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

Sarahwithlove

Looks great use of the space.
Could you maybe ask the new childminder for references? 

Bluegreen143

@Sarahwithlove I just don’t feel comfortable if she’s not gone through the care commission inspection, I mean anyone can just get their friend to give them a reference, can’t they? I’ve discussed with Red and he isn’t at all comfortable with it either. It would be different if we could visit and do a few settling sessions like normal and get a feel for her but with the Covid restrictions it’s literally zoom chats then you are handing your child over to a stranger to take into their house you’ve never set foot in. And Bambi can’t really talk yet, or not enough to tell us if anything was wrong. If it was my old childminder, or one she had personally recommended, or I’d been recommended by a friend or even just an experienced childminder who had been registered for years and been through recent inspections I’d feel much better. It’s not just safety but developmental stuff etc and will she cope with a (very feisty) 2yo around while also homeschooling her own kids. 

I’ll see what happens. I’ve contacted the two closest private nurseries (one of which is literally en route to Monkey’s nursery) and will see if they come back with a space for her. It might just cost a wee bit more as you need to pay the full day for nursery rather than by the hour. Though the potential childminder charges £35 for 8-3.30 and extra for food, the nursery second closest is only £40 for the full day including food so maybe doesn’t make much difference overall. My old childminder who had worked in childcare for 30 years charged £36 a day (7.30-6) including breakfast, lunch and two snacks, that was three years ago so prices have obviously risen a good bit!

Bluegreen143

One thing I meant to say is I actually did visit both the private nurseries nearby before when Monkey was little before we chose a childminder so while that wasn’t recent I was happy at the time to go on the waiting list for both as they seemed great. So at least I am familiar with them! And know someone who used to use one of them and they loved it there.

We do have a council nursery in our estate literally 1 min walk away which caters for babies to preschool but I don’t think there’s any chance there, they only meet quarterly to allocate council spaces if I remember correctly and it’s rightly prioritised for vulnerable families. Plus I’ve already put in an application for her for a different council nursery (ie Monkey’s current one) when she turns three so don’t think both would be considered. Whatever happens I am really keen that she move to Monkey’s nursery at 3 as it’s a really excellent setting and I know they will 100% support me if I want to go through the school deferral process again. So wherever she goes this year would just be for a year.

Sarahwithlove

Does the childminder you know think she will have any spaces soon? If its just for a year then sounds like a nursery would be better in current circumstances as you've been to see it and they come recommended. I didn't realise you could be a childminder without an inspection that's a tad worrying. 

Bluegreen143

@Sarahwithlove I think they need to get inspected in the first few months so basically she has just registered three months ago. I’m assuming that inspections might be on hold with lockdown too and there be a backlog.

Meant to update on my goals. I’m focusing on just a handful of main ones rather than tracking the 21 from when I joined that thread as that was based on me not working. So at the moment I’m focused on:

losing 21lb - have lost 5lb total in the first four weeks so not amazing progress but not terrible (put on 3/4lb in week two but then continued to lose after so really it’s three weeks of actually losing weight. We have made a few tweaks for the whole family to be healthier - switched to wholewheat pasta which we all like, we don’t like brown rice as much so still mainly use white, I’ve only really been buying or making wholemeal bread though (I MUCH prefer wholemeal and the kids like it too, Red prefers white but has been overruled for now!). And we’ve been eating tons of salad - mixed salad as a starter or side to most dinners (even if we are serving cooked veg too) - I keep tubs of chopped/grated veg in the fridge to make it easier at dinner time. I’ve stopped snacking in the evenings and am sticking to a healthy snack in the afternoon rather than cake/biscuits. Because we’ve been baking less we’ve done more savoury snacks for the kids (cheese, hummus, ham etc with lots of fruit and veg) rather than baking muffins etc which I think is doing them good in broadening their tastes.

Getting more sleep - not perfect as I’ve been forgetting to track but more often than not I’m going to bed by 11 now which is an improvement. Will need to shift it earlier still once I have the nursery run again as I’ll have to be home by 8.30am for work and I prefer to shower and wash my hair in the morning, not at night plus need to get everybody ready and fed.

Save a £1,000 initial emergency fund - ended this month with £170 in there so it’s a start! Hoping I will get some pay this month and can start seriously boosting this.

Reduce phone use to under 90 minutes a day (not including actual calls or Zoom calls or using Google maps when driving). Starting to do slightly better since activating the screen time restrictions and monitoring the screen use but not hitting the target yet. 

Learn Gaelic - I’m attending my weekly classes (on zoom) and usually doing a couple of duolingo sessions a week but I’d like to also do at least one proper revision session in between classes plus Duolingo daily (it takes 5-10 mins). I do some Gaelic songs or vocab with the kids a few days a week and Monkey is getting good at his numbers 0-10 and Bambi says goodnight in both English and Gaelic each night which is cute.

missymoo81

Really loving your goals, I’m going to take inspiration and relook at mine.

Bluegreen143

Ah thanks @missymoo81!

Had a busy cooking day today. 

- Made brisket pot roast for dinner, yum. 

- Also made home made ice cream for the first time using the ice cream maker attachment for my kitchen aid that I got for Christmas. So excited for having it for dessert tomorrow as I snuck a taste already and it’s seriously delicious. 

- Got meringues in the oven with the leftover egg whites but I’ve never successfully made these before so will reserve judgment til they are done 😂
- finally, made two loaves of bread. Was astonished by the amazing rise and had a sneaking suspicion I’d left out the salt. But no, I could remember weighing it in. Only on tasting a slice did I realise I’d weighed in caster sugar which I stupidly keep in the same kind of jar (not even labelled, but the salt one is) and same shelf as the salt - first time I’ve actually mixed them up though! From experience, as I’ve forgotten the salt before, the kids don’t mind at all. Red doesn’t actually hugely mind either when using it for soup. I think it’s verging on inedible but I’ve found sprinkling a tiny bit of salt on the butter before eating helps. I’m more annoyed given I thought I’d be organised and make a second loaf for the freezer 😂

Spendless

Ooops - would it be any good turning into bread and butter pudding instead?

Bluegreen143

Have signed Bambi up to the expensive nursery so need to redo the budget a bit 😬 it was either that or wait and see if places came up in other nurseries or childminders and we both decided we would rather just book her in and have it sorted. Even with the tax free childcare it will be over £500 a month, but only for 10 months or so as she will start at the council-run nursery school after that with 30 free hours a week.

Sarahwithlove

Better to pay more for a short time and be happy with what care she gets. Otherwise you'll be worrying all day whilst working.