Mrs S.....life after debt

MrsSave

Lunch for the boys yesterday ended up being an easy one. We had a couple of slices of pizza left in the fridge from Sunday night so they had one each with fruit and salad sticks, etc. I had melba toast and a mix of soft cheese and chilli jam instead of the pizza but had the same as the boys otherwise.

Dh picked up peppers on the way home from work yesterday though he must have paid with change he had in his pocket as there’s no transaction on the card. I’ve decided I’m going to go fruit and veg shopping tomorrow and then we have a click and collect for everything else Thursday morning. The fruit and veg place I like to go is very small so taking 2 children isn’t ideal so I think I’ll have to go to Tesco for it. In theory I could add it to Thursday’s click and collect but I’m fed up of the quality of fruit and veg I get when someone else picks it. I’m probably being fussy but I’d much prefer to pick it myself.

The boys are with my mil today and as I have the week off I’m aiming for a quiet-ish day. I might give the fridge a little clean and tidy though it’s not too bad. I then have the usual chores to do such as laundry. I have also started looking at our Christmas spreadsheet recently as I like to start getting organised from around September so may have another look at that soon. That reminds me I need to sort the boiler room (also used to store cleaning products and drinks), as I usually start storing Christmas food in there that I add to the weekly shop but it’s a bit full at the moment. I do need to look at storage solutions for it.

I have some jeans for ds1 being delivered today. When we went out the other day we discovered all his jeans are far too short as he has shot up recently. He’s quite slim but long legged in comparison so we struggle to get some that fit properly so fingers crossed for today’s delivery (reviews were along the lines of they fit my slim child!). I have a budget for children’s clothes each month and there is enough in that pot to cover the jeans.

We’re having fajitas for dinner tonight and whilst I do cook a lot from scratch I do use a kit for this. I use the Aldi one as it is our absolute favourite. Fajitas are up there with my favourite meals (next to a full on roast with all the trimmings!).

MrsSave

Today (or yesterday now!) I actually saw the bottom of the laundry basket! We’ve been searching for it since getting back from our trip away. We got close a few times, but then people kept adding to it. I found it though!!

I actually had a pretty quiet day as planned. I did complete a few tasks but spent a lot of the day not doing much at all. It was sooo good!

I’ve booked a few Summer holiday activities today. They were all planned (I created a planner for the holidays just before they started and added in what activities we were planning) and weren’t too expensive. I’ve booked a slot for swimming on Sunday which the boys are going to love! £12.70 for the 4 of us so not too bad. I’ve also changed almost £40 worth of Tesco vouchers for entry tickets to a local-ish theme park. My eldest has been asking to go there for ages. That’s almost £120 saved there! I am waiting a few more days before booking tickets though so we can see what the weather should be doing and to pick a good day!

I’ve also booked car parking at a local activity centre for us to go to at the weekend. There are some lovely cycle trails there so will take bikes and they have a great play area for the boys afterwards. The car parking was £6 but I think worth it with what we can do there. We then still have £116 in our Summer holiday pot and around 3 weeks left.

The 2 pairs of jeans for ds1 arrived today. One fit well but the other was far too baggy around his middle so they are going back. I have ordered a different pair from Tu but through Argos which should be ready for collection on Friday. I think 2 pairs of jeans in his wardrobe will be enough as he doesn’t wear them often. He lives in joggers now (or shorts in the Summer) but jeans are nicer for days out.

Right, I think I need to try and get some sleep!

MrsSave

Today has been a bit of a spendy day today but it was all planned. I picked up our fruit and veg (as well as milk and bread) from Tesco, I popped into Aldi for some sparkling water and also picked up a crispy duck for Saturday’s Chinese fakeaway (it was cheaper than the Tesco one) and a huge multipack of crisps for picnics. I also called in to the Range to buy a refill of cling film as it was far cheaper than anywhere else. I spent a total of £25.71 which brings this month’s total to £138.21/£300. I do have a click and collect tomorrow so that will be around £50 on top of that for this week’s food.

I put £20 of petrol in the car though I’m not sure how long that will last! We also picked up all birthday cards we need for the next 2 months as well as a birthday gift for a friend of ds1. I spent a total of £14.21 on the cards and gift (around half on the gift and half on cards) and then £2.40 on parking. I did take the boys out for lunch to a little cafe and that came to £14.45 for the 3 of us. All in all I don’t think that’s too bad!

I washed our bed clothes today so did use the tumble dryer. I only use it for bed clothes and towels, everything else goes on the clothes horse. I suffer badly with hayfever so I can’t put my things to dry outside. Dinner was a sausage casserole made in the slow cooker, which we had with the bread I bought today. There is around 2 portions left so that’s lunch for dh for the rest of the week! 

WinterWarrior

The shopping is coming in really low. Well done! 

MrsSave

Our click and collect on Thursday came to £46.50 bringing our food shop this month to £184.71. We have 1 main food shop, 1 or 2 fruit and veg shops and any little extras left so as long as I’m focused we should stick to our £300 budget. I do meed mew facial toner and have had a look online this morning and Boots currently have it at half price so will try to pop in today and pick a couple up. 

We had a day out on Thursday but as I drove my mum paid for our entry. I did pick up some Brownies on the way home though for after dinner. They cost £8 (but were definitely worth every penny!). 

I then spent just over £12 yesterday on a video editing programme for the desktop. We have a gopro and film some of our days out and birthdays/Christmas, etc. We upload to Youtube but keep the videos private so that only we can see them (our home videos to look back at). I have been struggling to use the Gopro editing programme on the desktop so paid for the Microsoft pro. It is 100% perfect for me as it’s very basic, nothing complicated. It was definitely worth the money (I have tried a couple of the free ones but just wasn’t finding them simple to use). The boys know how to find the videos on my YouTube channel (that’s all they watch on there) and I’ll often find them watching them back so I’m really pleased we do it.

Today we’re planning on going out on a bike ride. The aim is my eldest and I will do about 10 miles, and my husband will stay with our youngest who may manage about 2 miles. I’ve been talking about doing this for so long, but today’s the first time I’ll have been on a bike in almost 10 years so hopefully it will go well and we can do it more often. 

I’ve got the ingredients for a Chinese fakeaway for dinner after our cycling so I’m really looking forward to that too! I hope everyone has a great Saturday.

MrsSave

The bike ride went well and we went a little further than planned. My legs are aching like mad now though! We took a roll and a piece of homemade cake each for a quick lunch but did spend £6 of our Summer holiday budget on an activity there. We stopped at Boots on the way so I picked up 2 new toners as they were half price. That comes from my food budget making our new total spend for this month £188.19. I have 11 days until the new budget starts. I also popped in to Argos to pick up the Tu jeans for ds1. They are jogger jeans and fit him perfectly so I’m really pleased there.

We had our fakeaway for dinner tonight and have enough left over for a couple of lunches. I may freeze them as it will probably be next week before we get around to eating them.