O come all ye festive frugaleers, gather round for festive chat and frugaleering

[northender]

Haven't been on the old thread for a few days so thought I'd start a new thread as it's nearly full.

I really did underestimate DH's shopping ability. I remembered whilst in town we were nearly out of washing up liquid so got some in pound shop. When I went to put it away he'd bought some yesterday, own brand, 68p. It wasn't even on the list! Still doesn't explain why DD returned from Asda covered in mud though...

Nice work MrPointless! Always nice to hear of a dh getting a high-five on mumsnet.

No. Only lottery at Christmas. We used to get a ticket for the uk one (which were technically not allowed to play here) when we popped across to see grandparents. Grandad used to go in on a ticket with us.

Never won more than £50 though

pointless I know this is probably stating the bleeding obvious, but have you asked dh why dd was muddy?

If it's been my dad when I was little it would have been because he let me jump in puddles. Or roll down banks.

Yes he said something vague about going to the park but they didn't go on swings etc because too wet. To be honest I felt so rough yesterday that I wasn't paying much attention and I don't want to bring it up again in case he thinks I'm having a go about it. DD is attracted to mud like bees to a honeypot!

I used to climb and fall out of trees. Champion tree climber me.

Until I broke my arm. Dm was not impressed with df then...

Wait until your DD's are teenagers. Mine has no interest at all in skimpy clothes or logos, but lives in skinny jeans (when not in jodphurs of course, which is nearly always) a heavy metal T Shirt, Doc Martins and has the side of her hair shaved, the other side long. Which she 'henna'd' at her friends last week and now the stunning natural blonde colour is ginger!!

She WILL look back and be mortified, but with teenagers I find it's better to let them experiment a bit, they are far more amenable to negotiation with other 'big' stuff then.

Hope you are ok spotty

Well done on the lottery win

I agree, Primark is brill for PJ's etc and teenage tat.

NSD, having a great month, although DH brought me back some Tom Ford perfume from Dubai and that is ££££££, so will wait to see the bill.

And he's finally given me his mileage and work expenses and owes our bank £2.5k, it was looking really light, considering the mortgage has yet to go out of the account I did think

em, you may or may not be surprised to find I was the mum sitting on the bench watching my DC climb everything while the other parents hovered around worrying. I figured they wouldn't know their limits if I was there to catch every fall, other parents probably thought I was a slack arse!!

Strangely, they never fell though, and will have a bash at most stuff, which may or may not be nature/nuture, who know?

*nurture

Move up need on the bench. I'm that parent too. No helicopters here. The shocked faces at DS being three quarters the way up a tree to my vague wave of a hand oh he's over there somewhere (knowing perfectly well where he is)
Nsd planned today.

Nsd planned. We need toothpaste and bread but we haven't got any money

I'm on that bench too, DD is still tiny so obviously needs some guidance to avoid injury but everyone else reacts much more than I do when she falls over.

That amazing Need. Your daughter sounds like she's getting all her experiments done at once.

Need and babs I'm the helicopter parent watching you two on the bench from a distance. I let ds get out of arms reach for about 8 seconds once and he nearly met his end on a zip line (put up there by a bigger boy). Never again.

I would never criticise the helicopters as they do it for various reasons. I'm sure if something happened to one of mine I would be the same ipsos

I flicker between helicopter and letting her get on with it.
Dh, on the other hand, is the worst kind. He just doesn't let her do anything that has a chance of hurting her. Doesn't even hover waiting to dive in if she does get hurt. Wraps her in cotton wool he does and she is starting to get annoyed with him for it!!

NSD planned for today.
We are making some little sweet treats for friends and family today. Plus writing cards so tomorrow will be a spendy day with all the postage!

nsd today. Have mulled wine and nibbles after work.

Am already at work. it's still dark. And will be dark again by the time I leave this evening. I love and hate this time of year at work. Everyone wants things done before Christmas. So we're pulling out the stops to try and make it happen.

This mornings job, and the reason I'm here so early, speak to hotel in Hong Kong to sort clients New Years.

I said I was private trust admin in an earlier post. Essentially I'm a glorified pa to some clients.

NSD I believe. But typically have noticed that if I do a weekly shop tomorrow the next weekly shop will be needed in Christmas Day. I'm usually better than this. Will have to put my thinking cap on & sort out a plan.

need that describes the teenage me perfectly. I'm friends with my first ever boyfriend and he still laughs about me as a teenager. (And I laugh at him as an adult) I still wear my heavy metal t shirts. I once dyed my hair blue/black at a friends house and got a stained face. Had to go into school like that too.
And I still wear my checked slip on Vans. They've lasted 12 years!

Lol ipsos, for a logical person, that's a very dramatic statement about your DS 'meeting his end', I am fairly sure that stats are very low on zip wire deaths for the last decade

Rats, my DH is entirely the opposite, he was the one pushing them so high on the swings they were nearly falling off and dangled them off stuff until they squealed with fear and excitement. MIL used to go mad with him but they just went back for more! Must be hard for you if you think your DH is a little too fearful, and harder for your DD.

I am firmly in the 'feel the fear and do it anyway' camp cos you are long time dead ha ha!!

collie My best friend was like DD too, and had a pair of Doc's that lasted at least a decade. It's all part of growing up isn't it?

I am off today but didn't manage to get an extra day off work so will be starting the mad rush around soon. Need to fill up the horse box, collect some parcels, bank the work cheques and do a bit round the house too.

DH is having a big wobble about this skin cancer thing, I am determined not to worry until I have to worry.

Southern electric customer services are just beyond amazing. I honestly can't praise them enough. They put my direct debit down so I called them, on their free number, then picked up after two rings and did it with no questions asked. Always speak to really nice people there and they always pick up straight away. I think their cs would actually put me off moving to a different provider.

Em Hats off to you for being a glorified PA. I bet you're a d*mn good one. If it makes you happy, you do it!

Thanks to babs for not looking askance at my helicoptering.

Sorry to hear about dh's concerns need. Well done for being calm for him.

need The zip wire thing was quite dramatic. Ds was 3 years old. I decided to be brave and let ds go away and play independently (among many other 3 year olds) in the park, really because all the other mums were doing it with his peers and someone had criticized me for helicoptering. I looked round about ten seconds later and a big boy (perhaps age 8) had got him far away across the park and onto a zip line that was about right for a teenager and was running full-tilt along towing him and then he threw him over-arm at the end of the line to swing high in the air. (I was running to get him by then.) The boy then grabbed the line and towed him full-tilt back and threw him again over-arm to swing really high up at the other end. Ds was clinging on to the bar like a Koala but the last throw shot him off and he flew 6 feet horizontally and fell 6 feet down and landed head-first and on his side. I got there a second too late to catch him and he just lay still looking glazed. I rang 999 but the lady on the line said "stay calm and wait a bit" and I did, and after about 30 seconds or a minute (or a lifetime) he started to cry, and the lady said "It sounds okay to me. I'll call you back in 4 hours to check, take him to the GP tonight." and that was it. The police got involved because the ambulance lady said the older boy should have known better, and several other children came over to say to me that what the boy had done was quite wrong. Ds was okay. I never take my eyes off him now. Your children may be different need. As my Ukrainian neighbour said a few days later "You are responsible for your own child", so I take that responsibility now, I shake off criticism for helicoptering and I give my child the care that he needs, not the care that others think I should give.

Spotty I find them great too.

I am quite sure the whole thing was very dramatic ipsos, I am glad your DS is ok. We all parent in different ways, when my DD fell off the pony a couple of months ago and damaged her cranial nerve, I let her back on as soon as she felt well enough. My choice, fear would not be good for her doing what she does. My comment was only a joke, it wasn't meant as a critical comment in any way at all.

Moving on,

spotty, I have found British Gas fab in terms of customer service too personally. And Plusnet so far have been great. British Telecom no so. I bet others have had completely different experiences

It's really refreshing to read good reviews on customer services!

Have finally been paid £35 for the tickets I sold a month ago. We had to use Stub Hub and they don't pay out until the event has taken place. In our case the event was last week. I'm really chuffed.

It's payday tomorrow. Which means we have a looong time until next payday.

So our final payday goals are:
To not use the overdraft
To not use any credit cards
To pay off half the holiday IF DH gets any bonuses
To sell 3 pairs of shoes on eBay. One are a pair of converse and another are fat face boots. So should sell.
To eat well, drink modestly and be merry without breaking the bank

I had successfully ticked off all my December goals so very pleased.

Good stuff Need. Moving on, as you say...

I'm having a quiet day in today, which is nice. Trying to get fixed in time for ds's nativity at school tonight. Cutting is a bit fine just now. Hum.

NSD though.