It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

C_J

I keep a spreadsheet for my grocery shopping, updated with the prices of the items I have bought (from Aldi, mostly) and a note of any price changes. Interestingly enough, after the slew of increases last month the cost of the items I buy regularly has remained stable for the past three weeks.

KxMx

My Mum always tells me I taught myself to read, no matter how much I protest against that, she sticks to her story! 

I do remember I was an advanced reader at school, red books very soon and as a prolific reader I recall my teacher sighing when I returned yet another book quickly, as she searched through the box for something I hadn't yet read. 

I'm still a prolific reader at 35!

Brambling

maryb said:

I was interested to see today that Marks and Sparks of all places was the cheapest for butter.  £1.70 instead of £1.75 in Lidl and they had 500g blocks for £3.60.  And their sliced bread is always the cheapest of any of the supermarkets.  I wouldn’t go out of my way for it but I cut through Marks’s food hall to get from the High St to the bus stop

Unfortunately butter at our local M&S was £1.90 this lunchtime it doesn't sell the bigger blocks. 

dreaming

KxMx said:

My Mum always tells me I taught myself to read, no matter how much I protest against that, she sticks to her story! 

I do remember I was an advanced reader at school, red books very soon and as a prolific reader I recall my teacher sighing when I returned yet another book quickly, as she searched through the box for something I hadn't yet read. 

I'm still a prolific reader at 35!

I believe my son taught himself to read, or at least I taught him without realising. He was 2 when I became pregnant with his sister and when I was about 4 months along I was told I should rest more as there were some minor health concerns. Quite hard to do with a very inquisitive toddler who had already given up daytime naps, so after lunch each day we would sit and I would read to him, starting with the Ladybird books but also some books aimed at slightly older children. He absolutely loved that time together, as did I, and would often be found sitting with books and repeating the stories. The after DD was born the health visitor was writing something down and he stood next to her and read out some of the words to both her and my amazement. She started to write some more words (obviously fairly simple ones) and it was clear he he could easily recognise them - he was just coming up to his 3rd birthday by then. By the time he started school when he was just 4 (his birthday being the end of July meant he was one of the younger ones) he was reading a couple of years above his age level, much to the disgust of his reception teacher, but luckily the next teacher actively encouraged him and he and I shared a love of reading until his untimely death last year at the age of 41. I still sometimes read a book and think "Oh, I must pass this on the DS". Funnily DD wasn't so interested in books being a much more sporty child and unable to sit still for long, although she could read quite proficiently from infant school onwards. In the last few years however she has become a book-aholic and reads a far more varied and more intellectual range  than I do

2childmum2

My son appeared to take ages to learn to read - he had lots of reading skills (e.g. taught himself all the basic phonics at the age of 3 by going through a Letterland book and working them out) but was still not really reading by year 1, much to the surprise of his teachers.  I had always read to him from him being a baby, and had been saying how nice it would be for him to be able to read for himself.  Then one day I added 'but I will still read to you too' and almost immediately he started reading for himself, and progressed really quickly.  He must have thought (probably subconsciously) that once he could read I would stop reading to him.  I kept reading to him until his early teens - books which were too difficult for him.  The last books I read to him were philosophy books which he loved to discuss with me.

Bluegreen143

My plan is to read to my kids til they make me stop 😅 it’s one of my favourite things to do with them.

littlemoney

Problems deleteing. Sorry

leftatthetrafficlights

My reading age was off the charts by the time I was 5 - I was reading newspapers at the age of 2 1/2 and 'kids/teenagers' books before I started school at 4 - I've been a prolific reader my entire life yet both my kids would rather flay themselves alive than pick up a book despite being read to and surrounded by books their entire childhoods!! 🤦‍♀️ Thankfully my grandbaby loves books - well, loves being read to - not really bothered about making any effort himself but there's still hope! 😂 I must admit that my desire for reading was probably a means of escape - despite my ability for it probably a genetic thing - but I'm grateful for it even 50+ years on.... I still research everything and the best thing I was ever taught was 'read everything but question everything you read' definitely good advice in this day and age! 

Anyway, back on point - finances are definitely at the forefront of my mind at the moment- I've recently resigned from a well paid job and need to reel in my spending/be more conscious of what I spend so am making savings where possible by using our storecupboard stuff and garden produce- also reducing leccy usage by hanging out washing/ not using td, about to install more energy efficient oil fired boiler and trying to reduce costs all around. I'm not planning on working again for a minimum of 12 months so it's an interesting year ahead!! I'm actually looking forward to the challenge of living on the reduced income - I think that I've become complacent about our finances in recent months and it's good for me to start to get a reality check again on the value of the money/things we have - I've been in absolute poverty previously so I'm not naive but sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the real value of things when you have more than you need so a period of of being close to the edge will hopefully inspire me to doing better! 

euronorris

DD is doing very well with her reading, now a couple years above the expected ability of her age range (she's 6 with a July birthday), but she didn't start school like that. Despite our best efforts during lockdowns lead to tears and frustration all round, but her reception year teachers were amazing in teaching her the basics. And she just flew from there.

I've looked it up though, and it's completely normal for some children to take longer to grasp reading, and then catch up with their peers (and sometimes overtake them) when they are older. Apparently this is more common with boys, and I wonder if they are more likely to take more interest in playing at a young age, than reading. I don't know. I just know that the range of normal at this age is really quite vast.

Siebrie

My dd (11) was at a good level for her age group/year, according to her report card. Which is weird, because she was ahead last year, and is a very good reader. She told me that on her test she was a bit nervous and stammered, so she lost points. We agreed to disregard the test and just go to the library and get some nice books