****Littlekel's diary - Getting on the right track :-) ****

jtr2803

littlekel wrote: »

Right tonight i really want to sit down and work out what to do with the kids this summer! Different days out both free/cheap and with tesco vouchers. I want to set some plans. As we don't have a set holiday i want to make sure i have plans to make it a great summer for the kids

Last night we decided to go on this camping trip in a couple of weeks - depending on if it isn't too late to book and they have space. Then OH looked at work and there is no one to cover his saturday!! :mad: The group are arriving friday night and leaving sunday. A couple are staying Sunday night. OH said we could travel up after work on the sat and stay until Mon. But i'm not sure. These are people i speak to every day but have never met. They would have all spent a day together and the children all bonded before we arrive! AHHHHHH Decisions! Bliming annoying!

I am glad that my animal encounter made you laugh, I also discovered that my daughter is petrified of chickens! I don't think she even knew until she had one flapping round her legs

The tesco vouchers are excellent for days out, it makes it so much cheaper when you can use them. Sorry to hear about the issues with the trip, just do whatever feels comfortable to you

anonymoose_3

littlekel wrote: »

Last night we decided to go on this camping trip in a couple of weeks - depending on if it isn't too late to book and they have space. Then OH looked at work and there is no one to cover his saturday!! :mad: The group are arriving friday night and leaving sunday. A couple are staying Sunday night. OH said we could travel up after work on the sat and stay until Mon. But i'm not sure. These are people i speak to every day but have never met. They would have all spent a day together and the children all bonded before we arrive! AHHHHHH Decisions! Bliming annoying!

Shame OH can't pull a sicky. Is it far away? Could you go down on the Fri and OH come down after work?

xx

OrangeFairy

It's 3 hours away! Well probably 2.5 hours with OH's driving.

Though the group that are going really want me to still go. One person who can't go has paid the deposit and has said we can have her space. Maybe we could take DD1 out of school the mon and tues and then camp an extra night near longleat and use tesco vouchers to go!

Just found out today the Cafe Bar (it's really big) i was considering for the wedding party does a BBQ buffet!!!! That is perfect! It is right on the beach so may take DD's rock pooling over the weekend if it doesnt rain and go in there for a cup of tea. It is actually part of the hotem which was my first choice. OH didn't want the hotel as everyone uses it for weddings and parties and thought it wasn't creative. This means it is something a little different but we can still walk up the hill to the hotel to sleep th night in a luxury room :D

jtr2803

Are you around the tunnels beaches area at all? I saw that on the web and it looked gawjusssss

Determined_2b_Debt_Free

littlekel wrote: »

Right tonight i really want to sit down and work out what to do with the kids this summer! Different days out both free/cheap and with tesco vouchers. I want to set some plans. As we don't have a set holiday i want to make sure i have plans to make it a great summer for the kids

Aww that's so lovely, you sound like a great mum!! :A

You could make a spreadsheet up with wet days, sunny days, in-betweeny days and then put activities in for different scenarios? Although I have a feeling you are already super-organised in this sort of planning.

Do you live by the beach???

OrangeFairy

Yeah Jody i am 10 mins drive from Tunnels beach.:D My DD's go to swimming club in that town. I haven't been for years and they have apparently really done it up! That should be a reasonably priced day out!

D2BDF - I live about a 20 min walk from the beach - but we usually take the car down Infact we have about 5 beachs within a 10 minute drive! Beaches make for excellent inexpensive day out. Swimsuits, picnic, football, rock pooling bits, buckets, towels to take with us and then just pay a little for parking

Ah i haven't thought of a spreadsheet. - which is strange as i have a spreadsheet for everything else!!! Then at least we could get up and have ideas already planned. The worst thing is getting up and spending ages deciding what we are going to do for the day!!

Thanks - i go through my being a good mum phases but then i worry other times i am not doing enough!

Determined_2b_Debt_Free

I would be exactly the same, I'm so indecisive. I did a meal planner on a spreadsheet, categorised into different days like rice day, pasta day, cupboard surprise day, foreign day etc etc - it helps me no end by cutting down the hours I could waste thinking what to eat for the week!

I live near the beach too, I love it. It was great for us as kids so looking forward to our little one enjoying it too.

jtr2803

littlekel wrote: »

Yeah Jody i am 10 mins drive from Tunnels beach.:D My DD's go to swimming club in that town. I haven't been for years and they have apparently really done it up! That should be a reasonably priced day out!

D2BDF - I live about a 20 min walk from the beach - but we usually take the car down Infact we have about 5 beachs within a 10 minute drive! Beaches make for excellent inexpensive day out. Swimsuits, picnic, football, rock pooling bits, buckets, towels to take with us and then just pay a little for parking

Ah i haven't thought of a spreadsheet. - which is strange as i have a spreadsheet for everything else!!! Then at least we could get up and have ideas already planned. The worst thing is getting up and spending ages deciding what we are going to do for the day!!

Thanks - i go through my being a good mum phases but then i worry other times i am not doing enough!

It looks fantastic on the website, maybe I will plan a long weekend down there next summer if money is ok. Do love the west country

I agree whole heartedly with the meal planning, still something I am trying to perfect as OH tends to have no idea what he fancies eating for dinner the next day when I ask him - Men!

Hope you and family have a lovely bank holiday weekend

OrangeFairy

Big waves!

Right had a productive evening. Sorted out our meal plan for June. And then written a shopping list for tomorrow which comes to about £80. For this i will have everything for all meals in the month bar veg for later weeks. Then also yoghurts and milk etc on a weekly basis.

To be fair though a lot of the meals in my plan are hm ones in the freezer from last month. So if this month is good on the old budget i will have to bear in mind that next month will be like starting again! The freezer should be bare!

Also written out my birthdays list again as i lost it. I was cutting 4 cousins out of it but i feel a bit bad So instead i have dropped them down from a £10 present to £5. This still saves me £20 a year but i don't feel bad about it! So i need to have £37 a month towards birthdays. I will save £40 i think to cover any slight overspends. This month i have £30 of birthdays so the extra £10 can go in my pot to build up for a bigger month!

Spent nearly £30 in somerfield tonight. Just went in there for offers really while waiting for OH to pick me up after swimming. Got quite a lot of stuff so i am pleased. Also got reduced onion rolls down from £1.50 to 25p! They smell gorgeous and will make a lovely lunch for tomorrow

Off to scour more ideas for outings this summer!!:D:D:D

anonymoose_3

Morning Kel

littlekel wrote: »

Just found out today the Cafe Bar (it's really big) i was considering for the wedding party does a BBQ buffet!!!! That is perfect! It is right on the beach so may take DD's rock pooling over the weekend if it doesnt rain and go in there for a cup of tea. It is actually part of the hotem which was my first choice. OH didn't want the hotel as everyone uses it for weddings and parties and thought it wasn't creative. This means it is something a little different but we can still walk up the hill to the hotel to sleep th night in a luxury room :D

Wow!! That would be awesome Different to other wedding food

Have a great day, I'm off to lust after that kettle some more:rotfl: