Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.
By popular request - copied from an old thread grin
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Springing into the New Year with the 2017 Frugaleers
CathodeRayTube · 30/12/2016 17:42
Day out in London but returned some gifts and got things I'll actually use, also saw the Abstract Expressionism exhibition at the RA, I enjoyed it but tbh a bit 
about some of the more complex "interpretations" of very basic graphic images
.Hi all thanks for the new shiny thread cath 
Have a friend coming over in a min and been at work all day, busy busy! LSD 95p on a drink.
Oh no to pox!
I have been off-line for a couple of days while at the in-laws, where it is frowned upon to be hunched over one's phone, which is fair enough unless of course they need me to buy them something obscure from amazon as they don't do internet shopping A nice time was had, and they were very surprised and pleased about the baby so that was good. Everyone knows now.
Need I think you asked about my cooking several pages back. I am an enthusiastic and reasonably capable cook (although a bit less enthusiastic at the moment while pregnant). I was a chemist in a former life and in my experience, a lot of chemists are also good cooks! My dad was also a chef so I grew up learning the basics, and knife technique, and not being afraid of doing it in a big scale. All useful skills! I am glad you like the sound if my cooking - I always think that about your menus! I am somewhat hampered by a DH who has a list of foods he doesn't like (lamb, cheese, mushrooms being the main ones) and DS being super-fussy too. But i soldier on! I am really more keen on baking but the peasants can't eat cake every day 
I have read everything on the thread but not sure I can remember to comment! Welcome new people. I certainly know what the evaporating money feels like (just spent £38 on a shoulder of lamb for NYE in our posh local butchers - we don't have an un-posh one unfortunately 
). Next year I will have to start tracking everything. And never setting foot in the posh butchers. I will start with a spreadsheet of spends and see how I go.
I am in the make-up camp but I don't wear much usually - just foundation and a bit of creme blusher for colour. I feel better when I don't look splotchy although I don't wear enough to look really different, just un-splotchy. I put some Vaseline on my lips today and MIL said I looked glam - Perhaps I should try harder . I used to dress quite nicely, even casually at home, but I have lost the plot at the moment with a fair weight loss, then a bit of weight gain and now pregnancy. I need to do a massive wardrobe sort out but I am not sure what to do with anything as I have no idea what size I will be this time next year! I have just zillions of clothes and nothing fits. I had planned to sell stuff but now don't quite dare in case I need it.
That reminds me, I spent £108 on 3 bras on line today. I have huge norks (34JJ at the moment) and so have very little choice. And I have no bras that are a good fit after the underwire on my last decent one broke free on Monday so had to be replaced. It is so expensive being chesty!
Apologies for not keeping all the thread news in my head, DS had a very disturbed night and so did I! It is good to be home. I now have a mammoth amount to do before our house guests arrive tomorrow afternoon. Off to marinate my lamb shoulder in gold, at that price
Norks of that size deserve some love and support Scarecrow 
. Thank you for telling me about your culinary capabilities, which I think you underestimate. Working around less enthusiastic tastes is bloody frustrating isn't it? I'm on the fence about good quality meat. I spend £80 a month on a subscription to an organic meat box from the local farm. That's a lot of money to pay, but it's the only money I spent on meat, bar entertaining such as your lamb and it does taste different. How can a chicken be £2 or whatever at Aldi and be high welfare or not full of water etc? However, I am in the fortunate position to make these choices, no judgement here.
Hey Creme. I get you feel flat. It's good to have a plan. I'm sorry yours has been scuppered. Any alternatives?
Thanks Cath for the new thread. I suspect Next clothes are for a huge demographic of ages. It certainly seems so if I visit their stores, although the catalogue won't reflect that... I do wear running clothes a lot. I've nothing from Next actually, lots of very very old stuff I wore when I ran many years ago, interspersed with a few new bits, mainly from Bamboo clothing.
Hello Adventures. Have you gone through your D'debits and culled them or reviewed best deals? Menu plan? Pack ups for lunches? All the usual stuff? One day a week a veggie meal? One day a week a 'cheap' meal like jacket spuds or omelette etc? Welcome anyway!
I'll have a think about NYR and post later.
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Right so I have loads of NY Resolutions. Most though are just one of things I need to get sorted, rather than ongoing habits etc.
- Account charges - change to regular account (DH and me) and apply for refund
- Check Premium Bonds and possibly sell them or change address etc
- PIP application, possibly DLA for the kids as quite a few people have said they should get the lowest care element due to their needs
- Housing form
- Transfer credit card debt and sort out standing order
- Tax return
- Sort out library fines and stop borrowing anything for a while
- Start using up all the home ed resources we already have before buying more!
- No Buying Books for myself in 2017! AND no games/DVDs/apps etc for January at a minimum
- Sell toys etc I've still got hanging around
- Sort out printer/instant ink
- Get electronic bus passes for me and the kids
- Record all teaching hours/income in a spreadsheet rather than having to work it out from diary/texts etc afterwards
A lot to do! But as I said a lot of it is one off stuff. We are having a quiet January so hopefully I can achieve a fair bit of this. Along with non-frugaleer stuff like clearing my email inboxes, sorting photos etc...
Oh and obviously the BIGGEST thing we need to do is to be more organised with food. Food is a big area of spending with us, relative to our income. I already switched our delivery saver contract so in around a month it will switch to a cheaper one where we can only have midweek deliveries, so need to get used to that. And stuff like planning for the times we are out of the house so we can prepare decent food to take with us rather than relying on shops all the time. This is something we try so much with but I need to break it down into definite steps as when I say 'be more organised' it is just overwhelming and never works.
Hi all I've had no internet access for about a day now 
will catch up soon x
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