Belt tightening and the cost of working

Mr B received our nursery bill today and went white - so we're now on an economy drive. Packed lunches for the rest of the month and no shopping until we've emptied the contents of the fridge, freezer and pantry.

How long exactly does turkey stock, frozen last Christmas, last?

Unfortunately, things are not helped by the fact that both Mr B and E (my son) have birthdays this month.

Mr B and E - Birthday boys in September

The problem is that I went back to work at the beginning of the summer holidays and E only gets his free nursery hours in term time, so I have effectively been paying to go to work for the past two months. It's even more gutting because I only went back part-time because my full time wages wouldn't have covered full time nursery fees.

Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with the children, and I'm glad the finances worked out that I could have the best of both worlds by going part-time. I'm equally grateful to my employer who granted my request for flexible working. But it is incredibly demoralising to work in the knowledge that you are actually paying for the privilege of the hard graft you are putting in.

So - I am looking forward to creating lots of home-made gifts and cards for the boys in the family over the next few weeks. Although, I'm not quite sure how that will square up with E's opinion that the Argos catalogue (particularly then Fireman Sam and Playmobil page) is ideal as the basis of his birthday wish list.

If nothing else, our current situation is giving me the boot up the backside I needed to actually set up doing freelance work on the side.