We are Resolutely Frugal! Frugaleers continuing their new frugal year. All welcome!

[fuzzpig]

Hello! I hope nobody minds me starting the new thread :o

Nah, don't like mojitos (or much alcohol at all TBH - frugal in itself I guess!) :o recipes sound great though.

Anyway, our oven arrived this morning. Thrown me a bit as estimated delivery date was Feb 15th?! Anyway, we need to sort the kitchen more, so that's the target this afternoon once DH is home. Haven't actually got anything to cook in it yet, and we forgot to get olive oil in the delivery, so may pop to Sainsburys in town. Considering an inaugural pizza or something, although actually it may be cheaper just to get a chicken since we have lots of other elements for a roast dinner already. HUNGRY.

Hope Dh gets well soon east. Accept the help.

£10 in butchers, £12.99 halfords, £32 odd sainsburys , £1.41 on odds, £3.80 fitness. Cake baking this afternoon. £6 on after school activities.

Spent a bit yesterday, £20 on petrol, £7 on Macdonald's breakfast(it was so good though haha) drove up to my Mums for the day so we had lunch there and resisted temptation to get take away on the way home, had chips, beans and fried eggs instead. They gave DS some new toys ( naughty grandparents!) so he was happy!
Will need to do a top up shop today hopefully about £10.
I have a huge pile of stuff to ebay, really need to get it sorted.

None of those book selling sites want any of my books!

Caught up again now. East yikes that sounds horrible, fingers crossed for a speedy recovery for DH. And yes, accept the help! People wouldn't be offering if they weren't willing to.

Well. I was just in the middle of doing maths with the DCs when I had an unexpected phonecall from DH. Asked me to dig out his CVs. Because the area manager has told him he has 2 weeks to meet some (pretty much impossible due to tech constraints) targets, or he is being 'let go'.

Shit.

:(

Thanks help I don't need help :)

Myhermes is £2.60 for a parcel under 1kg and you can track it and I can drop at newsagent on my way to work at 7.15am no q in and out and always get there in 2days even something I sent 22dec arrived Xmas eve.

That's not good news Fuzz. Can they get rid so easily though? Would they not have to give notice?

East I hope your DH is ok - why dont you accept some help, Im sure you'd offer if others were in your position!

Fuzz what on earth! Was there any sign of this coming? Im sure theyd have to give some kind of notic surely??

DS is sick so I've had to take an unpaid day off work (tummy bug). Never been as glad to have a carpet shampooer lol its been grim but he seems to be on the mend!

NSD, DM was here and we used up some seeded paninis for lunch (toasted) which i would have otherwise binned as a bit stale.

Kids are now sleeping so time to continue the job hunt

thanks folks.

I don't know, in a way it's a total shock and in another it's not. This manager has been pushing DH way too hard, TBH he has been thinking about taking time off due to stress, it's really making him ill. He has been quietly looking for something else but not had any luck. He (the manager) knows that DH is utterly screwed in his store because of faulty IT but won't do anything about it.

The messed up thing is he really likes DH, is always singing his praises, DH even won awards in the region FFS! It's like he's pushing DH because he knows DH will never give up. Not realising the immense stress it is putting him and his family under

I have no clue what we will do. I'm scared TBH, it's not like I can take on the breadwinning role in my state of health, I'm close to losing my job as it is, and sick pay will run out completely in May if I'm not well enough to return by then. :(

The only silver lining is that it would be very helpful for me to have DH around more, because I'm struggling with him working so many hours many of which aren't even paid

Fucking hell Fuzz. Is that even legal?. Is he in a union? Do you have legal cover in your home insurance to fight it?.

East I hope he gets better soon. I don't like help either, I like to manage on my own.

£7 on work trousers.

Got £10 Amazon voucher off mobile expressions app.

Oh Fuzz. Surely there is a certain procedure they have to follow? I'm no expert, but it sounds as if he could claim for dismissal, if they go through with it. Try posting on the Legal Matters and Employment forums on here and see what they have to say. If he is dismissed, I think he'll be able to claim contribution based JSA, and obviously, housing and council tax benefits, so run your circumstances through the entitled to website, to see what you can get.

East, sorry to hear about your DH too. I hope he gets discharged today, and please do take up your friends' offers of help, instead of struggling on.

Fucking hell fuzz. I echo what the others said. Doesn't sound legal that.

Southern mn. Help me with legoland hotels. Looking to go begin April (I know)and am bamboozled with choice. Or is the ll hotel worth doubling the price? I found the 2014 thread but there is not much on hotels

Babs we can drive to Windsor in a hour from where we are (West Sussex) so haven't ever stayed in a hotel. The LL hotel did look fun but I'm sure you could get something much nicer a bit further away.

We stayed in a Travel Lodge in Slough, which is only a few miles from Windsor, Babs. No frills, but it was fine for a night or two.

Didn't know you were in West Sussex too Spotty.

Thanks all. Do you think DH would get JSA if he's fired?

The term they used was 'performance management' by the way. It's a massive company, he's a retail manager and not in a union :(

What really worries me is that this will hamper his chances of getting a new job even more. He had a few years off because of a back injury, which although he is fighting fit again now (running etc) seems to put people off.

Payslip came in, my reimbursement is finally on it so that will go into savings.

Had a frank discussion about work with DH - I'm desperate to leave it and look for other work, but if I didnt find anything would need to live on his wage - but he doesnt think it would be enough. This month I am going to try putting my entire salary minus the costs of my job (around £150 a month) and the money we pay my mum for childcare into savings and just leave DHs wage and the child benefit, as an experiment... I think its doable but time will tell and a savings account boost wouldnt hurt if it works out. Anyone tried this kinda thing and its worked out?

Yes but not near you (you're gatwick way aren't you?).

Well remembered Spotty :o

Sorry we have most likely had this conversation before, my memory is useless!

East Don't be a matyr, accept help What are you gaining from not? Hope your DH is ok.

No advice Blue really. When DH started the business 13 or so years ago, we just did it, more than halved our income. No safety net, so it had to work iyswim?!

Fuzz Crap situation. I'm not fully up on matters such as these, but I am sure someone on MN would know. Sorry about the stress you are under. Re the back injury, I am trying to put my employer hat on here, and, if there was a gap in employment history and I had a number of suitable candidates, being honest, it would be something I took into account, even in the back of my mind.

Abel and Cole and Morrisons deliverys today, £95 in total and 14USD on a ESTA form for DD, so about a tenner I think.

Refund cheque of £90 from vets for overpaid excess re insurance.

:o

Ah well at least while I was in town I managed to avoid drowning my sorrows in expensive junk food! An achievement, that :o

I've spoken to mum, just needed to talk it through really as DH and I won't be alone together til later, she was really nice about it and I know they will help if we really need it so it's not a totally dire situation. Nonetheless I'm glad we are trying to be more frugal now. More important than ever!

I think so, Fuzz. Go on the DWP site (or whatever it is called now!). Off to the dentist and Pilates after it. Chin up! X

*martyr

Blue the only thing that surprised me about giving up work was that without things like an office canteen and the entertainment of doing my job I was actually more expensive to keep, which is a bit of a frustration. Being at home means that you end up needing heating and cooking during the day, which would be much cheaper in an office. Also the house gets more messy and needs more cleaning. I think your idea is a good one though. It will give you a ballpark idea of whether it's possible to live on one salary.

The upside of having no job is that you have more time to do things like economising and sitting on hold to companies to hardball them into lowering your bills.