From debt to freedom...

Storm89

three in a row is brilliant I used to spend around £100 a week but have cut it down to between £60 and £70 depending on what extras are needed that week. In terms of milk aldi have really good dates on so I buy 3 of the really big ones and it sees us through the week. With bread I buy the aldi 40p bread (3 loaves) I put one loaf in the freezer and then towards the end of the week when the other 2 loaves are gone I get out how many slices we will need the night before to defrost. I've ended up slipping up this week and popping into a sainsburys local because I had gone a day longer between food shops but usually I don't have to pop out.
We are only 2 adults and 2 children though and no pets so can imagine it gets expensive the more in the house ! I did the shopping on Monday and won't spend anything now until Saturday when it's £3.50 for my daughters dance lesson.
Sounds like you really enjoyed your walk , it's so nice enjoying the free things in life isn't it. I'm realising how you don't need to spend money to enjoy yourself x

Honeysucklelou2

I buy the 6 pint cartons of milk too. We go through 1 a day, so I try to get 4 ( as many as I can cram into the fridge) to see us over the weekend and into Yuesday if I can, then pick up extras on Tuesday after work. My children are rebelling against bread! They really don't seem to like sandwiches but will happily eat pitta bread, bagels or wraps so I'm tending to buy Mr T's own bagels and freeze those, then get wraps if they are on offer or yellow sticker.

The toddler isn't well today so I have an unexpected day with him. Unfortunately lots of washing to accompany the ill-health but glad I can be home with him when he's feeling poorly.

Honeysucklelou2

You're right Storm,about the free things in life. Walking and enjoying the changing seasons has always been a joy to me but especially time to enjoy being with my children without any distractions. I'm trying to make the most of time with my little ones because the time goes so fast as I've learnt with my teenagers!

Cherryfudge

I hope the little one is soon better and no one else gets it.

Using up milk here today: rice pudding smells lovely. I could never fit a 6pt milk in my fridge... working on having more space in there.

MeandO

Hope the little person is better soon! x

Storm89

oh gosh I bet they do grow so quickly, I'm dreading the day when my eldest won't want snuggles with me anymore - I'm not allowed to kiss him when I drop him off at school anymore haha. There seems to be so many bugs going around lately nobody can seem to shake them, it's horrible for little ones when they're all feeling sorry for themselves

Honeysucklelou2

I've had an odd few days. Unfortunately the bug that the toddler had on Wednesday has spread to all of us except DS1. Thankfully it seems to be a 24 hour one so hoping we are at the end of it now.

On Wed evening, DD3 had a video call from DD1 which showed that she was in a hospital bed. She has a health condition that doesn't affect day to day life too much but she has episodes occur which can be quite serious. She had had such an episode which resulted in an ambulance ride to hospital and having to be kept in for monitoring. It was very hard to see her in the bed, on the phone, and not be able to be there for her. On Thursday I went to work and my boss, on hearing about DD1) let me go home, so that I could go to the hospital to be with DD1. An amazing boss!

It took me a little while to sort out the other children. The younger DDs stayed with my parents and I took DDs2 & 3 with me and the toddler. The ex stayed with DS1&2. We got to where she lives and was glad to be in time for her being discharged. I've been able to bring her home with me to give her chance to recover fully. I'm thankful that I was able to go to her and that she is on the mend.

On the financial front, I hadn't expected the diseal cost or the cost of a night in the travelodge. I had booked a room online before I travelled as I knew I wouldn't be able to do there and back in a day, especially as I wasn't sure if DD1 would be discharged or not. Unfortunately in my haste to get going, I accidentally booked the room for the following night, so when we got to the travelodge on Thursday evening, they had no record of my booking:eek::eek: Thankfully they realised my mistake and were able to get a room ready for us. Unfortunately it meant that the £64 I was expecting to pay from the online booking jumped to £89.:( The total costs came to about £200 which I had to put on the cc as I had no wriggle room in the budget. I will have to withdraw money from the EF to pay that off. The main thing is that DD1 is recovering and the doctors have changed her medication which will hopefully reduce such episodes happening.
I'm thankful that she is able to have a week at home with us and that we had a safe journey there and back. Much to be thankful for.:)

Treadingonplaymobil

Poor DD1 and how scary for you! That’s exactly what emergency funds are there for, so don’t feel bad about it. It definitely qualified!

Hansard

I'm in a lot of debt, my daughter started uni 2 years ago, she gets the student loan, but Also gets help from the uni itself for living expenses, though it's not all that she needs, she has also taken on a job on campus, so has some spare money occasionally. Ask her uni for the forms, my daughter couldn't do it without the extra financial help.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you TOPM and Hansard.

I think DD1 does now get extra financial help from the uni, although we didn't discover this until Christmas when she opened a letter that had slipped beneath a magazine. She gets a bursary which is weighted more towards the summer term. The weird thing is, she doesn't recall filling in any application form for it. The only forms I'm aware of, that we both completed, were the student loan forms which were online. A fellow student with the same health condition has qualified for a disabled student grant type payment but I thought that would only apply to those students who needed to pay for extra care needs. DD1 hasn't applied for that...but the bursary she has been awarded is a welcome help.