Oh come all ye frugalers, joyful in December, oh come ye, oh come yea and chat

[babsmam]

New Fred, hope I've done it right I've never done one before.

love hotel chocolat. Yum! :o

have just had an email from amazon (or so they say) telling me that there was a problem with my order, and to click on the link below etc. also listed hundreds of other email addresses. Just beware if you get one.

i almost fell for it, as have bought a few bits recently (books for DH for christmas).

so far today - studying has been productive. i had a little break earlier and toddled off into town to get my nails done. they are now french polished with silver glitter tips. Super distracting. But so sparkly and lovely.

DM just rang, and has offered me chicken and leek pie for my dinner as DH is away. Hooray!

have also done two loads of washing. and really want a nap

I like that email, think I need to get into YNAB.
Going to do some Xmas shopping online in a minute, just waiting to take something out of the oven first.

Good spot on that email Em - definitely sounds dodgy! At least with Amazon it's easy enough to check everything via the actual website.

Great news luxy

Yes just watching the news luxy what a U turn! We will see I guess, still don't trust the Tories!

My friend bought me a pot of tea this morning, spent £20 in the local Garden centre on 3 more gifts. Need to do a gift stock take now and see exactly what I have and how much more to buy for.

I have a chicken casserole in the slow cooker - eek! This is my first attempt, I keep peering at it anxiously, its been going about an hour and although its warmed up doesn't seem to be doing too much at the moment....... hoping will be ready by 5pm ish?

Girlie have you got it on high? If I'm putting it on around lunch time I always put it on high until it boils then turn it to low. What have you got in it? I managed to get bolognese into ours before the school run this morning! It was an effort but I know I'll be really thankful for it later

It will girlfriend don't lift the lid though, that allows the heat to escape and sets back your cooking time.

Beef stew in mine today

I have just chucked in some onion, 2 chicken breasts, carrots and broccoli all chopped up. Have put some red wine and small amount of stock in with it.

It smells pretty good...

So have stock checked the gifts not doing too bad. Still need to get for my brother and sil (will be £10 each max) and a few bits and pieces really, dd def has enough stuff now

Sounds delicious! If you need to thicken it up at the end you can remove the lid, add cornflour or mash, or add a tea towel under the lid. I love all the delicious juice it creates though and usually serve it all in a deep bowl with crusty bread mmmm oh or lentils would thicken it up.

I've just resigned my little writing job on UpWork in the hope that a bit more rest might get me in a better state of health for Christmas. Now I must concentrate on actually taking time to rest. Difficult!

[concentrating face]

I'm feeling so Christmassy [santa] too early isn't it?

Not feeling it myself really Collie tooo stressed. Other than choosing presents it's just not happening! House is a complete tip and I can't face it.

DH got a second interview, so that's good. Unfortunately it's the job in another town, rather than the one he really wanted, and although the wages would more than make up for the increase travel costs, I'm really not sure I could handle the extra time needed for the commute. I am struggling as it is. But he really needs a new job, he's so stressed that he's this close >< to just telling them to stuff it. There's no support for him at all and he's not allowed any time off in December, and he's just told me there's no time for leave in January either. FFS. I'm so done with this

Sorry went off on a tangent there.

Oh fuzz, my DH had a job like that a few years ago. it was so utterly shit. It felt so good to hand in his notice.

I sent the company a tweet that said they should be ashamed of themselves for being so unfamily friendly. Mwahahaha! It caused a bit of trouble.

Sorry to hear that Fuzz. It's a dilemma isn't it?

Oh fuzz that sounds so tough. I count down the minutes to dh getting home and hate it when he's working far away. If he's earning more money could you get your childminder back for a couple of mornings or something?

Collie that's hilarious

Poor dd fell over at school and ripped her jeans now she's crying about getting in the bath because she thinks it'll hurt

Just checking in after few busy days and you have already started a new thread, will catch up on the old one later

Several spendy days but on the plus side we have sold dh fishing boat so the account looks really good and the wendy house is finally finished except for painting it inside and outside for the extra protection

Sorry to hear that fuzz and a hug

thank you collie about my coupons, going to send them e-mail later

When you use the dump bag, do you have to defrost it before you put it in the slow cooker? I used mine yesterday for sausage casserole and will make chilli in it tomorrow. Beef stir fry for grown ups tonight and homemade beef burgers for dc.

That sounds tough fuzz, hope your situation gets better soon.
Spent £30 on Amazon on Xmas gifts and another £30 on Uniqlo, I've never used them before but they had some really nice thermal tops reduced to £9 for today only. They look just like normal tops and should keep me warm so I can turn the heating down a bit.

Thanks you 3

Collie nice one, bet that felt great! :o

Sorry for the rant, it's just been a bad few days. I'm sure we would use the extra money well, Spotty :o it's not (surprisingly) having the DCs with me all the time that's the problem, TBH I am like this every winter and having to deal with all the school crap by myself was actually worse. It's more the house stuff that I can't handle because I'm not well enough and everything is piling up and aaaaaaaaargh. DH is here less and less and is more and more stressed.

I am close to cancelling my lesson tonight, I won't because I need the money but it shows how crap I feel, normally I look forward to it but clearing up for it just seems like too much effort today

xpost thank you love and pointless as well

Phew. I went to work so didn't get chance to check. I hunted out the links too but ran out of time. Will see what I can do tonight but I'm on my own.
Fuzz rant away it sounds tough.
Beef stew in the slow cooker. Nsd, although I feel chocolate calling.
Good result on the cd.
Lilac that's a really good thing from ynab

Sorry to hear that Fuzz. We have similar stuff going on here unfortunately. Walking a sort of tightrope of available manpower and difficult jobs.

Cleaner maybe? I would in a heartbeat!

I'm not feeling great again 48 hours of antibiotics and my chest still hurts and my temp is creeping up.

Spent £10.46 on balloons for ds' birthday tomorrow. Got him a dinosaur and three green ones (his favourite colour)

Very tempting I must say Spotty although we'd need to seriously declutter first! :) The other thing we'd like to do is get a longer term bus pass for myself and the DCs (DH would need one anyway if he got this new job) as it'd be great to be able to go anywhere anytime without scrabbling about for bus fare.