penny pinching for paris

I must return to Paris - within the next three years. It's essential - so here's what I'm going to do:

Bust a move on my budget: I'm going to keep track of all my spending for the next two weeks, and ask hubby to do the same. Then we'll sit down together go through all the essentials {mortgage, utility bills, up-coming birthdays/holidays, events} and then work out where we can painlessly shave a little off each. I'd like to keep the phone bill down by using email as much as humanly possible. If I can interview subjects for my features by email or skype - rather than conducting costly mobile phone interviews, I'll save a bundle. 

Home-made with love: Every Sunday night I whip up a batch of chorizo and potato frittata's for my gal's school lunch. Single-serve frittatas made in a muffin tin are just the right size for a nine-year-old's appetite - I usually give her three per day, for the first few days of the week. From now on I'm also going to whip up a batch of muffins - oat and honey would be her faves - to round out the lunchbox - rather than filling her up with bought crackers. Of course, the rest of the space is already filled with carrot sticks and fruit - so I can't make that any cheaper or more nutritious. Luckily my hubby's also into eating fresh, so we're snacking on seasonal fruit - rather than his old fave of expensive muesli bars.

Frugal food: We rarely eat out, but sometimes I really can't even bear to think about what to cook - let alone do the actual cooking. Luckily the weekly menu planning is helping enormously with that. My next plan is to clean out some space in the freezer so I can freeze a couple of meals, ready to defrost in the afternoon and serve up for dinner that night. If we do eat out, we'll make it a good one - using Entertainment Book 'buy one main meal, get one free' vouchers and choosing a meal that'd be costly, or time-consuming to make at home.

Eco-economy: I'm already a fanatic about turning out lights when they're not in use, and all appliances not in use are turned off and un-plugged - but there's got to be more I can do. I'll get busy with the broom again, rather than using the vacuum and only use the drier in an absolute emergency - there are only three of us in the house - we really don't have that much laundry! And I'm going to pretend I don't have a car. Apart from the weekly grocery shop and the trips to netball, I'll be on foot - or on my bike - all I need is a fancy parisian basket to fill with baguettes.