Beating Lifestyle Inflation and Staying Mortgage Free!

themadvix

And, it’s not just rain, it’s a Scottish winter - think of all the bonus vitamin D you’d be getting!

Karmacat

earthgirl2 said:

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.
Loving this - I do think perennials are really underrated in terms of growing food for humans and pollinators.

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?
More environmental loveliness!

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?

No idea on the bottles, sorry, that's not something I've ever wanted, and a quick google has shown me various sizes of stainless steel bottle for re-use, not recycling.

HM smoothies, though - I stayed with a friend in Margate about 4 years ago who eats **astonishingly** well - she used HM smoothies, for sure, and for thickness she used bananas.  What about overnight soaking of finely milled oats?  Coconut cream?  I have some powdered pea protein to experiment with, but I couldn't tell you if it's a good thickener or not   

HTH

beanielou

Trays of water from cash & carry.
Bottles are recyclycled

Bargainhunter30

We make homemade smoothies from frozen lidl fruit (usually strawberries), chopped bananas, honey and either milk with yoghurt or juice to make more of a slushy. Kids love them.

Love the idea of taking the kids abroad and I often dream about this. OH thinks I'm  crazy too. Not sure my DS would be up for it either, he hates change! I thought about airbnb for the house whilst away which would pay for a very decent trip, but not sure how relaxed I'd be with people staying in my house.

savingholmes

Sounds an exciting thought - but brave doing it with kids. Well done on the savings and being mortgage free. As you say it gives you options.

earthgirl2

Thanks for the advice. I do make smoothies regularly for the kids, and they like them just as much as the in0cent ones, but I just can't get them into school because of the 'throw away the packaging' rule. They are probably not even recycled I'm not really happy with this, but with DS1 feeling unwell, passing out and a possibility it is linked to diet/hydration I feel I have to send in something to drink that I know he likes.
I will do some more googling and beanie's idea of cash and carry might be the best bet. 

As for living in another country next winter, it's still on the cards at the moment, however I forgot about our wonderful rescue cat. Also as time goes by, we might get more tied here, with ageing parents and maybe a girlfriend or something (for the boys, not OH!) so if we are doing it, I'm all for doing it with kids in the next few years, as you just never know. I could airbnb the house or similar if the person fed the cat, and my neighbour would also help.

I was walking on the beach yesterday though and thinking to myself, I do love it here. Although it's not warm and I'm not immersed in mediteranian culture and there are only pools of muddy water in my garden, it is still beautiful and I am happy and grateful.

The kids (11 and 9 now) are keen to try living in another country. It is definitely an option

apple_muncher

I'm appalled that the school don't allow used packaging back in the building and it has to be binned. So does a child have to bring the day's supply of water in with them in the morning?!?! What is there stance on being a green school? Or on recycling?

earthgirl2

I know I've complained. Water bottles are ok for during the lessons, but for lunch, for P7s they have to eat outside as there isn't enough room in the hall for them if on packed lunch. So they run out and eat in a covered lunch area outside, but are not allowed back inside the building so they just have to bin everything that is left. 

I might try to ask again about changing this - it's been a covid rule.

EssexHebridean

That's a disgraceful rule for the school to have - and also why on earth is it just one year groups (I assume?) that are being made to eat outside - surely it should be switched around so all the kids with packed lunches take a turn! In cold weather it must be a sure fire way of ensuring that the poor kids gobble down their lunches at breakneck speed so they can either go indoors or at least run about to keep warm! 

An idea - could you use small bottles of water at home, then use THOSE to put HM smoothies into for him to take at lunchtimes so you could ensure that what he's taking has slow energy release etc? Smoothies are fab but some of them are shockingly bad for causing blood sugar spikes - not what he needs if he's been passing out anyway! 

You might point out to the school that if they'd bothered to look, the link between covid transmission and packaging etc was proven to be extremely weak a LONG time ago! 

themadvix

I figured you wouldn't be happy with the school's policy Earthie... it horrifies me too, but it's not the first I've heard of it. I can't think of any better suggestions than anyone else has come up with though.

I hope you didn't think I meant with the vit D comment that you'd want to escape Scotland - I love Scotland! But I can imagine that the dark days and long nights take their toll in the winter and a bit of Spanish sunshine would be amazing!