I’ve had the Too Good to Go app on my phone for a while and have had the good intentions to use it but just haven’t gotten around to it until recently. We are once again shaking up our finances and finding ways to save money and reduce our outgoings. Over the last 18 months or so takeaways and small £30-40 shops have increased and it’s gotten a bit out of control. One of the things we thought would be a good meet in the middle would be to try using Too Good to Go more often as it allows us to have some treats at a cheap price and save food going to waste from retailers.
What is Too Good To Go
It’s an App available on the App Store (for iPhone users – I’m sure there is an android version too) which brings the local community and retailers together to help reduce food waste. Retailers, such as Costa, Starbucks and M&S will put together ‘Magic’ bags of reduced food at the end of the day at a huge discount. There are limited quantities each day and the app has different offers throughout the day so it’s worth checking regularly. Over the last week we’ve tried three different retailers to get a feel for the sort of thing included. The App is easy to use, you can pay with Apple Pay and it will even link you to Google maps so you can triple check the location of the store. It’s really handy to use, very effecient and a really good idea. I hope more retailers come to use it because it could benefit so many people that are going to struggle to afford food this winter. The great thing is its mostly ready made food that doesn’t require cooking but the thing you might not like is the fact that you can’t choose what you get and it might not be to your taste or contain allergens. It’s a great thing if you don’t mind what you’re going to get though! The Too Good to Go App is free to download and free to sign up to. Registration is easy. Below is a simple screenshot of the App with the first step of how it works.
Basically, if you like to hunt down a bargain in the reduced section of the supermarket then this app is a must have. We all know food has a ‘sell by’ date but that doesn’t mean it isn’t safe to eat the same or even sometimes the next day and some things can readily be frozen. This app helps make bargain hunting for these reduced items really simple and can really help make lunches affordable.
Our Experience using Too Good to Go
We’ve now used Too Good to Go for three different retailers so far recently and have had a really good experience. Each ‘magic bag’ from Too Good to Go has been less than £5 and has provided more than enough lunch and treats for my family. I would really like to try a bag from a supermarket as I’ve seen M&S and Morrisons use the app to help reduce food waste. I have gotten a bag from Costa which had two toasties and two muffins, a bag from Greggs which had two sandwiches, a slice, a pastry and two chelsea buns, and a box from a local bakery which had about five fancy cupcakes. I have been really impressed with the quality of the food.
Our Magic Bag from Greggs using the Too Good To Go App
Another magic box using the Too Good to Go App from a local Bakeaway
A quick and easy lunch thanks to the Costa magic bag
So this is a lot of baked goods which, okay, might not be brilliant to consume on a daily basis which is why I’m keen to see what supermarkets include in their magic bags as I think that could help add some versatility to meals and recipes, or encourage people to try things they might not have done so before. Having sandwiches included is such a good idea as that covers lunch the next day and doesn’t require cooking. I just think we are probably in for a harsh winter and apps like this can help families or even young people, students for example; that are struggling to afford all the things. Too Good To Go is helping to provide food for people from places many would consider a luxury to have on a regular basis.
The Sustainability of Reducing Food Waste
Food waste is a massive issue for sustainability. We throw away way too much food and in a climate where the governement doesn’t care about providing primary school children with lunch families are going to struggle more than ever. I’ve talked before about people not only being financially poor but also time poor and living in a state of relative poverty which means they might not be able to afford to fuel their kitchen this winter. Apps like this and places that offer a solution to reducing food waste alongside providing food at a hugely discounted rate working in partnership is a great thing for sustainability and helping those in poverty. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again but nothing is sustainable unless it is completely inclusive of people in poverty. The more people that use the app, the more businesses will partnership and the more accessible and available food will become to those that need it and hopefully we will see a reduction in food waste.
In terms of packaging the only things that were wrapped in plastic were the sandwiches and toasties. Everything else was in paper bags or boxes.
Final Fantasy games are some of my absolute favourite video games of all time but I’ve never tried the online MMO versions of the games. Final Fantasy 14 is one such that I hadn’t tried before but when we got our PS5 earlier in the year I decided to give it a try. I think I got the starter pack which included a free trial as well as the main base game and all the expansions up to Shadowbringers. I’ve since preordered the next installment – Endwalker – which comes out in November. I have no experience with MMO games like this, so I didn’t really know what I was getting into and it was a pretty steep learning curve. I don’t consider myself bad at video games but I’ve never really had to play with other people before and for the most part it’s been pretty fun.
I think I started playing in May but it took me a *very* long time to actually get into it and I’ve certainly made some mistakes along the way. It’s been a good view months of playtime now for me and I’ve finished the main story quest, have joined in on some endgame raid content with other players – discord has been really helpful for this and I’ve started levelling up all my crafters/gatherers. I have a nice collection of mounts and minions too. I don’t have a lot of money – crafting can be a pricey part of the game if you want to level up quickly rather than *actually* crafting the stuff you need (Oops) but you know I’ve had a really lovely time. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so into a game for such a long time. I think maybe six or so weeks is my limit but Final Fantasy 14 offers so much content, so many things to do and collect that it has kept me interested. I also actually really love the social side of playing this MMO game. I wasn’t sure at first and it took me a very long time to start speaking with others and regularly joining in on content – mostly because I wasn’t levelled up enough to join in.
I’ve changed my character’s aesthetic and job/class a few times. I mostly played the game as a Warrior but have since switched my main to Machinist.
I can easily see why some people have been playing the game for years and I am really loving all the buzz and excitement about Endwalker coming out next month. There are tons of new players on the server, the game I believe has become the most profitable of the Final Fantasy franchise and I can see just why people love to keep playing. It’s fun, it’s full of emotion, the story is great – particularly post level 50, and as I said there is just so much to do. Even at this point so many months in I have loads of side quests left to do, a whole bunch of jobs/classes to level up and still haven’t unlocked every dungeon and raid in the game.
The game starts off with making your avatar or character and there is a bunch of different customisations you can make. I went with a female Au Ra which is a sort of human-dragon hybrid with a tail and selected the job Arcanist as I usually like to be a magic caster but I quickly found out that dungeons require you to play with other people and you need to do them to progress the story. As a magic caster, a DPS (damage per second) role, which is very popular and has lengthy queue times, I kind of got stuck and changed my role to Marauder which later turned to Warrior and became a tank player. This is where I really learned to play the game and basically I messed up a lot of the time and probably made some people pretty annoyed. Thankfully, someone took some time to teach me how to play it and I had a much easier time in later levels.
As you can see I take the social part of the game very seriously. This was taken by another FC member whilst we were waiting for a raid to unlock. I am small in the game, not the smallest, but small, so my mounts are always smaller than other peoples.
As you progress through the story and unlock more areas (this game is huge!) you unlock more jobs and roles to play. My main job now is back being a DPS because honestly that is what I do best and have become a Machinist. I feel like it’s probably the role I know the best now and can manage to play relatively well. The introduction of Trust parties (NPC dungeons) at higher levels helps limit queue times although the dungeons do take longer and I have picked up some mechanics for certain fights relatively easily. Being in a Free Company (a guild as such) has been really good. There are a lot of members but everyone is pretty chilled and there are regular runs for high level content, help with getting in game mounts and all sorts. I really like it, the people are friendly and helpful which makes all the difference with a game like this.
I don’t know how long I’ll keep playing the game for but I haven’t gotten bored yet which is a good thing for me!
I can’t quite believe I have a three year old. Doesn’t every parent say that on their child’s birthday though? Just three years ago we were on our way to hospital which would eventually lead to c-section number two for me, but with the support of Adam and my Doula Sophie and the obsetrician team at Basingstoke hospital Felix came into the world angry and purple. When we had him three years ago we didn’t expect to have to parent the way we have especially over the last 18 months of the c19 pandemic which is half his life. It’s a long time for a little person and it’s been really hard not being able to spend as much time with friends and family in his early years as we normally would have. To celebrate we brought our families together for a windy, and slightly, wet day out at the Hawk Conservancy Trust which was really nice. We had a lot of fun watching the birds flying around and spending time together.
Felix has also just moved up a group class at nursery which he started back in June. It’s been tough as he didn’t have a very consistent few months and was constantly having to take time off because of covid restrictions. However, for the last six weeks he’s settled in really well and has been having a great time at nursery. It’s been nice reading about how he’s doing even though its not been every week. One of the things we worried about most was the fact that he hadn’t had the chance to interact with many other children and we wanted to provide a way for him to do that, make friends and have some seperation from us. It’s been really good for all of us I think and has helped create a bit more of a weekly routine.
I have especially noticed a huge jump in his speech over the last month or so where he is saying words, phrases and sentances and having more of a conversation with us. Things like “Oh let me see” “Let me have a try” and “I go in the lift” are just a few that comes to mind. He fills his sentances with a lot of baby jargon and will give his toys voices and characters when playing which is really lovely to watch. He also loves to draw and colour, mostly on Procreate on my iPad but we’ve also got him his own box of colouring pencils and crayons now for him to be artistic. He doesn’t really enjoy certain textures or messy play with his hands so I’m starting to notice some sensory reluctance for him. He seems to love things like kinetic sand and playdoh but does not like sticky/slimy textures. He loves being in the water and his confidence when swimming has really improved. I want to take him much more.
We are thinking as well now he’s three to look at a physical activity he can get involved in regularly like tumble tots, gymnastics or dance classes. I wish I had found something for Evie early on like this as it would have been great for her but co-parenting with someone 100 miles away made it quite difficult with stuff on the weekends as it wouldn’t have been consistent. I don’t have that issue with Felix so it’s something I want to seriously consider looking into over the next month or so and enroll him in before we are allocated extra hours for nusery. My hope is it will give him a little more structure and routine during the week and increase his confidence, expression and find a love of movement.
Anyway, a very happy third birthday to my little man. I’m so thrilled to celebrate you.
I recently read an article about how Britain is facing a ‘Baby Shortage’ which is predicted to lead to ‘economic stagnation’ due to the fact there will be an increase in the amount of people retired vs the amount of people in work. An aging population, a decline in the amount of births, I suppose, means less products for the machine to keep the economy going. You can read the whole article via The Guardian and the reports from Social Market Foundation Thinktank who are trying to think of ways to encourage people to have children. It’s comparing data since the 1960’s post war baby boom to today and predicting by 2050, a quarter of Britons will be 65+ and either working less or retired (if, by that point, we can actually afford to stop working). Suggestions include improving childcare as it can be very unaffordable, and creating a cross government taskfosk to improve pronatalist policies to improve the amount of children per woman back to 2.1 which helps keep the economy at a ‘stable level’ apparently. So what should they do? What would encourage you to have more children or start a family? What puts you off?
Raising a family is a personal choice and should never be forced or women made responsible for expanding the population
What the government should NOT do under any circumstance
Do Not Ban Abortions
I am fully supportive of women that want or need to have safe abortions for whatever reason they choose. I do not believe in banning abortions under any circumstance. This would be an awful suggestion following in the footsteps of the US which has seen more and more states increase abortion bans. This is a violation of womens rights and bodily autonomy. It is a possibly I am sure many ministers would approve but I would hope that the majority of MP’s would oppose such a horrific proposal. Everyone deserves the option to seek safe medical care and that includes the allowance of abortions. Having children is a lifechanging decision and the reasons women have abortions are varied, can be complex and, quite frankly are no one else’s business. This will not help improve things but instead it will see more children in care, more children in foster homes and, more peri and post natal mental health issues.
Continue raising taxes and national insurance for low income workers
The recent tax and national insurance hike will dramatically affect a couple’s want to start a family. Now there is the two children limit on benefits, bedroom tax and minimum wage not near enough a genuine living wage having children is more expensive than ever. I’ll touch on childcare later on in this post but childcare provisions for low income workers in receipt of Universal Credit doesn’t start until the child is two years three months, yet statutory maternity pay ends at 9 months. Wages aren’t going up fast enough but the cost of living is rising expotentially. Many women make a tough choice about returning to work before their child is one and the money earned to childcare ratio is simply not good enough and with employers not willing to consider part time, job share and flexi working its a real problem. And it’s not just childcare either, it’s the donations to nurseries and schools, the uniform, the bags, the shoes, the food…it all costs money. Some people can’t afford to have children, some don’t want to have children until their in a much more stable place financially, and that’s often older. Some people just don’t want children at all, and some parents are just happy to have the one because that completes their family or, they may have had to access fertility treatment and can’t afford or can’t go through the process again. The same way many women choose to have abortions, many couples and women choose not to have children and this needs to be respected. However, it can’t be ignored that lack of financial stability is a factor when deciding to start a family.
What things would genuinely help to improve couples wanting to expand and increase their families?
Childcare Provision
The think tank was not wrong suggesting better childcare would help improve the birthrate. Childcare is expensive and as I said above there is a shortfall of help from the end of maternity leave to the start of government funded hours. I believe tax free childcare might help some parents if the workplace is signed on to the scheme but personally I have never found that to be particularly competitive when working a full time job as it does not even nearly cover the amount of hours needed to enroll a child in full time nursery. Potentially it could help cover costs if you have grandparents help but it works out at every £8 you pay for childcare, the government would pay £2. Childcare is around £55-60 per day in my local area, that’s approx £1,300 per month. A tax free £500 every three months might help but it certainly isn’t good enough. For those on benefits the assistance with childcare and claim up to 85% of your childcare costs depending on income. So in retrospect for lower income workers there is help out there but there is also a lot of shame and stigma around claiming benefits and there are a lot of hoops to jump through in order to get the amount entitled to.
I think funded hours should be brought in for working parents much earlier than two years three months (low income) and three years three months (everyone else) to make it more affordable, rather than the tax free childcare scheme which on paper doesn’t really look very helpful.
Statutory leave for parents is awful, particularly for new dads or partners eligible for paternity leave. It’s a reduction in pay and a lot of pressure for parents to get back to work straight away. I would like to see maternity leave increased from nine months to twelve months and the pay increased to a full wage for the first six months and reduced to 85% (the current stat pay) from six to twelve months. Paternity leave should be extended to a minimum of six weeks and should be paid at full pay for the first two weeks and at 85% for the remaining four weeks. Those initial six weeks at home with your newborn are crucial for bonding, establishing breastfeeding, adjusting to new family life and offering your partner much needed support.
Birth can be beautiful but it can also be traumatic and 25% of first time births happen via c-section ie. major abdominal surgery which takes 12 weeks to fully recover from. At day ten when Adam went back to work I was still struggling to move around, get myself out of the bath and lay comfortably in bed. Recovery time varies but I bet I’d recover a lot better if I hadn’t had to do a 40 minute school run, and try and look after all of us whilst my partner worked nights and attended university. I know our circumstances were unique but I felt a lot of pressure to recover quickly despite having complex surgery, loosing a lot of blood and having a newborn to look after not to mention all the post natal feelings. We talk alot about increasing breast feeding support, something I really struggled with, but perhaps if partners were at home to help for six weeks then mothers could establish breastfeeding and we’d see those statistics raise too because they could just focus on that rather than the home, the school run, and all the other things that are expected of the parent that stays home.
Flexible Working
I understand that new government plans are enabling workers to ask for flexible working from day one, and if anything this pandemic has taught us that parents can work flexibly, from home, around homeschooling, during a time of national crisis. However, I just don’t see all employers allowing it to happen despite the cost effectiveness flexi working can bring both employers and workers. Honestly, it has a really good affect on morale, productivity, helps cut carbon emissions, office costs etc however flexi working does not mean a lack of pay because when you work from home you’re transferring energy costs back to the worker. But Flexible working doesn’t just mean having to work from home. It could be changing the traditional working week, introducing job shares. Pregnant then screwed is a great campaigning website to help parents get fair treatment and rights post starting a family in the workplace particularly if you’ve faced parental or maternity discrimination.
Recent research has suggested that a 4 day working week offers the same amount of productivity, in some cases more, as a five day working week. Adam does a 4 on 4 off shift basis and it has dramatically improved our family life because even though he works nights and the first day off he’s really tired, he has enough time at home to adjust and actually feel like he has some consistent time away from work. I think more research was done to show employees reach peak efficient performance at six hours, so an eight+ hour working day isn’t getting people to be more productive, it probably makes them clockwatch all that bit more. There are plenty of chances to offer flexibility in the work place and I genuinely think if workers weren’t afraid to ask for a flexible work schedule – because employers think flexible = lazy/not productive/inability to manage priorities (I mean, they really couldn’t be more wrong here) – we would have more people wanting to have a family without threat of their jobs being compromised. Oh, and this absolutely HAS to incorporate a realistic living wage, better maternity/paternity benefits and childcare provision.
Inability to access fertility treatments and have the time off employment to do this
For LGTBQTIA+ couples and Cis couples that require fertility treatments there is a bit of inquality here. Fertility appointments can take time and can be invasive and painful requiring time away from the workplace and, for some couples, they can be incredibly expensive. I can’t comment too much here because it’s not an area I am experienced in but this type of access needs to be improved and employers need to be able to discuss this with workers with compassion and sensitivity. Again, a realistic living wage would help with the financial stress particularly if time off is needed.
Saving for a first house deposit vs starting a family
One other thing I think is worth mentioning is the fact that it takes a long time to save for a deposit on a house these days. Not everyone is lucky enough to get financial support from family for their first mortgage or can live with parents enabling them to save the funds. It sort of feels like you either save for a deposit on a house and then plan a family or if you want a family first, you rent. Saving money as you rent and raise children is not easy especially without a realistic living wage. People are choosing to have babies later on in their life and getting their career sorted and buying a home will probably be on many people’s priority list.
Save Our Planet vs starting a family
Another thing I think it’s worth mentioning is it isn’t just the financial cost of raising children that people are considering these days. Those that care about climate change are very seriously concerned about a growing, aging global population. Raising a child also increases your carbon footprint and waste. Being perfectly green is incredibly hard and even more so when having children. A growing population is a real cause for concern as it means more green spaces will be destroyed for housing, more animals killed for food, more waste from nappies, more plastics in use, and so on. The government are not serious enough about the importance of climate change and these are real worries and real concerns that people have when we only have one planet.
Whatever the case, starting a family, raising children is expensive. It’s also an incredibly personal decision and not something that should ever be forced on people. The cost of living is rising, and the cost of raising a child raising with it. If the government want more workers in work in the future then they need to provide potential parents with fair working regulations and financial security. Rent needs to be affordable for bigger homes, because buying a home is becoming increasingly difficult as finding £20,000+ is not easy whilst you’re having to pay out for rent and bills. Comparing data from the 60’s to today seems a little weird to me because society is completely different. The 40 hour working week that has become the norm today was designed so that one person could stay home to raise the children. Now, financial commitments mean that, on average, one wage is not enough money to live and raise a family on.
It is that time of year again; my favourite time of year. I used to feel Spring was my favourite season but actually I love the cosy sink into Winter that September and October bring. It’s the time of year I feel I have the most to celebrate having two Autumnal babies, I feel the most productive and feel just generally really good. The last two years my blog has taken a bit of a backseat because of the global pandemic – I can’t pretend it hasn’t affected me both negatively and positively but I have felt a distinct lack of motivation and actually, that’s made me feel really sad. I’ve always loved writing so I am hoping I am able to tune into my potential ADHD hyperfocus and get lots of posts written and generally be productive – make this blog actually look like it’s as active as it used to be. If you’re stuck on ideas of things to do you might want to check out Experience Days who have a great range of fun family activities in Hampshire.
Why do people make bucket lists?
I think it’s a way to focus and be in the moment. I know that seems a little bit contradictory by making a list and scheduling in things you want to do but there is an ASMR worthy satisfaction at ticking something off a to do list. Also, things have been really shit for me healthwise – both mentally, and physically thanks to my dodgy eye and having had a Brain MRI which really scared me. I feel compelled to schedule that time in with my family, to do things together to make some memories, take some photos and actually enjoy part of my favourite season. I also think like I need to push myself a bit and get out of my own comfort zone. Awaiting for an ADHD assesment is going to be a long process and I’m trying to put lots of positive steps in place at the moment to help me and trying to get things scheduled in to make changes but I find it very hard. On the other hand I find this really, really frustrating because I feel like I’m getting in my own way of doing things I want to do but physically finding it so exhausting and overwhelming. This is a lot of babble, but it does help. I’ve always said getting the words out of my brain and onto paper – or onto this blog – helps me to deal with life overwhelm.
There is something so calming and peaceful about walking through the woods on an autumn day
So I wanted to make a bucket list of things I want to do during my favourite season which will be opportunities to multiask as I can create blog content, vlogs, and take lots of photos to stick in our family photo album and scrapbook. I wanted a list of things I could tick off whilst I am in waiting mode for health care appointments and therapy. I wanted to give myself something to look forward to and give us all a little reduction in screen time. And focus on my blog and get new posts written. It’s a whole thing and actually I’m really excited at having a few little day trips, photo sessions and moments of creativity to look forward to.
Our Family Autumn Bucket List
Walks and photos in our local woods and forests collecting pinecones, conkers and autumn leaves
Pumpkin Picking at our local Pick Your Own farm
Celebrate Felix’s 3rd birthday with a day at the Hawk Conservancy Trust
Doing a spooky photoshoot with Felix in the woods
Making some food with the pumpkins we pick: I want to do stuffed mini pumpkins, pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin food, I love pumpkin spice (yes, I’ve had my seasonal PSL from Starbucks too)
Carve a pumpkin for Halloween
Getting Evie and Felix a Halloween costume
Take some cosy autumanl bookish flatlays and photos for Instagram
Take Felix to his first fireworks display (if there are any on) for Bonfire night
Felix spotted a bat sculpture on one of our forest walks
We have a couple of lovely local woodlands in Hampshire and surrounding counties so there will be plenty for us to do, the kids will get some much needed time to run around and have fun and I am sure I can get plenty of lovely photos of them. Some of it is work related but something that I can get creative with. I have wanted to do pick your own pumpkins for a while now and I think that will probably be a bit muddy but def a bit of fun. I think, picking a pumpkin, and making something with it might also encourage my very fussy toddler to eat something. I can’t quite believe we will be celebrating Felix’s third birthday either.
