The sun is doing its best to try and peek out from behind the clouds.. Was a tad cool and overcast first thing this morning but has lifted for now although it looks to have the potential to be a largely overcast day.

Things that make me happy....

finding a bargain. Was at my sons school carnival yesterday as they were packing up. As I walked past the book stand they were calling out that you could buy a box of books for $1.00. Who could resist a bargain like that. I picked up a box of books that was sitting on the table and when I got home to count them found out there was 144 books in the box. What a score. Should keep me happily reading for a while.....

Book I’m reading...

Their Newborn Gift by Nikki Logan.

What’s on my TV today...

watching the finale episode of The Farmer Wants A Wife on the internet.

On the menu for dinner...

Devilled sausages, mashed potato and mixed vegetables.

On my TO DO list...

Think of some ways to entertain Kyle during the school holidays as school holidays start on Friday for two weeks.

Organise birthday present for Zac as it is his birthday in October.

New recipe I tried or want to try soon...

These chicken and mushroon filo rolls look yummy and going to have to make some of these just as soon as I buy some filo pastry.

In my craft basket...

Is the latest Stampin Up catalogue and a notebook that I am writing my wish list on......

Looking forward to this week...

school holidays starting on Friday. no school uniforms to have to wash and iron. No more school drop offs and pick ups for two weeks.

Tips and Tricks...

I like this money saving hint from the latest Simple Savings newsletter....

WEENY WEEKLY SAVINGS = AMAZING ANNUAL GAINS

I am saving $2860 a year by making ten simple savings per week. Every week, I
find one area in which I can cut $1.00 per week, one area in which I can cut
$2.00 per week and so on, right up to the tenth area where I cut $10 per week.
It's so achievable because I never have to try to cut more than $10 in any one
area in any week.

Our whole family is involved in looking for our ten weekly savings items and
we keep a list on our fridge, numbered 1-10 of the area we've chosen to make
the saving in. The system works best if you can find areas you can cut
CONSISTENTLY across 52 weeks of the year. For example, two of our regular
items are my $3 cup of takeaway coffee and a $7 sandwich I used to buy every
week - gone! We'll have weekly 'one-off' items though; my $1 item this week is
the two stamps I would have used to post some bills, which I now pay online.

Be creative; if there is a monthly bill you can reduce by about $20 per month,
count this as your weekly $5 item. If you can't think of anything at the
beginning of the week, set the challenge to look for the saving during the
week. I bought washing powder on special last week and saved $6.00, so it went
on our list as our $6 item!

By doing this, and fulfilling all ten items, our family saves $55 a week. That
works out to be a whopping $2860 per year - a reward we all get to share!

They have even created a form for you to print off and attach to your fridge here to keep track of your savings.

My favourite blog post this week...

She's No Bucket Dipper at The Write Mom For The Job. A very interesting post about bucket dipping. Going to have to buy this book. Might be a good book to donate to my younger sons school for them to read to children as part of a bullying discussion.

Blog Hopping - (a new discovered blog you would like to share with the readers)...