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
