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

LadyWithAPlan

You sound busy, organised plus your holiday savings are v impressive

£19 for soft play is madness!!

beanielou

£19 quid!!!!  That’s extortionate. 

Bluegreen143

Sarahwithlove said:

It's OK to occasionally say sorry we already have plans on that date to some parties maybe the expensive ones should be given a miss as £19 is a rip off

Just to clarify, the £19 was as I took Monkey along, I wouldn’t have said no to the invite itself as you don’t pay for the child invited to the party (Bambi). 

I just hadn’t realised it would be so extortionate or I would have done something else with him for the two hours. By the time I was standing at the door with two kids expecting to go in it seemed a bit late to change the plans. I only took him with me as we had to be somewhere else immediately afterwards and I hadn’t time to go home, but thinking about it now I could have dropped Bambi off and taken Monkey to the park or to get PE kit he needed at the shops or something (I ordered the latter online instead). I’ve never dropped and left Bambi at a party which is why it didn’t occur to me but I asked her afterwards and she assured me she doesn’t care if I go anyway 🤣.  

Baileys_Babe

If you're ever in the same situation again, perhaps a quick Google in advance so you know the possible costs and can plan accordingly. I'm guessing you will never be in this position again.

BalanceBy50

Children’s parties are getting so more expensive! My youngest is 10 in a couple of weeks & had asked for an ekarting party as he went to one last year.  When I looked into it was £33 per child & you had to have a minimum of 8 people. You only got 16mins of ekarting & food for that. Thankfully my son agreed it was a complete rip off & not good value for money! He asked for his best friend to sleepover & I am paying for them both to have a go at ekarting (£15/each for an 8 min lap so still a rip off) and he can choose where we go for lunch which is currently subway. Still an expensive day but cheaper than a party & he gets a longed for sleepover (mean mummy who likes her sleep & hates hosting sleepovers!)xx

Bluegreen143

Ouch, that does seem very expensive for such a short time of enjoying the activity @BalanceBy50! 

We spend between £200-£250 on each child’s party each year. They have historically been at home but by the time you put on food, pinata, party bags, treasure hunt, buy balloons/decor etc and make a cake it adds up even if you aren’t hiring a venue. This year Monkey wanted to go climbing and get pizza so the compromise was only having five friends, and it cost roughly the same in the end as Bambi’s bigger party at home (with about 18 guests). I’m comfortable with this amount spent and will continue to offer them the choice - they can have more friends at home or just a handful for an activity, either is fine - not spending hundreds of £ to take the whole class to trampolining or softplay however so that is not on the table. 

My kids are currently at my mum’s and Red & I had a nice meal at our local Chinese last night. It was £70 for three courses, an extra side, two alcoholic drinks each and tip. Slightly more than I’d anticipated but at least we could walk home after! 

Bambi has a sleepover the night they return, for a very good friend’s birthday. I do feel three nights in a row is a little long for a 6yo to be away from home but it’s just how it’s worked out as it was better for my mum to take the kids while I’m working than for them to be stuck at home with me. 

Red’s birthday this week. I’ve got all my gifts for him but have forgotten to get him anything from the kids… need to call them to find out what they want to get him and get something ordered on Amazon! Going to make a pistachio cake so might see if Monkey wants to help me with that on Wed before Bambi is back. 

Oh and I need to make him a card. As I just made him a Valentine’s one, this always stretches my creativity 🤣. It’s our wedding anniversary in two weeks as well so a third card to make then!

Bluegreen143

Thinking through a plan for this afternoon as I finish work at 3pm, but have no kids or social plans and the house is in a reasonable state. Such luxury!

Thinking of something like:

- Go for a nice brisk walk. 
- Dry laundry, and do a second load. 

- Cook up as big a pot of tomato pasta sauce as I can manage to be school packed lunches and do dinner one evening, with some cooked chicken. 

- Make dinner (Thai green curry).
- Make some soup (again for lunches or could do a dinner). 

When that’s all done I can sit down with a book or play a game 🙌🏼. 

debtfreewannabe321

I paid £250 twenty years ago to hire a swimming pool out for a party. It included all the inflatables and three hours to ourselves which I thought was extortionate then...I ended up inviting the entire school year for DS as he went to a small school and I wanted it to be worthwhile 🤣....And I stated on the invite you can bring siblings but one adult has to swim too...we ended up with about 50 of us in there 😱and it was the best time for the kids so noisy though. DS got invited to so many parties after that and made lots of extra friends. So it was kinda worth it. But after that I decided home parties were the thing or a couple of friends for soft play/ cinema/ other activities and then pizza hut or similar as it was super stressful and I did all the party food myself for that swim party ...we learn many a lesson along the way in parenting 🤣.

fionaandphil

It's amazing how much you can get done without the kids for a few hours and it's also great that you're making time for yourself. Enjoy!

Spendless

I went to a swimming party too also around 20 years ago with same set up. 
My friend held it for her 2 boys as it was her eldest's last year at Primary school. Both her boys have Dec birthdays too and as they grew older she'd get a lot of non attendees on the day so she decided to do the swimming party and held it at the end of Nov. She also had a magic entertainer and food (for kids only). I think its the most memorable kids party I ever remember attending.