What to do

Saturday & Sunday ‘to do’ list

I usually have a Saturday to do list and then anything not completed might go onto Sundays list, or maybe the following Saturday, but this week I thought I would try a list for the weekend to give my self a little more flexibility.

Cooked breakfast (aha, a cunning ploy – no-one will want lunch!)
Stack dishwasher
Empty all bins for recycling & rubbish
Wash clothes
Clean worktops
Wipe cupboard doors and appliances
Wash floors
Vacuum carpets
Clean bathroom
Clear ‘hotspots’ that accumulate junk;-
Bedside table
Kitchen worktops
Book case in sitting room
Sideboard
Dining table
Take 12 items from the attic
Clear additional items from eldest sons bedroom (used to be my study and still has lots of my junk inside) not so easy as he is still snoozing.
Dry all clothes
Fold clothes and return to owner or put away.
Dust and quick tidy where needed.
Pay for some advertising for the swim school (stickers which will be applied to the car doors and spare wheel cover).

Extras if I get time (fun time options!);
Carry on with making my household folders.
Start sorting out the photos – currently in a huge box but I have the albums to really sort them out.
Walk around the town charity jobs and/or Sunday morning car boot sale – still looking for a food mixer for soap production
Make new curtains for baby’s room – I have fabric but not header tape.
Mend favourite skirt for work.
Recover sewing box in remnant of material which I have had since the children were small.

The Budget (the chancellors not my personal budget)

I have also been checking what the effect of the chancellor’s budget will be on our household. The main headliner increase seems to be alcohol. That wont effect us as we don’t drink very much and when we do it is normally wine brought back from holiday or home made wine (better that you might think).

Secondly additional cost for drivers of gas guzzlers. Okay again, for although our car would gas guzzle it has been converted to LPG, low emissions and so low cost and less engine repairs (in theory)



Third thing down in the headlines was a plastic bag tax next year if retailers do not take action this year. Whilst that is excellent news it is not so useful until our councils accept that rubbish can go straight into the black bin. At the moment non recycling rubbish must be tied in small bags within the bin. This is typical of our council that they pay lip service to recycling but then insist anything which is bi-degradable is bagged up to ensure it doesn’t disappear back into the ground.

Also headlining was an increase in tax on cigarettes but again this doesn’t directly effect us. There were also child benefit related changes but again I think we are unaffected.

It wasn't a bad budget from an environmental point of view, at least at first glace and those of us who don’t smoke or drink, or drive big cars, didn’t do too badly either.