“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

WannabeFree

Good afternoon  

Thank you again  

I'm unsure how regularly I will post - I don't even know what to post anymore or how much. 

x

EssexHebridean

WF - as always, as much as you like of whatever you like - there are no rules and it needs to purely be governed by your own boundaries. If it helps to post, post, if not, then it may be better for you to form a clear break by asking a board guide to close this diary - that way it's not hanging over you making you feel that you "should" be posting. You could always open a new one at some stage in the future if you felt that posting would be helpful again. 

There's no pressure around this one - you do what's right for you, at this point in time. You owe nobody else anything. xx

WannabeFree

Thank you EH. I have loved seeing your adventures on Insta. 

Evening

We have all had dinner and done homework and things and now its nearly bedtime. The days just don't seem long enough anymore! 

charlies_tribe

Glad to see you back posting and that you're all recovered from Covid.

WannabeFree

Well I disappeared again and got covid again! Amazing how we still don't really mix so it has to be coming in from school. 

We are all recovered again, but it definitely hit harder the second time round. 

I'm back again to search through the boards and diaries for ideas on keeping the grocery budget down. Everything else is budgeted to the last penny (including the groceries) I just want to make the most of the budget. Especially with the rising costs of what feels like everything! and the lack of availability of things each week.

I am still using online shopping, I don't go instore unless something doesn't come on my online shop that we desperately need. My budget is £40 a week for everything. Which is a lot more than when I started my journey here and I'm very grateful for that. 

While I will be posting much less of the details about the smalls I will say all the smalls are good. DD has got her secondary school place for September and is really looking forward to it. DS's journey at highschool hasn't gone as smoothly as I though - because some kids are horrible. But overall things are good  

EssexHebridean

Hello - how lovely to see you back! Glad all is generally OK but grrr to the Covid thing - I’m currently there myself too (and MrEH as well) so can agree that it’s definitely grim!

I think we’re all trying to think of ways to bolster/stretch grocery budgets at the moment aren’t we - although I’m relieved to see that yours is at a rather more flexible level than it used to be, that is good news. It struck me recently that so many of us on here are already SO frugal with food shopping that it’s actually difficult to do much more - a good thing on the face of it but also frustrating when looking for the odd additional savings. I do think that for all of us though it’s worth re-evaluating what we do, and how we do it, as there’s little question that over time a bit of complacency can slip in. 

Delighted to hear that the Smalls are generally well too - sorry to hear DS has been struggling a bit and yes, other kids can indeed be unkind. How did DD get to the point of being nearly at secondary school though?! Time flies! 

Chrystal

Really glad to hear you're in a better place financially, it must make life a little easier. 

Good that the smalls are OK, although it's tough dealing with problems at school for DS... I went through it with 2 of mine and it can be really dificult.  Take care of yourself (((hugs))) XX

Sun_Addict

Great to hear from you, glad you’re all ok, despite Covid. I can’t believe how fast the small are growing up!

Cherryfudge

Great to hear from you, though sorry to hear about the Covid. Others have said they were far worse the second time as you were, though one lady I know who had to shield at first has had it twice with no symptoms.

And how come you are soon to have two at secondary school?! They were small! Time passes I guess.

Good that you are in a better place financially too, though I appreciate you are here in part to look for ways of keeping costs down. There are a few newish threads on frugal living and reducing fuel costs which may be worth an investigation, too.

WannabeFree

Thank you for all stopping in, I know I've been really rubbish at keeping up and posting. 

Cherry strange you say that about covid, youngest definitely wasn't as sick as we thought she would be with it. However it completely wiped me out. 

Hope you're feeling better soon EH and MrEH. 

I am in a lot better place than when I was posting before, however I do still receive support and help. It's not all on my own. Which I am grateful for. 

Grocery budget is the only budget I have the opportunity to fiddle with to make the most of the money for it. Also with the rising energy costs I'm not sure how much better baking/making some of the things from scratch is as money saving as it use to be. 

Its definitely something I want to work on.