From debt to freedom...

Kitten868

Can she come to my house once she's finished at yours? Maybe you could get her into doing surveys or competitions to earn a bit extra? Not that you'd put want to get in the way of her baking though! Must be nice to come into after a day at work. Glad work is going OK xxx

savingholmes

Cakes sound amazing as does the help!

Sun_Addict

Do you hire your DD out 🤣

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Sarahwithlove, Kitten868, SH & SA. I did smile SA!

Yes I am blessed that they are suddenly pitching in a lot. I haven’t had a lot of help over the years but this week has been amazing. DD2 has cleared mountains of laundry and yesterday I came home to flapjacks, courtesy of DD2 and focaccia bread topped with sea salt and rosemary, courtesy of DD1. The years of getting them to bake with me at the kitchen counter are paying off🙂😊.

I’m thinking that, since the weekdays appear to be very screen focussed for both myself and most of the children, the weekends need to be as little as possible time on a screen! DD1 has proposed a repeat of our walk last weekend, a local round the lanes walk, but a decent walk, so will get us enjoying the beautiful sunshine we have at the moment. I’ll need it to walk off the amount of cake consumed🤣.

janb5

Nothing shows as much love as a home made cake/ bread

savingholmes

I think we all deserve a round of applause just for getting to the weekend

Cherryfudge

Oh I can smell that baking from here! How lovely.

Enjoy your weekend: I hope the weather and restrictions don't get in the way of your walks, we are all enjoying them vicariously!

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Janb5, SH & Cherryfudge.  Janb5, I totally agree!! Before COVID, I enjoyed being able to bake for family and friends.

Yesterday was an interesting experience home-schooling wise. DD4 was up bright and early to log in to her live tutor meeting time. I realised that DS2 had managed to miss 2 of his 🤔😯. DS3 got his phonics done by watching a video link sent to us, but thankfully much of his Maths work could be done by questioning as we did our walk.  DD3 had a one hour live lecture mid afternoon, so we timed our walk for then. It ensures that everyone is off the WiFi and maximises her chance of viewing without glitches and concentrating without siblings interrupting. I can see I will have to have a timetable drawn up to show who has what when and who can use the computer or WiFi . The youngest DDs can, at least, get more done at school, on the days that I work.

We went for a 3 mile circular walk yesterday afternoon, just a mixture of public footpaths and lanes but thankful to have the chance to get outside and walk. I find at this time of year, with the leaves gone, it gives the opportunity to see much more in the hedgerows. I was amazed by the amount of moss I saw. One type in particular was really feathery, each leaf like part ( apparently called Phyllids) was like a tiny Christmas tree growing out from the base of the moss. We did take a photo which I will try to upload. It really was beautiful, so delicate and feathery.  DS3 likes to find the “rabbit runs”, almost natural corridors in the hedgerows between the deeper rabbit holes. He is quite fascinated by these at the moment and is doing his best to find Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny!

Yesterday’s baking was a batch of chocolate brownies but I’ve had to ask DD2 to wait a bit before she bakes any  more to give us chance to get through the delicious treats made so far. On a more practical level, my grocery budget won’t sustain the current rate, delicious though it is! We are meal planning together more, so DD1 ( whose plans have sadly been halted) is happy to cook a meal, hopefully DD2 will as well, from the ingredients I get in the weekly shop. At least they know where the meal plan is which will hopefully mean the essential ingredients for each meal won’t be munched in snacks ! DS 2 is more of a savoury snacked so I’ve had to double the amount of cheese I buy each week!

Yesterday job no 2 paid me. The furlough pay is less than last time. I’m not quite sure how it’s worked out as we don’t have set hours as such. We have set shifts but the end time of each shift is dependent on how busy we are or not, so hours worked each week can fluctuate. I had based January’s budget on the furlough pay I had in November but will need to rejig. I had thought of throwing all possible money to over pay debts this week but have hesitated. Last year the seed companies were quite overwhelmed with online seed orders and it took much longer than usual to buy seeds, so am thinking that for this week, I may purchase seeds in readiness for the allotment. Mulling it over...

I’ve cleared £70 from the debt total this week 🙂.

Sun_Addict

£70 is a good amount to clear especially at the moment. I think you’d be better hanging on to some money to see you through the month rather than throwing it all to debt. You can only do so much.

Your walk sounded nice and it’s lovely that you take time to look at things properly not just rush past. One of my friends goes for her lockdown walk every morning then posts the pictures on FB of the nice things she’s spotted.

Cherryfudge

You are amazing, taking £70 off the debts with all the other calls on your finances! SA has a good point about hanging on to any 'spare' money at least till the next lot comes in. Or could all this baking capacity be turned to profit? DDs set up a micro business in lockdown, make the papers, Mum sets up a blog of the business and local walks (drawing in advertising revenue as a side hustle), featured in the Sundays or G00d Housekeeping... ;)After all, look how J@ck Monroe started out! )

Sorry hear DD1's plans are on hold. It will be nice for you to have her around and it sounds as though the older children in particular are being very useful.  Perhaps some savoury baking that could form the basis of meals (quiche, anyone?) if your DS has left any cheese?

Your sowing season is probably well ahead of ours but even I am thinking about seeds, so garden planning now is probably very timely.

Did DS3 find Peter Rabbit?