We are about to pull the purse strings soooo tight!

Alice_in_Poorland

Verbatim said:

Great that you can pay the insurance in one go. All sounding like it's progressing nicely. Enjoy your afternoon tea. 

Thanks V, hope all is well with you.  Yeah I’m still plodding but slightly more controllably (is that an actual word?) during this lockdown period.  Yesterday afternoon was lovely. We had afternoon tea, all the trimmings...kids think I’m crazy, then sat out all evening just chilling. Cooked a couple of pizzas for supper, it was really nice.  

This morning I’m going to get the ironing done outside. Kids are still in bed, OH is pottering doing a few little jobs....he’s a lot better this weekend, no snide remarks from either of us so far. 

I need to colour my hair later too. I don’t have it coloured at the hairdressers as it’s too expensive but I miss going for a trim and that little bit of time to myself. 

Other jobs to do sort the kitchen side out, never did it yesterday and I’ve got together all the kids school reports, certificates just all their bits and pieces and I’m going to make folders for each. I can’t bear to part with some of the pictures and cards so don’t think there will be much to throw away  but it will be tidier and easy to store. 

Hope you all have a great day.
xx

brizzlegirl

Happy VE Day Alice, have a good Sunday x

Alice_in_Poorland

Happy Sunday. Another pretty uneventful week. I’m loving the pegging out weather. I managed to get all the sheets washed and dried yesterday. Haven’t washed today, as much as I love pegging out I don’t want to wash just for the sake of it. 

Had my weekly outing yesterday to the supermarket. It was a very expensive shop. £146.46 to be exact. Apart from all all the bits for the dishwasher (rinse aid, tables and salt), some cards (£4.50),cat food and litter £10 it was all food. I’ve looked at the meal plan and I’ve noticed that we are eating differently. We are eating like Kings the whole week. We’ve taken to having more meat, and I would say 6/7 meals are cooked from scratch. So next week meals plan is going back to basics, and a little less full on.  

I’ve also noticed that only going shopping once a week I’m little limited to how much fruit like strawberries and raspberries I can buy, as they were going mouldy so quickly. I’ve washed the strawberries and raspberries in white vinegar, hopefully that will help them keep fresher longer. Also I’ve freezing some milk (thank you for the tip) that has helped. 

Other purchase this week was a new kettle, £24. A quite bizarre item we need is a new wash basket. The one we have is spilt and you always catch the skin between your thumb and finger when you pick it. yes I know I’ll spend nearly £150 at the supermarket but then quibble about buying a washbasket. 😂

The saga with 3 continues. OH got then to agree to credit which was great and he has received a letter to confirm,  but he has to call and speak to them to arrange the credit. Which of course you can’t get through to anyone. We tried the online chat yesterday but that didn’t work, just got sent back to the customer services page. The saga continues.....
Also purchased some acrylic paints and brushes this week for a little project I have in mind.  Not a necessity but......😊
Have a good day.
xx

WhySeaEm

I'm spending loads more on food at the moment too, feeling like we should cook these big meals just cos we have the time to. Well realised last week the odd plain pasta with pesto won't go amiss! 

We got a laundry basket off amazon recently. £10 delivered. It came in the most monsterously huge box!

Alice_in_Poorland

WhySeaEm said:

I'm spending loads more on food at the moment too, feeling like we should cook these big meals just cos we have the time to. Well realised last week the odd plain pasta with pesto won't go amiss! 

We got a laundry basket off amazon recently. £10 delivered. It came in the most monsterously huge box!

Oh I’m glad its not just me😊 , and yeah I think it is because we currently have the time. This weeks meal plan is a little less elaborate. 

I haven’t looked online to be honest. I looked in the supermarket this morning but the only one that they had was very expensive. 

Isn’t the packaging from amazon monstrous. Hours of fun for kids but my way over the top. 😃

My shop this morning was expensive enough....£161. So I’ve broken that down, £44 of that was pyjamas, boxers and socks for DS3, and socks for OH.  I spent £6.50 on cards, plus £12 on birthday present. That brings it down to just under £100 on food inc our alcohol, and few store cupboard bits (tom sauce, mint sauce, vinegar, brown sauce, Mayo, BBQ sauce). Another item I noticed I spent a lot on was cereal, £14 on five boxes, a mix of shops own and brand. The fridge, freezer and cupboards are full. Nobody can possibly say that they are hungry in this house. 

We have had a speedy week, £12 on stuff for when we get the swimming pool out (it’s not as warm as I thought it was going to be), £50 on a new game controller (DS3 used £20 of his birthday money), and £17 on OHs new sunglasses.  

DS3 also needs new trainers. He bought his own trainers around February time, they are more going out and posing trainers than football training one’s. It’s a shame, he paid £80 and he hasn’t been able to wear them any where since the lockdown. Now his football training ones are far to small, which means he’s not able to get any exercise as such. So we’ve found some on line for £35 which are acceptable both for him and my purse. The kids have only usually had one pair of trainers...unless they’ve brought their own using their own money.....one pair of school shoes, and football/rugby boots. 

We really haven’t done too badly with spending during this lockdown...apart from food, so I suppose I can’t moan at this weeks spends. 

In other news, beds all stripped, 3 loads of washing on the line, blowing fabulously.  OH is off to do the oldies garden.  

I must do car insurance comparison today!!

Hope everyone has a great day.
 X

Baileys_Babe

I'm glad you broke down your supermarket shop. Nearly 40% wasn't food or drink and it still included alcohol.

My grocery shop often includes things from various budget categories including:
Food & drinks
Alcohol and substitutes (OH drinks alcohol-free)
Toiletries
Household, which covers cleaning materials, laundry baskets
Health, which covers over the counter medications, first aid items, my prescriptions (everyone else's is free) 
Celebrations, gifts & cards
Clothes
Charity, food bank  donations

It makes such a difference when it is broken down.

brizzlegirl

I think you're doing well Alice, you're keeping positive and as BB says above its pretty impressive for 4(?) of you at home, the temptation to just eat and drink through lockdown is there for pretty much everyone I think..

How's DS1, I lost track as to whether he had come home or not before they closed the borders..

Alice_in_Poorland

Baileys_Babe said:

I'm glad you broke down your supermarket shop. Nearly 40% wasn't food or drink and it still included alcohol.

My grocery shop often includes things from various budget categories including:
Food & drinks
Alcohol and substitutes (OH drinks alcohol-free)
Toiletries
Household, which covers cleaning materials, laundry baskets
Health, which covers over the counter medications, first aid items, my prescriptions (everyone else's is free) 
Celebrations, gifts & cards
Clothes
Charity, food bank  donations

It makes such a difference when it is broken down.

Hi BB, yeah it’s doesn’t seem half as bad when I’ve broken it down in to categories. Last week was slightly less, now we’ve got back to more basic meals and cut back on the amount of meat. 

xx

Alice_in_Poorland

brizzlegirl said:

I think you're doing well Alice, you're keeping positive and as BB says above its pretty impressive for 4(?) of you at home, the temptation to just eat and drink through lockdown is there for pretty much everyone I think..

How's DS1, I lost track as to whether he had come home or not before they closed the borders..

Hi Brizzle, I’ve been putting a little secret stash for DS3 to eat throughout the day (a tip copied from the internet.😃)  A mixture of good stuff and a few treats. My other go to is a bowl of cereal if the kids are hungry. 

DS1 is in America, he safe and loving life. I do miss him but hey ho.
xx

Alice_in_Poorland

We’ve been having more work done on the house.....social distancing of course. They are essential for the up keep of the house, not just your usual painting and decorating. I’ve taken the money out of the emergency/savings fund. If I’m honest OH could of done one of these jobs, but it needed doing urgently and I just wanted it done. With having the other bits done on the house which has left bits a mess, home schooling and working from home I just couldn’t bear the stress of OH doing it. So it’s all nearly done but has taken practically all the fund. We have plenty of other jobs that we can do without any hassle. 

Also on the money front managed to get the car insurance for £40 cheaper, and have paid it in full.

OH joined one of the apps so he can listen to music, 9.99 per month. Reckons he’s going to cancel it but he hasn’t as yet. 

DS2 is back at his job next week, and DS3 sports club has started doing small group sessions....which will be fantastic. After a rocky start both kids have become more settled during lockdown but I’m particularly worried about DS3. Although he has been better after we limited the daily amount he’s on his games console to 2hrs maximum per day. 

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.
xx