Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

Bluegreen143

Had a MARVELLOUS time at my friend’s wedding on Thursday. Spent a bomb 😂 we had a complicated taxi situation - I had to get a taxi to the ceremony alone (tiny registry office ceremony so no room for partners, it was an honour to be one of the 16 guests squeezed in the room!), DH had to get a taxi to the reception, we had to pay for a taxi for MIL to come babysit (and she does not live close) then we got a taxi home and got him to take MIL back home too. 

All in, about £65 in taxis(!!!). Unavoidable, however. For us, this was the most highly anticipated social event of the year and neither of us wanted to drive. The main cost was the MIL taxis and we had such tight turnaround after work to go to the wedding we could never have picked her up. 

I then spent £30 on a bottle of Prosecco (shared with friends). We spilt the rest of the drinks rather than using the joint account so my half was £20 for that. 

It was amazing though, because the bride is one of my best friends all my other best friends were there too, and also two friends I used to live with at university who I’ve not seen for about four years as they live in a different city. 

I did also have to spend £8.50 in greggs the next day as a hangover cure 😂😂😂

However in other ways the wedding was quite frugal, it was local to us so no hotel needed, and the couple requested no gifts. 

In a better example of frugality we are going camping this weekend 😇 wish us luck and dry weather - I’m concerned that if it’s not fun the kids and/or us won’t want to go again. But if we get into camping it will allow us to get away so much more! 

Baileys_Babe

The sounds like it was a lovely event.

I wish you a wonderful weekend camping ⛺ 

I enjoy camping and have many happy memories, some of which are from occasions when the weather was truly awful. I hope the weather is kind for your trip.

Bluegreen143

Other news - I did a big pantry clear out/organisation and the freezer is next. So much freezer burned bits and bobs in there.

I’m accepting that at this busy stage of life, buying loads of exciting exotic ingredients just gets wasted as we then don’t use them. I want to move to a capsule pantry system, where I keep in stuff we actually buy, and stick to the meat/veg we actually eat, and thus can always find what we need and will actually eat what we have. 

So I’ve mode two lists. My first is the Storecupboard list (things like breakfast cereal and spices) and second is the Staples list of what to buy each week to build meals around, the idea is from quite a small amount of staples you can make a wide variety of meals. So nothing should get wasted as all ingredients can be used in different ways. 

Our staples are things like meat (chicken breast, mince, sausages and bacon), frozen veg (peas, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower), dairy (milk, yoghurt, butter and cheddar), pasta, potatoes, risotto & basmati rice, and tinned beans/pulses etc. But the key is to limit it to what you actually eat. 

So for example I know we will always use chickpeas, black beans and cannelini beans, but that pinto or black eyed beans just sit in my cupboard for years. 

Not sure I’ve explained it that well but basically it’s like how with a capsule wardrobe you limit your options but can mix and match loads of combinations! 

Baileys_Babe

That makes sense to me and you have explained it well.

Just don't end up in a food rut like we did, it felt like it took years to recover.

I don't know about your house but we find some meals are seasonal, fish cakes, for example, are only really eaten here May - September.

Bluegreen143

@Baileys_Babe good point!

We've been eating soup on Mondays for about two years but I think I’m ready to take a break for the summer 😂 it was just a habit we got into as Monday dinner needs to be quick because of beavers, and we can make the soup in advance. And the kids eat soup so it gets lots of veg into them 😅😅

KajiKita

I like this idea of a capsule meals system. I will give it some thought myself. I think I will also look at summer / winter versions and aiming to try two new recipes per month. 

Glad you had such a wonderful time at the wedding and I think the weather tomorrow is good so hopefully that will encourage more camping 😊

KK

Bluegreen143

Just did my meal plan & Tesco order (it’s being delivered on Monday PM when we are back from camping). 

MEALS

M - minestrone soup
T - spaghetti bolognaise
W - chicken risotto
Th - chicken fajitas
F - undecided*

Sa - goats cheese pasta
Su - lasagne or pasta bake

* we have two sets of friends coming to stay so it’s undecided if we’ll get a takeaway or do a BBQ. Takeaway probably easier as there are picky kids and vegetarian/vegan diets to consider. We do a top up shop on Fridays so if we decide to do a BBQ I’ll get stuff then. 

SHOPPING - GUIDE PRICE £71.27

nice white bakery boule
instant coffee
asparagus
goats cheese
tesco 6pk crisps x2
tesco cola x6
avocado 2pk
sweet chilli sauce
value brand grana padano
wholemeal & white sliced loaves
whole milk 4pt x2
wraps
coriander
chicken breast 1kg
beef mince 750g
bacon rashers x2
passata
tomato puree 
tinned green lentils 
chestnut mushrooms
value brand medium cheddar
value brand kids’ fromage frais 
cherry tomatoes
peppers 3pk
little gem lettuce
pears
apples
bananas
blueberries
celery
carrots
ground cumin
madras curry powder
lime juice
chocolate chips x2
granulated sugar
toilet roll 6pk
kids’ mini hair bobbles

Bluegreen143

So… camping 😳🤣

I really love a phrase I learned from a parenting expert “Do It With the Drama”. If you want family dinners but your kids whine and don’t eat your food - do them anyway, Do It With the Drama. If you want to go on family hill walks but your kids complain of sore legs - Do It With the Drama. If you want to cut your kids’ screen time but they are angry about it - Do It With the Drama. 

Basically it’s about giving parents the permission to be be leaders in their family, to decide on the family culture and values, and a recognition that if you wait til conditions are perfect and there is no drama - your thing will never happen. 

What does this have to do with camping? Well the following examples of drama occurred this weekend: 

1. My sister chose the campsite and I didn’t realise it was almost wild camping in the most beautiful, peaceful wood (you couldn’t see any other tents as they space the pitches out in the wood), but with no real facilities (except a composting toilet a long way up a muddy track) and that it had a big long trek (with wheelbarrows laden with our stuff) from the cars to the actual camping pitches. Beautiful but daunting for a first trip! 

2. Torrential rain immediately as we arrived and put up the tent, followed by on/off rain all evening 🙈

3. We chose the camping pitch next to the chicken run (because it was closest to the car park). Which lead to a wonderful opportunity as the landowner asked the kids to help him round up the baby chicks in the evening. HOWEVER we did not factor in the roosters crowing early in the morning 😂

4. We tried to cheap out and borrowed what turned out to be old and not great camping equipment from Red’s brother - think leaky tent, thin sleeping bags, shopping bags instead of proper dry bags for our clothes, no extra tarp for shelter etc. My husband and I also don’t own proper outdoors clothes and I (extremely foolishly) only had one jacket and one pair of trainers with me so got soaked straight away and had to stay wet the rest of the time 😂 we were VERY envious of my sister and BIL who had all the right gear, spare jackets/shoes and a non leaking tent and thus were fairly comfortable despite the downpour. Many lessons learned!

5. My poor wee Monkey woke up with a vomiting bug at 5am Sunday morning(!!!)

So our first camping trip was cut short as we had to take him home, he continued to be sick all day yesterday 😟 (he seems to have bounced back today). 

But we have realised that despite all these setbacks we still found the whole thing somewhat enjoyable and are crazy/optimistic enough to want to try again?! (Once we invest in our own gear of course!). We have also agreed we will wait to go when the weather looks alright, at least until we are more used to it…

So from a parenting perspective I feel really happy we Did It With the Drama and will do so again because it’s important to me that we embrace the outdoors as a family. 

From an MSE perspective, investing in better gear will cost but I do think getting into camping will save us money in the long run. 

I’ve therefore set up a new savings pot for Outdoor/Camping Gear and reallocated what’s left in the Wood Burning Stove pot to it (I’d rather get the camping gear in time to go again this summer and don’t mind putting the stove purchase off). 

It’ll be a couple of months til we have enough for a tent & sleeping bags, plus we need a cooler and camping stove and other bits etc - for obvious reasons, we are buying the actual tent and sleeping bags new this time!

But I’m happy to buy other stuff second hand. I’ve bid on preloved waterproof trousers and 3 in 1 jacket for myself on eBay already and found a jacket which I think will suit Red, I’ll run it by him before bidding. 

fionaandphil

Hi @Bluegreen143 glad you had a good time camping. If you are ordering new gear G0Outdoors have a membership which costs £5 but offers quite big discounts. Your son is also in beavers if I remember correctly and they also offer extra discounts for that https://www.scouts.org.uk/supporters/go-outdoors/
 If you ask at your beaver group some of the kids moving up may be selling things on second hand. Especially useful as they grow so quickly at that age and also they can use them as they go to camp with their group.

angela110660

Well done on the camping. I have never ever been although all my family have via the Guiding and Scouting movements in the past and my OH also. VW caravanette holiday when I was a kid was the nearest I got to camping!
Once you have some equipment of your own might be worth camping in your garden to get used to it and then the loo is not far away either. My kids loved garden camping especially if it got a bit chilly they would just come back indoors but felt like they had been really daring out there.