It’s not so easy to do your food shopping on a low-budget. But it’s definitely possible. How do I know? Because I’ve had to do just that. When you find yourself in a place that you’re not used to, you either adapt or you get stressed.

For a few months I found myself in a tight situation. I had more money going out than coming in. My weekly budget was so low that I wasn’t able to buy food in my usual supermarket. I had to manage on £20.00 to do shopping for a week for myself and daughter. That was like a shock to my system. My usual shopping budget used to be £50.00 – £70.00 just for food and meat.

So how did I do it without pulling my hair out? I sat down and weighed up my options. I could either borrow money. Or go to my usual supermarket, buy a handful of groceries and starve for most of the week. But those two options were not options I was willing to consider. That meant I had to do the thing I used to think was below me.

I ended up going to a low-budget supermarket. That is a place I used to look down on when I had lots of spare money. Not only that, but I believed only a certain class of people shop there.

When my daughter told me that olive oil was good for my oily skin, I gave her a strange look. “What do you mean? Olive oil is for cooking. How can I put it on my face?” I thought she was going crazy.

She was two months pregnant and her skin had broken out in terrible acne.

Before she found out that she was pregnant, she had signed up with a site to work as a model. She was getting a few assignments and took part in video and photo shoots. So when she woke up one morning and saw big spots on her face, she was horrified.

Did you know that there are delicious super foods you busy mums can eat to keep you going? I don’t know about you but I welcome anything that will help me do better as a mum.

From the time you wake up till the time you go to sleep, you’re busy. Taking care of children can use up all of your energy. If you’re not careful you could easily burn yourself out. And the other thing is, when you’re busy you might not eat right. Sometimes I get so busy that I even forget to eat. When I do decide to eat, I end up eating junk food just to satisfy my hunger.

Do you find yourself doing that sometimes? It’s not a good thing because when you don’t eat right, your health will suffer. Not only that, you’ll probably have bad mood swings as well.  And the knock-on effect is that you’ll easily lose your temper with the kids. It’s not their fault! And that’s why as mums we need to make sure we take care of ourselves.

When I started blogging in April 2011, I didn’t know what I was doing. There were times when I wanted to pack it in. But I’m not one to give up easily so I persevered. It’s been an interesting learning curve. And I’m so excited to share my blog’s annual report for 2012 with you.

Although I live in the UK most of my readers came from the US. I even had readers from as far as Zimbabwe, China, Egypt, Brazil. Columbia, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Australia and many other countries. Wow! That blew my mind. I had no idea that people from so many countries read my blog. That’s extremely encouraging.

I’ve been meaning to change the niche of Miraculous Ladies. The plan was to make it more specific by turning it into a personal development blog for married and single mothers/ladies. But I’ve not been able to do that yet! Mostly because my personal life has taken priority over blogging. So, I’ve not had a lot of time to devote to this blog for the past few months. I’m not even sure about its future now. Watch this space for the latest developments…

Anyway, here is the link for my blog’s annual report for 2012: And you’re a big part of it!

http://jetpack.me/annual-report/22835456/2012/

I want to shout a massive Thank You to all of my loyal readers, subscribers and those that comment. I really, really, really appreciate your support!

I pray that 2013 will be a year of great success, happiness, love and well-being for all of you. Without your support, this blog would not have grown. God bless you!

“Before you ever receive the wonderful treasures of a happy life, you must first give.

Give of yourself. Be of service to others. Only what you give can be multiplied back into your own life.

That is the law of the harvest, the law of the ten-fold return. If you give nothing, even if it is multiplied, you receive nothing.” ~Mary Kay Ash

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A wise woman who was travelling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveller who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveller saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him.

Laundry jobs can sometimes be boring. So why not try something different and use a household product that’s usually sitting in your kitchen cupboard? You’ll find that the use of vinegar in laundry is beneficial, especially for removing stains, odours and revitalizing clothes.

 Please use white distilled vinegar only unless otherwise stated. It’s important not to mix bleach and white distilled vinegar in your wash. If you do it will produce dangerous fumes.

• To fluff up your cotton blankets and wool - Add 500ml of white distilled vinegar to the last rinse cycle.

• Renew those shrunken woollen jumpers - Stretch them back to their original size or shape. Wash them in a mixture of 1 part white wine vinegar to 2 parts water for 25 minutes. After you’ve stretched the jumpers, hang them up so that they can be air-dried.

• Clean and disinfect your washing machine – Get rid of soap scum by pouring 450ml or 2 cups of white distilled vinegar in the machine. Run the empty washing machine through a full cycle. Don’t add any detergent.

Don’t you think internet dating sites are cool places to meet the love of your life?

All you have to do is write a fantastic profile and upload your best photo.  Then relax and wait for those lovely men to contact you. While you’re waiting, you could browse through profiles of the ones that appeal to you. If you’re confident enough, why not make the first move?

After that, you arrange your first date, make yourself look beautiful and meet him.

It’s simple and straightforward. Right?

Well, maybe not quite!

Internet dating should come with a health warning. It’s not as clear-cut as a, b, c.

If you were lucky enough to meet Mr Right on an internet dating site, congratulations. You struck gold!

I’ve had a lot of bittersweet experiences on dating sites. But I’m not going to bore you with all of them.  I’ll only tell you  about one.

Too good to be true?

I met a guy, who I’ll call Matt, on a dating site a few years ago.

I was browsing profiles looking for someone compatible. Then I came across a tall, handsome man. He lived in Sweden. He said he was a writer and  an Office Manager.  It seemed that we had a lot in common.