One income family of four - can we get ahead even after pay cuts?

Bluegreen143

Didn’t do any of my planned baking except a loaf yesterday as I was so tired! Was lovely to see friends though. Today we will get out for our planned walk then I’ll get my baking head on this afternoon. Not sure what to have for dinner. I think I might do a veggie Chinese/sweet and sour type meal then do roast chicken tomorrow, with us both being off roasts don’t need to be at the weekend. Must lift the chicken out to defrost today.

Started having a casual look on eBay for stuff to go towards the kids’ Christmases and birthdays. Hoping charity shops and car boot sales reopen soon. I mean shops are now allowed to open in Scotland but when I drove past the charity shops the other day they were all still shut. Red likes a big pile of things for the kids to open at Christmas but at least getting most of it second hand is completely viable at their ages. I won’t be getting too many toys as I’ve just done a big declutter. I’m not exactly a minimalist but tending in that direction and I always have found the kids play so much better with more free space and less toys. People always say my living room is set up like a nursery (everything neatly organised in boxes by type and put away each evening, not too much clutter, educational posters on the wall and sticking to open ended classic toys mainly). But that works for me, the kids live here too so I’m happy for the space to reflect that with boxes of neatly put away toys on shelves, shelves of books, an easel, a wall dedicated to their art, an atlas stuck on the wall etc. What I won’t have is piles and piles of tat toys everywhere in the corners because our house is small and as adults we need to be able to sit and relax too! If Red has his way he would buy masses of plastic tat for them but he did admit when I let him have free reign one year that actually the kids didn’t play with the tat after the initial thrill had worn off...

So as much as possible I’m encouraging non toy gifts - art materials (which obviously get used up over time), science kits, nice clothes, if things have reopened I’m going to ask my mum to get their science centre passes, books, puzzles and board games. I know we want to get Bambi a scooter for her 2nd birthday so will need to look out on FB selling pages as Monkey’s from that age is broken.

natlie

Hi @Bluegreen143
It was me who suggested the UC application, how have you got on? its not a great process but hopefully you'll get something. if you do get UC you can also get a Help to Save Account https://www.gov.uk/get-help-savings-low-income for you and your husband for every £50 you pay in (each month) they pay in £25 its brilliant!

It been great catching up on your diary, I am doing similar things to you like meal planning and budgeting on groceries 
Nat

Bluegreen143

@natlie thank you so much for the UC idea! I put in our application a couple of weeks ago. Looks like we will get £1-200 a month I think (fingers crossed as I don’t 100% understand it all). 

I’ve subscribed to your diary and will sit and have a read through tonight 🙂

Bluegreen143

Got our letter to confirm the mortgage payment holiday is coming to an end. Monthly payments going from £415 to £420 a month. Obviously not ideal as over the mortgage lifetime it’s costing loads but I’m not going to worry about this too much now. Once I’m back in work we hope to remortgage down to a lower term (we have 29 years left on it!) and be able to make overpayments then.

Did a gorgeous walk today with the family at the nature reserve/loch that my friend introduced me to this week. Made an orange drizzle cake, overnight oats for tomorrow and started another loaf. Plus cut up a bunch of fruit and veg for tubs in the fridge which makes life easier at snacktime.

Bluegreen143

Not much going on today apart from a nice trip to our local park with the kids. Did get the upstairs completely tidied and hoovered which was just as well as let’s just say it looked rather lived in...

We’re in the boring middle of the month budget-wise where there is little to report. Does anyone else get impatient when they have nothing to update their YNAB with? 

thriftyish

Bluegreen143 said:

Not much going on today apart from a nice trip to our local park with the kids. Did get the upstairs completely tidied and hoovered which was just as well as let’s just say it looked rather lived in...

We’re in the boring middle of the month budget-wise where there is little to report. Does anyone else get impatient when they have nothing to update their YNAB with? 

It's that odd part of the month isn't it, where nothing really happens. I'm stuck between wishing it was the end of the month, and trying not to wish away the days!

We are exactly the same with toys/gifts, we try to get toys that are multi-use like lego, and not have too many things. I think it just becomes too much for them if they have too much choice and they don't appreciate things as much either.

My eldest was just old enough to receive the child trust fund payment for the government, but my other three girls missed out. He is at about £1000 now, and I am not sure how I am going to help the girls catch up yet.

My broad bean harvest was awful too, its been a strange year for growing (and everything else!)

I keep seeing you mention sourdough and it's making me really want to give it a try, Ive managed a lot of YS bread recently so trying to use through that first! Hope the UC application goes well too.

Bluegreen143

@thriftyish I highly recommend sourdough - I actually find it more forgiving and easier to fit into my schedule than yeast bread. And it’s so tasty and more impressive if you’re giving to others as they think it’s more effort! 

I use the recipes and method on the Foodbod sourdough site and have never had a failed loaf, it’s quite a good one for easy consistent results.

missymoo81

Oooh your sourdough looks amazing! I used to have a starter.... hmmmm maybe I should try it again too!

natlie

Im not a middle of the month person either, so much goes on at the start of the month and then its just tweaking things, I find selling things and doing surveys helps. 
I have a middle child who benefited from the CTF @thriftyish she has £1500 in a stakeholder account and my eldest had £168 and the youngest missed out. I would have liked to have split it between them.
I made 11 loaves at the start of lockdown, all of them were fails, I make brilliant cakes but bread is my downfall - yours looks lush @Bluegreen143

MagicCat

I agree, middle of the month is a bit of a let down, I find I get bored of the goals I've set but it's not time to set new ones.

Your bread looks amazing! DH is the baker in our house but he's found sourdough tricky, they've all come out a bit flat!