Oh gosh poor you, what a horrible fright. Does your mum live near you? Hopefully you're able to pop in and see her. And it's positive that they've been able to stop a potential stroke in its track, but I suspect you could have done without all the drama to get to that point.

Hope your mum is ok......what a fright you all must have got xx

Mum lives only half an hour away, so luckily I should be able to see her tomorrow for a short while. It's definitely been one of the scarier moments in life for quite some time. They always say that you worry about your kids and later on in life the roles reverse - this is definitely the case! My siblings & i have decided to buy mum some get well soon flowers, which will hopefully cheer her up. I'm quite pleased as father than using an online company I popped to the local market and got a beautiful large bouquet for £22. The £30 bouquet I'd been looking at online only had 9 flowers in it . My parents definitely are worrying us at the moment. My dad got made redundant out of the blue this morning, as his employer went into administration. On the one hand it's a blessing in disguise, as he needed to cut down his hours to get better. On the downside they now only have a small income coming in, which most probably isn't enough to live on . No idea what's going to happen. My sister and I have discussed the possibility of helping them out, which I would do in an instant, although it wouldn't be sustainable long term and would affect my debt payments. To be honest I'm not sure they'd take any money offered anyway. Not really sure what the answer is, but is nice to get it off my chest.

Finance wise I have paid £10 off CC3 today and bought DC1&2 Christmas presents in the sales. It's the Sainsbury’s half price toy sale next week and I think this year I won't bother going. I've been the last couple of years and always spend a fortune. This year I definitely don't want to spend as much and would rather not buy a load of plastic rubbish toys. I'm hoping that I can buy better toys, which are either educational or are really creative. To be completely honest the DC have enough toys to last a lifetime and I'm not even sure what I could really add. I definitely think I still feel the pressure to buy stuff and for each of them to have a decent pile of gifts to open on Christmas Day.

I've done the Sainsburys half price sale for about 6 years but I think I'll be giving it a miss this year as my youngest hasn't asked for much toys for this year plus I'm keeping my money by for the Black Friday deals as got some bargains last year.......like you my kids have toys coming out of their ears and I'm starting to realise they just don't need it all xx

Morning,

We're off out in a bit for DC3s swimming lessons and then I've got various errands to do. I'm banning DC1&2 from computers (except their online learning subscriptions) today and tomorrow, as I have noticed a real difference in their attitude once they've been on it for a while. Trying to get them to come off it after their allotted time takes me asking at least 10 times!

Over the weekend I paid £35 to CC3 and today I've sent over £15. Need to list some bits on eBay/gumtree/Facebook soon (I've been meaning to do this for a few weeks now!). I think now is the time to start sorting through the kids toys and selling bits.

I've been thinking lots about Christmas presents this year and I'm really not sure what to do. I definitely don't want the kids to have tonnes of toys, but on the other hand I do want them to have things to open. I've ordered DC1&2 the present they've been asking for from Argos. So pleased I paid online and just have to collect, as the next day the price had gone up by £10. I'd like to do more experience days type gifts, even if it's a cheap day out as a family somewhere, but not really sure how you package something like that!! I've so far avoided buying the ridiculously expensive advent calendars the DC would like. The Lego one and hatchimal ones are both £25, which would mean £50 gone just like that. I think I might do the wrapping of 24 books as an advent calendar, as it will be nice to read some books we haven't read for a while & will be nice family time. A fb page I follow mentioned this and said about wrapping library books, which I thought was a fabulous idea. Might see if I can find some hatchimal toys in the charity shop cheap and make my own calendar or if not just do the books and get a chocolate calendar.

Hi r.e advent calendars last year I made my own by using little drawstring bags with some Xmas stickers on then I put in a few Lego pieces from a small set and a chocolate coin or sweet and each day hung up the next bag. By Xmas Eve they had the full set and I gave them the instructions to make up the full model.

Not sure what I'm going to put in the bags this year though!

H x

That's a good idea Hugglemonster. Will have a look at Lego sets and compare prices. Thanks for the idea .

Yesterday was a busy day. The DC & I had the dentist in the morning and then met a friend at a local petting farm we have season tickets for. Ended up being pretty expensive, as rather than our usual cheap scone we'd have for lunch, we had a hot meal along with our friends. That set me back £30! Next time I'm definitely not going to be doing this. It was a nice treat, but completely indulgent and unnecessary. There were tears before we left, as we had a quick look in the shops. DC1&2 both wanted to buy some toys (it was pure tat!) but they didn't have enough pocket money. I stuck to my guns and said they'd have to wait until next month. It wasn't helped by my friend buying her 2 DC large toys, especially as the DC had been told earlier they wouldn't get anything as they'd been too naughty. I think I came out of it looking like a very stingy, mean mum!!

Anywho, I've paid £40 to CC3 today. Got a quieter day at home today which I'm really relieved about!

I do the book advent calendar, I pick up books from the car boot, or use ones around the house they haven't looked at recently.

I don't think you looked stingy and mean, well done for sticking to your guns!