All good stories begin with once upon a time, don’t they, and this is how, once upon a time I realised how important it is to have fun while you budget, whether you have a large income with lots of disposable cash or whether you have just a little left over at the end of the month. This is especially important if you don’t have much, because having too little can be depressing, both to you and your family. I remember reading a story of how a mother of six children had to make ends meet and she realised she may have been overdoing it when her child was saying grace and he said ‘…give us this day our day-old bread!’
When my children were small, and not so small we were under a great deal of financial pressure and I used to look for bargains. (I still do, bargains are the air I breathe!) I used to shop at various shops that offered bargains and I used to get really first-rate day-old bread from an excellent supermarket that was close to the school. Also, our local supermarket used to sell off-cuts of their cold meats at the deli counter and these were sometimes rather luxurious morsels. They would have them in a big pack, and the assistant would give me a plastic glove and I could check out the packet for really fancy cuts that were too small for the slicer.
I would warm the bread or rolls in the oven and with some pickles and carefully sliced meat we would have wonderful Saturday lunch. I felt at first that I should justify my seemingly expensive purchases, by telling the family (read: husband) that this delicious picnic was really bought very cheaply and explained what I had done.
We all collapsed with laughter when my 8-year-old daughter Natalie piped up, ‘Wow mom! We’re living in cheap luxury!’
This is where ‘cheap luxury’ was born, and now that 8-year old has grown up and we are looking forward to sharing this blog, and sharing all of our experiences and tips with you.
Love Elaine & Natalie
Cheap Luxury 