From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

Kale hash with a poached egg for tea which was tasty. I have a menu plan for the week which will mean only needing to do a top up shop for milk and eggs. I'll be very glad when the chickens start to lay which should be any day.

Honeysucklelou2

Seem to have had a day where I've run around a lot but not achieved very much. I did go to Mr T's today to top up the groceries. While I was there I had to get ink for the printer as 3 of the teenagers have printing to do for sketchbooks for art studies at various levels. That was unforeseen so that pushed the price of the Te3co shop up.

Honeysucklelou2

The direct debits that usually go out on the first of the month have left my bank account, so I always feel a sense of relief when they have gone. I've paid off £15 to a credit card and have a couple of other payments to go out over the next week.

Honeysucklelou2

We've woken up to a beautiful Spring day today. Definitely need to be outside as much as possible today! Yesterday I did spend a little money on seeds. Runner beans do tend to cost a little more, so picked up a packet of those and some peas, cosmos and ruby sunflowers. The cosmos have been sown and put into the propogator as these are half hardy annuals and would benefit from a warmer start. Rummaging through the seed tin unearthed a packet of sweetcorn seeds ( unopened) so those have been sown and will go to the greenhouse allotment later today.

DD 4 had a friend around yesterday and did suggest going to the cinema as a treat. Unfortunately DD4 had bad toothache which necessitated a trip to the dentist which went right over the cinema times. I felt really bad for both of them, although it was obviously better that DD4 saw the dentist. I rarely take them to the cinema due to cost but am trying to balance doing things with the children so will see about today. The lovely weather makes a beach trip very inviting!

I spent a bit of time yesterday researching jobs with a view to finding a second job but I think combining it with my main job would be too much. I have these moments of panic from time to time. I think partly due to knowing that I need to get a buffer in place especially if I end up having to move . This is a possibility as the legal separation process grinds slowly forward. As I looked on the job site I noticed a couple of apprenticeship positions advertised so showed them to DS1. He is undecided as to what to do after finishing school but dislikes studying so a practical hands on learning situation would be better for him. One apprenticeship did capture his attention so I spent some of yesterday afternoon helping him to work on an online application. We still have some more to finish but at least made a start towards his next step.

louby40

My son is just finishing his apprenticeship. He spent 3 months at college and then another few months applying for apprenticeships. He eventually got a position last May. The money isn't great (£500 or so a month) but the experience is wonderful.

His boss is keeping him on and paying him to attend college a day a week and upping his wage.

I hope your son finds something.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Louby. It is interesting how each child is following a different path after finishing school. It is amazing that there is such a choice of options and range of learning/working opportunities available. I can see that transport will be our biggest issue as living where we do means making sure I can get him to a place of work.

It's great that your son is being kept on...fantastic encouragement for him.

Honeysucklelou2

I confess I did spend £33 today on a cinema trip. It wasn't essential but did it as a holiday treat. DD4 had spent yesterday getting a tooth sorted out and DD5 ended up visiting Minor Injuries today having hurt her hand in a game. By the time we got to 3pm it was a relief to sit down and watch a film! It was the toddler's first cinema trip and he did very well, even carefully picking up the spilt popcorn after the film had finished.

Tea was tuna plait, homemade potato wedges and salad. The children have all been nibbling Easter chocolate so definitely didn't need a pudding.

Honeysucklelou2

I've spent time this morning updating the spending tracker and can see where the money has gone in March. To my horror the food spend topped £800 :eek::eek::eek::(:eek::eek:. I knew there had been more top up shops but this is ridiculous. It's not as if we have been having meat everyday or particularly extravagant. It's just feeding a lot of us... To be fair this does include the spending on Easter eggs and also about £40 that I spent on cooking ingredients for my class, which if I can locate the receipt, I should be able to get refunded. I am shocked by how that has crept up and am determined to get it down.

Honeysucklelou2

Today (Friday) has had bursts of productivity. DD3 helped me to get the car loaded for a tip trip. It felt surprising therapeutic to get rid of some bits and pieces and tidy up a little. I have also planned the menu for the week and done the shopping according to the plan and am determined that the only top up will be for milk.
Fri- mackerel and salad
Sat - fish portions & oven chips
Sun - roast chicken
Mon - chicken pie
Tues - pasta carbonara
Wed - children eat with the ex
Thurs - pasties or spaghetti bol

I've paid £50 off to a family member. It's not as much as I'd hoped to pay but every little helps.

I had a bit of a shock when I popped to the allotment to give some corn to the hens, to find a sea of feathers and the bodies of 2 hens killed but discarded. Of the 22 I had yesterday only 7 remain:(:(:(:(::(:(. It is so frustrating especially having had these since 4 days old. It's a fox attack, they will kill and not even eat or take all the birds. I'll have to be very careful with the remaining 7 to make sure they don't suffer the same fate.

Treadingonplaymobil

Oh no, poor chickens, and poor you finding them . That's so horrible for you.

I am wrestling with working out how much our food budget 'should' be at the moment - I've found that it's all very well saying it needs to come down, but there comes a point where one is compromising lifestyle too much. I am still undecided on what I think a reasonable level is, but the budget we were aiming for (<£400 for 5 of us) has definitely become an unsustainable aim over the past 12 months.