From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

rtandon27

Dearest GP - I was reading this week's free Waitflower paper at lunch time & came across an article about the lovely lady who owns Wahaca - page 13 in resonated & made me think of you and the values you instill in LG... The bit that starts with "My mother in particular did not like to waste food..." - Have a looksee - the last third of the article was full of wholesomeness!

Bluegreen143

Hi Greying, just caught up on your lovely diary.

On childhood perfectionism and other mindset worries, there is a lovely collection of books "What to Do When..." based on CBT principles (so how to adjust your mindset) for kids. Thinking in particular "What to Do When Mistakes Make You Quake" may be helpful for LG - you could see if you library has any of these books. They have other titles too on things like anxiety and anger.

One of my two can be a bit perfectionist and scrumple up his drawings etc with cries of "it's totally rubbish, I;m never drawing again!" - the other is a happy-go-lucky have-a-go child who is very pleased with all her endeavours, so it must just be their personalities! 

Greying_Pilgrim

Thanks Bluegreen - I'm hoping to go to the library today, so I'll have a looksee.  I would put LG at somewhere between your two - as in sometimes laughing, joking and finding lots of things to do, and at other times - the  "I'm rubbish, everyone hates me, my life is rubbish" gets wheeled out 🙄I wish they'd err more on the 'happy go lucky' side of things, but they do pay too much attention to what others think and say - irrespective of the validity/quality of those utterances.  

Anyway, yesterday was (apparently) a good day, and we've had a good start to the morning too.  So fingers crossed for more of the same 😁

I need to get a haircut today.  

I'm also worrying about the grocery budget squeekyness.  It's self-imposed and I CAN spend more if necessary, but the truth is, I don't want to.   However, I just don't think we'll be able to get to a week Friday on £20.  No worries - my problem, and a very, very first world one at that!

Tea last night was a mish mash of HM pizza from the freezer, baked tatties and pasta.  I got caught up in finishing off a project (rare for me, I'm not known for my finishing/completing gene!), and ran out of time.  Fruit and yoghurt was for pud.  

I'm hoping to do a salad bowl for tea tonight.  

Right, best shift a tail-feather.  

Ta for popping by.  Greying X

Watty1

I love the sound of those books (off to google as might be helpful for fake niece).  Edited to say I found some sample pages on line on the American psychological association website) and that looks fun.  thank you

themadvix

Another one here with too much month for food budget (also self-imposed, of course). Creativity will be needed!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon MFW'rs

Thank you for visiting.

Well, I went over to the market town across the way, and got my hair cut.  It's gone up in price again, but is still cheaper than anywhere in Greying Town, so for the mo I'll suck it up. 

I did the chazzer shop circuit - gosh, prices have skyrocketed, haven't they?  I saw a kid's Tshirt for £6.  Now, I admit it was 'branded' (not particularly mega-desirable, but it was branded), but it was clearly 'pre-loved' - 6 quid??  Anyway, I stuck to books for LG and tried not to rise to the bait when the shop assistant queried the cost (on their label).  Apparently they had gone "down" in price 🙄 Despite the fact that they were £1 each, not all of them were pristine - I suspect they had been near some orange squash or sun screen at some point - and the shop sells Adult paperbacks for about 2 dozen for a pound!  (marginal exaggeration there, but it seems like a tax on learning to me!).

I did spend a little money on food - the town has a branch of h3r0n f00ds - so I picked up some qu0rn cocktail sausages.  I then went to hB as we need more apples and I was lucky and dropped on a 2kg bag of AB Red R00ster tatties, YS'd all the way down to 29p!!!  I was incredibly lucky, as there doesn't seem to be a manky one amongst them, and we like them as wedges.  Result!  tmv - thinking about 'getting creative' all the fruit and some salad things that were YS'd in hB were all in a state of turning into liquid 🤢 Potatoes are always useful, but I would have loved to get a punnet of tommies for 29p, or a pack of bananas.  Alas, these were just expensive compost ☹️Total spend on food was £2.67 and total spend on non-food was £17.25.

I went to the library on my return to the car park, but everyone was standing outside - staff, customers, people from the community and banking pod.  Apparently some alarm or something had gone off and they'd all been asked to leave the building.  At least I was able to return the library books, the library staff accepted them, but obviously wasn't able to peruse the shelves.  As I had a little over half an hour left on my parking, I noticed a church hall was open serving tea & coffees.  I thought I might partake - but luckily they had displayed their prices....  I know costs have gone up, and I know it would cost more in a coffee shop or cafe, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay £2 for a cup of coffee.  Perhaps I am just getting too tight in my old age. 

Away to amend my siggie figgie.

Greying X

themadvix

Excellent result on the tatties! Definitely wise to swerve the rotting veg - do they really think anyone is going to buy it in that state? 🤢

rtandon27

@Greying_Pilgrim - hunny I hate to tell you, but even the cheap coffee at mcd's is 1.39!!!  The average latte or cappucino from 'out' starts at 5, which is why I buy 30p pods and some whole milk and make it at work where they supply a machine!

Greying_Pilgrim

rt - I totally get that - compared to any commercial enterprise - £2 is cheap (depending on the size of the cup, I guess). But I though McD's coffee was supposed to be quite palatable?  And delivery quite 'uniform'?  You get the same in Exeter as in Edinburgh?

But I'm wondering more - if like with 'eating lunch out' - that I'm saying no on 'default' to any and every opportunity.  I had the time today, a cup of (nice) coffee would have been welcome.  Instead I went home and made myself a coffee when I got in.  The community waste food/eatery/cafe was open too - I *think* they are on a 'pay what you can' basis - but they are a bit hit and miss with quality there, regrettably.  I didn't buy anything at the WI market either - I was contemplating perhaps buying cakes for the troops, but whilst the cakes were covered, I was put off by a huge bluebottle stomping about on the underside of the protecting cover 🤢Understandable if it was outside.... but it wasn't.

Greying X

rtandon27

haha - yes mcd's is passable in a pinch, say on a road trip, and i can confirm it is even the same across the pond as it is here, so there is consistency, but i'm such a tightwad I can't justify anything more than my 30p for my daily brew.