A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

fuddle

I've 4 of those pale blue ikea fleeces. They sit under my coffee table ready and waiting for someone to dare suggest they're a bit chilly. Quick as a flash I thrust one of those fleeces at them and the mere suggestion of turning on the heating just doesn't happen They wash so well Dee, Mine have been in and out the wash umpteen times.

I have a grind actually re: food and kids and parents struggling etc. My eldest takes packed lunch daily as this is the most cost effective way of providing a healthy lunch for her I feel. I try to do things cheaply so bought popcorn kernels to pop myself and drizzle over them with honey. I was putting them in a tub for her packed lunch instead of crisps thinking I was being uber healthy and feeling like I was getting more popcorn for my money than I could with crisps. Nope, little one has been told she can't have pop corn in her packed lunch. I can only assume that they think it's that sweet stuff that you get at cinema. I have stopped making it for now as she didn't want to get into trouble but I've decided to still do it and pop a note into her lunch box explaining just what they are and offer to invite me into school have they a further issue. I know I'm in the right here.

Anyway, sorry. Shared that now I can just let it go

fuddle

mardatha wrote: »

It's a tropical 11C and a tropical downpour here. If anybody wants it come and take it away. I might put it on ebay- buyer collects.
One big black cloud outside....and another one inside. The RV is in a mood.

Uh oh! Hey Mar, whenever I see RV the words randy virgo pop up in my head... must stop it! :eek: What does the R mean again?

mardatha

well not often. Its more usually RATTY :rotfl: and today its VV ratty!

stiltwalker

Fuddle - we weren't super skint when I was growing up but we certainly didn't have a lot of 'stuff''. My mum didn't go back to work (apart from a bit of supply) until I went to secondary and my little brother was in he juniors so there wasn't a lot spare. We didn't go abroad until I was eleven and even then it was houseswaps not fancy hotels. BUT what I do remember is los of time and activities - we were always National Trust members and although bruv and I got fed up of ruins and gardens on occasion! we always had fun really. I also remember lots of craft and messy stuff. So I wouldn't worry one jot - the important stuff is the time and the memories - yours will have all the good stuff if not rooms full of plastic junk! We've chosen for me not to go back to work until the kids are at school just so they can have the same great childhood. It's meant we are a little skint at times (well TBH a lot at times) however rather that than the alternative of having them in nursery and hardly seeing them during the week. It's great if you can stay sane being at home all day - it's not for everyone, one of my closest friends works as being a SAHM was not for her - she was going bonkers - but if it is and you can manage the bills then you can do masses of stuff for very little money and TBH until they are older the kids won't even notice! Hopefully once they are older they will have the idea that time and fun is more important.

ETA - When we go out for the day we always take picnic - have this gorgeous proper tiffin tin with 4 layers and I fill with 4 different types of salad. Together with our posh picnic rucksac with practically a full dining set in (including salt and pepper shakers and a corkscrew!) we often have envious looks from the folk who have spent heaven knows how much on bought lunch in the tearoom only for it not to be half as good!

[Deleted User]

Hey FUDDLE - we were as poor as church mice when the girls were small, I was a stay at home mum and the mortgage interest was over 15% so cash was short on the ground. We didn't do abroad holidays, I always shopped in sales for thier shoes, clothes etc. and most of what we ate was home grown and home made. They are now 33 and 28 respectively and what they do talk about is doing things together as a family. Cooking with Ma, being in the garden and on the allotment with Pa, walks in the woods at the weekends (with a bent stick as an elephant gun, just in case!), making craft things and painting at home on wet days, having friends home for tea and playing out in the garden in a tent made from an old sheet. Birthday parties all home made and party games, us taking them on the sleds to the sloping field where we could play when it snowed, brownies, ballet, swimming, gym clubs, music lessons where DH and I shared deliveries and pick ups. They were never bored or felt hard done by, in fact feed back says thier friends were a bit envious of what they had in thier lives. We had such fun and we're still all such good friends, don't worry they'll thank you for it all as they grow. Chin up, Cheers Lyn x.

Dee2012

Fuddle Thanks for letting me know how easy they are to wash, also got a couple for putting over the back of the sofa so when we are cold they are handy to put over us.

Mrs_Chip

Hi Fuddle

Plain popcorn would be a fairly healthy snack, but drizzling honey over would make it much less so. Honey is full of good things, but is essentially just sugar, so is still very calorific. The lunchbox police may be picking on this.

I don't have kids, so have not had to deal with this form of fascist behaviour, but it would annoy me to the nth degree. I always took a packed lunch to school, and have no doubt most of it would have been banned, but then my mum cooked a good healthy meal for us every evening. Even if I didn't appreciate it at the time .

ETA - Calories are fine for active children, they need them. I guess hare a bit between a rock and a hard place, but it does seem a bit unfair.

BitterAndTwisted

fuddle wrote: »

Did any of you growing up feel happy about living a frugal life with you parents? I want my kids to still grow up happy even with the pressures of life and making ends meet. I would love for them to look back on their childhood and realise it would have been tough but still remember that we did the very best for them and appreciate the times we shared and what we did manage to do for them.

Maybe I'm looking at it too romantically as life is hard but you have to look at things positively don't ya?

Our family lived an extremely frugal lifestyle when I was a nipper but the main difference between those times and today is that we knew no different. All of our friends and neighbours had as little as we did. No cars, no travel, no holidays, no telly etcetera so we had little to compare it to. I think it's very different for youngsters now: we are a completely different society and with completely different outlooks and aspirations. Nearly everything seems to be designed to breed comparison and discontent. Even the working-poor these days seem to think they're entitled to a life-style which would have been firmly middle-class all those years ago before The Flood.

Still, nothing compares to having a loving family who enjoy sharing time together, even if it entails spending as little money as possible to do it. There are values which are more desirable and valuable than having the latest expensive gizmo to show off to your friends in the playground, although these rarely show their real worth until a decent amount of time has passed and they're viewed through those handy rose-tinted specs.

SDG31000

Morning all

I have to admit to being in grumpy mode. I'm waiting for the new ps3 to be delivered, so can't get in the bath until it arrives. I haven't had one since Sunday as I haven't had the energy to spare and now I smell

fuddle. I grew up in a house with no money. My Dad died when I was 11 and Mom raised us on benefits. The thing I remember most was the lack of attention from her rather than the money. Children remember events and the small things rather than the stuff they are given. My sons have much more than I ever had, but they haven't been given everything they want by any stretch of the imagination. I hope they recall the fun stuff we did when they look back on their childhoods. Of course now they are teenagers they don't want to be seen in public with us lol

I've taken sausages out of the freezer for dinner as I am desperate for vegetables. DH doesn't see the point of them and DS1 and DS2 definitely feel the same way.

Take care everyone xxx

fuddle

SDG my dad died when I was 10 and I have so many issues now because my mum just gave up on us. We did absolutely nothing when we were growing up. I guess money was tight for us but I din't really want anything, just time with my mum. She can't see it even to this day. She feels she did a good job because she kept us safe being in the house all the time... what has happened is, as an adult, I now am very skittish socialy, suffer from anxiety the moment me or mine step out of the house and have moderate depression. Mum says to snap out of it and get a smile on my face - seriously. She also thinks that by going to see a psychologist is an admission I can't cope with my children and risk having them taking off me. Nothing can be further from the truth! I am such a good mum and homemaker. I'm thriving on it just now. It's what I wanted to do even though we struggle financially. What I can't cope with is the scars of my childhood and how they effect me today.

Anyway.. rhubarb I'm stewing some for a crumble tonight. The rhubarb/sugary stock that I'm going to sieve, can I do something with that? Maybe make a jam with some frozen berries I have in the freezer. Might be too tart?