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

missymoo81

Thanks BlueGreen! I will give those overnight oats a go tomorrow night ready for Monday! And I’m another that just couldn’t get their head around YNAB! I wish I’d persevered but I can’t really afford the subscription anyway.

Bluegreen143

Would definitely second @joedenise re online classes for anyone interested in YNAB. I think it’s brilliant 🙂 Though I’ve only just started using it again, I did use it for years before I had the kids and it worked really successfully for us. It kept us on budget for saving for our wedding, which we achieved with no debt. I found it too hard to keep up with in new baby fog and let my subscription go. I originally used YNAB 4 as well @joedenise then moved to the new one, I can’t remember why - think I got rid of the laptop - I haven’t got a working laptop at the moment and use my phone so the new YNAB is better for me anyway. I think it’s worth the subscription cost as it saves you a fortune IF you use it that is. I know some people find it a little time intensive to keep up with the transactions - I find I need that level of focus and if I’m not monitoring it at that level I just let everything go 😬

Bluegreen143

@missymoo81 if your kids like the overnight oats, it’s good to know that they keep a couple of days in the fridge. So you can make a double batch then that’s two day’s breakfasts sorted. When I do this, I will store them in separate tubs and put a different topping in each for variety.

Bluegreen143

Rainy morning here today! Had a lie in while Red got up with the kids. Then Monkey and I have started an apple braid ready to bake later. Got a sourdough loaf and bagels proving in the fridge too - they aren’t for us though, they are for Red’s best friend to say thanks as he kindly offered to give a bottle of whisky to Red after Red expressed admiration of his well stocked booze cupboard 😅

I was going to get a chicken out of the freezer for a roast today but forgot. Which is actually quite moneysaving as means I can save the chicken for next week & don’t need to buy much if any meat in our shop. Haven’t yet broke it to Red that we are having nut roast instead but I’ll make Yorkshire puds and cauliflower cheese to sweeten him up.

Kids have been playing with homemade playdough this morning which is another real money saver. I can post the recipe if anyone wants it. Not only is it dirt cheap (under 10p for the base mix to make three plain 300g balls) it’s so easy to jazz it up so it’s actually nicer than the bought stuff. Keeps for months too. I use gel colours which are lovely and bright, essential oils for smell and add bits for texture. Today we were adding glitter and oats to a batch of rose geranium scented playdough we’ve had for a few weeks just to change it up.

  

Hope everyone has a happy and frugal weekend 🙂

missymoo81

Oooh wow would love the ply dough recipe!

Bluegreen143

@missymoo81 no problem!

Homemade playdough base recipe

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 cups water 
Food colouring (ideally gel)

- mix the ingredients (I use my kitchen aid as it can be a bit lumpy mixing by hand, though they seem to cook out ok)

- what I often do is split it into three then mix in a different colour into each but it’s less faff just to make one colour lol

- cook in a pan stirring (obviously doing each colour separate). Use a metal spoon and scrape the pan as you stir. As it thickens it gets harder to stir then forms into a ball

- once cooked, take out and knead. Add a few drops of essential oil for scent, some glitter etc if desired.

- keep in a food bag or sealed tub. If it’s put away sealed each time and kept clean it keeps for ages. We’ve had ours going for about a month this time but I’ve kept it longer in the past.

thriftyish

Bluegreen143 said:

Last spend I think - £31 on a bulk flour order - 25kg white bread flour and a bunch of smaller bags of things like malt flour to try. But my mum is taking some of the flour so is sending me £8.50 for her share. This is the second bulk flour order I’ve done in lockdown so it’s worth it for us. I’m baking 3-5 loaves of sourdough a week at the minute then sometimes wraps, bagels, pittas or pizza dough as well. And that’s not to mention cakes, muffins and biscuits...

Hello, I've just read through your diary and wanted to say good luck! 
Oooh, Ive been considering a bulk flour order, did you find somewhere local? I need to ask around down here in Yorkshire as we use loads of flour and it's still hard to find (at a price I want to pay! )

Bluegreen143

@thriftyish hello and welcome! It’s actually not anywhere local- it’s Shipton Mills who deliver nationally so might be worth you checking out 🙂

MagicCat

I love the playdoh, such a nice idea to add bits to it!

Bluegreen143

Thought I’d pop on and share a couple of photos from yesterday. Here’s one of our two apple braids (so tasty) and our total potato harvest 😅 many of which are marble sized. BUT it was fun to grow them and dig them up with Monkey and they taste so much better than shop bought.

Happy frugalling all x