From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

rtandon27 · 28 September at 3:32PM

Wow GP - you have been channeling your inner Julia Child! - I love that cakes have been made and stashed away.

Funnily enough one of the things that my increasingly fussy OH seems to have no problems downing is banana cake in it's different guises which I've done for the past three weeks and it's the only thing in the house that isn't being sniffed at!

We are going to try home made rice pudding in the s/c this week - nutrient dense with rice and whole milk - the 'nectar of the gods' variety is very expensive and it's the only one he'll eat!

Greying_Pilgrim · 28 September at 4:39PM

rt - good on you for coming up with foods that appeal to your OH 😁   LG has decided they don't like banana cake again 🙄

The apple cake sliced up into 18 pieces - I wish I had used the bigger tin really, but 18 is a good yield. We have each tried an apricot bun - and they met with approval, which actually, I'm thrilled about, for a 4:4:4:2 sponge mix and some 'box' apricots. I forgot to mention, when I was using spices in the apple cake, and the buns, I did put in a little shaking of garam masala. The one I bought the other week was really quite fragrant with 'sweet' spices, so I channeled dearest Weezl74's thinking, and used some. 👍.

DH and LG went out for a cycle ride. The 3 cooking apples I used up from yesterday's outing have been replaced, by 3 more...... 🤣 I can't complain - the box implores folk to take them, and LG feels they are helping out the family by picking up free courgettes or apples etc. Can't argue with that 😁

The washing is folded, the cake ready for freezing and the drying up done and put away.

We will have wraps for tea. I will be able to add in some of the lettuce from the box, rather than waste it. Iceberg isn't my favourite lettuce, but using up what we have is important, so I'll shred some for the wraps.  Baileys_Babe was making an important point over on Cheery's thread about sweeping leftover budgets over into the next month, or to some saving pot you have in mind etc. That to me, helps to 'make sense' of the 'WHY' we're trying to live our family life as we do. For most of this year, any 'savings' have been swept over into the windows fund - which has taken longer to build up than anticipated. But that is partly because car repairs, and then a new car overtook everything, and became the priority expenditure. Whatever we spend on the windows (still not to sure whether to have a 'job lot' or priority piecemeal), if there is any saving left over, will immediately then become the 'next home maintenance requirement'. Currently new carpets/flooring and a new kitchen are vying for attention - neither of which are 'low cost' projects.

But in the short term, saving anything to help fund our holiday in HT is the priority. That's why I'm limping to the end of the month, trying to use up everything we have, and not just abandoning the budget, because any penny saved, will go for spending in October. Whilst we're away, I'd like (where possible) to say 'yes' to a bag of chips, or an ice-cream or whatever. I know it's not always possible, but having it as my focus really helps me. I'm already looking forward to this holiday, but (because I am weird), all this trying to save, and plan and budget is an enjoyable part of the process. Certainly (for me and my temperament), preferable to whanging it on the credit card in a cavalier fashion, and then stressing over the debt at a later stage. Having to put emergency expenditure on a credit card is a different matter - but I don't want us to be slaves to debt repayment, just because I'm more intent on consuming that thinking things through. Having said that, LG is only a kiddo once, and the years are flying by, I feel it's important to give LG our time and experiences/opportunities whilst we're still able to. It's important to strive for balance.

Greying X

themadvix · 28 September at 5:07PM

Absolutely agree that the budgeting and planning and scrimping in advance is an enjoyable part of the holiday process GP. And sticking to a budget while away is definitely both financially beneficial, but also sometimes quite satisfying too - to be/see somewhere different but also manage to be to some extent self-sufficient and not paying a fortune for it.

I think you're getting a good balance of doing and saving for LG - and setting a great example too. The benefits of large-scale saving will become clear to LG when the windows go in too.

Greying_Pilgrim · 28 September at 7:50PM

Aw, d'you know, it is so great to be able to come here and 'speak' with you guys - you always 'get' it.

Tea has been munched. I am soooo blessed that my wee kiddo absolutely 'lurves' a buffet wrap tea. I mean, who wudda thunk something so simple could continue to provide such enthusiasm. In the end, I didn't use the lettuce from Friday's box. I still had some romaine left from a week ago - YS'd simply the bestest stuff. It was actually still OK, so I shredded and washed it, and tasted fine. I also grated 4 of the stumps of carrot from the box, made up a mayo/yoghurt garlic sauce. I defrosted some brown rice, and added a bit of HM tommie sauce and some gochugung paste. I also put some not including the bagel seasoning in a ramekin. We had a piece of fried smoked tofu per wrap. There was a tiny bit of lettuce and tiny bit of grated carrot left. Everything else got munched 😁 Pud was a portion of apple crumble with a ball of vanilla flavoured ice-cream.

A good day.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim · 29 September at 7:20AM

Good Morning MFW'rs

Bright and early start with us. DH got up early and then wondered why i had got up and had woken LG up too🤦‍♀️ Snap is packed. Apricot buns have been pressed onto anyone who's stood still long enough 🤣 I have to say, I am a little disappointed with the punnet of grapes that were in the MrS box. Now, bearing in mind that a) they were likely to be at the end of their BB, and b) they weren't necessarily the contents of one box, they have gone over mighty quickly. I think they will probably go over quicker than we can eat them. They also don't really taste of alot. Had I paid £1.69+ for a punnet, I would have been highly disappointed. There are still some carrots (not many), 2 nectarines and the iceberg lettuce to use - oh, and 2 big sweet potatoes.

I will get a wash of 'general' clothes on today. There is supposed to be sun and a light breeze again.

Very cold start with us. The windows are dripping with condensation. I sincerely hope that new windows ameliorate the condensation issue. I know it's partly how we are living - you expect more condensation in the kitchen for example, but also, the existing DG is not that much different to single pane windows, so comparatively warm air is hitting the cold.

My throwing all the windows open has upset the troops. There is a window salesman coming around today - do they need to see windows opaque with condensation?

Tea as yet is undetermined, but we have plenty of choice, so it's just a matter of making a decision. I like the changing season food wise, however, getting up and it's still dark, and it being semi-dark by 6.30pm when it's a rainy/stormy day is not the best bit of going into autumn ☹️

Right, best go and get that washing machine going.

Greying X

Baileys_Babe · 29 September at 9:04AM

Greying_Pilgrim said:

Whilst we're away, I'd like (where possible) to say 'yes' to a bag of chips, or an ice-cream or whatever. I know it's not always possible, but having it as my focus really helps me. I'm already looking forward to this holiday, but (because I am weird), all this trying to save, and plan and budget is an enjoyable part of the process. Certainly (for me and my temperament), preferable to whanging it on the credit card in a cavalier fashion, and then stressing over the debt at a later stage.

I too find the saving, planning, budgeting an enjoyable run up to a holiday, enabling us to make the most of our time and money.

Greying_Pilgrim · 29 September at 11:15AM

Dearest Baileys_babe - that is one of the (many) things I love about this forum, is that what is deemed wacky, or tight or (worst of all) 'boring' amongst other folks in RL, is deemed perfectly normal, appropriate and wise on here 😁 Wish it was as easy to manifest money as it was to manifest plans and lists tho 🤔🤣

So the third windows firm turned up on time, and have taken all the details. I'm afraid I didn't take to the representative - I'm pretty sure they are sales only (ie they wouldn't be surveying the job, nor fitting the windows), and I'm thinking that our paths have crossed before. To be fair, they were honest about one part of the work that we were looking to have done, so that is in their favour, but hmmmmmm - spidey senses were up. We'll see what price comes back from that firm. They are a firm that I have seen working locally, so that is in their favour. Again, they have been in business for donkey's years, so they must be reasonable in their actual installation activities. I suppose I was spoilt with the other two firms in that owners/installers came around. Anyhoo, let's see what they come back with. To be fair, having 3 different companies look at things, they have come up with similarities, or suggested slightly different things, so it's helped me know what is feasible, or what we do/don't want. The quote should be back before the end of the week.

Right, i need to pop to the PO to post a card to a chum. Will need to purchase a first class stamp, as it may not get to the recipient on time otherwise. There is time, but they live rurally and they don't see a postie everyday.

Ta for popping by. Greying X

badmemory · 29 September at 11:52AM

They were talking about reducing delivery to 3 times a week. We have been on 3 times a week for over a year now.

rtandon27 · 29 September at 12:16PM

We are in the middle of a town, within a 7 minute walk from the local sorting station, and we are lucky if we get a whole week's worth of mail on a Saturday. Unless of course I've ordered and there are packages or I've requested a pick up, then we get mail several times a week with our package service. The staff at our local centre are supremely lazy and there is a high turn over of staff. Several of us on our street have put in multiple complaints about the service to no avail!