Missy’s full time working mum juggling act MF adventure

Bluegreen143

Are you committed? I would suggest maybe not going if you’ve not booked yet. Perhaps you could take a week to have some nice day trips together, romantic meals etc at home if you don’t have the kids?

missymoo81

Committed to some of it. So going through some of the stuff we can change and making it more cost effective.

remote_control

We don't do things with kids which cost money (mostly) some ideas (which I'm sure you know most of them already)
Free museums
Other free activity things e.g. our local town sometimes has stuff on in the town centre like a trail or a climbing wall or something
Friends to play
Older one is now allowed 'out' to knock for friends and wanders around a few local streets - tbh she'd be happy just to do that!
Parks
Nature reserves
Walks (with interesting landmarks)
TV/films
Meeting up with familiy friends
Library
Open days/special events e.g. sometimes there are free live music events in parks for example, the fire station in the nearby town had a fab open day a few weekends ago. 

Hopefully this list is helpful and not annoying! I take all food with me at this time of year. I think it is easier to get away with. I buy multipacks of lollies so they can always have one when they get home (helps with the moaning/begging 'I want an ice cream'... 'we have some in the freezer so you can have one when we get home'). I think it's harder in the winter food wise as you can't eat outside so we might have to warm up in a cafe with hot chocolates. That's why I try and be strict with it in the summer. TBH though once we get into the groove no one minds or asks for things. I do all this as I just don't think the kids need all that money spent on activities and food. They can have loads of fun doing free stuff, especially if they have a friend with them. We like to have an international holiday in the summer so that's where we spend our money.

I'm not judging or telling you what to do, just sharing what works for me. I know how easy it is just to fritter money away with kids on activities and food out, it's all so expensive! Take care and keep plodding. 

missymoo81

Hey @remote_control thank you for all of the suggestions. It’s the food and coffees that add up.
i am very much going to try and be more mindful on this front. Today I’m at an event and I absolutely would have bought coffee and food. But I just bought some biscuits from home to keep me going. Not going to lie, I’m pretty hungry. Will need to be more prepared as we are here for the next 2 days. (Holiday is from Monday) so going to pack lunches tomorrow and will bring the travel kettle and buy some latte sachets so won’t be tempted to buy coffee. This will really add up over the weekend. 

missymoo81

So I did a big shop on Sunday and haven’t used all of the food but as budget is soo tight this month I was adamant that I was not wasting it. So despite being super hot I have cooked 2 chicken breasts. Made fajitas and made a huge batch of  bolognese, 

I have done some bagels for breakfast and made chicken salad wraps with the chicken I cooked and found some crisps and fake mars bars in the depths of the cupboard for lunch. OH wanted some other bits of food and drink, to keep him going over the weekend. But  We downbranded on everything and saved so much money. I got some latte sachets, which coast £2.40 for 16 (we won’t use them all) which will literally save us about £40…. Sounds ridiculous but 3 coffees each a day (10-12 hour days at event.) which is pretty standard at £3.50 a time would be £21 a day. Over 2 days that’s £42! And breakfast and lunch easily came to £40 each day, so that’s another £80 saved. I really didn’t mind the prepping, it was only the last 10 mins or so where I started to flag a little. The bolognese is for Sunday night, as we’re home late, and there should be enough to freeze. I even made the sauce! Something definitely switched in my head after speaking to you wonderful people. The food we buy at these events costs a fortune and isn’t even nice and you have to queue for ages! Yes it’s a faff for me to do it, but it’s nice and saves an absolute fortune! And I’d rather spend the money on other things! 

Anyway Very tired now due to the heat.

jwil

Great progress there Missy!  Well done, that's over £100 saved with just a little effort.  Hope the events go well.

fionaandphil

Well done missy, just a bit of planning saves so much. You should feel really proud of how much you've saved

beanielou

Hope all goes smoothly. 

missymoo81

Hi thanks all. Well I managed to get through the day unscathed, without spending any money! Which is unheard of. I ate all of my packed food and had a bbq This evening. But I need to make tomorrows ill
do it in the morning.

fionaandphil

Well done. Hope today goes well too