From debt to freedom...

Resisted the temptation to go to Mr T's today. DD3 had a cooking lesson so came home with a quiche she had made, which teamed nicely with a jacket potato and salad.

The plants are coming on in the greenhouse. I think the tomatoes will be ready to plant into larger pots and to start staking to a bamboo cane. The courgettes have all germinated and growing true leaves now. I could just do with a dry couple of hours to get a bed or two ready to plant the seedlings out soon.

DS1 has had an email asking him to contact someone by phone about one of the positions so he is encouraged by that. If he does get that position we will have to factor in the cost of a moped to get there as the location is really remote and there is no way he could get there by public transport. I've no idea about how much these things cost so will have to research it. DS1 does have some savings - birthday and Christmas monies that were saved when he was a baby and some from his grandfather (FIL) . I would need the ex to agree to anything spent from that. I think FIL ( deceased) would have been supportive of something that enabled work.

I had a day of mistakes yesterday! First one was going to a garden centre...particularly one that has about 5 different companies worth of seeds. I did choose mainly edible plants so have bought runner beans, mangetout, tomatoes ( different variety), sweetcorn, lettuce and cosmos. It came to a whopping £18. :eek:. The cost of seed is certainly rising. Hoping I can recoup a bit of the £18 if I can sell any of the seedlings.

Second mistake was doing the weekly shop with most of the children with me. I did menu plan before going so had a clear list. I sent DS1 off with the task of getting 4 boxes of breakfast cereal for no more than £5. He got 5 for £5.30 but I'm glad it made him look, compare and think. I ended up spending £121 :eek: where usually I might spend £80. The extras came from 2 DDs needing new sun hats and school are quite strict on this and DD3 needing ( and it was a need as she is a different size to her sisters so no hand me downs) pyjamas. The teenagers all seemed to need deodorants if various kinds! I'm also buying larger bags of dog food to accommodate feeding an extra one that is lactating. We also got a carton of puppy milk just in case. The dog is not very maternal and prefers to run around the garden given half a chance. We keep her in with the pups to make sure they are kept warm by being near her but obviously with times out to stretch her legs and run. Our old dog that had a litter of puppies ( 10 years ago) was completely devoted to them and we had trouble encouraging her out to stretch her legs. Total contrast! The carton of milk is there just in case she becomes even less maternal.

On a positive note, I've paid for DS2's camp so that's done:). Hopefully only 2 more driving lessons to pay for DD2. The driving part of her test is soon and am hoping that she will pass that. It will make such a difference to her independence and given her choice of work, will enable her to go further afield for any jobs.

DD was 17 in September, so Insorted out the license in August but I think it went through quickly because she has an up to date passport so I just had to fill in the passport number. It will be harder with DS because he has never been keen on travelling abroad for school trips so doesn't have one.

DD started lessons shortly after her birthday and had a block of 6 at an introductory rate which I included as part of her birthday present, then other family members gave her money so that she could buy another block of 10. That took us to Christmas. Unfortunately I just couldn't afford the £50 a week straight after Christmas so she resumed lessons in Feb. It is tricky because she expects me to pay but it's hard to scrape that money together. We live quite a distance from the nearest exam centre so she has to have 2 hour lessons to allow time to drive there. Unfortunately it's not where she goes to college because some instructors will pick up and drop off from college. She does go out on driving practice with her dad which I'm sure helps. If she passes next month it will 8 months from start to finish. That said her friend passed his test recently and took 3 months but I think he had prior driving experience.


DS's money is tricky because his grandfather gifted it to him 4 years before he died. It's not a huge amount but would, I think, be able to get him a moped. I would worry about the ex's reaction if I didn't check it, though I guess when he turns 18 I won't feel that compulsion as it will be in DS's control then.

Thank you for your kind words Spendless. I'm working on the principle that the best way I can raise my children to be polite and courteous is to model it myself. I try....

Busy day on Saturday. The weather was so beautiful that I was able to get 3 loads dried on the line for which I am thankful. It was too nice to stay indoors so I headed outdoors and got the runner beans, mangetout, tomatoes, cosmos, sweet corn and rudbeckia planted. The toddler got involved with planting the runner bean seeds which was just delightful. I repotted the first batch of cosmos and moved seed trays and plants to the allotment greenhouse. It's looking nicely full in there at the moment!! The lawn got mowed then baking for the tins done. This week was chocolate brownies, rock buns and vanilla muffins.

I walked the full length of the allotment today and checked on the soft fruit. The blackcurrants and gooseberries are in flower and the jostaberry continues to amaze me with its size each year.

Pay day tomorrow...lots of expenses coming up in the next few months so hoping to have as many NSDs as possible. I need to consider and plan for:-

Remaining 2 school camp fees
Uniform for one DD who starts secondary in Sept.
Overnight cost of staying near DD1 when collecting her from uni in June.
My dad's 70th birthday.
Cost of license for DS1.

I did get chance to speak with the ex on Saturday and able to make it clear that while I could budget to help with the cost of the license, I couldn't pay for a moped between now and August. I suggested the use of FIL's money and he said maybe.