Super Savvy Savers Skid towards September Saving Spree

[lilacclery]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/1324074-For-those-who-cant-afford-to-use-central-heating-this-year-How-are-you-going-to-cope

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1543785-your-top-tips-for-money-saving-and-a-more-frugal-life

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1600030-Small-money-saving-habits-petty-even

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1628874-Gas-Elec-Bills-monthly-and-SKY-so-angry

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1911061-NO-MORE-COLD-MUMSNETTERS

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2209167-Slow-Cookers-are-shit

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2224969-saving-money

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2258202-Debt-mutual-support-thread-number-6-start-the-new-year-with-a-clear-purpose-and-keep-moving-forwards-even-by-tiny-steps?

orchard.tesco.com/ Sign up to this.

www.topcashback.co.uk/home And this.

www.quidco.com/home/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub ditto

Plus this.

www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new?page=3 Check this daily.

Kudos to PeoniesforMissAnnersly for the links

spotty I get that too! DS is only 21 months and I feel anxious about catching the bus with him and going into town. I want him to join the library. Just feel worried / nervous about it. No idea why!

This thread is moving really fast
£11 on chicken feed today, run out yesterday so had to cook some rice for them this morning
£15 at Asda - only went in for Mullerlight for dh and some bread for dc but did find couple bargains which are now stashed in the freezer
Went to library to finish the reading challenge but the weather is rubbish again so no fun in the park today
It was already bit cold last night so dc asked if I could light the fire in the woodburner and I couldn't since we cleared all the wood out. Going to get some today with my little helpers.
I sweep downstairs all the time because we have hardwood floor with a big rug in the living room and tiles everywhere else.
Does Roomba work on uneven floor?

It's so annoying I even know some of the people going and the person running it, just not that well plus I need to take a library book back first and I'm waiting for a delivery and it's all just too much I can think rationally about it I just can't shake the physical reaction I get (heart racing etc).

Have just done a clubcard boost for £20 worth of pizza express vouchers for £2.50 worth of clubcard points, will treat dp to tea tomorrow night for putting up with moody pregnant me (he doesn't have to know tesco are paying for it)

managed to get out water bill to under £20 a month too with the most recent reading, over the moon with that.

I'd love a roomba, but we have some steps in the downstairs of our house so it'd just end up stuck in one room and become a pointless effort.

spotty that's what I had yesterday & Tuesday. And the anxiety caused my autoimmune disorder to flare up. Which led to rather strong contraction like pains. Today I feel more calm. I've chickened out of going into town today so I'll try tomorrow. only DH & my GP know that this is how I get sometimes.

lilac you are so sweet and so lovely to offer to send me the tiny envelopes, thank you so much. But I will have to decline as I don't want to post personal info here, as my name was on the list. Please don't take it personally!

spotty I feel like that a lot too. Was going to a volunteer meeting for an activity ds 1 is joining and I had been worked up over it for nearly a week. No advice, just lots of sympathy!

Q when is your baby due? I'm in the last days and my mood is firmly switched to irrational! My poor husband and son!

Anxiety is horrible, I'm quite bad with it when it comes to new places / new people in a social sense. Particularly when my son is with me. At work these things don't bother me so much, which is odd! I don't know how I will fair with this baby, my husband is going away for a few weeks when the new baby will only be a few weeks old and I'm already anxious about It. So massive shoulder squeezes from me!

what I'm only 13 weeks so he has plenty of it to come, but I've been especially stroppy this last week so figured I'd best treat him haha.

Have to agree, anxiety is horrendous - definitely in my thoughts.
I used to have regular panic attacks, many a time having to leave a public place or just refusal to leave the house.
Last one was at a water park on holiday this year - that was embarrassing, at the top of a huge slide and I had to walk back down all the steps as couldn't go down the slide (was even sat in the top of it, so close but yet so far)

Thanks pink. He came home for lunch just now and seemed like it might have gone well. (wet trousers in a bag and he kept headbutting my arm, but otherwise okay. He seemed much more human after a good lunch and went back smiling.)

Peppa - The roomba is the best thing on earth. It does the hoovering brilliantly. It lasts about an hour on a charge and then I have to charge again, but it's not exactly a major hardship. The biggest thing is that ds and I both love to watch it work, so any time we're bored I say "Lets run the roomba" and ds tidies up quick as a flash with me and then he gets the roomba and turns is on. It means that tidying becomes a thrill rather than a chore, and so we are clean and tidy much more often.

The only caveat is that they occasionally break so you really need to budget for the 5 year warranty. Currently that means £200 for Roomba + £42 for warranty from Pixmania. That's about the same cost as 12 hours work from a cleaner.

It's hands down the best money I have ever spent (she says, while MN-ing with feet up while Roomba hoovers).

lovetoknit I think it would work on an uneven floor, yes. My roomba climbs out of the french windows sometimes and into the garden.
Q I think that a house with stairs would be fine too. It actually works best if one room is done at a time, that way the whole room gets done in the shortest time.

Sorry to hear about the anxiety. Me too. I think that's why we make good mums as we are alert and able to spot risk. It just means that we also need to make a special effort to rest and look out for kindness and safety. Have any of you ever read the People's Friend Magazine? It's brilliant for soothing the soul.

For folks with anxiety issues this page is great:
www.anxietycoach.com/anxietytrick.html

PINK no offence at all. I've remembered that they came with a baby capsule tin from Penneys if that's any help!

Very different advent idea

lila my ds would love that idea. :-) Some of the wrapped things could also be piano music for me to play while he dances. He likes that. I suppose the tricky part is finding 24 books without breaking the bank. :-)

I bought twenty books for £20 from the works.

I bought 26 books last week from the book people. I think it was around £25 (plus 3% cash back). Not for advent though. DS loves books so that's either his bday or Christmas sorted.
Can't wait to see them all stacked and wrapped up.

We just walked to the shops and bought cake and milk so I'm £3.50 down. He said "thank you" for the first time without being prompted.

He being DS! Haha

Ipsos, I so need a Roomba in my life . We have a black Labrador and most days the floor looks like a yeti lives here!

ipsos I was thinking they don't need to be new books, it's the element of surprise and time spent with them that's the treat rather than it necessarily being something new.

I'm doing up pj set with hot chocolate and treats for late late toy show for my two, might do them for dh's grandchildren too

Not trading in my cleaner for ANY floor cleaner, I love her more than DH

Ipsos May I (as a person who has medication for anxiety) respectfully offer an alternative opinion? My teen DC have never once caught me being anxious or seeing the risk about anything. I have never told them not to climb the highest tree or jump over the widest ditch or go hell for leather down the biggest zip wire, I never stood at the bottom to catch their fall. When they were little, they were dropped off at nursery and I was gone, I didn't stand at the top of the road taking pictures when they started high school. They have had to sort out friendship issues themselves to a large extent, although I wouldn't allow bullying I guess. They have been sent into their little worlds believing they can do f**king anything, and they honestly think they can, especially DD, to be honest. Some of the stuff she does on that pony leaves me quaking, but realistically, she has a back protector on and a hat, she's safe (sort of!)

I drive a dirty great horse box all over the country, which I hate, but DD has no idea I hate it, my anxieties will not impede her goals. Actually, doing it, has made me realise, it's not so bad after all anyway

I think we should spot risk, for sure, but hide our adult emotions to our fears to some extent. I honestly don't mean allow them to do something dangerous, but they have to feel the fear and have the confidence to do it anyway.

Having been a parent for 16 years now, I figure the less you stress and worry, the more confident they feel

Just IMHO

And sometimes I am sick with fear, so I do understand. My SIL is my (sort of) inspiration, as she will do NOTHING, for fear of, well, I am not sure really!

Did I mention Morrisons are doing a delivery pass? The annual mid-week delivery charge is very reasonable indeed. I am trialling splitting my shop into two deliveries, to see if I spend less!

Hi need. I think your view of life is good too, but it is not for me. :-) My ds was born a bushbaby and it gives me huge pleasure to stand and wave and to be there for him every step of the way. We spent an hour playing together with his friends in the playground today and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. :-)

lilac I do an activity advent calendar with mine every year (making it out of tiny pegs and envelopes this year!) and we absolutely adore it. Every day has some kind of festive activity, lots are things we do anyway, like go to see santa, dh work Xmas party for kids, others are small treats like a new christmassy story, a hot chocolate after school, or watch a Christmas episode of a tv show (that I've looked ahead and recorded! Nick Jr did tons of Xmas episodes last year, so I picked their favourites), we made Christmas scented playdoh, decorated cookies etc. It's well worth the time. Ds 1 can't remember what he got for Christmas, but remembers almost every activity we did.

ipsos I do have to agree. I think everyone's parenting style is different, and all children are different. We are all doing what we think is best, and personally, for me, I will be by their side, cheering them on and giving advice. But, ds 1 is only 8 and Ds2 is 3, so I could very well change my attitude as they get older!

Having a minor dilemma.

When dd was younger she did ballet and a song time class. She's starting swimming lessons next week. Ds hasn't done anything, I've found a song time class which is convenient but it's £84.50 for the first term. He's starting pre school next week so I need to pay for that too. I can't afford nearly £100 but he enjoyed the taster and wants to go again, he's also incredibly shy and I think this would help. Argh.

Maybe pre-school would be enough spotty? A lot of friends have put pressure on me to send ds to private school, which we can't afford, but I'm a firm believer that the dcs learn more good stuff from seeing parents live within their means than from going to expensive classes. Just my tuppenceworth of course.