Beating Lifestyle Inflation and Staying Mortgage Free!

earthgirl2

Some small wins today!
I enjoyed a lovely walk on the beach to deliver a birthday present from store.
Collected seaweed on the way back for my veg patch.
Clean out hen hut and boosted the straw with an underlayer of dry leaves
used up some easter egg from last year to make cookies for kids packed lunch
used up free apples for apple muffins
made bottom of the fridge soup and carrot and coriander soup for next weeks lunches

All of these will same me pennies, but I just feel like myself when I am frugal!

Stuck at a club waiting on eldest, so I'm learning a few things about veg patch gardening.

apple_muncher

You have Easter eggs still..??? They're already in the gf section of sainz for this year!!!

Karmacat

The thing that my eye focussed on was the seaweed for your veg patch.  I *dream* of being able to do that, it sounds so wonderful!

EssexHebridean

They use seaweed for fertiliser in a big way up in the Western Isles EG - this time of year you often see the tractors down on the beaches collecting the big mounds of kelp ready to take for storage and rotting down! 

Loving that comment about feeling like yourself when you're being frugal too - isn't it funny how much, over the years, this stuff just becomes part of who we identify as! 

themadvix

The being frugal feeling like yourself resonated with me too - it's the satisfaction it brings and how it makes you feel on top of things, I think.

earthgirl2

Yes it's the satisfaction of not wasting things, including money.
I suppose I look at the Western Isles.. the farmers here also use seaweed as fertiliser.
Today's wins -
Got a huge piece of driftwood. Possibly using for garden project or if not, logs.
Free lunch as visited MIL
Visited friend and took some of the apple muffins, was nice to catch up

DS2 turned up with 3 friends after school for tea. We were going to have fish curry but it's not very kid friendly as dinners go. Last week when this happened, I had to buy expensive pizzas at the c00p, but this week I was ready with 72 chicken nuggets and a bag of fries - saved me about £8. I don't mind him bringing his friends home once a week.

savingholmes

Just caught up on your diary. Love the driftwood and seaweed collection as exercise, wood burning and the latter for fertiliser.

earthgirl2

So a quick update and ask for help too!

Pretty frugal weekend, no takeaways etc I cooked everything from scratch. Weekly shop was £69.
I could have been a bit more organised and completed some of the kids reading homework over the weekend (forgot) and I could have done a bit more prep on my garden project.

Also, took kids clothes and shoes to recycle 4 cash - paid a pittance - 30p per kilo which I think is wrong. If I had sold 1 item on ebay I could have made this and given the rest to charity.

Spent £25 incl delivery on 72 perennial plug plants to be delivered in March. I am hoping I can get the garden looking better, front of the house and the garage and driveway at the back too.

Need to:
Work out how high the plugs will grow as adult plants and plan so the taller ones are at the back!
Source free stones/ driftwood for rockery area
Improve the soil and get rid of stones
Organise plant pots and source free ones/ recycle (?)
Get the 'green house' cold frame thing repaired and plant pots ready for planting on plugs
Check on compost 
Source free topsoil in the wooded area of our property?

HELP!
I wondered if anyone can help me. DS1 was passing out, still awaiting tests etc but in the meantime, I'm trying to make him eat and drink more.

I give them in0cent smoothies for packed lunch £3.50 for 4, 1 of his 5 a day and gets him drinking. He loves them. Try to swap to a cheaper one - he doesn't like l1dl one as much and it appears to be a lot of fruit juice. £1.50 for 4.

Anyone have either
- good alternative to in0cent strawberry one?
- idea on how I could send in my own HM one (but would have to be dispoable or recycleable packaging and he has to eat outside and can't go back in with a water bottle)
- same for water - any little disposable bottles - that could be recycled?

earthgirl2

Another thing I am researching at the moment, just a few ideas.

DS1 is applying to secondary schools. He might not be allocated a good one. I work at them all. He might be allocated a really bad one!
In the long term future, when the kids are settled blah, blah, OH and I thought we might overwinter abroad.

I am researching if it would be possible for us to spend some of the year in a warmer climate right now. Looking at schools has made me think about this more seriously. If DS1 was allocated a bad school - or even a good one. Could we afford to spend the winter abroad somehow?

My thoughts are that my work should be able to consider me for a period of childcare related unpaid leave - other people have taken this and returned. I love my job and would like to do it in autumn and spring. OH can work from anywhere, and I can do online tutoring from anywhere.

Spanish tourist visas are 90 days. There are some expensive but good football and golf academies that the kids could go to and really boost their sports and spanish skills. It would cost about £5k - £10k per child to get them into these. It would disrupt their learning and friendships here, and probably their sports teams too. The learning I am much more flexible about having completed the home school stuff anyway and being a teacher. I have heard of schools - including their current school - letting kids go abroad for a few months and return to the school without reapplying- for immersive experiences. 

Renting an appartment with pool and sports facilities is 600euros per month, renting a house with pool is 1300 euros per month.

We have paid off the mortgage and have quite a lot saved up, including savings for kids study. About £87k saved. I think I am a little bit mad to be considering this (OH thinks I have lost the plot)  but then I think we worked so hard for all those years, why not live a little and spend it on a (possibly) amazing experience, and if it's good we could try to do it again. I suppose it could also be a total nightmare, the homeschool, language and visa things could be difficult. 

OH points out that no one else would spend that sort of money just to get out of the rain!

“Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else.” -Dave Ramsey

themadvix

It sounds crazy, but good crazy!! If everything came together then why not go for it - I *love, love, love* that Dave Ramsey quote - thanks for sharing!