When I made the decision over three years ago to become self-employed and work from home I have to confess it was on a bit of a whim.

(I know, that doesn’t sound like me does it??)

It was inspired partly by boredom and the desire for a new challenge*, alongside the need, as a single parent, for more flexibility. ‘I know what I’ll do,’ I said to myself, ‘I’ll become a freelance journalist! That’ll be fun’.

I had no money, no experience and no training, but I did have enthusiasm, a desk I hastily bought from ebay, and an extensive collection of stationery items. What more did I need?

Over the next few weeks I spent many a happy hour perusing the magazines in WHSmiths and organising my pens into colour order and before long I had carved out what one could almost describe as a career. If by career you meant ‘bizarre collection of jobs with no real plan for the future’. Job done. Or in my case, very nearly done, possibly tomorrow.

"Pens in colour order"

Ooh, pretty…

My difficulty, in working from home, comes from my apparent ability to be distracted by absolutely anything vaguely shiny or more interesting than what I’m currently doing. When you work from home, it’s amazing how alluring the washing up can become when you’ve got a copywriting deadline on the horizon. ‘Right,’ I will say to myself at 9am, ‘time to get cracking.’ And then I’ll wander off to make a cup of tea.

This year though will be different. (Aren’t they all?)

This year I’m going to try really, really hard to work more efficiently. Really truly honestly I am. (At the same time as losing weight, getting fit and reading the news more often obviously). This is my plan, my New Year resolutions as a work at home mum:

  1. If I am in the middle of doing something, just do that thing. It sounds obvious, but the number of times I go looking for an attachment, get distracted by twitter, start writing a blog post, bake a cake, and then come back two hours later to find I was in the middle of sending an email all along is just ridiculous.**
  2. Be stricter with my hours. Yes it’s lovely having the flexibility of being self-employed, but I need to focus on working the key hours when children are at school and then enjoying my time off without feeling guilty.
  3. Not check my emails and twitter every 27 seconds fearing that something Incredible And Amazing is going to be happening that I’m going to miss. Seriously, get over yourself woman, your life really isn’t that interesting.
  4. Make more of an effort to create a long-term plan. This is going to be a toughie as I have a real aversion to planning ahead. What if I change my mind? What if something else, something better or shinier comes along? Without long-term planning though it is all too easy to just say ‘yes’ randomly to any offers of work without thinking about how they contribute to your career objectives. Or so I’ve heard.

And that’s it. This time next year and all that.

What are your New Year’s resolutions?

*Not to mention a rather disastrous work fling

**It is worth noting that in the middle of writing this post I left to research and buy business insurance, to look at a recipe book and to eat an apple. You see my problem.

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Today I have been doing a Very Brave And Noble Thing.

Biscuit research.

I know, I know, the things I do for you, but you don’t need to thank me, just consider my festive biscuit findings my Christmas gift to you.

Fox’s sent me a selection of their Christmas biscuits to try and I, selflessly, have been testing them out, so I can recommend to you the six biscuits I think you need this Christmas. And I mean need. A Christmas without a tin of chocolate biscuits is like a tumbler without a gin and tonic in it. Just pointless.

So without further ado, I bring you your six essential Fox’s Christmas biscuits:

"Fox's chocolate edition"Milk chocolate jaffa viennese
From the Fox’s Chocolate Edition box, this is a truly wonderous biscuit, topped with jaffa and thick milk chocolate.

Good for: Enjoying all the deliciousness of a Jaffa Cake without the worry of the biscuit versus cake debate. This is definitely a biscuit.

Dark chocolate fudge sundae
From the same box, this is a biscuit for those who mean business. I mean come on, look at the name, it’s practically a pudding in a biscuit. It’s Christmas though. It would be rude not too.

Good for: dieters who want the fun of a massive slice of chocolate cake whilst at the same time being able to say ‘What me? No, I just had a biscuit.’

"Caramel rounds"Caramel rounds
These are so good, they come in a box all by themselves. Crunchy biscuit, gooey caramel, and thick milk chocolate. When Boyfriend saw these he made a strange gargling noise like when Homer Simpson sees a doughnut.

Good for: distracting boyfriends when you have ‘accidental’ January sale purchases you need to sneak into the wardrobe.

"Mini choc party rings"

Mini choc rings
I’m sure I don’t need to spell this one out. They are party rings, but chocolate, and mini. Party rings. Chocolate. Mini. See?

Three desirable biscuity attributes, but all in one biscuit.

Good for: Lunchboxes, so long as you don’t mind getting disdainful looks from the posher mums.

"Jam 'n' cream"

 

Jam ‘n’ cream
This is an odd one for me. There is something about them that sort of turns my stomach a little bit, and yet when I eat them, I want another one. They are my olive of the biscuit world – horribly moorish.

Good for: When you’re feeling daring. Go on, you know you want to.

"Bourbon"

 

The bourbon cream
The Jam ‘n’ cream can be found in the Fabulously Fox’s tin, along with all the classics including one of my all time favourite biscuits – the bourbon. Biscuit perfection.

Good for: Anything. Absolutely anything.

What’s your favourite Christmas biscuit?

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With only ten days to go until Christmas, and vast quantities of food, gifts and decorations littering the house, isn’t it time you deserved a little treat?

Of course it is.

And I’m not just talking a sneaky glass of sherry in the kitchen while you’re cooking. I’m talking about a proper fancy kitchen gadget.

Now, if you’re like me, forever grinding spices by hand and what not, you’ll be secretly hoping that someone buys you a James Martin Wahl spice grinder for Christmas. When you don’t find a spice grinder in your stocking though, (because to be honest, who knew you loved grinding spices so much?), what will you do? Sob into your sprouts?

No!

You’ll enter this competition instead of course. Silly billy.

"Spice grinder"

If grinding spices isn’t your thing, you’ll be pleased to hear you can grind coffee beans in it too. Or simply stick it under the bed and wait until next Christmas, when you can whip it out as a thoughtful gift for the budding chef in your life.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post, telling me what your favourite spice is. (I like a bit of cumin myself.)

The competition will close on 29th December, to give you chance to enter once you’ve opened your presents and been disappointed.

Good luck!

As featured on Loquax Competitions

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Christmas isn’t exactly the time of the year when you think about saving money, but today I’ve got some advice and a competition that should be just what you need to start the New Year with good financial intentions.

You’re playing for two fab prizes today, so get your best competition hat on. First off, you get a copy of the super new book  ‘Money Smarter – a Family Guide’. Money Smarter is a really interesting and practical guide to teaching children the value of money, with over 50 activities that you can try with your family:

"Money Smarter"

Look after the pennies and all that…

Then to go with it, you get this adorable leather purse from Lyla and Tilly, to put all your pennies in once you’ve saved them:

"Bird picture"

Tweet this post for an extra competition entry.
(See what I did there?)

You see? Everything you need for a debt free 2013!

To enter, all you have to do is have a read of these four family finance activities, taken from Money Smart, and then leave a comment offering your own money-saving tip or learning activity. The competition closes on Christmas Day, so you can get your money-saving kit in time for the New Year.

Good luck!

Four ways to teach children the value of money

Where does money come from?
As children, it’s hard to get your head around the idea of money, where it comes from, and what it gets spent on. Sitting down with your kids and explaining exactly how adults earn money is a really useful way to teach children the value of skills and experience. To make it more real, have a look at a selection of job ads. Talk to your children about the different kinds of jobs people do, how much they are paid, and what sort of skills they might need.

Need versus want
Children always seem to need the latest gadget or toy, but how do you teach them the difference between wanting and needing something? Imagine with your kids that you’re stranded on a desert island. Get them to think about what they’d actually need to survive, and what luxuries they might want.

Good debt versus bad debt
People tend to fear debt, but the important thing to learn is the difference between good and bad debt. Debt that will put money in your pocket at a future date is a good debt, a debt that doesn’t is bad. For example, investing in going to university is a good debt, as it will help you earn more money later, but just borrowing to go on holiday isn’t such a great investment. Look through some magazines and newspapers with your kids. Cut out three pictures that represent good debts, and three that are bad.

Your fun fund
Managing your money doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. As well as saving for the future and paying the bills, there should always be a slice of your budget set aside for fun. How you spend that slice is up to you! With your children, come up with a list of things that you’d like to spend your fun fund on. Can you work out how long it would take you to have enough money for each of your fun activities?

Competition open to UK residents only. Competition closes on 25th December 2012. Your information may be used for marketing purposes by the Money Smarter team. You are free to unsubscribe at any time.

As featured on Loquax Competitions and ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

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On Sunday night we went to Westonbirt Arboretum. It’s been somewhere I’ve been meaning to visit ever since we moved to Bristol and even though it’s about forty minutes away it was totally worth it. Their Enchanted Christmas runs throughout December on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings and we were led on a trail through the trees, all lit up with beautiful coloured lights.

After our walk we enjoyed hot chocolates and roasted chestnuts while listening to a fantastic male voice choir singing carols. Belle even met a green Father Christmas. It really was enchanted. Truly magical. If you are anywhere near Westonbirt do pay them a visit.

All these photos are taken by Bee.

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

 

"Westonbirt Arboretum"

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“Have you been drinking?” Boyfriend asks. It’s nine o’clock in the morning and he is sniffing the air around me suspiciously. “I thought you smelt a bit boozy when you got home from netball last night.”

“Well I’ve had my breakfast gin and tonic obviously,” I reply, “but that’s all.”

Eventually we track the smell down to my hair. What I was smelling as an exotic blend of essential oils, Boyfriend was interpreting as the first signs of alcoholism.

For eight weeks now I’ve been trying out the Aveda Invati range of hair thickening and revitalising products:

  • "Aveda Invati"invati™ exfoliating shampoo – ‘Removes build-up that can clog pores and renews the scalp.’ – £19.50
  • invati™ thickening conditioner – ‘Restores strength and improves hair elasticity, reducing breakage.’ – £21.50
  • invati™ scalp revitalizer – ‘Helps energize and rehabilitate the scalp.’ – £43

I’ve always had annoyingly fine hair, so when this opportunity came up I jumped at the chance. (My thick, glossy hair bouncing seductively as I did.*)

Some people say I’m gullible when it comes to believing promises. I like to think of it more as trusting and open-minded. Whatever the case, I went into the trial with an open mind, hopeful that here at last would be the answer to all my glossy haired prayers.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Although it smelled nice, and left my hair feeling silky and soft, the shampoo and conditioner did nothing to improve the thickness of my hair. Nobody noticed any difference, even after eight weeks, and I’ve yet to be approached in the street to star in a hair commercial.

This is me before:

"Before using Aveda Invati"

And here I am after:

The scalp revitaliser was the tricky bit. I followed the instructions precisely – 8 sprays on each side of the head – but it left my thin hair feeling weighed down and oily, and needing to be washed every day, where normally I can get away with just tying it back no the second day if I’m feeling a bit lazy.

However, although it may not have had much effect as a hair thickener, the shampoo and conditioner on their own were really lovely. They smelt great, and left my hair feeling really soft, shiny and in good condition. Unfortunately I really can’t justify spending over £40 just on a shampoo and conditioner just because it makes my hair feel soft.

*Not.

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Wondering what to do with your Saturday night?

Let me tell you about what I did last Saturday, and see if I can inspire you. My last Saturday night in was spent courtesy of Family Bargains. For those of you who don’t know, Family Bargains is like the big sister of 99p Stores, where not everything does cost 99p. It still has though, as the name suggests, bargains for all the family.

There are plenty of good brand names, as well as more unusual products you may not have heard of, but for our Saturday night in, we stocked up on some old favourites, (wine and chocolate obviously), and splashed out on a new board game:

"Family Bargains"

I just had a quick look on the Debenhams website, and the game on its own is still £15, even though it is half price at the moment. We got everything in this picture though – an entire evening of fun – for less than twenty quid. Now that’s what I call a Family Bargain.

(Don’t look too closely, otherwise you’ll see that I have already eaten all the cherry liqueurs all by myself.)

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This week I have been reading a new book by Grace Marshall called ’21 ways to manage the stuff that sucks up your time’.  There is a certain irony in this, as one of the ways I procrastinate is to read books about how to get things done. The great thing about this book though is that it is really simple and quick to read. There are 21 short chapters and each gets right to the point, giving you practical advice for how to be more productive.

"Grace Marshall"

Photo: Christopher Huthwaite

I’ve picked my four favourite techniques, so that you can become as super organised and efficient as I now am!

1. Batch your bits

Sounds a bit rude doesn’t it? It isn’t. It’s about organising little tasks into clumps so you don’t get distracted. I am terrible at this. I have my email open, read one, pop over to twitter, get distracted by a link to something, look at some pictures, then fancy a cup of tea…

Is this just me? I hope not. Although I didn’t do too well in that adult ADHD test. Grace’s tip is to gather all these little jobs into chunks. It sounds simple, but if it’s that easy, why don’t we all do it? With emails in particular, Grace recommends having just one or two times every day when you read and reply to messages. You could even set up an automatic reply saying something like ‘I reply to emails between 3pm and 4pm so will get back to you then’, just so people know exactly what to expect.

2. The two-minute rule

This is a idea from David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done’, (another book I’ve read as an alternative to actually getting things done), and this technique really resonated with me at the time. The idea is that if tasks come in that you know will take less than two minutes, do them right then. Don’t file them, don’t add them to a list, just get them done. Of course this doesn’t mean just flitting from one thing to another constantly – you have to work it into the bit batching idea, and only look at these sort of tasks at designated intervals.

3. Post networking post-its

Ah yes, networking. Everyone knows it’s a good thing but how many of us do it as effectively as we could do? It’s all very well to go along to an event and talk to people, but a friendly chat is never going to turn into anything other than that unless you follow it up. Unfortunately, if you’re doing it well, you’ll talk to a lot of people, and if you’re like me, when you get home and look at the cards you won’t be able to remember who anyone is or what you talked about.

Grace recommends writing a note to yourself immediately or very soon afterwards to go with each business card. This way, when you follow up, you can refer directly to your conversation. As someone who is hopeless at remembering faces, I’d also recommend making notes about the person’s appearance to help you recognise them if you meet them again!

4. Say no and stay nice

Another tricky one for me, as I always like to be accommodating if I can. With Grace’s technique though you get to say no but still appear helpful. Say someone calls you when you’re in the middle of something else. You want to help, but you’re busy. “Have you got a minute?” they ask. Well yes, technically you do have a minute, but these things always take longer don’t they?

So, instead you say something like “Yes, I’ve got two minutes now, or we can talk for longer at 4pm. Which is best for you?”

You see? Clever isn’t it? You haven’t really said no, but you turned it around so you’re saying yes on your terms.

What are your top tips for getting things done and not getting distracted?

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This is a guest post from Mari of Mari’s World fame as I have a small kitchen and a disinclination towards cooking.

It’s not very often you get invited to guest post on somebody’s blog and then get to call them a doughnut, right? But that is what I am about to do and I am so very pleased that Slummy single mummy missed the trick on this one as I am now the very proud and excited owner of a Morphy Richards soup maker.

I have been longing for one since the summer time, dreaming of me quickly whipping up homemade soups for my lunch and being very nutritious and frugal but prices range from around £40.00 to £140.00 so that stopped me.

THEN I met Slummy single mummy at an event, funnily enough it was a cooking event and she is very forward in saying cooking is not one of her passions and she’ll take the easy life every time. She said she’d been offered a soup maker by Morphy Richards and didn’t want it as she didn’t have space and didn’t know how to use a soup maker, and was anyone interested. My hand shot in the air faster than the blenders spinning blades, ‘Me, me, me, I’ll have it… please’

It was a match made in heaven, I got the soup mixer and Slummy single mummy gets a post all about it.

The Morphy Richards soup maker takes up the same amount of space as a kettle on the worktop, it’s made in stainless steel and has a removable lid which contains the blade and heating element. It is so easy to use any fool could work it out and my first trial was to make one of Morphy Richards’ own recipes that intrigued me for the speed to make it, the frozen peas element and of course the delicious ingredients used. I tried

Really quick and easy pea, ham and mint soup

Preparation time : 5 minutes
Cooking time: 21 minutes
Setting: smooth
Serves 4

Ingredients

450g frozen peas
20g fresh mint, leaves only (I didn’t have this)
200g ham – chopped/shredded
800ml hot stock from cube or vegetable
4 tsps olive oil
75ml creme fraiche (I didn’t have any so used Philadelphia instead)

Now get this…

  1. Place the peas, hot stock, mint and ham in the soup maker and select the smooth setting (this will last 21 minutes)
  2. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the olive oil (I didn’t) and the creme fraiche and using the blend button blend the soup again for 20 seconds
  3. Serve with crusty bread or sliced bread like I did. ;)

How easy is that? Chuck it all in and press a button. That is the moment I fell in love with my soup maker.

I was careful not to immerse the bits in water but it washed up very easily and now sits waiting for today’s trial of French Style Pistou but you’ll have to nip over to Mari’s World to see the outcome of that one and this time I’ll be using the chunky setting…isn’t it exciting?

 

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That’s right readers, you heard me, scourers.

I know. Sexy right? Hold onto your hat and prepare for a rollercoaster of a blog post.

"Scourers in the post"

Now obviously I’m not really interested in cleaning things, but boyfriend is always up for a bit of scourer action, so it was with him in mind that I accepted Scotch-Brite’s challenge to put their cloths and scourers to the test against a couple of other leading brands. In fact, so keen was he to help me out, that he devised a series of tests to give each product a fair trial.*

To keep any personal scourer preferences out of the equation, we weren’t told which other brands we had been sent, products were simply labelled A and B. In each case, the Scotch-Brite products were a bit more expensive, but they believe they are worth paying that little extra for.

Here’s what our tests found:

The product: Heavy duty scourer

What Scotch-Brite say: “this scourer easily shifts grease and burnt food. What’s great about it is it contains natural fibres of cellulose which are super absorbent, which is ideal for mopping up or wiping down surfaces”

"Heavy Duty Scourer"

The test: How clean can you make a baked on casserole dish in 15 seconds? (We deliberately left a casserole dish in the over after dinner to make sure it was good and baked on)

"Dirty dishes"

The results: They say a picture is worth a thousand words…

"Scourers"

OK, so the left hand third was cleaned with scourer A, the middle with scourer B and the right hand third with the Scotch Brite scourer. Scotch Brite was definitely the winner on this one.

The product: Multi-purpose cellulose scourer

What Scotch-Brite say: “This product is non-scratch, super absorbent and it has a unique ‘wave’ shape which makes it much easier to hold and use.”

"Sponge"

The test: Washing a casserole encrusted dinner plate

The results: There wasn’t much in this one, although we found the Scotch-Brite scourer was a bit quicker on the tough bits. Boyfriend questionned a lack of finger grips, but as he said himself ‘who uses them anyway?’ (Not me. I didn’t even know finger grips on scourers were a thing.)

The product: Sponge cloth

What Scotch-Brite say: “Scotch-Brite’s Sponge cloths are ultra-absorbent (they can hold up to ten times their own weight!). It’s also soft and flexible for mopping up all kinds of spills.”

The test: To test absorbency – how much water can you pout onto each cloth before it starts to leak out of the sides?

The results: Well, a bit of an intersting result here. Cloth A came out worst, only being able to hold 100ml. Both the Scotch-Brite cloth and cloth B held 125ml, but when you picked the Scotch-Brite cloth up to take it to the sink loads of water ran out. Cloth B held the liquid much better.

However, wiping round the surfaces with the Scotch-Brite cloth left things looking and feeling generally drier. The cloth moved more smoothly, and wiping with it felt like less effort than with the competing brands.

So there you go, that’s our Scotch-Brite tests. I told you it was going to be exciting didn’t I? I will leave you to judge whether you think Scotch-Brite is worth the extra money.

*It is at moments like these that I come over all funny and love him even more than usual. I’m not even kidding. I find this sort of thing adorable.

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This post is going to be a little bit tricky to write.

It is supposed to be showing off all the bargains I picked up on my latest visit to 99p Stores, but I made a bit of a tactical error in planning my shopping. In fact it would be fair to say I have been a little bit stupid.

Not as stupid as when I left all our passports, my purse and our Eurostar tickets in the bedside table after checking out of our Disneyland hotel last weekend, but still pretty silly.

99p Stores, I thought to myself, would be a brilliant place to pick up some presents for Christmas. Stocking fillers, chocolates, arts and craft things for Belle’s friends, that sort of thing. Seriously, 99p Stores is a virtual Aladdin’s cave of stocking fillers.

So far so good.

Off I went, filling my basket with all manner of toiletries, pen sets and festive sweeties. Father Christmas would have been so proud. We had £50 to spend, which sounds like an awful lot of money when everything is 99p, but when you’re shopping for Christmas it’s easy to get carried away.

There was loads to choose from, and we even picked Belle up a 99p chocolate advent calendar. Bargain.

Still sounds OK doesn’t it?

So then I get everything home, and start arranging it all on the kitchen table to take some photos to show everyone what I bought.

Ah.

Then it dawned on me. All the people I had bought things for read my blog.

D’oh!

I felt rather silly.

So, all you can have I’m afraid is this picture of Belle’s calendar.

"Disney Princess advent calendar"

You’ll just have to use your imagination for the other £49.01…

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There, I’ve said it.

I love my Filofax. I love looking at it on my desk, I love sniffing it and I especially love walking around with it, carrying it proudly under my arm, and casually getting things out of it. (When I’m out with other people obviously, not just around the house on my own. Although…)

Since I got my Finsbury Personal Organiser* a couple of weeks ago, it has been settling in nicely with my other stationery items, and I’ve taken it on quite a few outings with me too. Oh yes, and it’s handy for writing things in too, but that’s secondary really to the sniffing.

Seriously though, it is very useful. I’ve always been much more of a pen and paper person. I have a Blackberry Torch, but I never use the calendar or address book. I prefer a white board and a stack of 17 or so notebooks for keeping track of my work.

One thing I love about my Filofax, now it’s getting towards the end of the year, is that I can have the 2013 diary insert in ready, and write next year’s appointment in the same place, rather than have to crack open a new diary or calendar and have two on the go at once. I’m also very excited about the different extras that you can buy to go in it. Father Christmas, if you are reading, I would like a Filofax themed stocking this year please.

Here’s a few photos so you can see what me and my Filofax have been up to:

"Filofax"

Settling in on my desk at home. The whiteboard markers have been showing it round.

"Filofax on the train"

On the train on the way to London, my Filofax has a little peep out of my handbag.

"Yellow filofax"

Most importantly though, does my Filofax match my nail varnish?

*This is its official name – long, like a pedigree dog. I’ve thought about calling it Finn for short, but I have a nephew called Finn, so that could get confusing. “Have you seen Finn?” I might ask my sister. “I think I left him in my handbag?”

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