It's back!

Here we are back at the beginning of our live below the line challenge for another year!

We had a family chat about doing it. The boys were cool with it, Sophie had said she didn't want to do it again.

So later on the follow up conversation went like this;

"Sophie, I definitely don't want to make you do this. But last year we raised a lot of money and it really helped people. I'll make sure we include some really tasty stuff, remember last time you said it was great coz we had more biscuits than normal and..."

"Mum. You could have stopped at 'it really helped people'. They need us, let's do it."

So we're doing it!

I always struggle with involving the kids and making them 'suffer'. But social responsibility is really important to me; I think it is our responsibility to help those who have less than we do. We shouldn't feel guilty for being housed, fed, clothed. I work hard for that. But I have had some lucky breaks and a supportive family and not everyone gets a great start. Or makes the best choices.  And in the great scheme of things, to have a bit less choice for 5 days is not going to hurt my kids. I hope it helps them to grow.

Anyway, here we are. 2 days to go, without a shopping list or meal plan!

I had a wander round Asda and saw 8 chicken burgers for like 80p. A bag of nuggets for the same. That's pretty tempting! But I really don't want to eat rubbish all week. It's not about proving that it's easy to eat healthy on that budget. Because it really isn't easy. It's awful. And if we did it all the time I guarantee I wouldn't have my job and the kids would do worse in school. But I want this to be a challenge to eat as closely to how I'd like to eat as possible. Which means making space for fruit and veg. And cooking proper meals for the kids.

This year I'm doing the challenge in memory of my friend Jo who passed away last year. She was so supportive of us doing this challenge and used to volunteer at the project before I'd even heard of it! She was joyous, kind, funny, crazy, loving, cheeky. But she made some bad choices along the way and things didn't always turn out great. Last year she joined in the challenge with us for moral support. She sent me recipes, and tips on getting discounted stuff from the supermarkets. I hope she's proudly watching us this time around. Love you, crazy chicken lady. And, when I feel like crap by Wednesday and want to hide, I will be slapping on my reddest lipstick knowing that's how you'd want me to handle it.

Of course the main objective is raising money for a very worthy project which offers love and support to those often overlooked or rejected. If you can give, that would be amazing. Your support means a lot.

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kateraynor1