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.

Luckily two other parents and a grandparent have said they'll pick all the dc up. The schools solution was that the dc either go at one or three so either an hour before or after everyone else

I'm so glad I don't wear makeup....

spotty good news after all the trouble with school
collie if you pick designated school for your ds then you will get free transport to school either by bus or taxi, it's the closest school as the crow flies. If you choose a different school for any reason, you can either pay for a ticket on a school bus or you'll be responsible for getting him to/from school.

Good news spotty.
As predicted my Xmas cards cost a fortune to post, just over £20. Even with saving up for Xmas this year we're struggling this month. It doesn't help that DH is being paid a week later because of some changes at his work.

Tonight I'm making lamb koftas with pitta and Greek salad. Wish me luck also dd has to be back at school for 5:30 for her play and I'm staying to watch.

love that's good to know!

Just went into town and M&S food hall is so crowded. A little scary & some unnecessarily angry people. Spent £14. Not going back until 2016.

Need I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope everyone is feeling more positive and balanced after a day to digest the news

£50 something on petrol yesterday and £1385 on first instalment of building work ipsos we're in a typical Victorian terrace and are having the wall between the dining room and stairs removed and a little bit of the kitchen wall, French doors and all painted/decorated. Plus some fences put up in the garden...two unrelated projects which are both now starting on Monday! I'm nervous - never had structural work done before - what if the house falls down?!?!

NSD

Today will not be a nsd I need diesel!

Ursula Every time we have work done something unexpected falls off the house, but your builders should prop up the house when they remove the wall. It's more likely to be something small that falls off. It just means that the job takes longer than your expected and you may need to do some fancy footwork if you need to hire another trade part way through. It'll probably be okay in the end though. Good luck!

definitely not a nsd today. £14 on party bag fillers for ds's birthday, £14.50 on books from scholastic. some are for DD1's birthday next month and others are for our home ed. Then totally frivolously I took dd1 and ds to Mcdonalds for lunch as a bribe so they would let me get on with my studying and now dh has taken the little ones to soft play to give me some peace and quiet to get more studying done! i'm pooped and I've got a headache now

£15 gas.
£1 on multi-pack of crisps, that I forgot in my online order, which came yesterday.
£45.92 for said online order will come out later on.
£11.20 posting remaining 4 eBay items, but that's already paid.

My slow cooker has broken

Need. So sorry to hear that. Cancer is really treatable but it is still a huge worry until you get confirmation that it is all ok.

Big hugs Need x

Yesterday was £50 on works supplies and then another £20 on stuff that was free/half price on topcashback and clicksnap so I should get that back by next week less topcashbacks membership fee.

There's still lots of offers on for this week too.

I've been looking at suet pudding recipes online, they are ridiculously cheap to make by the looks of it compared to ready made ones. Dh thinks I should do a trial which sounds like an excuse to eat more pudding to me.

NSD so far but if dh gets another prescription later I will offer to pay it. The pharmacist said he could apply for free px but it's not for diet controlled diabetics . Dh will ask anyway.

Sorry for the food pic these are really nice I'm pretty pleased

That's annoying collie.
Braved the cold and took DD to the park today, she loved having a run round after all the rubbish weather we've been having.
Asda have some good offers on books. Got one for my mum yesterday and went back today after consulting with DH to get another one for BIL. They are hardback, new releases reduced from £20 to £9.
Xmas shopping almost done but the twitching has started, I really can't afford it - somebody tell me off please!

Are you learning to drive Collie? Am thinking that not driving will not help the feeling isolation. Annoying re slow cooker!

POINTLESS!!

Spotty I think that is really naughty of the school tbh, really hoping dds school doesn't have something similar planned and that the after school club is open right up to the last day as I am working that Friday.....

Been working all day, NSD so far although dd has a school disco tonight which is going to cost £2.50.

Loveto our dds sound quite similar my dd loves me little Pony (although asked me the other day if I thought it was babyish ) and moshi monsters, have not got her anything related to either of those for Christmas though so will add them to the bday list - thanks!

I had to click on the photo spotty, it looked too suspicious from a distance! Glad you got the lift sorted.

Thank you all for your kind wishes, it means a lot. I don't know what to say to people, so I have told my best mate and told her to tell people. I agree, I am sure it will be fine, it's the 'C' word that is scary. It's squamous cell carcinoma girlie, which I think is good.

DH has gone to Dubai, he says he isn't good at sitting around doing nothing, I figured that 20 years ago!

Another NSD here. Working all day puts paid to spending I find.

Creamy pork and roasted veggies for tea.

Writing cards tonight, the only job of Christmas I dislike.

Pointless!! You naughty lady, you!

Girlie yeah I will do when we have a bit more spare cash. I've seen some crazy driving lately though and its really put me off. People casually driving in the dark with no lights on, overtaking a tractor into incoming fast traffic, people driving the wrong way down a one way street at speed.

I made some gingerbread biscuits & they are delicious. I'm collating a list of easy things to cook / bake over Christmas.

spotty was it expensive to make? DH would love that! Looks good.

Collie I think your life would be transformed if you could drive! I honestly can't imagine not having the freedom of a car, for example tonight dd had a school disco was able to hop into the car and drop her off which was a 5 min job. Without a car would have been a 40 min round trip! Don't let the fear put you off.

Needa yes SCC is a non melanoma which is really good news as usually just requires the area affected removing and checking it hasn't spread anywhere. Its caused by sun damage so he will have to make sure he is coated in factor 50 from now on though!

Squamous cell sounds better. Phew. Did you pack him off with 300 bottles of factor 100 just to be on the safe side?.