From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

LotsOfTea

Re: the whole SATS nonsense, my DS did them last year and I explained to him that the purpose of it all is to test the teachers, not the pupils. It's there solely to check that the school has imparted the knowledge the government thinks is important to the kiddos in the allotted timeframe. Since it only tests maths and English it's a blunt tool to say the least and not much of a reflection of either a child's abilities or the quality of the education they've received if you ask me. 

I believe that when it was introduced individual children's scores weren't given out as that wasn't the point but due to parent pressure you do now get sent your child's score (which is irrelevant as you'll surely know already by then if they're having any serious issues with either English or maths). Unfortunately some parents in DS's congratulated their children on 'good' scores and bought them gifts for the 'achievement'. 🤦‍♀️ Mind you, there's a always a few of that kind of parent wherever you are.

Thankfully the school itself was very good at not putting any pressure on the kids and although DS did ask what his score was, since it was a random number that meant nothing to him, I was able to tell him quite honestly 'you're doing fine love, but we knew that already' and he was quite happy with that.

Sunshine_girl2

My eldest DGS is doing SATS this week , he is taking a laissez-faire attitude to it . He also has a broken arm so thinks he shouldn't have to do them 😂.

Greying_Pilgrim

Goodness, LotsofTea - I hope when the time comes - and to a certain extent this would apply to any exams, I hope I would be able to write such a rounded, supportive but not pressuring post about LG  as you have submitted here.  I did always get the impression that SaTS were testing the school but not the pupil, hence why I got the impression that the class that was the 'gateway' into formal education was staffed by an idiot, who taught the kids nowt, so that they looked suitably unintelligent - and, miraculously, after 6 years at the school, the kids were achieving (relative) growth in all subject areas.......... 🙄 But I think with academies etc, the push has been put more on the children to show the school in a good light for comparator tables 🙄 Oh yes, I am quite, quite sure that there will be parents at school that purchase gifts - it happens here too ☹️

Sunshine_girl2 - I think your DGS is spot on, a cast should definitely be a get out clause!  Hope it's not too itchy in this hotter weather.  

So back from shopping and I've totted my figures up 😬  Milk has gone up again - now £1.65 for 4 pints... the pickle DH uses has gone up 6p and soft cheese has gone up 6p 😬  I did get a waste box in MrS (there weren't any in MrL), which is just about worth it (to our family).  There were 3 in total, and I have to say, they were all full of produce that had slightly gone over - to the extent that I knew something had gone off by the whiff in the car on the way home.  Investigation found 2 lone asparagus stalks, one of which had 'melted' - if you know the smell of rotten asparagus, you know what i mean 🤢

I did bulk buy 4 packs of green lentils in MrS.  They were on nectar price - not quite as cheap as during Ramadan, but 'cheaper'.  This put me into the bracket to receive 3x nectar points with today's shop.  Not a massive amount, but better than nowt.  The scores on the doors are;  £9 (bulk), £3.59 non-food and £41.55 food.  😬  Not quite where I wanted to be, but there we are.  I noticed that there weren't many YS'd things in MrL - and what there were, were only 20%.  Plus quite a few of the offers were the same as last week - which played in my favour to a certain extent, I picked up some more yeast - but couldn't partake of the porridge oats, as we have no room.  

Right, better amend my siggie figgie and crack on.  Despite shopping not seeming to take long today - it's already 11.30am!

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Lovely bright start with us.  

We went off for a pootle around yesterday.  Went to one of our favourite places.  We approached from a different route - which was great because we saw different things, but not so great as we had a taxi (who clearly knew where they wanted to go) right on our tail, all the way along a minor, rural road - which, unbeknownst to us is obvs the locals 'rat run' ☹️  However, we made an unscheduled stop to soak in a lovely view (and got rid of the taxi), and then went on to make several more 'scheduled' stops to look at things we normally sail past.  It was all going spiffingly, until LG managed (heaven knows how), to get bird poop (I suspect pigeon), all over themselves.... 🙄  Luckily, it was pretty much on skin, and not too much on clothing and only a little bit on the car seat (DH was not amoozed 🫤).  Thank heavens I stuff the picnic bag with kitchen roll - we used all of it, plus a small bottle of hand san ☹️

Having scrubbed kiddo clean, we then went on to our destination.  We had a coffee from the flask, and a HM bun, watching the world go by, and I did some knitting, taking in the sights and sounds - it was lovely.  We then walked into the town - for once (although this is actually the second time in two months 😱)  we had decided to have lunch out. There wasn't an extensive choice of eateries, and we did run up against LG saying "there's nothing I would like to eat" at a modern 'mediterranean bistro' 🙄 despite the fact that there were several things, in plain sight, that they like/would have eaten.  They expressed an interest in the eatery across the road - but that had no prices on the menu 🙄 We then walked on, further than I would have liked, but DH was insistent there was another place - it was actually a pub, but I had also forgotten about another cafe just by the pub, but looking at the menu (which was extensive, varied and rather pointed towards microwaved this, that and t'other) and realising that there wasn't actually anyone dining in the establishment, we wandered back.  We ended up at the first place we'd seen - a chippy with eat-in options.  It was was a kind of 'greasy spoon', with formica tables and plastic seats (anchored to the floor 😂), but was obviously family run, very clean and reasonably priced and the tea came in mugs 😁.  LG was happy with a plate of chips and a can of pop - which, given they eat like this so infrequently, didn't alert the 'nutrition police'.  DH and I both had full meals, with a mug of tea each and the total bill came in at £23.50.  Given that we had cutlery, crockery, the seats/table were clean and the food freshly cooked and piping hot, seems like a good deal to me.  There had been a few people sitting inside when we first passed, and when we went in there was one other diner, but whilst we were there, a steady stream of people came in for takeaways - so I think we made a good choice.  

We don't normally have such a 'big' meal for lunch, but it was so nice - just for once - to not have to get up at 5am to prep a load of sangers and flasks whilst trying to dance around DH making brekkie, before we set off anywhere.  It did mean that when we came home, no-one was much hungry, and I did manage to get away with making cheese salad sandwiches for tea, with an ice-cream to follow.  

We did pay for parking, which we don't mind, as there are reasonably clean toilets nearby - which were a godsend for us yesterday!  So not a cheap day out, and not totally relaxed, because of poop-gate - but a nice change.  I'm normally up for picnics, as it's pretty much all we've ever known, but eating out once in a while - particularly if the food is nice - feels like such a treat.  We won't be making a habit of it, but it was nice.  

Oh, and thinking about picnics, we do sometimes take a what LG has always call 'hot rolls' (I blame Ivor the Engine!), but they are in fact cheese and onion 'sausage' rolls - I noticed in MrL on Thursday that a pack of 6 of these has now gone up to £1.75 ☹️They were under a £1 when I first started buying them for our fledgling outings with LG ☹️

Washing is out on the line.  LG's stuff went straight in the wash when we got home yesterday, and then was out overnight.  I have added school tops and towels to the line today.  Blessed sunscreen is ruining clothes left, right and centre 🫤

Can't think of anything else particularly MSE to add, so I'll push orf.  Ta for popping by.  

Greying X

rtandon27

Truly bargainous for a meal out for three!

We were running errands today when we suddenly realized lunch time had come and gone and we were both famished - a mcd's was nearby & we NEVER go there for burgers as better can be had at home - 2 'meal deals' added up to almost the same as your spend for proper lunch - there is a reason we don't eat fast food! - for that price we could have had 8 burger meals at home and had change to spare

Greying_Pilgrim

rt - at least you're brave enough to go into a MccyD's - I've still to bite the bullet 😁  But I think we were lucky in the end.   The one thing that did put me off the 'modern mediterraean bistro' type place was that on first look, it looked reasonably priced, but then if you started to look at the drinks prices, and any accompaniments - say if you wanted a side of fries, or soup then a 'sandwich' etc, it started to add up to 'quite expensive'. 

But oh my gosh - the 'better can be had at home' is a real thing, isn't it?  I am starting to worry less that we 'rarely' go out to eat.  LG is reasonably well behaved when out - certainly doesn't scream, shout nor run around and can use a knife and fork the right way up, so even the 'socialisation' argument doesn't really apply.  Perhaps if we'd had more family to eat out with, LG may have been slightly more comfortable with choosing, but i can't think of  - say - a birthday party where they haven't munched some sort of food, so we've achieved some sort of exposure to different foods and ways of behaving when out etc.

Tea has been munched.   I did a curry plate, featuring 1 curry tub, 1 lentil dhal tub and two half tubs,  It made a plate for everyone, and rather than rice, I served it with naan.  The naan were from hB and were shelf stable.  Not the nicest I've ever tasted - bit dry - but they did the job of mopping up the curry, so that's good enough.  We will have yoghurt and fruit for pud.  

We had egg salad sandwiches for lunch.  Well, if you can call lettuce a salad! 🤣 I boiled the eggs and then sliced them with my retro (looking not actual), egg slicer.  LG munched up the sangers with zero comment that started with 'I don't like egg...' so I'm taking that for the win!  I forgot to say that last night we had the last of the grapes from the MrS box with our sandwiches at tea time.  There were quite a few rotting ones, but we had sufficient to make them an item of value.  I also podded the peas from the box tonight.  Originally, I thought they were mangetout, as they were in a tray with a couple of sticks of yellowing sprouting broccoli.  But I think now that they were just the immature peas left in the bottom of the box.  I would have been fuming if I'd paid good money for these peas - there were hardly any of teeny size, never mind anything Mr Birdz iyz would pick and pack within the hour 🙄I just shoved the ones that I podded in the hot curry as it came out of the microwave, as they weren't large enough to cook by themselves.  They can't have been too onerous an eat, as again, LG made no complaint.

I've looked at the new offers on a smarty shop with my n*ctar card this afternoon, and gee - what exactly is the incentive to do the shop yourself?  They have put 28p onto the 'smartyprice' of a bag of veggie sausages - and yet the full price of the pack has not changed.  Now a saving that was 88p is only 60p.  There is only one other item that I could purchase (for the store cupboard) on this week's choices.  As it happens, i may do a smarty shop anyway, as it'll have to be small shop in MrS on account of the small budget available, but I really am not sure how this is supposed to encourage me away from staffed tills.  

Anyway, today has been a nsd, and yet we've not gone without.

Can't think of anything else MSE relevant, so I'll push orf.  Ta for popping in.

Greying X

badmemory

Well that certainly brought back some memories from over 30 years ago.  My parents & DS going out for lunch to a local pub.  We went in & as he was under 12 we had to go in the conservatory.  Well we went there & OMG it was full of kids running up & down.  My parents were "well okay he is with us so this is what it must be".  DS however was "Mum do we have to, this is awful".  Quick word with parents, with an are you sure comment.  Then we were out of there.  We never went back, although we did start going out regularly.

rtandon27

How true GP - the cost of sides & drinks can put the price well over the edge! I had to attend a bi-monthly work dinner on Thursday & was amazed to see some of my co-workers drinking like fish! 

While I stuck to the reasonable (for London) 'pre-theatre' set menu which was truly artistic, delicious and worth every penny.  I was amazed when the waiter even asked if anyone wanted a top up of any of the food which was shared family style in the middle of the table.  I did however balk at the prices of even a non-alcoholic mocktail at 8 to 12 pounds a go!  ...and a little after dinner coffee was priced at almost 5 pounds!!!  There was a carafe of water on the table and that was good enough for me - I had the usual comment about mixing medication with alcohol/caffeine on the tip of my tongue just in case there was cheeky banter, but honestly, who would want to spend an entire week of grocery money on drinks?!?

beanielou

Many moons ago my DM took my DS to McD’s and asked for cutlery 😂😂😂

Greying_Pilgrim

Ha ha - Dearest beanie, the original model for 'W1mpy' was restaurant style, so cutlery and burgers can mix 😁In fact, I think the W1mpy model has returned to that style of serving to a degree.  I'm sure it would be better for LG's street cred if their first foray into Mccyd's is with someone wholly conversant with the operation - despite redo's marvellously  full explanation of the way of using the ordering system etc now - I still feel out of my depth 😔😂

rt - I'm sure I would faint if I went into a pub and ordered a round of drinks these days - DH's bottle of beer for £6 the other week, when you can buy the same bottle in the supermarket for £2 was 😱 enough for us.  But I think I baulk at soft drinks being £3 or £4 a pop - or worse still bottled water for that price!

I need to try to wash some of DH's workwear today.  The weather is set to change though, so whether it will dry or not.....  

Activity later this afternoon.  Money is set aside for this, and DH put fuel in the car yesterday, so we're all good.  

DH is nagging for 'what we're going to do' next week as it's HT and he has some time off.  I don't know why he bothers, as he just wants to do DIY, and if we go anywhere he'll want to be at home, and if he's at home, all the DIY seems to take far longer than he expects and just eats the days.  I'm not moaning - let's face it, we're very blessed if we can consider days out and/or DIY - I do realise that.  But I don't know why DH keeps asking what we want to do, as he's got his agenda set in his mind, and will work his socks off, and then go back to work, which is stressful at the mo 🙄  The hunter/gatherer/provider gene is a bit too strong in DH tho - again, not something I'm complaining about, it just makes 'relaxation' elusive.  

Right, best crack on.  Uniform to gather together and snap to make.

Greying X