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

honeybee1234

Wow that party sounds amazing! It's great that you could join in as well. The other activities make for a lovely, happily busy weekend. 

Debsnewbudget

Sounds wonderful
what do you put on a brunch bagel board? 

Bluegreen143

@Debsnewbudget - smoked salmon, avocado, cream cheese, bowls of berries & grapes, nice hams and cheeses, hummus, falafel, jam, Nutella - then people make up their own breakfasts - I added scrambled egg and bacon too as my DH prefers a cooked brunch. 

I let the kids have one savoury plate (they mostly had what they liked but I made them have a little of the things they are “learning to like” eg smoked salmon). Then a second plate with something sweet, they both had their bagel in the first plate so I did some toast for seconds and Monkey had Nutella, Bambi had jam. 

Spendless

Bagel board sounds brill. What a good idea. Did you have diff flavoured bagels too or stick to plain ones?

Best party mine  attended was a swimming one too. This was an indoor one my friend hired cos party was in November. She also has 2 December born children and fed up of last minute let downs when she booked things closer to the kids dates, she opted to go full out  with the swimming party one in November instead. Its the most memorable kids party I ever attended. 

Throughmyfingers

Just had a good binge on the diary   The uniforms are ridiculous my 2 have needed all new this time and are 9&14 NBA all starts at the moment the way they are shooting up, we also opt for Asda at the moment!  Congrats on the new car and Mmm to the bagel board, I will be following along! x 

Bluegreen143

Thanks all! The bagel board was lovely, I’m getting quite into doing a family brunch on weekends. 

Have some annoying admin to do as need to return two pairs of kids’ shoes which were the wrong size - their feet just seem to have grown over the holidays without me noticing! And Bambi’s new school shoes cut and scraped her feet (very pretty dolly shoe type things) so I’ve now bought her black trainer-style school shoes instead - they do have gem flowers on them to satisfy her need for prettiness. I tried to buy those to start with but she wanted the pretty traditional ones, however after two days of wearing them and with plasters over her feet she stopped fighting me about the comfy ones! 

I’ve been sooooooo busy at work but had a really nice evening yesterday, despite Red being out til 8pm. I always think it’s more effort to fly solo but often have really productive smoothly-running evenings when he’s out. Not sure why as he certainly pulls his weight at home! But the kids seem much more helpful if it’s just me (they realise I actually need the help) and willingly pitched in to help with chores without complaining. 

Plans for today - working, make curry for dinner, going for an outdoor swim with a friend after dinner. 

Bluegreen143

Ahhh haven’t returned those kids shoes yet and have just been reminded by coming on here! Woops! 

This weekend round up (again not too expensive a weekend):

Fri - usual school playpark hangout, dinner at home, we then had a fire in the garden firepit which was lovely! 

Sat - day of deep cleaning before a party we have coming up. The kids did amazing and helped a fair bit while not complaining too excessively. Didn’t really do anything except for clean 🤣. 

Sun - my dad came to visit, took the kids to a toy shop and took us for lunch out to a Thai restaurant with my sister and her family too. As he paid for everything, no cost involved. 

Mon - Red and I had the day off together (in belated celebration of my birthday) while the kids were at school. Bliss! The weather was gorgeous and we used the day very well. 

- Big long walk in a country park (free except for cake in the cafe, which Red paid for)
- Wild swim in a loch (free)
- Japanese lunch out (Red paid and we got a lunch deal so pretty cheap anyway)
- We dropped into a bookshop (£28 spent from my budget on books for me and the kids. 

Felt very refreshed and relaxed and it’s so nice to have time just to spend with Red having a little adventure. 

Other news, I’ve got the credit card down to £585 (after using it in the aftermath of getting the new car) and it should be paid off in the next month, when I can plough on with rebuilding an emergency fund. 

Got some chores and expenses this week in preparation for our party this weekend, it’s a potluck so people are bringing food but I will need to provide some food/drink too. I want to make a cake and cookies, and Red is making a big pot of chilli to serve with wraps, cheese etc. 

Baileys_Babe

Very belated happy birthday. Your potluck birthday party sounds good, how did it go?

Bluegreen143

Hello all! 

My birthday party was great, a long time ago now. 

Where we are right now:

We are fully in kids’ birthday and Christmas mode here - lots of money flying out of the bank account…

My son is turning 10 🥹. Can’t believe it! And my little Bambi will be 7.

I’m back on Slimming World, wish I hadn’t stopped it now! Have lost 6lb over the past month or so (I only restarted SW 10 days ago, but had been watching what I eat a bit longer). I have just over 2st to lose so I want this to be the year I just get it gone! 

We are continuing to put a bit extra in our pensions and try to build an emergency fund, but the latter is only at £700 currently so we have some way to go. I’d really like to be at £3,000 by Easter. That amount always feels like it can cover most home/car emergencies, though I would eventually like at least three months of expenses put aside. 

What’s been going on this autumn:
I was just reflecting on autumn in my three-month planner the other day so thought it would be fun to share our highlights:

- I took the kids camping with friends in the Sept weekend.

- I took the kids on my own on a 5 day road trip in the Oct break to visit family & friends and see some sights in Scotland. So much fun!

- We had a brilliant time over Halloween (parties, crafts and guising) and Bonfire Night (we had friends over for fireworks in our garden).

- My BIL has moved in with us temporarily… move out date unknown 🤣.

- My son took up a new sport and has been enjoying practise and doing well at tournaments… he’s also moved to a new Cubs pack which is much better than the old one for organising outings etc. He’s had a sleepover and adventure day this autumn. My daughter had a trip with Rainbows too.

- My daughter did a six week block of speech therapy, which has made such a difference.

- I had a super busy quarter at work including travelling down south twice (unusual for me).

When I look back at it - no wonder I feel tired! But we made so many good memories this autumn too. Excited to see where winter takes us!

KajiKita

Welcome back 😊 You’ve been busy! 😊👏
Is BiL contributing to his keep? (Excuse me asking!) 

Sounds like your EF has a solid foundation 😊

KK