Stopping the backsliding… a family of four no longer living beyond their means

LittleGem

I really love reading your musings and plans for the sort of life you want to lead and what you want to do with your money as a family. Do you find Red quite open to these sorts of chats? It’s such a good idea to keep re-evaluating things as the seasons of life change.

angela110660

Gosh - lots of great plans and ideas. Don't try and do and change too much all at once though or it could be an overwhelm for everyone. Pace yourself would be my plan. 

zcrat41

Love the planning! I too do this in August when the kids go back to school. There’s something so very fresh about a new year. 

Re taking the kids to activities can you do your food shop during karate? Or do something nice with the time. My DD’s gym class is just long enough for a 5k run with the dog! 

Spendless

Glad Red was keen on the bedroom idea.  I also have a boy and then a girl 3 years younger and the best advice I got but ignored was to paint the walls both in a neutral colour and have neutral carpet/flooring too and then you just did the accessories to suit the child whose room it was with bedding , lights, pics etc. As I ignored the advice it meant that as mine grew during times when they'd contemplate swapping they'd then change  their mind due to their siblings blue/pink walls/carpets and have decided against it before we could sort out redecoration. I only changed the rooms to both neutral as son was at Uni when DD then finally moved into the larger room and then DS never returned to live with us anyway! 

Bluegreen143

@LittleGem Red is usually fairly receptive to these chats, as long as they are casual and non stressy/blamey (ie if he doesn’t feel he’s being criticised!). 

@angela110660 good advice! 

@z@zcrat41 I used to do my top up shop then, but there is only a really rubbish Aldi or a M&S near enough. I think doing a weekly “weekend” shop in M&S was a big factor in my continual overspends!! I can do a walk or take a book or I’ve sometimes used that time to call relatives etc. 

@s@Spendless haha yes, good advice. Both rooms are painted neutrally anyway (one grey, one cream) and while they need a fresh coat, we’ll be sticking to similar colours. 

Bluegreen143

Last night of holiday! We’ve packed up almost everything, and I’ve amended our Tesco order for tomorrow. It’s only to last us for a few days, because we’re going to switch to Thursday deliveries. 

Mealplan for the next few days:

M - my dad has said he’ll take us out for dinner
T - black bean & sweet potato enchiladas 
W - chicken soup 
T - mac & cheese with salad 

Breakfasts - yoghurt/nuts/fruit (me); cereal or toast or porridge (kids)

Lunches - leftovers or roasted veg & goats cheese salad (me); kids fed at school; ham sandwich or hummus & salad (Red)

Tesco order (estimated around £69):

Whole milk (4 pints)
Extra mature cheddar 400g
Greek style yoghurt 500g
Chicken thighs on the bone 1kg 
Finest sliced ham 2 packs
Goats cheese

Strawberries
Grapes (mixed colour)
Apples x6
Bananas x8
Limes x2
Lemons x4

Large garlic 
1kg onions 
Swede
Red onion
White cabbage 
Sweet potato
Broccoli
Carrots x6
Red pepper x2
Rocket
Cucumber
Mixed colour baby tomatoes 
Tomatoes on the vine
Watercress
Raw beetroot bunch

Seeded bread loaf

Chopped tomato x4
Black beans x1
Butter beans x1
Macaroni 1kg 
Olives in brine
Granulated sugar 1kg
Fast action yeast sachets 
Salt 750g
Oats 1kg

Crisp multipacks 6pk x2
Caffeine free cola x5
Decaf coffee (instant)

Dishwasher tabs
Kitchen roll x2
Antibac spray
Scourers

missymoo81

Love how you also have a reset at this time of year. I always feel it’s the best time to do it. We moved May out of Roos room in year 6 and we just let
them pick curtains and duvets and moved some furniture around that Roo had a wardrobe and it worked well. I now sit on the landing to read a bed time story 🤦🏻‍♀️ so they can both hear!

Bluegreen143

Haha, love that Missy! That shouldn’t be a problem here - we read stories on the sofa downstairs (as it’s not always at bedtime) - and usually I’m reading to them separately as they’re on different books anyway due to a bigger age gap. Currently reading The Wizard of Oz to Monkey and one of the Paddington books to Bambi. Monkey does tend to hang about listening to his sister’s stories that he pretends he’s too old for though! 

In the car heading home now. Yesterday was glorious, warm weather which was a lovely way to finish up. We hired a motor boat for the morning then kayaked and swam in the afternoon, then had a little campfire on the beach.

Today it’s a full blown storm 🤣 which is a way is good, as we’d have been very sad to leave if it had been sunny again. 

Round up of holiday spending:

Accommodation (7 nights) £880.50
Groceries & alcohol £291.20
Swimming £18
Botanic Gardens entry £20
Boat hire £99.75
Lunch out £42.80
Charity shop - kids’ DVDs £5

Money spent in the amusements and book/toy shop came from all our individual allowances - I spent £19.99 from my personal allowance on 2x books. 

I still have no idea why food seems to cost so much on holiday (we do have plenty booze to take home but not much food except oil and vinegar and a few tins) but I think £1,357.25 isn’t too bad for a week’s holiday for four people tbh. 

Red’s friend and his family came to visit one day and we did a nice lunch for them so that bumped up the cost a bit too. 

I haven’t included petrol as we’ve used less than half a tank - we’d have used this much if we were at home anyway. 

Bluegreen143

Plan for today (we’ll be home by about 11.30):

1. Unpack and get everything away rather than letting it hang about the house

2. Do as many washings as possible (I have a tumble dryer)

3. Get sourdough starter out and give it a good feed to try to revive it 

4. Make and freeze wraps (if I’ve got time)

My dad will be over mid afternoon, but it’s so rainy I don’t think we’ll be going for our usual walk, so I think I can get stuff done in the house while chatting to him or he may play with the kids for a bit. We’re going out for dinner but his treat, so no cost. 

Tomorrow I’m back at work and so is Red 😨 it’ll be a quiet chill out day for the kids while I work, but I think they need that anyway TBH. 

Then it’s back to school on Wednesday! I’ve got all the uniform sorted and ready thankfully. 

Bambi isn’t starting until 10, which is inconvenient when you’re working and the school isn’t local, but it’s just one day - full days from Thursday. They’ve also recommended not to use the school bus on Wed but to pick up from school instead. 

I don’t think we’ll really get a chance to try out any kind of new routine this week because of this (and the car being in for an MOT on Thursday too) so it’ll be a case of just getting through the week and getting into our proper routine from Monday. 

This weekend should be fun - it’s my birthday on Sunday! Red has arranged for his brother to have the kids for a while on Saturday while we have some sort of surprise activity. And I need to decide what to do on Sunday - will need to keep an eye on the weather.

Bluegreen143

Morning all! 

Just doing a quick round up of this month’s spending to date, now that I’m back from holiday. I get paid this week so will be able to top up some budget pots etc. 

Joint budget £1,713.93
Mortgage - £528.86
Gas & electric - £241
Life insurance - £45.07
Internet - £25.90
TV license - £15
Netflix - £4.99
Bike club subscription - £22.98
Groceries - £108.72 Lower due to being away for a week 
Kids’ pocket money - £35
Chickens - £17.99
Petrol - £53.06
Kids’ clothing - £24.80 Underwear and socks 
Kids’ uniform - £18 PE joggers 
Car maintenance - £20 Broken valve on a tyre 
Holiday - £511.52 Obviously the holiday we were on last week 
Leisure & entertainment - £8.14 Not sure what this is!
Home & garden - £32.90 Kitchen timer, lunch/snack boxes

Personal budget £163.06
Clothes - £12.84 Preloved dress from eBay 
Socialising & dates - £88.25 Date night 
Books & hobbies - £25.50 2x books and a knitting pattern 
Misc - £36.47 I can’t actually remember what this all is 🙄