Settling in for the long haul

Dakota_Rose

Big food shop has been done and it was a real haul. Great prices on the veg and meat so we rewrote our meal plan as we shopped. We were very pleased to pick up potatoes, carrots and swede for 4p a pack, and garlic for 8p. A HUGE joint of pork for £8 and another of beef for £14. Those will stretch to many meals for the five of us and will be very much enjoyed by all. I’m hoping we can avoid another big shop for a while!

It’s a beautiful bright afternoon, so little lady and I dusted the bicycles off for a cycle through the village. A couple of minutes sees us out amongst fields and there is so much to enjoy now spring is here. My tyres are a little flat I think as my legs really felt the exertion today, either that or I’m just very unfit. Still, it was a lovely way to spend an hour - a little reset for the soul.

I haven’t looked for my Easter things yet, or tackled the sale box but we have plenty of time tomorrow. I absolutely love being off work 😂

in_need_of_direction

I really didn’t enjoy or see the point of yellowface

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81945223#Comment_81945223

Fair play! That’s the thing about reading isn’t it - it’s so subjective. I’ve read some particularly renowned works as part of my degree for uni and really didn’t enjoy them at all. The group would be raving about them, while I just felt bewildered 😂

I also think it depends where I am in my own headspace as to what I choose to read or what I have capacity to enjoy. When I’m working, it’s easy reads all the way. It replaces TV as I’m usually so overstimulated by the end of a work day I can’t take the noise.

One thing I will say though is that I have massive respect for any author. I’d love to write a book, but the craft and process involved is unbelievable. Yellowface gave real glimpses into that process, which I think was part of the attraction for me.

Dakota_Rose

Well eldest is up as he has an extra session at school today in preparation for his GCSEs. He’s up, I think, to make sure he gets his fix of his PlayStation before he has to go rather than his burning desire to work🙈

I shouldn’t be too harsh. He’s not predicted to pass any/many of his exams due to both his learning challenges and significant time off with surgeries, but we are encouraging him to put the same effort others are into achieving his 3s (old fashioned Ds). This is the entry requirement for his chosen college course and he’s doing really well towards that target. He has actually exceeded this and passed 2 of his mocks so his hard work is paying off.

The plan today is to make a roast dinner for lunch - I left it too late yesterday to roast one of the enormous joints - and take a dish to mum’s afterwards. Eldest will be staying with her for a couple of nights now for company.
Mr D intends to start the work on the bathroom now he’s finished helping everyone else with their odd jobs.

Dakota_Rose

It’s been a quiet day with the highlight being our roast pork. It was lovely!

An item for sale (the dog crate) has been collected so that’s £10 in cash that I need to decide where to allocate to. I had eyed it up for family treats but I think it’s destined for the shower fund.

I’ve listed a whole storage tub of items and someone is interested in 4 of them. If they’re collected, that’ll be another £24.

And my Vinted sale has now cleared so that’s £30 going into the bank. All good news.

In not-so-good news, the shower isn’t going to be as straight forward to replace as we had hoped. The mains pipe needs adjusted or the shower will be too high and leave a gap. We think it’s a plumber job. It takes a lot for Mr D to get a tradesman in but we both want it to be safe. The £100 I had put aside for extra tools/costs is most certainly going to need a big boost. £36 had been spent on tools for Mr D to have a first go. He’ll be sensible and call for help it if it’s too much.

Rhyddid2026

You inspired me, I bought pork to roast this evening 😄

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81946831#Comment_81946831

Well you definitely deserve it! I hope you enjoyed 😊

Dakota_Rose

It’s been a fairly quiet day but some money sensible things achieved:

• Bedding washed and dried on the line (and it’s even back on the bed before bedtime - result!)
• Leftover pork and apple sauce sandwiches for lunch and dinner
• Sold some items on marketplace which were collected as promised £24 added to the home improvements pot
• Easter box retrieved from the loft. Very thankful to old me for buying some lovely Easter bits in the sale last year. Under a fiver spent and I have unpacked a new wreath, Easter lights for the twig tree, 3 felt Easter baskets and 3 sets of plastic refillable eggs for the children’s egg hunt.
• Mr D did a mini top-up as he was going out to collect his tool order anyway. Stuck to the list and spent £10 on the treats for the refillable eggs.
• It was otherwise a pj day, with a jigsaw for my entertainment and lots of toys and games for the children’s.

We stopped buying big Easter eggs for the children a couple of years ago as they usually get from Mum. They absolutely love an Easter egg hunt and we switched to small refillable eggs with a few Maltesers or Minstrels in each. I think I’ll still be doing one when they’re adults because they love it so much 😂 Mr D takes them to feed the ducks while I hide the eggs and then they come home to find their colour of eggs out in the garden (weather permitting). This year we did actually snap up a larger egg for each of them as they were cheap in Lidl. These will make a lovely prize for the end of the hunt as an extra treat.

RhiBi

I used to love doing Easter egg hunts when my kids were small. It’s really making memories isn’t it

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81948034#Comment_81948034

It is 😊 I really enjoy the seasonal traditions - it’s the little things that matter most in the end.