Keeping our options open

Well I haven't quite managed to stay away from the supermarket, but I have managed to only buy the essentials and have spent less than £5. This week has been pretty expensive as we've had to pay the balance of our holiday and I've signed up for some baby and toddler classes. I've not got long left on maternity leave now so I want to make the most of it.

Weaning starts next week so trying to get ready for that. I've lost the straps for the highchair, and after hunting high and low I have conceded defeat and ordered some replacement ones. Of course I'll now find them! I think I better join the decluttering thread! I've just got to find the blender now....let's hope I can find all the parts

I've been thinking about the feasibility of being a stay at home parent. I haven't got a burning desire to be a stay at home parent, in fact for me as a person being at work is a better option, but as my DC is about to start school I can't help shake the feeling that being a stay at home parent might be better for our family. Financially I'm not sure we could make it work as we would need to cut about £400 to £500 a month from our budget. We could potentially do this by cutting out overpayments, money off our food shopping/family days out budgets and no holidays, but to be honest if interest rates were to rise I think we'd really be struggling. Saying that I'm not sure how much financially we'll be better off by me being in work, but at least then I'm not losing my future earning potential. I just keep going round and round in circles

My payment from Quidc0 has finally cleared into my account (it took ages this time) so that's another £11 overpayment made bringing my total for the month to £127. I'm not doing too bad on my grocery spending, I had a MrT shop delivered last night and used a £9 off a £60 voucher. MrS have also sent me a batch of £9 off £60 shops so may use them later in the month. I normally easily manage to spend £60 so I'm happy to use the vouchers, I just need to make sure that I'm not spending money for the sake of spending money.

We've been having a staycation this week. I cashed in some MrT vouchers to get tickets for the zoo and managed to get a 40% off voucher for main meals at a restaurant chain nearby, so we've tried to be slightly money saving. I need to get into the habit of packing lunches for days out. I've never really been a fan of pack lunches and at the moment even getting out the front door before 9 sometimes feels like a mammoth task so I've been lazy. However I'm sure the kids would love a good picnic when the weather is nice. I've just got to find something to make that will inspire me!

Weaning is going well. The baby is loving trying food. I need to start doing some finger food as she's getting really frustrated when she sees us eating. She has been appreciative of my purees even if I haven't always blended them that well. I suppose she'll have to get used to lumps at some point anyway!

Our Legoland trip was great fun. We splashed out and stayed at the Legoland hotel (booked in advance when there was a kids go free and your second day free offer on) and my son loved the themed room. As it was off peak we didn't have to queue for my rides which is always handy when your child doesn't really get the concept of having to queue. We were lucky with the weather to. The food in the park was expensive and the usual unhealthy fayre.

We had planned on getting breakfast on the way to the park but my son woke up so grumpy when we pulled into the services we didn't bother. The baby cried most of the way home so we ended up having to stop for coffee to calm her down (it didn't work as she started crying as soon as we got back in the car...doh!). Pre-children I don't think we ever had to use a parking bay at the side of the road, but nowadays it feels like we are doing a parking bay tour of britian as it's either DC1 escaping from the straps on his car seat or DC2 crying her little heart out. I'm not looking forward to the 4hr drive when we go on holiday. DH wants to go and visit his parents later this year and that's nearly 8hrs away and to be honest when baby was crying her heart out this time I nearly said to him that I couldn't face it. The train journey is 8hrs so I can't really see that being a better option. We could fly instead but then we are stuck without any transport at the in-laws house and as they don't have any toys etc the kids get bored quickly. Oh well we've got a couple of months to sort something out