Missy’s family of 4, paying off debts, saving for a house and just trying to survive!

WinterWarrior

Do you have a kindle, or an iPad you can read from? There are lots of free kindle books on Amazon if you search them all in price order, lowest first. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

jwil said:

Come down to Somerset. It's a lovely county and doesn't get as crazy busy as Devon and Cornwall

That sounds lush - i've deliberately avoided looking at Devon and Cornwall this year as the whole country seems to want to go there! 

Have you visited the Cheddar Gorge, not done it myself but looks stunning on the photos. 

missymoo81

Thanks @dawnybabes and @WinterWarrior both suggestions are great. I think I will go to a charity shop, I might also get some second hand books from Amazon. They can be sent here. I stupidly left my kindle at home! I don’t really use it and should!

@JWil Somerset sounds good, @Queen_of_the_Hive I haven’t been, but I will check it out. Everyone is holidaying in the UK, the traffic on Friday was crazy!

Just to add to the grumpiness. There is a motorbike event going on in the next field!!!! Bikes have been revving for the last half an hour. We got told about it yesterday, as If it wasn’t a big deal and wouldn’t hear if! I can hear it, inside with the radio on! Not happy. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

eeek! Motorbike event Maybe add some earplugs to that Amazon order. 

I don't know if this is your thing or not but YHA have some beautiful properties in stunning locations for reasonable price. This was recommended to us earlier this year and looking to book somewhere just before school starts. We would go for a private room. 

missymoo81

Hey @Queen_of_the_Hive I hadn’t thought of YHA but I will definitely take a look for another time. We were trying to add a bit of luxury as it’s both our birthdays coming up and we haven’t got eachother presents and we can’t go abroad hence the wanting to stay somewhere nice. We have finally sorted it, after 6 hours of trawling the internet, raiding the savings and many conversations! We’ve found a cottage up north which fits the bill but it’s rather expensive so we’re coming home for the weekend and then going away again. But we’re going to treat the weekend as a holiday and go to the cinema and go to the beach, weather permitting etc. As work is all taken care of. 

So at least I can try and relax now, classic fm is on and turned up loud. I have a beer in hand and I’m reading the forums so chilling is in action!

Queen_of_the_Hive

Sounds perfect!! Good on you for treating yourselves. 

missymoo81

Thanks @Queen_of_the_Hive have told OH that he needs to live on beans on toast for the foreseeable 😂. His reply was good, I like beans on toast 🙄😁. At least he’s on board. Will have a look at budgets and things this evening I don’t mind doing it. Crikey the beer is kicking in already as we are yet to have lunch. I’m not a bit drinker and it shows! Baguettes are now in the oven! 

missymoo81

I’m watching some videos on YouTube someone called Claire’s Journey, talking about her no spend year, it’s interesting, and it’s nice i’ve actually got the time to sit and watch these things. 

I’m also sitting comparing lidl to Tesco, and some things are cheaper some are not. I drive past lidl on my way home
most days but I work near Tesco. I could easily do a once a month or once every two week shop at Tesco and do the rest at lidl.

I’ve fallen down in meal planning etc lately by cutting the budget too much. Meaning that I can make meals with the shopping I’ve brought, but there’s no leeway in it. It’s too specific, in the sense OH can’t cook them and if I haven’t got time (which happens often 🤦🏻‍♀️) or have been caught up with work, they go out of the window and I’m back nipping to coop for a ready meals. So I need to think wisely about meal planning. OH and I are working all over the place until September, so things will hopefully get more back to normal then. So my aim is to start with a better plan with the new school year. 

I need to cut down on my takeaway coffees again….. 😔 so making more at home. I need to find a cheaper vanilla syrup, I pay about £10 for it on Amazon. But I know people have found it cheaper. Any ideas?  I just want a sugar free vanilla coffee type syrup. Does B&M have them?

The cottage we’re staying in has got quite homely since we lit the fire. It’s been raining all day, but copious amounts of tea have been drunk!

joedenise

@missymoo81 - The skinny food company do a Vanilla syrup for £3.99; no idea what it's like as not tried it.   Not sure if the link will work but hopefully it does:  https://theskinnyfoodco.com/collections/zero-calorie-syrups/products/vanilla-zero-calorie-sugar-free-syrup-the-skinny-food-co-425ml.

 I've tried some of the Jordans skinny syrups but not the Vanilla one - my favourite one was the S'Mores which tasted like maple syrup!  The only shop I've ever seen it in is TK Maxx but also available on line but they don't have any Vanilla at the moment!

Sorry to hear about the problems with the campsite and that you've decided to go home for the weekend but at least you have plans for next week to look forward to.  Shame about the weather.  We've just come back from a week in the New Forest area and have had the most fantastic weather all week - only had to wear trousers one evening rest of the time was in shorts!

dawnybabes

TK Maxx normally have a good selection of sugar free syrups 😀