Amazing April Austerity.

[CremeEggThief]

Hi All,
Taking the liberty of starting a new thread, as I went to post spends on the old one and it's full.

We had a lovely day out at the seaside and visited an old lighthouse as part of it. As we rely on public transport, that's always a big part of our days out spend.
£9.60 bus fares.
£9.60 train fares (with the family railcard).
£6 lunch from Sainsburys ( £3 meal deal each).
£4.50 entrance to the lighthouse.
£7.10 coffee, hot chocolate and cookies in a café afterwards.

Oh and DS needed a haircut, which I think was £6.50.

Good plan!

After pupil's gone I think we will do a bit more work with DSD and then we're watching Maze Runner :o although would like to tidy a bit more too as I have a new family coming tomorrow to start lessons.

Thanks Cag that's a great idea that other thread. May I ask if you find that your children are very all-consuming like I do with ds? I see my friends sending their kids off to clubs and summer schools and all these things, but my ds is not like that. He never was and neither was I as a child. I'm a bit stymied because if I was in a location where there were lots of SAHMs like me and home-bird kids for him to play with in the street it would be easier and I could take time to enjoy my writing work, but I'm not. I'm often ds's only playmate for days at a time in the holidays. It means that taking time for myself and my little bit of work is very hard indeed, even though I do want it.

I'm not sure really Ipsos - I guess in a way it's different as my 2 play together a lot so I am involved less in entertaining them oddly I find that they are much easier now they're not at school

However it definitely depends on the child - if DD is without anyone to play with, she is very demanding of my attention, gets upset etc, but if DS is, he's quite happy fiddling with his many Transformers if I'm busy.

That's interesting to know then. I only have one so he has no option but playing alone if I am busy. He's definitely one to like company. I thought he would play independently but he's a real talker unless parked in front of a computer game. I used to let him have a lot of screen time to get me a bit of quiet but that turned out to be a bad idea for his social development.

We're lucky to have two only children in next door houses, even when they are here I have to sort of facilitate as they are much older.

Ipos my 5yr old is amazing at playing by himself I get so much done when its just me and him but then feel bad as should have spent some time playing with him. He went to holiday club yesterday n today, next 2days dh us off with him so I pickedf him up and on way back in car he says ha ha you have to go to work tommorow I said where do you think I have been last 2 days answer was at home doing stuff - oh how I wish I had we then had a discussion about how he never goes to holiday club if one of us can be off with him which turnedf into why his 16mth old brother still gets ,sent too nursery (coz we pay for it and he may as well go to maintain routine, we have time with ds1 on Hus own) blimey conversations you have to have

Gosh lots of food for thought. I hope it helps everyone talking thinks through cos it's really interesting.
£50 on dinner, £30 on legoland toys, £44 fuel, Home tomorrow via nt or eh.

Hope you all enjoyed Lego land, Babs. Safe journey home.

My dd has always been pretty good at entertaining herself, I find if I spend an hour or so doing something with her i.e. baking, a puzzle or game she will then quite happily poodle off and play by herself for a while. Today when we got back from trampolining she played with her moshi monsters in her bedroom for 2 hours! I have never been one to get involved with playing with her toys or anything though that to me would just be weird I also think its fine for kids to get bored from time to time and not be entertained constantly!

It def gets easier as they get older though, 5yo is still pretty young. In the last couple of years dd has been allowed to play out on the street in front of the flat with her friend who lives a few doors down. They have a smallish tree to climb and will play out for hours in the summer

Is anyone else a member of the 'FMFOAB budget matters' fb page? Lots of people on there seem to be getting amazing yellow sticker bargains! I think I need to start popping into the supermarkets in the evenings

This thread moves so fast again
£10.40 at sewing shop for fabric and thread plus £5 deposit for sewing classes which start next month; £3.50 at low cost shop which sells similar items to Approved Foods site
Also did a tip run, took ds for eye test and all dc to Lego club at the local library
Prawn curry, rice and homemade naan bread for dh and dss and homemade pizza for the rest of the family with coffee and walnut cake for pudding

dont I'm so sorry about the job. Your boss sounds hideous. If there's form can you make a formal complaint?

nothing wrong with holiday camps ipsos. are you sure your son wouldn't like it? It's about finding the right one for him. My son doesn't really do football. First couple of years of school when we needed holiday club help he had no choice but go to football camp. This year we found a camp that does all sorts and its been great. Last week he was at tennis camp. He's not great at it but it was fine. Much better than football in his opinion. His sister went to multi sports.

£4.50 lunch coz I didn't have leftovers.

See ipsos now I just want to know even more. I know nothing almost nothing about science. I know the basics enough to scrape a c at GCSEs but it frightens me a bit. (Don't worry I do believe in science. I'm definetly not one of those crazies...! I know and trust in science. And those who live breathe understand and make it work).

eva no the sausages aren't homemade. They were ones we bought the last time we went to France and brought back on the boat with us (jerseys only an hour away so as long as we have a cooler things travel fine). They are the best thing ever spicy and warming and delicious. I've never seen them here in the shops or butchers but if you find them get them. They're so good. Great on the BBQ. Or in stews. Incidentally if you're ever in st Malo, there's a great Moroccan restaurant there. They serve them with everything from aperitifs, on pizza with pasta...and dried with coffee wierd

cag enjoy maze runner. I thought it was good. Wierd but good.

lucsy yum! Sausagey bolognaise sounds delish

Thanks for all the thoughts on children playing. I think you're have to meet my ds to understand, or possibly my FIL as they are very similar.

Em I love that you are interested in science and slightly afraid of it. I feel the same about the law and lawyers, so we may be a perfect match. Maybe we could swap anecdotes to fill each other in along the way.

Just popping on before bed (will read PM tomorrow Ipsos hope you don't think me rude!) with spends:

£4.60 bus, that's it :)

I really really liked the Maze Runner! And it's been nice to bond a bit more with DSD (it's her sister who is here more) - lots of chatting and recommending of dystopian fiction :o

I should've gotten up 40 mins ago but I've been catching up on here. It's cold & rain is beating off the velux Windows.

Eva returning everything to Penneys is brill. I returned the two skirts I bought last week & felt empowered
Don't that's horrible, can you raise the issue with someone?

Frugal news my cleaner can't come this week so that's €45 saved

€30 stamp duty on two cards here eva I will only have one card next year though as I'm reducing my balances all the time. It's slow but I get more satisfaction from paying money off them than spending

I'm up and ready for another day. If I'm honest I'm feeling totally drained at the thought of going back to work today. I'm only in 3 hours. But I just feel yak if I'm honest. I definitely need to get hold of HR and find out where I stand. Request an actual copy of the reference so I can go through it with my own eyes. There are a couple other things I need to chase up. I know this is totally going to drain me if I follow it all through.

Great work with the yellow stickers lucsy. I go to a 24 hr supermarket and they are often reducing things at 8am. I find the fruit in particular is usually perfectly fine and will last a few more days, even if it's a bit overripe it can often be used for baking.
Didn't get to Aldi yesterday as I had no energy and couldn't face it, my knees had swollen again. Feel a thousand times better today so will give it another go. Also going to the library.
Re children playing, DD is only 2 so does need quite a lot of attention but the tv will entertain her long enough for me to make lunch or something. I usually put it on for half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon too so I can sit down and have a brew, otherwise I feel like a children's entertainer all day and that's exhausting! I feel bad using tv to grab a bit of peace but I think it actually helps me to be more energetic and patient the rest of the day as I've had a bit of time out.

Haven't had a chance to catch up. Spent £38 yesterday went to Kent life and then to zizzi's for dinner. They truly messed up so have us money off our bill (Ham on a vegan pizza/ hour and a half wait for mains/pizza instead of pasta).

Today should be a nsd.

Well
What a spendy week!
Took mum shopping on Tuesday and spent £15 in lush
Then car parking and a coffee too
Yesterday took kids to macdonalds and cinema - £40!!
We are having a pj day today!
I also ordered £30 of stuff in the h and m sale but some of it may go back if I don't like it
I'm awaiting 2 refunds from Amazon which will total £27

You are allowed a spendy week once in a while Badders. The cinema is so expensive isn't it?

Ham on a vegan pizza is outrageously bad Wreck.

Don't, definitely get a copy of the reference, for your own piece of mind. I know it takes a lot of energy to fight things like this, but it may happen to someone else if you don't. I sometimes think we don't kick up enough fuss as a nation, and accept far too much.

Ipsos You post reads like you do actually know you need a break, that some space is extremely valuable to your mental and physical health, and that you would benefit greatly from it. Make me feel sad for you actually as you matter too. I think again, you have already kind of decided your DS is not the sort of child to enjoy clubs and activities independently (your posts always kind of put reasons NOT rather than reasons FOR). True, football or soft play might not be his thing, but my two also did a gentle art class, and DS got a lot from a board games club (he's more introverted than DD), the kids that attended were all similar in temperament. Of course you know your child best, and I am not telling you what to do, but you and your DS might both benefit from not being together in such a concentrated way. Again, my post is written with good intention.

£20 pair of black jodphurs for DD.
£xx M&S as I have some vouchers to use.
£xx camping shop as again I have a voucher to use.

I just had a really useful discussion with dh and ds. I think a lot of my tiredness comes from having to be endlessly patient because ds tends to use a baby voice and play acting and pulling faces to communicate with me rather than just speaking to me properly. He is also exhausted by me because I tend to shout when frustrated rather than being assertive and communicating well. We've agreed to both try to use words to say what we are feeling in the hope that everyone will be less tired and frazzled. I still have no idea whether to keep the writing job, but that's one thing improved.

From a frugaleering point of view it would obviously help if poor family communication was not exhausting me to the point where I can't take paid work.

Need I hadn't thought about art class or board game classes. I didn't know those existed. I'll look into that. Thanks. Everything around here seems to be all argy bargy stuff.

Spendy day! MOT and Service is due. I'll be surprised if the car doesn't need new suspensiony things or new tyres

DS had forest school yesterday. He loves it! Totally worth the money.

Ipsos, the art class was run by a local gallery, it was about £8/10 I recall, but very low numbers, run by a local artist. It was very gentle and lovely. Some of the work DD produced was lovely and we have it framed and in our hall.

The board games club was for all ages, with a view to the older ones staying all day and moving up to the 'strategy' war games about WW2 etc. Younger ones, much much less so. But the character of the kids there vastly different to those that went to the football camps

I would shout in frustration too in those circumstances