From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Right, so I spent £7.98 on clothes for LG - but that comes from a separate budget.  As it happens, it's all 'future wear' stuff too, as even the woolly gloves I got reduced from MrM won't be needed this side of summer.......will they??? 🤔

£6.18 of today's expenditure will be munched in March, so will need to be added to my grocery budget line.  

£7.39 of stuff will come in for April (or possibly beyond) so will come off April's total.  I will draw out less cash for the grocery budget to avoid double-expenditure.  

I did get 1kg of red onions for 66p (YS'd) in MrM, which was a good price, as they were OK, and didn't smell rotten.  
 
I think going forward for the grocery budget I will only count food and the TV guide in my £215 per month.  The minute I start to add in any cleaning stuff, or household non-food items, the money just evaporates.  YS'd items are in short supply, most of the times I go shopping - and I've not seen a MrL £1.50 box for yonks.  There weren't any in the different MrL today, so it isn't just our local MrL that doesn't seem to have them anymore.

I will need a 'household' budget and I need a 'bulk' fund.  Many moons ago I used to have a bulk fund as we did belong to a wholefood co-operative, and used to order quarterly, so it was more manageable.  But I think my 'new' version will be a set amount, and not quite 'when it's gone, it's gone', but I think that I will ensure that I only buy stuff that we know we will eat (lentils are a good example), and just use the lentils as and when I need them.  I don't particularly want to be shifting 15p for 3 grammes of lentils to this pot, and four pence hapenny to that pot for 16 chickpeas and a bay leaf.  Here I haven't really the space to buy a tonne of tatties at a time, or 3 pallets of legumes for a fiver, so it should be relatively self-regulating in terms of modest expenditure.  £120 would be a good place to start with the bulk fund - av.£10 a month.  I will tot up my lentils and chickpea expenditure in the MrT/MrM offers and see what I have spent already - and take it as starting from 1st Jan '24.

I have now bust my March budget for groceries 🙁 and there is still another shopping day to go 🙁and there will be some things we will need - I'm immediately thinking milk, for example.  So we're now on 'containment' watch.  But I need to remind myself that I did buy some 'non food' things in March, so April will definitely be a fresh start.  I'm not going to beat myself up over it, things do cost more, and there are only so many recipes you can make with turnips before your family start revolting!  And it is being mindful about using up what you have.  I used a banana for lunch. Technically it was from the 'baking' pile, but with the minimum of trimming, it provided banana slices for both LG and me - and believe me, LG is fussy about banana, and wouldn't have eaten it if it were black/mushy.  

Right, we're still doing OK with the weather, but will need to keep a very sharp eye out now, as we've benefitted from fair weather for far longer than anticipated.

Greying X

EssexHebridean

Still dry down here too GP - although I'm beginning to think that might be "just" as it's getting increasingly grey and gloomy looking!

You reminded me I wanted to check what 15p or similar priced veg was on offer in various places, I see Lil's have the shallots again so I will be making the most of those. I noticed that Al's have swede, thinking of you with that and see you have already partaken - and red cabbage as well. The Christmas red cabbage kept well so I will probably nab one of those as well, although I'm sure I still have at least 1 if not 2 tubs of the christmas braised red cabbage and apricot in the freezer! Ah well - at this time of year it will work well for coleslaw anyway! 

kayannie

My nearest Lidl didn't have any veg boxes yesterday or today. I usually only go there once a week as it's a half hour journey away by car. I enquired both times as it was only 9.30 - 10 am, but they said they hadn't had time. Busy because of Easter coming up I suppose, but I wonder what happens to the 'past it's best' fruit & veg in this case? KA

badmemory

My local Als had cabbage at 15p.  It said red & white but at lunch time they only had red.  So we have red cabbage in our future.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Thanks for popping in EH, kayannie and badmemory. 

kayannie - I was surprised that MrM had bagged up those bananas (and some aubergines and courgettes, but they were quite beat up and pricey for what they were), as whilst they used to, there are so many more schemes and diversion routes for 'past it's best' food now.  There would certainly be demand for foodbank, food waste diversion and even TGTG in this particular town, so maybe it is less labour intensive to do that than administer TGTG or deal with FB volunteers or something.  Or perhaps they had a blip and they'd supplied all those avenues and still had waste food available.

So I ended up walking into Greying Town yesterday afternoon (after I had brought the washing in).  I had to move some money, and what with the holiday weekend upcoming, sure DD's will be taken out later, but also banks aren't open quite the same, so I figured I would get onto it, then we can enjoy the rest of the holidays without worry.  LG was thrilled to go walking again......... 🙁 but we did all the banking we needed (the other market town doesn't have the same range of financial establishments, hence why we hadn't seen to it in the morning), and then popped to get some apples from HB and stopped to have a look in several shops for new items for schoolwear.  By the time we came out of the shopping centre, the rain had started......  LG had been advised to put their waterproof coat on (thank goodness), but Mama hadn't taken her own advice.  By the time we got back, the rain had come quite heavy, but a quick swoosh over with the hair-dryer and a hanging up of coats sorted everything.  I need to add £1 to the grocery budget for apples.  

Tea last night was soup, but i ended up making some HM 'tomato sauce' into tomato soup with the addition of some stock and a handful of l/o small pasta.  

The washing had dried wonderfully, and I am so glad that I was able to get up to date with the washing of 'everyday' stuff.  Just DH's workwear to worry about now.  I have shoved a small load of schoolwear out on the line this morning.  It is currently dry, but is not forecast to remain dry, so it's a gamble.  There's not much and some of it is relatively quick drying.  

We might shove the easter decs up today, as LG is still keen.  All i can see is what will need to be tidied up/away before we can decorate, but that's just me.  We also need to get some homework completed, along with some 'practical application' of schoolwork in prepping and posting a little Easter card for our young  neighbour and their family.  

We might take our lunch somewhere today, but it will depend on how the weather turns out.  

I think I slated a curry plate for tea, so will double-check that and ensure there is nothing to use up in 'currification'.  I could certainly do a carrot & swede version! 🤣

I think the water DD goes out today - that is the last one that is (in theory) playing catch up for our bill since we moved in, but as I mentioned, the water company have put us on a high unmetered/rateable value charge, so I need to get moving on seeing about a meter.  I don't want a meter in the house though - there isn't room for it under the sink - and I was warned that they do check for that when assessing for fitting.  There is a reason why the company may refuse to fit a meter in the pavement - as yet again it seems like we are penalised for the poor workmanship of cable layers for firms who haven't even got customers in our area.  I realise it's nice to have the choice, but I really don't see why they are able to lay cabling, with no overseer of quality/restoration of pavement surface etc etc just on the off-chance that someone might choose to take their service at some point in the near - or far - future.  But that's progress and a competitive market I guess.  

Right, best shift-a-tail-feather, to reach for a second cup of coffee, if nowt else.

Greying X

beanielou

Same here with the blooming cabling. Right at the top of my drive. What a mess. 

Greying_Pilgrim

oh beanie - makes yer mad, doesn't it?  We had the same at the rental house - just turned up, blocked the car in the drive and started digging holes wully nully. No notice, no knock at the door 🙄 Shoved a box - albeit on the pavement - in our line of view (you had to look in 3 directions to exit the driveway), and then shuffled off when some cabling/ducting wasn't where they assumed it would be..... 🙄I suppose we ought to be thankful that they filled in their holes and shoved tarmac back on top 🙄

Well, for once we've benefitted from the weather forecast being wrong.  I put out a small batch of washing this morning, and it had about 3 hours of drying, as the wind speed was better than forecast.  Luckily, we just caught it before the heavens opened, as it poured down - with added sleety hail for a good 20 minutes.  Then the sunshine followed (not forecast) so we made a pack up and departed out to a little teeny market town with it's very own ruin on a hillock and went for a wander around - getting some good exercise, as all walking access to the site is very steep.  We then had our lunch in a shady little nook, as although the sun was lovely, the wind was quite keen and cool, as we were quite high up.  We watched a Red Kite at our level (magical) - as LG spotted it first, and it was the 3rd we'd seen whilst out.  We then spotted that the rain was coming in, so we headed back to the car.  We'd just taken off our walking boots as the big bloppy rain drops started.  We had a wonderful time, and had the washing been out, whilst we were out, it would have got significantly drier, it would have been an even bigger gamble, and as it was, we didn't really beat the rain back home, so potentially all the gains could have been wiped out in about 10 minutes of rainfall whilst we weren't at home.  

The sun is back out shining now - completely bonkers weather.  

We were walking through a wooded bit and I asked LG to identify the birdsong that we could hear, and a confident 'Chiff-Chaff, mum' came back 😍The sunshine was glorious - just the stuff to raise spirits.  There were some other people at the ruin, but for once, everyone was just enjoying wandering around and taking in the sights, sounds and splendid views. No-one (of any age) was running amok or climbing/damaging any structures, so it was all very relaxing.  

Apropos of nothing, we saw a peer of LG's waiting for the local bus into Greying Town today. Out of interest, I just mapped what the distance was for the walking route into town we took yesterday afternoon (which differs to the bus route), and found we'd done more or less 4 miles - there and back.  I began to wonder if I'm unreasonable expecting LG to walk 4 miles? 🤔 It's urban walking, so all on pavements.  There are inclines, but they are manageable - particularly on tarmac rather than rural muddy slopes or rocky tracks.  I mean, obviously people must do what they choose, but given it does take a bit of constantly geeing LG along, I wondered if 4 miles was too far?  You can bet if it was 4 miles to buy toys, chocolate or to go to a cafe, LG would certainly have no problem with the first 2 miles - possibly even jogging it ! 🤣  LG loves cycling and has cycled quite some distances.  But I am not sure about 'everyday' walking (ie not along Scafell Pike, or bagging a munro, or walking Hadrian's Wall for example, for 'leisure').  

Right, more tasks to achieve for 'homework' so I had better get into supervisor mode, and strike whilst LG is asking to do something 👍😁

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

I think you know best what LG is capable of, and all kids take some cajoling at some point I think! 😂 We have friends where one parent is an outdoor pursuits instructor and they take their kids on longer hikes than that (and climbing, canoeing etc). LG is clearly capable, and it sounds like you are doing an excellent job 😊

Greying_Pilgrim

Thanks Cheery, love.  Yes LG is entirely capable, but they are starting to say 'no' for the sake of saying no at the moment....... 🙄 Had to happen I guess, they were quite good through the 2's, 3's and 4's, so ........  It's just difficult to know what is acceptable to ask of children.  There will always be people who need transport, there will always be people who choose transport, it's just difficult to know where the balance is.  It probably would have cost up £6+ to use the bus yesterday for a reasonably short journey which we can walk.  I suppose I would rather target the money to buying petrol to take us out on a trip like we did today, where the journey is part of the 'entertainment', as well as the destination. 

Although having said that, we used to have great fun going by bus to the nearby market town when LG was a toddler and could travel for free.  The journey was very much part of the fun, as you could sometimes see so much more from a bus than from a car.  

I am envious of your friend's children getting involved in hiking and canoeing etc etc, and all these children that are on R2 on the request programme on Fridays, hiking up some mountain or other.  I would love that to be LG and it being mumma that needed to keep up!

Greying X

Paspatur

Hi Greying, I feel it might be the purpose for the walk that varies with kids.
My youngest granddaughter pre school age would walk 1.5 miles to gymnastics, do a one hour class and then walk 1.5 miles back. But ask her to walk half a mile to Lidl and it was like pulling teeth.
One grandson walked so slowly to the bus stop from my house I thought he was injured, got to soft play and he was 90 mph. He still hates walking but can run around a football pitch like a hurricane.
Mine have no option now but to walk as I can't drive due to my eyesight but if we go to town we take the bus as that is 3 miles in each direction. Plus no one else ever takes them on the bus so it is an adventure.
I grew up in a family without a car and walking was normal if it was a few miles each way, but for further distances it was the bus but they were so much cheaper then.
I think you are doing the right thing both with the walking and healthy eating
So many kids nowadays barely move and eat rubbish, I don't think LG will ever figure in the obesity stats for kids
Well done to you