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

joedenise

Absolutely the best way of dealing with fussiness over food.  I think all kids try it on when they first mix at nursery/school, both of mine certainly did but by the time they'd got to about 6 they ate pretty much anything that was put in front of them because there would be no other choice.  Well done on sticking to the no pressure and no extra snacks.  He certainly seems to be getting there.  I absolutely love goats cheese - not had that for a long time - think the last time was probably when we were on holiday on France a couple of years ago!

Baileys_Babe

My dd prefers her side vegetables raw, she will eat all the vegetables incorporated into a dish (lasagna etc), I can live with that comprise 

Bluegreen143

Thank you both. @Baileys_Babe he also prefers raw veg. I think in the past I’ve been too rigid and wouldn’t make any concessions whereas lately I’ll often pop a bowl of raw salad veg on the table alongside the cooked ones - it’s not really any extra trouble and he always dives in.

Mix up with the veg box - I’d asked to change from the £10 veg only box + £10 fruit only back to the £15 mixed box (similar quantity of veg as the veg only with a small selection of fruit alongside). With Monkey at nursery and eating there a lot it’s difficult to get through the fruit box now, Red doesn’t eat fruit so it’s just Bambi and I (for instance, last week it had 8 bananas, 8 apples, 8 plums, 8 satsumas, 8 kiwi, 8 pears, a pineapple). Obviously I’ve been baking with the excess etc but it’s too much really so I thought it’s better to save the weekly £5 and I can pick up a bit of fruit from the supermarket to top up as needed. However they got confused and only sent the veg only box this week so got no fruit at all. Luckily we have lots of pears and apples left, and a few plums, but no bananas which is basically a disaster 😆 will need to go to Lidl tomorrow for milk etc anyway so will get some fruit then. Oh well, we got charged the right amount for the box we got so aren’t out any money.

Will need to make parsnip soup tomorrow I think as we’ve got parsnips the last three weeks and still have a few left.

Meals today:

B - apple overnight oats
L - scrambled egg, toast, cucumber, plums
S - a cup of milk and a fruit smoothie pouch for Bambi before picking up her brother (had bought the pouches as part of the Halloween treasure hunt). Must admit I just had lots of Halloween chocolate and haribo. Must do better.
D - “hunt the chicken” Chasni-inspired curry aka mainly veg (cauliflower, sweetcorn, onion, peppers, courgette and a little leftover roast chicken meat) 😆 with rice and some HM pittas I found in the freezer.

Monkey ate some of the curry when I used it to fill the pita pockets though bizarrely didn’t want any rice 🤷‍♀️ he picked out the courgette but ate the cauliflower, also strange but not complaining.

Baked a loaf of malthouse bread today which was good as we are otherwise out of bread. Make try to do a batch of pitta for the freezer as it was really handy today finding them there.

Almost finished the kids’ Christmas presents - yay. And wrapped Monkey’s too 🙂

Baileys_Babe

Bluegreen143 said:

Thank you both. @Baileys_Babe he also prefers raw veg. I think in the past I’ve been too rigid and wouldn’t make any concessions whereas lately I’ll often pop a bowl of raw salad veg on the table alongside the cooked ones - it’s not really any extra trouble and he always dives in.

As there is less prep and she happily eats it, I am happy to compromise. Dd prefers broccoli stalk to the florets.

Dd doesn't like sauces on rice/pasta/noodles/potatoes but beside is fine. If bread (including naan, toast, tortilla) is present the sauce is fine to touch be on top of. We try and get it right, but we don't always remember.

We get through a massive amount of fruit a week, on Monday I bought:
5 punnets of grapes
24 satsumas
14 bananas
30 plums
36 pears
60+ Apples
As well as:
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Cucumber
Carrots
Savoy cabbage
Red cabbage
These will all be eaten raw. We have other vegetables fresh, frozen and tinned to cook with. I intend this to last until Monday, Tuesday if I am lucky.

Bluegreen143

Wow that’s loads! Red doesn’t eat fruit or raw veg (eats cooked fine but gets minor mouth allergies with a lot of raw fruit which although not harmful is uncomfortable and puts him off eating it). Bambi is only 1 and not a huge fruit eater. I can often share a piece of fruit with her rather than her have her own. So it’s really Monkey who eats a lot of fruit in our house as he would eat it constantly really... but with him not having lunch at home during the week, and being out for afternoon snack two days as well, he has limited opportunity. They do get lots of fruit at nursery. I’ll switch to the bigger fruit box in the holidays I think as we go through a lot more then.

Baileys_Babe

We all eat fruit, but ds has been known as a fruit bat since he was a toddler and now he is 15 years old & taller than me he eats a phenomenal amount.

Bluegreen143

Spent £32 in Lidl today. £16.99 was a jacket for myself - wind/waterproof etc so thought it was a decent bargain. My current coat is warm but is a bit of a squeeze to get zipped up as I’m a stone over my usual weight 🤦‍♀️ and it hasn’t got a hood either. Other £15 was on food - mainly fruit and milk, plus sugar and flour.

Kept Monkey off nursery today as didn’t have the car (Red needed it as wanted to use his day off to get my mum’s garden build done) and couldn’t face having to put Bambi in the pushchair for two hours to walk - she is crying every time and it’s so draining so I’ve given up walking to nursery now. Instead I drive about 2/3 of the way and walk the last bit which is short enough she can manage it on foot herself as she does enjoy walking. It’s just so slow! Such an awkward phase when they like to walk but can’t yet walk far/fast.

Did take a walk to Lidl with both kids and was really impressed by them. Bambi walked most of the way there (it’s about 3/4 of a mile) and didn’t complain too much when in the pushchair coming back. Monkey was really helpful. I’m doing a lot at the moment to build his sense of responsibility and so I made a big deal of him helping me - he pushed the basket for me as I had the pushchair, helped choose the fruit and load the pushchair at the end. I’ve started giving him pocket money this week so he was very sweet walking round Lidl pointing to things and saying he was going to save up for them 😆

Red ordered chicken feed so need to send him the cash for that and then update YNAB with today’s spends.

Bluegreen143

No spends to report today. 

Been on a decluttering mission the last couple of days 🙂 like to get the place cleared out before we decorate for Christmas. Filled two bin bags for the charity shop from Bambi’s cupboard - mainly outgrown kids’ clothes but also some toys. Got Monkey to help me declutter which worked surprisingly well (in the past I’ve found him a bit of a liability as he clings onto every single thing you find, passionately declaring it to be “his favourite” 😆). He was quite quick to offer up various toys of his sister’s 😂 but was generally keen to contribute some things to the bag “for other children to get to play with now we are done with them.” Honestly, I find that there’s an inverse relationship between toy quantity and amount of independent play that happens. Also, the other week Monkey spent a whole week playing with a bit of wood he found that he asked Red to put a hole in so he could add a string to it (apparently it was a train) so they reeeeeally don’t need lots of toys in my opinion. 

I didn’t just pick on the kids’ stuff but also filled a bin bag with shredded up paperwork too. Next on the list is the bathroom as the cupboard is horrendous. Have also listed a gro travel blind for sale so hoping that goes for £8-10.

joedenise

Good for Monkey, helping you like that.  

I found my kids loved a cardboard box, saucepans, saucepan lids and wooden spoons!  Would keep them playing nicely (although not quietly, LOL!) for hours.

I agree they don't need loads of toys, mine never did as we couldn't afford a lot.  Most of their toys were bought by family for birthdays and Christmas but there was a good clear out every year for the charity shop.

Baileys_Babe

I'm another who agrees with the statement less is more when it comes to children's toys. It is also easier to keep the place tidy.