The friendly frugaleers natter on through November...

[blueteapot]

Hope you dont mind me starting a shiny new thread

I really liked it, Girlie, but was struck by how much more Maud, as a working class woman, lost and in such a short period of time, compared to the middle-class characters. No wonder she became so militant, after she lost everything. I also found it amazing that Violet was so downtrodden in her domestic life and yet had the energy and passion to focus on being a suffragette.

Yes Creme agree with both those points, I hadn't really considered that there was a time when as a mother you had no rights over your child unbelievable really. I also found it depressing though that even after Emily Davidson (hoping i have got her name right!!) threw herself under a horse it was another 15 years until women got the vote

Sorry frugelleers bit off topic there

Spent sometime doing spellings with dd tonight and I struggled with a few of them, do most 9yos really need to spell 'controversy' 'recommend' 'pronunciation' Dd thought it was hilarious that I was struggling with them

I've just spent £311.10 on a cooker!
It was £366 though so pleased with that.

It's very very windy here too. The sort of wind that means opening the door is a bad idea. We had to go and saw off our fence in the front garden though because it was loose and the wind was going to carry it off. Ds shouted encouragement from the front doorstep.

Our entire hallway is covered in plastic sheeting ready for the people coming to strip the lining paper tomorrow. The house is old enough to have lead paint so I'm being super-careful.

Oh and £75 on Christmas pressies.
Gutted I had to pay full price for one of dds. I challenge myself to never pay full price but it seems to be in demand so had to.
Sainsburys were putting the double up bunting tonight starts tomorrow

I spent a ludicrous amount of money on coffee and tea for builders and cleaning materials today. I had no idea that instant coffee was so expensive. It's so long since I drank coffee that when I opened the jar of nescafe gold blend to make some for the dishwasher man today the coffee granules had fungus growing on them. I didn't even know that that was possible.

89p on wrapping paper today. That's. It.

Went to sewing class. My toaster cover is coming along beautifully.

Nice not to think about revision for an evening.

Queried medical insurance payout refusal. They've come back and confirmed the my will pay. So £36.5 will be in my account soon I hope. Yippee.

My NSDs have been a bit few and far between with this refurbishment. It should be very much worth it to have the house looking nice though. :-)

I put the heating on for the first time last night! For an hour. Usually we have log burner but I couldn't be bothered! Impressive frugalling going on. I need to think about Christmas! There is nothing frugal about my children's requests!

I'm going to read that no shopping for a year blog later. I read one a few years ago where the writer was going to buy nothing new except for food or underwear for a year and she managed it. She was very good at sewing and knitting though which I think helped, I am pretty bad at both of those!
Was hoping for NSD today but we do need to get new wellies and bibs for DD so I'm going to try out our new local TK Maxx and maybe look for Xmas gifts too.

Ignore the RRP on all the. Tk Maxx stuff, it's pretty meaningless. Just buy things if you think the price is fair. Home bargains I find great for bibs and I buy wellies from eBay. I do like a mooch in tk Maxx but rarely spend unless it has a red reduced label on it!

Day two of holiday yesterday, spent £14 on coffee, logs and a couple of rides plus £3 on cheese and milk that were forgotten st home. We still have the milk and cheese at home and the milk is cravendale so will use both up after holidays.

Made a mistake with some Christmas shopping, very sent me an email offering £25 off a £50 spend. So I clicked on it and did my husband's stocking and was very pleased. Went back to my email and the email was still open with a code in I didn't enter... I emailed immediately asking to cancel or have them apply the offer but no response and now it's dispatched! We have no phone signal here only wifi so I can't call them. I am not spending £50 on the things I ordered so of they refuse to honour it or cancel I will send it all back as I have 14 days to do so. Really annoyed at myself.

Coffee and tea are so expensive, we don't buy much aside from pods from the nespresso for my husband. We don't buy the brand ones now as they are too expensive.

I think I might read the blog too, I'm interested as I'm sure most of my spending is psychological.

We only drink coffee and only gave a couple we really like but only get when on offer.

Was aiming for a nsd but dd needs £2.50 for a ticket for the disco and 60p towards the school Christmas lunch.

Well with lux and ipsos taking 31lbs I'll be at a nice healthy weight again! I do have a sedentary job and am quite a relaxed person despite a very busy schedule. Discussed this with dss's wife on sunday and she was saying her mother never stops yet eats up to 10 slices of white bread daily along with her cereal and dinners etc but is skinny as can be, and then she herself only has to look at something and put on weight.

Proud of myself for sticking to being 100% wheatfree though, can imagine the sugar detox will be very tough.

whatabout that's terrible that they didn't answer you back, definitely return if you aren't happy.

I just put a few things into my basket on eyeslipsface.co.uk because of an offer they're doing today only. And cancelled out of it again because even though I do need the make up I'm going on a shopping trip Sat and what if I see a better deal? Plus I'll be able to use testers on Sat too.

What I like about the shopping ban blog is her approach to decluttering her house, and her life too. I would like to take some of her approach on board. I will read my Marie Kondo book between now and 1 Jan 16.

Showed dh the Christmas List last night for his input for remaining gifts, any others I'd forgotten etc - response was 'you've a lot of work done, well done' and 'what do you think you'll get for such and such' I was 'like that's what I showed you the list for!' I want to get it finished this weekend and his input or complete lack of it is infuriating. I calmly replied that you need to think about it because I want it finished this weekend.

Hi lilac. What you say makes a huge amount of sense to me. I had a sedentary job and long commute for 7 years and during that time I really struggled to get a nutritionally adequate diet without gaining weight from excess calories. I think that sedentary jobs just make weight control really hard, especially for a relaxed person.

Conversely, in my new life I am now active constantly. Even if I can't sleep I often do a bit of housework so I can be active continuously for up to 18 hours a day everyday, rushing around like rocket mouse, almost without any exception. In this new way of life I have to really go overboard with protein and carbs so as not to end up too thin.

For specifics, when I had the sedentary job, I had a real struggle to stay below 11 stone, and now I have to work hard to keep above 9 stone 5lbs. I'm 5' 10" tall.

Interestingly, since I started taking magnesium supplements I have been much calmer and have been sleeping better, and resting more, so I am going to keep that up.

I am also off all sugars but I don't miss them at all. After about three weeks of no chocolate I found that chocolate just didn't taste like food any more and I much prefer salmon or rice or something with really interesting wholesome tastes.

Sorry - too much I know, but so interesting to talk to Lilac about all this.

We don't have Home Bargains near us. I've already looked in Asda for wellies but they were all a bit hideous!

That's a shame pointless. Good luck on your hunt! Marks and Spencer's wellies here currently. And shoes actually. DS is not destroying them either so I'm a big fan!

I would like a Home Bargains but suspect I'd be tempted to buy all sorts of crap!

I tend to get my dc wellies from jojo's they suit their skinny feet. Although dd has croc ones atm which she loves as they're really light and obviously she struggles with walking. Neither are frugal buys though.

So £3.10 to the school office this morning that's it for today. Oh the loop said I can send it back without the packaging phew!

Ipsos the thing I don't get is I've had this job the other two times I lost weight too and wouldn't have been exercising a lot then either but definitely wouldn't have been as inactive as I am now. First time was pre dc and I would have walked the dog 5/7 days per week lost 3.5stone that time. Second time around was after dd and I would have run 3 times a week but neither time would I have been as strict with my diet as I am now. Sometimes I would've only exercised once a week and there would have been a lot more cake & alcohol!

I'm 5'2.5" that half is very important and currently weigh 11st 8lbs - my ideal weight range is from 7st11 to 9st11 but I look well and can comfortably maintain 9st7lbs without looking gaunt

I'm very interested in what you said about the magnesium supplements though. Might help dh get a bit calmer, he has that can't sit still personality but not the metabolism to go with it. He's getting more counselling now too so seems to be improving slowly.

Do you have Dunnes Stores near you pointless? I know it's an Irish chain but they have some branches in UK. I buy wellies there for dc but I'm not fussed on style of them really. If you wanted really nice ones Hatley brand are fabulous.

School Expenses coming up - tour €16 €2 for something else I can't remember right now.

Does anyone know..... I bought something for my nephew for his birthday in sainsburys but someone else has just him the same thing. only better anyway I don't have the receipt, it's a sainsburys branded toy and I just want to exchange I don't want a refund, do you think they'll do it? I asked on fb and they said its at the discretion of the store manager. outs myself to anyone who browser the sainsburys fb page

I see what you mean Lilac. Short of getting another dog, I'm not sure what to suggest. Good to have such a clear analysis of it in your head at least.

Spotty it sounds as if it will probably be okay if you go to the shop. I've recently noticed that smart-ish clothes and tidy hair help a lot with things that are at the discretion of the manager. (I used to be a very frazzled looking stereotype mum, and now a lot more calm and less windswept)

We have 2 dogs ipsos just don't have the time to get out with them - they're too big to walk with the children with me.

I think same as ipsos spotty regarding the return it should be no problem. It's in the packaging

luckily I don't leave the house without doing my make up but I'll ensure I'm wearing my nice boots and not my uggs

Recently bought dd's sheep outfit and now found out ds is going to be a shepherd I can't wait to see their plays!

That's another thing to book time off work for isn't it Spotty didn't think of that one.

Our frugaleering ways has caused me to do up a spreadsheet of my holidays for next year! To budget them correctly and space them out better. Of course it doesn't take into account - time off for appointments/school plays/kids sick etc. It's the ideal holiday usage scenario!