Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

Bluegreen143

This week is pretty much going to plan. Had a lovely day yesterday - got to go to Monkey’s school assembly, his class did a little play which they’ve all been working hard on learning their songs and lines 🥰

Then we had two of my friends stay over with their children (four extra children in total, and two extra adults). Picture a big chaotic play date, pizza party and adult drinks once we (eventually) got all the children in bed. Lots of fun had, but my friends and I ended up staying up really late because it was so late before we got all the kids down (mine were fine but the youngest guest usually sleeps with her mum so was quite resistant to the sleepover on an airbed in the kids’ room 😂 then of course we got woken fairly early by excited children. So I am TIRED now. 

Cheap way to socialise though, I overspent on groceries but have loads left tbh. We did HM pizza, air fryer chips and some fruit/raw veg and crisps and my friends brought cake and ice creams. I had wine & prosecco in, and my friend brought whisky and vodka, so again no big spends there. 

Just waiting on Monkey to finish karate then Red is taking the kids to my mum’s for a sleepover. It’s a 2hr round trip nearly and I will be using that time to nap 😂😂😂

Baileys_Babe

Sounds like you had a fabulous time socialising. Possibly something you can repeat a couple of times a year.

Bluegreen143

@Baileys_Babe maybe! Maybe not too often as we are probably all a bad influence on each other 😂 I see these friends loads anyway, they actually don’t live too far away and their kids either go to Monkey’s school already or will next year. 

It’s a good reminder though - for someone like me, who is quite social, it really doesn’t need to be a budget buster. Kids played with water balloons, my kids’ toys and watched a movie. Food was cheap and cheerful, but nice. We took advantage of our pool table and dartboard once the kids were in bed, and my DH got out a guitar so we could all sing along (the other two and Red are musical, I am not 😂). One friend taught us all a card game. All such cheap, simple pleasures compared to going out for dinner or cocktails. 

We do have either one or two of my friends coming over tonight too, but just to watch Eurovision - I may go and replenish the wine as we drank most of it last night 🙈 (my friends will bring drinks and may not want any wine but I feel not having ANYTHING to offer looks a bit poor 😂) but otherwise I’ll just put out crisps and olives, we have loads left from last night. 

Bluegreen143

Weekly financial round-up

Well, it turns out this week was almost as spendy as last week. Not quite, but more than I’d meant. All the spends were out of pots I’d been saving in, it’s not like I’ve gotten into debt or raided the emergency fund or anything… but it’s still feels like May is an unexpectedly expensive month for some reason. 

TOTAL: £642.32

Groceries £139.86
Really high, probably extra because of hosting but given we did quite cheap food I’m not sure how we spent so much! Still have quite a bit of food in the fridge though, so hoping for a cheap week next week. 

Kids’ clothes SF £108
Got all remaining summer clothes needed - mainly shoes (new trainers and sandals), sun hats and indulged in a cute pair of sunglasses for each child. 

Home & garden SF £101.20
From our sinking fund (which is now empty again 😆) - mainly laundry hampers and storage boxes. More on this below. 

Camping SF £91.73
Waterproofs for me from eBay, a cooler & ice packs, and fishing gear. Slowly building up our stock of camping & outdoor gear. 

New tyre £85
Boring but necessary due to a puncture. Paid from emergency fund as the car fund had nothing in it. 

Me £30.86
Bottle of Prosecco & fancy soft drinks, kindle book 

Petrol & parking £29.56

Family fun £26
Red took Monkey fishing at a fishery (more below). 

Birthdays £20.25

Household items £9.86
Bin bags etc 

What we’ve been up to this week

1. First part of the week mainly involved being ill 😅

2. Lots of socialising - our big play date/sleepover/drinks with the mums on Friday, plus having my uni friends over for Eurovision on Saturday. Our kids also had a sleepover with nana & papa on Saturday. 

3. Red took Monkey fishing to a fishery today! Monkey has been obsessed with fishing for about two years but we’ve never caught a fish yet (fishing at a loch where we go on holiday). Bless him, he was so proud of catching two trout at the fishery, both quite big, but one was a whopper! 

They swung by my sister’s house on the way home and gave her the smaller fish (would rather it got eaten fresh plus she’s a total foodie and was delighted). She then gutted our fish for us in exchange which was appreciated 😅

We had a gorgeous dinner of fresh pan fried trout with HM chips and peas. I didn’t keep the spine & head etc for making stock because we wouldn’t use it so not very ms but a brilliant experience for Monkey and lovely meal for us all. 

4. One job that’s been on my list for AGES is sorting out the built-in Cupboard of Doom in the kids’ shared bedroom. Bought a bunch of plastic storage tubs today and blitzed it all, also rotating out their winter clothes into their summer wardrobe and giving the playroom
a really good tidy up too. Also bought some nice wicker baskets for soft toy storage and a couple of laundry hampers too. Really pleased with how good it all looks now 🙌🏼

Bluegreen143

Current savings funds balances:

Home repairs £50
Car repairs £0
Kids £583.44
Home & garden £0
Birthdays etc £130
Christmas £250
Holidays £636.78
Camping etc £58.25
Wood burning stove £0

Emergency fund £4,382.84
Help to save accounts £3,000

missymoo81

Sounds like you’ve had some really good times lately. Although your food budget was high think how much you would have spent if you’d have gone out! 

Bluegreen143

Thanks @missymoo81, you’re so right that it’s better to add a bit to the grocery budget rather than add a lot to the eating out budget!

Was away for work overnight on Monday, which is pretty rare. Felt smug as I packed a ham sandwich, apple, cereal bar and empty water bottle (for refilling) for the airport. Then I spent £16 on a book in WH Smith 🙈 buying books in airports or before long train journeys is a very long standing hardwired habit of mine. It’s not very MSE, as the book would have cheaper elsewhere. Also, there was no excuse as I brought a book with me anyway 🙈 

The book was called Ultra Processed People and it was a very good and thought provoking read though in my defence. All about how ultra processed food affects our health (and the environment). Really made me think about where we could cut back because when you start to read some of the lists of additives in ultra processed food items it really puts you off!

Relatedly, I made my own “fruit corner” yoghurts last night which are soooo tasty - made a blueberry compote (could obviously be any fruit but I had a punnet of blueberries in) thickened with a little cornflour and divided it between jars and tubs. Spoon over it Greek yoghurt sweetened with a little honey or maple syrup (I used the latter). I really like it, hoping the kids do too as I’d love to wean them off cheap nasty fromage frais… yes the HM compote and Greek yoghurt combo is more expensive but it’s definitely the more healthful option. There is sugar added but not to the extent of the bought yoghurts, and no additives. 

For breakfast I started with a banana before the school run then had porridge made with milk and brown sugar after. A big greek salad with feta & olives for lunch, dressed in lemon juice & olive oil. And had my compote yoghurt for a snack just there. So I’m feeling extremely angelic today 😂😇

Did have to buy cereal bars and apples at the wee Tesco this morning because I didn’t notice Monkey had left the house without his school bag 😒 luckily he gets school meals so it’s just a snack he takes in. So I just popped a cereal bar in one pocket and an apple in the other for him.

greenbee

Ultra Processed People is a good investment (even if it would have been cheaper elsewhere). It will save you a fortune, particularly if you get the kids reading ingredients in the supermarket and asking you what they are 😂

Bluegreen143

Haha, love it Greenbee. 

HM fruit corners were not a hit with the children, despite the fact they are delicious. Children are mad. Monkey ate 1/2 of his tbf, but Bambi declared hers was “yuck” 😂

I’m a big believer that they need to try things multiple times so I’ll make them again - next time I’ll do strawberry rather than blueberry compote, as they both prefer strawberry yoghurt so it might be less of a leap. 

While we’ve worked very hard and successfully on reducing fussy eating at dinner time, I’ll admit that snacks and lunches are much more likely to be familiar food. I think I need to introduce a little more variety here in general to keep pushing their food boundaries. 

We had a shop bought apple crumble cake for pudding last night, because a friend left it here last week and I didn’t want it to go to waste. I did follow the UPP book advice to read the label and think about what I was eating as I ate it, and can report that the cake was rather rubbish, far too sweet and after one small piece I had no desire for more. Eating it more mindfully, I was also aware that I felt just a tiny bit rubbish with a slight headache after eating it. Interesting. 

I’m having irrational mum guilt about not going to a numeracy session at the school (which is during my working hours) on Monday. I know it’s irrational, because the purpose of the session is to show you how to help your kids with maths at home, and I flatter myself that I’m already very engaged with the homework and their learning. I have books full of educational activities to do with your children and access to the internet to do stuff with them. Monkey also isn’t having any problems with maths, he’s very strong at it.

Obviously I can only take so much time out of work to attend such events, and it’s clearly more important to go to sports day, school plays etc where your child is actually present. And yet I feel guilty for not being available!!! Needless to say, Red has zero guilt about not attending, nor (despite being a very loving and engaged dad) does he appear to feel any guilt about never having been to a sports day, school play or parent’s evening 😂 

MSE-related to do list for today 

1. Do work expenses! (About £60)

2. Do mealplan & order Tesco shop 

3. Get washing done and hung outside 

4. Take donated toys to nursery and other donations to charity shop (doesn’t save money per se but it does make the house look nicer for free, thus reducing temptation to buy decor!)

Bluegreen143

In non-MS but very nice news I’ve booked a weekend away (staying away Fri & Sat nights) with my mum & sister in September 😁 we’re hoping to make it an annual tradition. This time, we’re going to a holiday cottage in Argyll, with a hot tub. 

Total accommodation cost is £117 each, but we only had to pay £67 today. Happily I had plenty in my “weekend away” pot I’ve started (funded by my own personal spends) 😎 as well as an annual weekend with my mum & sister, my best friends & I have been discussing having an annual weekend away too as we had such fun on the hen do last month. That wouldn’t be til next year now but I’ll definitely need to be putting something in this pot each month if I want to make both happen.

We’ve still got about 5 months to go before we go, so plenty of time to save up for food & anything we want to do.