Weekly Meal Plan Week 4 2017 - Plus Top Tips on How to Save Money on your Weekly Shop

Hello and welcome to my weekly meal plan for week 4 of 2017.

I was recently asked how I save money on my weekly shopping and as saving money and meal planning goes hand in hand I thought that this would be the perfect post to write about my top tips. Feeding a family can be one of the biggest expenses each month. It is so easy, whilst shopping, to be drawn in by 'special offers' and 'multibuys' which often result in unnecessary items being thrown into the trolley. Believe me we have done this on many a shopping trip and what was meant to be a small shop ended up being a trolley full and numerous pounds more than we wanted to spend. There are a number of small changes that can be made to help you save money, reduce your food waste and be more of a savvy shopper.

Here are my top tips for cutting your shopping expenses...

York - #ShopInYork

This winter has seen some awful flooding to our favourite city, York. As a city York holds so many memories for us as a couple. We were married there, enjoyed many a break there and definitely enjoyed many shopping trips to York. During hard times like York has had makes it even more important that we support our local cities.

As a shopping, eating and culture destination York is the perfect city. It has a fantastic mixture of modern and traditional shops, mainstream restaurants and little hideaways that are a must visit. We love to walk down the shambles, visiting both shops and eateries on Stonegate. As well as the shops there are also the sightseeing views of Clifton Tower, York Minster and The Railway Museum, which is free to visit!

Back to School and Back to Routine!

Yay!!!
It is that time of year. At last, it's back to school day!!!
Please don't get me wrong. It has been lovely to have Joseph at home but the last week has been a tough one and it is going to be nice to have a routine to set my mind to.
This morning Joseph was absolutely full of beans! He was so excited to go back to school and see all of his friends. I am lucky to be able to say, so far, touch wood, I have never had a problem getting Joseph to go to school. He was up and ready to go!
This morning I took him to school in the car so that me and the twins could continue on out to do a spot of shopping. I decided to be brave and park near to school and walk down with the twins holding my hands. They were little stars! I felt so proud of them they both held my hand and walked to the playground, they stood with me whilst we watched Joseph go into school. They even waved to him which was so adorable to see. I looked at them and realised that just over the 6 weeks holidays they have developed so much and are learning about the world around them. I think that they will miss Joseph a bit. I know that I will miss having a little helper around!
After we had a steady walk back to the car off we went to have a walk around the shops and buy a few bits. I had not planned to go out this morning but our chickens have got red mites so we needed something to clean their coop. It was hubby's idea for me to go out. Admittedly I wasn't keen to start with but once we got out I felt so much better. It was lovely to just be out with the twins, strolling around and forgetting all of my worries. After a bad nights sleep the fresh air has done me the world of good! Sometime I think my hubby knows what I need more than I know myself!
I have been trying to keep myself busy to keep my mind off things. This is ok for a while and then something will make me think of my grandad or remind me of him and I go crashing down. But each day that goes by I am having less of these moments. This doesn't mean its getting easier, it just means that I am learning to cope better with my grief. However I know the hardest day is yet to come. So until then I will continue as I am and tackle that hurdle when it comes.
As we all keep saying, one day at a time.
Thankfully, today has started well.

Family Friday

Today did not go as planned but has still been a good, quality, family day.
We went over to see my nanna and grandad. Unfortunately it was not a good morning for my grandad so lunch was called off. However we did spend a lovely couple of hours with them. I love seeing their faces when they are with the children. You can see in their eyes how much they mean to them and how much having that time with them means.
After our visit we went to collect my new glasses, which I love! When I first put them on it was like putting on a pair of beer goggles! The floor moved as I looked up and down much I felt quite dizzy. After wearing them for a couple of hours the difference in my vision is evident. How did I cope not wearing glasses? I think that I just go t used to my level of vision and got used to seeing things as I was. It is only when you see things better you realise how bad it was.
We took the children for their first walk around a shop. We had never taken them out without the pushchair, but today we were feeling brave. We took them for a walk around Toys R Us. They went mad when they saw the toys! Everything that had Minnie Mouse on Isabella immediately went to and the same for Taylor with Thomas the Tank.
All we heard from Isabella was
"Minnie, Minnie"
"Peppa, Peppa" (Peppa Pig)
"Yo, Ho, Ho" (Jake & the Neverland Pirates)
"Stuffin, Stuffin" (Doc McStuffins)
She did not know where to go to first.
Whereas Taylor knew exactly what he wanted to see. Thomas the Tank and he told us
"Choo, Choo"
In fact he did not want to leave. When hubby told him we were going he plonked his bum on the floor in protest and wouldn't walk. He was with Thomas toys galore!
We had a great day, spending time together as a family, enjoying being the five of us together.
Once the children were in bed it was time for date night. Movie, snacks and a bottle of wine.
What a perfect end to a quality family day.

Spoiling the Kiddies to Stress in the Car Park

Hubby likes to say that it is my fault that the children got treats yesterday.
But if he is honest, Taylor melted his heart!
Of course if we buy for one that ends up in buying for three!
Yesterday we decided to go out to our local retail park. Hubby is making a lot of changes in our garden and wanted to look for some screening. As soon as we got there Joseph wanted to use the toilet so I suggested going into the toy shop so that he could use theirs. I thought we'd have a quick walk round, look at a few toys, get ideas for Joseph's birthday and Christmas. What we were not expecting was Taylor's reaction to seeing a Thomas the Tank toy. As soon as he saw the toy that hubby was showing him, his face lit up and he grabbed it saying
"ta, ta"
"choo choo, choo choo"
He did not want to let it go!
We have recently noticed that Taylor is trying to say more and more. So as soon as we heard choo choo we were so proud. The more he said it the more proud we felt and we knew that this would be a toy that he would love. We cannot just buy for one so we told Joseph that he could pick something too. After picking up various toys he eventually settled with a Skylander Giant that he is missing from his collection. Unfortunately all of the toys that we knew Isabella would like were more than we really wanted to spend. So we decided to go to the supermarket to have a look.
When we go we normally park in the parent and child parking spaces as they usually keep the twin trolleys there and getting three children out of the car we need the additional space. When we drove in there were was someone leaving one of the spaces but there was a man in his 50's waiting for the space. Yes he had, what looked to be, his child with him. However his child looked to be about 17 years old! I don't think he quite got the concept of parent and child parking! So I didn't hide the fact that I wasn't happy. He saw me looking and tried to say that his child was in the store. I did later see him inside and yes he was still without a small child. We got parked up, in a regular parking space, and walked over to get a trolley. When we got the where the twin trolleys are kept we were shocked to see that there were plenty of single seat trolleys but no twin ones. The hunt began! We went back to the other end of the store to see if any had been left there, yet again, plenty of single seat ones. Hubby went off to search the car park for a trolley. If I was on my own I would have left without doing my shopping, all because there were no trolleys that could accommodate my children. Surely the majority of family shoppers have more than one child. Or are there only a few families that actually take their children shopping with them? I felt quite discriminated against. Luckily hubby found one in the car park. While I saw waiting for hubby to return I saw 2 ladies walking to their car with a trolley full of alcohol. Where was their car parked? Yes, you've guessed it, in the parent and child space. As they were filling their boot I was shaking my head at the trolley situation when I heard
"what are you shaking your head at?"
So I look and yes she was talking to me, so I snapped back
"what is your problem? I was not shaking my head at you!"
What I really wanted to say was
"I wasn't shaking my head at you but come to think of it I should be shaking my head at you! That's a parent and child space, where your child? Do you realise how hard it is with more than one child? No, you're just too lazy to park further away, inconsiderate people like you drive so many parents mad"
That's the nice way I would have put it! But I didn't lower myself to their level but she obviously had a guilt complex and knew that she was in the wrong.
As we couldn't find a toy for Isabella we settled on some Minnie Mouse clothes, which she was over the moon with and kept shouting
"Minnie, Minnie!"
Even though we had the stress in the car park and spent way more than we had planned it is all worth it when we see our three children enjoying their treats!

Summer Holiday Challenge

So we are nearly at the end of the first week of the long summer holidays.
I will admit keeping 3 children occupied is a challenge particularly now the twins have discovered their talent for climbing. When they are not in their chairs I need eyes in the back of my head. They have absolutely no sense of fear but mine has doubled! The barricade that I made to protect the television has become a climbing frame in their minds. As soon as they see the coast is clear they are up. I feel that I am constantly saying "Isabella, get down, Taylor, get down". Taylor, most times, does get down but Isabella is developing quite a defiant personality. She just looks at us as if to say "and what are you gonna do about it?" so I can see little miss becoming a hand full!
Even though I am running ragged after the kids there are moments that just make me beam. We had one of those moments today.
I dared to go to tesco this morning for some bargain bubble bath that I saw on offer yesterday and we decided to try the scan as you shop gadget to save a bit of time. We were also in tesco yesterday and I left swearing that we would not go again! But the offer was too good to miss, so back we went. I let Joseph control the scanner and it worked a treat. It kept him busy and happy. But what I wasn't expecting was the twins reaction to a simple beep. They were in hysterics. Every time Joseph scanned an item and the machine beeped, they were in fits of giggles. People were stopping in the aisle watching them they were chuckling so loud. This time, our trip to the shops, was fun.
On the way home Taylor had fallen asleep and Isabella was just starting to fall asleep. If Taylor falls asleep I can easily get him into the pushchair asleep, but Isabella is a different matter so I try to keep her awake. Singing "Old MacDonald" is always a winner. So I got Joseph to sing to her. Half way through he shouts "come on mum, help me out!" this made me smile so much, how could I refuse? So we sang all the way home with Isabella joining in on the "ee i ee i o" part and Taylor slept through it all.