We've Been on Holiday!

And it didn't cost a fortune!

In the last few years, we just haven't had the money to go on holiday, we'd decided we'd like to go on our first family holiday this year so started looking around, I was gutted when I realised just how much it would be for a short break in the UK, it wasn't till a friend mentioned they were going on a "sun" holiday, you've all seen them advertised, you collect the vouchers each week from various papers and get a heavily discounted holiday.

We really wanted to go to Cornwall so picked a caravan holiday at Parkdean in St Minver, the online prices were around £300 for a 4 night stay, our stay cost us £70, we saved a little bit of money by taking our own bed linen. I knew we would have to stop at the services on the way there but wanted to avoid the steep prices they charge for food so we made a bunch of sandwiches, squash and a flash of coffee, we travelled down early and reached the beach for 8am, the weather wasn't great but we went for a nice walk and just sat and watched the waves.

There was lots of things we wanted to do but we didn't bank on Little Badger getting so tired. A lot of the time we needed to come back pretty early for a nap and sometimes he'd need one before we even got out! We made the most of the small soft play on site and the amusements.

Keeping this holiday low cost has been far easier than I thought, we did a full shop the day we arrived so we wouldn't be tempted to order takeaway or eat out, checking the weather forecast for the next day was essential, we didn't want to stay stuck inside so the days it rained we took advantage of the swimming pool or the local villages with lots of shops to duck in and out of, on the sunny days we went for long walks, hit the beach or took advantage of free attractions.




I was just so lovely to get away and spend some proper time together after how crappy the beginning of the year has been, we all feel lovely and recharged.

Cost breakdown:
Accommodation: £70
Fuel: £100
Food: £60
=£230*
*plus £200 spending money.

We did splash out a little and came back with no spare spending money though, the thing that caught us out the most was change for parking, we ended up getting cash back quite a few times because we'd not stopped to get change which soon added up, but all in all we managed to have a break away for under £500 which is fab. We will definitely be doing the same next year!

New Years Resolutions.

Happy New Year!

I've never really been one for new years resolutions, I kind of just go with the flow and don't give much thought ahead to the coming year, but now I'm a grown up with my own house and child, I don't think that would be the brightest idea to just wait and see.

#1. Plan ahead.
Especially meals, I started to meal plan at the end of last year when money was tight, I sat here, cupboards bare with £12 in my pocket, 3 mouths to feed and 2 weeks until pay day, I pulled everything out of the cupboard and listed everything I had, to my surprise I managed to make 16 separate dinners and was able to easily make my £12 stretch for lunches too, I won't lie we ate a lot of pasta that week, but we ate.

#2. Cut the crap.
Food wise, sometimes when you're skint it can be all to tempting to buy crap, over processed, packet mix, tinned everything, I cook mainly from scratch so we don't have many dinners that come out of a packet, but when it comes to chocolate, breads or refined carbs, we do eat a lot, which is something I'd like to get away from. So we'll be swapping regular pasta for wholewheat versions, baking our own breads, replacing regular treats with a small treat once in a while, cut down on refined sugars and try to completely cut out anything highly processed and eat much less meat.

#3. Move more.
I won't lie, I'm a lazy Badger, I'm a fan of staying in where it's snug and warm and like to save adventures for when it's nice and dry, so I'm going to buy myself a mac and some wellies and brave the storm whilst reducing my carbon footprint.

#4. Be a gentler person.
Sometimes in life I find myself being a little harsh or a little thoughtless, whether that be to others, the earth or even myself. I often catch myself after a using a harsh tone, throwing out something that could of been recycled, criticizing myself and think to myself  "why did I do that?" It doesn't take much just to me that little but more mindful.

So these are mine, now what are yours?