From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

rtandon27

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

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

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

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