Mighty Money Savers

I am trying to get back in to menu planning after a week of illness, so here is this week's menu plan.  Only till Thursday as we are off to London on Friday afternoon for some family fun. Monday  Chicken soup with dumplings (using leftover roast chicken) Tuesday Homemade fish, chips and mushy peas Wednesday Homemade pizza and garlic bread Thursday Baked potatoes with beans and cheese What is on your plan for this week?

Recent research by  My Voucher Codes  has shown that 38% of 18-24 year olds have sent an inappropriate selfie.   Compare this to the fact that 87% of the parents asked who said that they  didn't  think this is something their  child  would do. The sort of selfies my boys take!  So why the disparity? What worried me about these statistics as a Mum was that this was kids who had SENT an  inappropriate  selfie, not taken one or had one on  their  phone.  When I was growing up photographs were something that were taken on film and sent away to be processed, so there was no way you would take an  inappropriate  picture!  The  only  alternative was a  polaroid  camera and the film was  prohibitively  expensive.  Then there was also the fact that it wasn't so easy to share pictures when I was younger, there was no facebook, Instagram or Snapchat and once the negative and image was destroyed it was gone forever.  Nothing that goes on the internet ever disappear

My Colour choice by mum-themadhouse featuring a gray armchair

My boys went back to school this week and I can not believe that they are in Year 4 and Year 5.  It only seems like yesterday that we were bringing each one of them home from the hospital in their car seats. I often wish there was a manual for parenting, that there was a book I could look at or better still I could do a google search and get the answer I am looking for.  Another thing that I really wish someone would invent is a way to bottle up the memories and slow time. I look at those boys now, who seem to be getting bigger by the moment and are currently eating for England and are bottomless and I still remember the fear and concern I had at them being able to carry their tray and cut up their food at school lunch.  I have never been concerned about learning in a typical sense, more their manners and their pastoral care. This year Maxi is a lunchtime buddy and for 15 minutes each lunchtime he helps the reception class with their meals, carrying their tray and cutti

If you had to give just one thrifty tip for family living what would it be?  This is something that  Scottish Friendly asked me.  They are currently encouraging people to share their #ThriftyFamily tips with them on twitter  with the chance to win £100. Scottish Friendly launched the #ThriftyFamily campaign with Louie Spence this week. Over the coming weeks Louie will demonstrate some of his favourite money saving tips with a series of videos. These videos will be posted daily via Scottish Friendly’s Vine, Instagram and YouTube accounts. The best tip will be awarded with a £100 My Rewards card prize at a glittering online ceremony on 25 th September (full Ts & Cs here ).     I thought long and hard about this and I have loads of thrifty family tips.   One would be to  always use cash .   Another would be to always plan your purchases . Meal planning was high on the list. Never shopping when you are hungry would be in my top ten too. Second hand is