However, purely to test the notion, and not at all because we are suddenly extremely empoverished, I decided that last weekend was to be designated a 'free' weekend.
It began with my sister-in-laws 40th birthday party. With no money to buy a present I decided to bake some cakes for her instead. Voila:
Thankfully the next day was sunny so we decided to head out on a (free) family walk to the beach. "But wouldn't it be nice if we could go out for lunch after' Disapproving Dad commented. So, instead of expensive cafes we stopped off and at the local chippie and spent a grand total of €6.60 on three large bags of chips to share. Then we sat on the rocks in the sunshine watching the waves roll in and listening to the kids trying to make sense of their big wide world - 'Mum - how did the sea get there?', 'But how does it know where to stop?', 'Do fish sleep?' 'Are there any chips left in that bag?'. And I thought to myself - maybe there's something in this after all.
But by Sunday our virtuousness was running thin. We needed kicks and only hard cash would do. Problem was this wasn't just an experiment - our total funds that evening came to €6.67. Not even close to enough for a nice dinner and a bottle of wine - even if it was in the comfort of our own home.
"What about Lily?" asked Mr. G - "she's always loaded." (It's true, she may be only six but she always seems to have some funds stashed away somewhere). "No nothing" I replied. "What?' he said, clearly incredulous, "But she always has money". At this Lily's ears pricked up. "Oh I definitely have some" she said, a little too primly for my liking. "It's in my piggy bank".
"Yes, well, you may have done last week" I managed to fluster, "but I'm afraid you owed pork tax on it...."
Sorry Lily, pay you back next week I promise. xx
I had a post office savings account as a child. You couldn't put money in until you had five pounds. Every ten weeks, when I'd saved all my fifty pences up I'd put my £5 straight in the account to stop my Dad nicking it! Maybe Kaya will grow wise and do the same soon ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy son has more ready cash than me - I'm a bit like the Queen. Lovely blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks! And now she has the evidence to bribe me with when she's older...damn blogging!
ReplyDeletehahahah.. I Love your blog and trust me many times .. i have borrowed fro the kiddos..LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteI have most definitely hit my kids up for cash before :)
ReplyDeletePhew - not the only one then...
ReplyDeleteI 'borrow' from mine as well! I can almost taste your chips on the rocks in the salty sea air, i'm going off to bed now filled with lovely memories of a childhod past and thoughts of something I must do again soon x
ReplyDeleteAw what a lovely comment!
ReplyDeletehaha! my oldest is always broke but my youngest is a virtuous saver who's always broke because we borrow from her. loving your writing voice on the blog. am following you now. would love it if you follow mine: http://www.moanasaves.com
ReplyDeleteMy oldest always has cash- I still owe him a 20 from this summer.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lovely family afternoon by the water.
Lovely blog-
Love your blog... The day on the beach sounds gorgeous - can't wait til my little one is old enough to enjoy something like that... and I can raid her piggy bank of course!
ReplyDeleteCakes are a wonderful gift and will have taken more time to make I'm sure. We have all borrowed from our children, don't worry about it. X
ReplyDelete