even touched my knitting and as for the badges on my Brownie Camp blanket, well a friend brought me some more during lockdown so I have more to sew on then at the beginning of lockdown! I did get out my sewing kit once and put on a movie to watch while I did my sewing but got too distracted by the movie so not much sewing got done! 

I have managed some things. I have watched a couple of films and a couple of tv series that I have wanted to watch but kept forgetting too. Homeschooling has also taken up a lot of time. With Matilda only being in primary school, she can’t access the work the school was setting online and she is needing a lot of guidance with how to do things. Although she has done well during lockdown. She had moved her reading test average up ( hopefully this means when she get reevaluated In September her reading range with be higher which means harder books) and she is getting mentioned weekly by her teacher on our forum for the work she is doing. 

Overall I have realised that is it utter rubbish when I say that I am not doing something because I don’t have the time. I have had the time and still lot done them! How much have you got down in lockdown? 

Win A Rimmel Cosmetics Bundle

As some of the restrictions for lock down are being eased and we can visit more places, now is the perfect time to jazz up your cosmetics collection. 

Maybelline Cosmetics Competition

The last few weeks have sucked. a lot of us have been stuck inside, unable to see family and friends. we have started to miss even the most annoying relatives! However it is important that we take time to focus on ourselves. Surviving this pandemic is not just about staying physically healthy.

So I have got together with a group of fantastic bloggers to bring you a competition today. We all know money is tight for some people, after being made redundant or furloughed. So we wanted to help by bringing you a full selection of cosmetics from Maybelline. This bundle is worth £135 and contains a range of products from mascara to lipstick.

Continuing Brownies

A few days before Boris Johnson announced the schools were closing, GirlGuiding made the difficult decision to stop all GirlGuiding meetings and events. It was something that we were all sad about but were expecting. It was needed to help slow the spread of Coronavirus. 

A few questions about my blog

I have been challenge by my Mum to answer a few questions about my blog and why I started it up. So here are my answers, have you considered starting a blog? 

Homeschooling Matilda

This week is the first week that many children will start home education. Me and mum are going to try our hardest to home educate Matilda. It will be difficult as neither of us really know how to home educate but we will try to keep some sort of education going.

Dummies from Byhappyme

I have recently become an aunty as my brother and his wife welcomed a beautiful baby girl last week which they named Zoë. I was looking at gifts for the baby and I know a lot of people were buying her clothes so I wanted something different.

Happy Confident Me Journal

Matilda is now 10. She is growing up fast and making her own way in the world. She has been through a lot and had to deal with things no child should and as a result Matilda struggles with her insecurities and her anxiety. It is difficulty sometimes to get her to see the positives in life and to see how brilliant she really is.

A letter to Matilda

Dear Matilda, 

Today is your 10th birthday. Wow. How are you in double digits already.

Starting up a Rainbow unit

For the last 10 years I have been volunteering for Girl Guiding. I have been helping to run my local Brownie group (girls aged 7-10) and completely love it.

Volunteering at the school

Last week everything went back to normal after the Christmas break. This meant the local school went back and I started my volunteering at the school.