Keeping our options open

becky170

Oops my resolve not to buy coffee lasted all of 3 hours! It was a bad morning at work and my sleep deprived brain had turned to mush on the plus side I used my bus trip to work to read some MFW diaries and am feeling inspired again.

zcrat41

Becky170 - just reading your diary. Don't give yourself too hard a time when the kids are little. It's HARD working and having hound kids. It does get easier.

Re the coffee. When I make my morning cup I make 2 more in a coffee cups I got from amazon that are completely sealed. I shove them in my handbag and then they're there for the day.

becky170

Thanks Zcrat41. I have got a sealed coffee cup so I should probably put it to good use I'm also thinking that I do need to cut myself some slack. I'm not superwoman. I just don't know how some women make it look so easy juggling children and work.

Today is my non-working day so I'm looking forward to spending it with the kids. Nothing planned. The weather is still wet wet wet so maybe a trip to soft play to let DS have a run around. I've also got to do something about father's day. DD has already made a card at nursery so maybe I can pursue DS to make one today

becky170

We had quite a quiet weekend which was great as I'm shattered. We had to go to go shopping to order a replacement buggy as the one that fits in my tiny car had broken.... luckily whilst it was still under warranty! The new buggy is being delivered this week so I'm crossing my fingers that it fits in my boot. I had wanted to measure the boot before ordering it but I had hidden all the tape measures from DS and then couldn't find them again! I'm sure he will find them for me at some point apart from the shopping we stopped for coffee and cake, went to the park, visited a soft play and had a Sunday roast cooked by me. As it was father's Day I made a special effort and even made a dessert

Today I've managed to pack some lunch for work (well crackers and cream cheese anyway) and have made a coffee in my thermos cup. I've even eaten breakfast before going for the bus Let's hope the rest of the day goes well.

debtfreeoneday

Don't be so hard on yourself. I was in a blur for 5 years, it was a miracle if we all ate and had clean clothes on! I haven't read all of your diary but have you thought about reusuable nappies? You can save a fortune on them and can pick them up second hand really cheaply. It seems a lot of work, but it really isnt. Just an idea! x

becky170

Thanks for stopping by debtfreeoneday. I have to admit I have always dismissed reusable nappies. At the moment I'm struggling to keep up with the normal washing so hadn't wanted to add nappies to the mix. Now the baby is a bit older and not going through as many nappies it may be worth reconsidering as it probably isn't as big an effort as I think it'll be.

becky170

This week has been a bit of a write off so I've not managed much money saving action. I have requested a £21 payout from Quidc0 so hopefully that will be arriving in my account today ready for making another overpayment.

The food shopping budget has completely been blown. I think after our shopping delivery tonight we'll be near the £500 mark for the month. I'm going to try and do a freezer and store cupboard in July to make sure I'm using things up rather than just throwing things in the freezer and then forgetting about them. That will require some meal planning though I can meal plan, it's just sticking the meal plan that I have trouble with!

Hettyhound

Hi becky170, just reading you for the first time. Your comment about not being able to find the tape measure because you had hidden it from your son and forgotten where you had put it was a revelation; some else does that too not just me! :rotfl: I used cloth nappies for my boy and saved a packet and I also brew up coffee on a morning and fill a flask, maybe not very sexy but very money saving expert

kaycastle

good luck enjoyed reading your diary.

I don't have kids yet so this is quite insightful. Did you find lots of forgotten food in your cupboards/freezer?

I was terrible at sticking to meal plans too and felt really bad as I always seemed to waste food. I tried a different approach where I made a big list of all the food items we eat. I split it into categories of like "cupboard stables", "fresh food", "freezer" etc.

Then I made a list of our most regular meals, a really rough list of about 7-10 days worth of x2 pasta meals, x1 curry etc. . And I basically make sure the cupboards are well stocked of all the things we commonly use so I can buy large quantities at once and just forget about it, same with freezer.
Then I just have smaller fresh food top ups and always refer to my mega list when doing shopping lists.

It means I always have the right ingredients around to make several meals but I don't have to think too much about it. It cut down on our waste and also it really cut down on my absolutely random buys that just land up never eaten at the back of the cupboard.

We also committed to one vegetarian meal a week which was really useful as it saved ££ and it tends to always mean we can make a meal out of whatever veg is left/tins of beans and put it in a chilli or curry. Without having to do a top up trip.

I've rambled now.

becky170

Thanks for stopping by Hettyhound and kaycastle. The tape measures have now been found

Kaycastle I have a nasty habit of throwing things in the freezer when they get to their used by date (mainly because I meal plan and then can't be bothered to make what I've planned or plans change) and then leaving them to languish in there. Also with weaning the baby I've brought ingredients I normally won't buy and as you only use a tiny bit usually they are still lying in my cupboards. Anyway the plan is to try and use these up. Today I've got gammon steaks to use up

Anyway with the help of my Quidc0 payment I've paid another £22 off the mortgage taking my total to £80 for June. As we had a blow out weekend away for my husband's birthday and the car insurance to pay that's it for June. We have no big payments going out in July, although we have to buy ds his new school uniform, so we should be able to afford slightly more next month.

I was thinking about using a £10 off £80 spend at sainsbob's but as I don't need that much stuff from the supermarket this week I think I'm going to be good and leave it. There's no point spending money for the sake of it.

Right I better try and get to sleep again. Was woken up by the kids and then I heard a crash downstairs. A jar of coffee had smashed into the floor so I've been being doing a spot of night time cleaning