Hypno's "no more boom or bust" diary

hypno06

My two have just stopped karate for a while - too many other things they are trying to fit in their week at the minute. I have to admit, I am not unhappy with their decision, because it was costing me £61 a month, plus annual licenses and gradings etc.

The only way I could do it any cheaper was for me to "work" for them, doing the class admin in return for one or both of them (depending on how many sessions I did admin for) going free. When I was working from home, this worked fine, because I could incorporate it into my week, and it was well worth doing for the financial savings.....but when I went back to work in the office, I couldn't commit to the extra work, so ended up paying as normal instead.

Sadly, I think all the martial arts clubs work on the same type of basis, so I don't know of any other way of keeping the cost down.

DD has a job in a cafe - walking distance from the skiclub and bus stops etc. It is Sat afternoons only, so she can do her coaching thing at the skiclub in the morning, shower there, and then walk to work. It will only be 3 or 4 hours initially, but as we all know, every little helps, and if nothing else it will introduce her to the responsibility of work.....

Seaxwyn

Good for DD. My DD2 has a job in a cafe which is similarly flexible to fit round her athletics commitments. It's good that there are sympathetic employers willing to hire under-16s. Poor DD1 has not succeeded in finding work yet.

Thanks for the karate advice. I feel it is a complete rip-off, but I don't like to say no as many of his friends do it. What other youth activity charges an annual membership AND a weekly fee, PLUS the monthly grading thing? Grrrrrrrr. Kids' activities form a substantial amount of my monthly spend!

hypno06

Thankfully my two go to a sports college, so have been able to fill their time with plenty of lunchtime/after school sports clubs to replace the karate.....and of course, the school based stuff is free, so I am very happy to encourage it!

DS has also joined the village football team which costs £2 a week, but he gets very good value for money, AND his kit is provided for him :T

Of course the skiing still forms the biggest part of our "non-essential" spends, and will do for some time yet, I guess.

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Hi Hypno just read chapter one! To still be ths motivated after 2 years is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:T

hypno06

BEAT_THE_DEBT wrote: »

Hi Hypno just read chapter one! :T

And you are still awake :rotfl:

Seaxwyn

Thanks Hypno! You have just helped me decide to stop DS doing karate! There are plenty of other better value sporting activities to do. Hope you are having a good day. I'm taking advantage of OH's rare absence and an impending scout jumble sale to have a good declutter.

taxi73

I often feel sorry for you parents as if you have a few kids the price of the activities really mounts up.Glad my lot are grown up.
Mind you saying that my DGS costs me an arm and a leg sometimes.
Do you have a local council sports centre with stuff aimed at kids as they are often very cheap/free?

hypno06

DS plays basketball, badminton and football as extra activities at school, so gets enough of a "fix" to satisfy his sporting needs. The council do run activities at the school because it doubles up as the community sports centre, but they do cost about £4 a time, so we avoid them where possible.

DD had a good day at her job and is looking forward to going back again, so that is a good sign. She has done a lot of washing up :rotfl:

I am moving some of my Direct debits around, to try and streamline the finances and get as much as possible coming out of one account......when I moved the gas/electric over, they reduced my monthly payment by £2.......it may only be £2 but it is £2 less that I have to find

taxi73

£2 is £2 and mounts up with compound interest..lol

Nargleblast

Hypno, if your offspring are still into martial arts then maybe a change of discipline could be considered? Judo, Taekwondo. Aikido ..... my son does aikido. It costs £2 for a 2 hour session, £6.50 I think for a grading, £10 annual licence fee.