Fearless Frugaleers Finding Their Feet in February

[SpottyTeacakes]

I've got fruflu

:o ohhh yes you would hate mine then. We have too many to keep in their boxes so they're all in those book foldery things. Not as organised as I'd like but not really sure how to organise them... not least because we are always adding to it (that's what most of our 'pocket money' goes on... I've been saving most of mine and feel like I'm heading for an anime splurge!). The dream is to get it all nice and then make a database of them with the DCs as an IT project (I have no idea how to do this so will be asking my dad to step in as teacher!) :)

Our books are all in boxes at the moment, the DCs' story ones are alphabetically by author for about two days until they get messed up again but their non-fiction bookcase is reasonably in line with Dewey :o

babs we all vent here from time to time every single day so no need for apologies. There'll be days with screen time, you probably wouldn't have earned that £16 if you hadn't let them have screen time. My two watched the 1989 little mermaid while I batch cooked & caught up on washing, also here on my own dh at work & he's not going to make my Christmas party either which will make sitter much cheaper & I will not be able to drink due to driving there so spends will be much smaller too. I'll allow myself a white wine spritzer I think.

I made sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot, red split lentil & coconut milk soup, bolognese, lasagne & 4lbs stewing beef worth of jools favourite beef stew.

Didn't get time to make the chicken dish will do that tomorrow.

creme sounds like you had a lovely afternoon. You definitely wouldn't like my untidy very messy house either

wreck that's a lot of good news tax back overtime due back possibly newer car
Is your hair settled into its new cut, mine always takes a week or two of getting used to once it's been cut

laska how's your dgd?

Our books are in 4 floor to ceiling bookcases and in no sort of order at all - I have them arranged by size for aesthetics! Bet that would make some of you twitch lol

i havent done well today (well, in some ways yes I have) - checked out how to dress an apple shape on pinterest, took myself off to the local matalan and am now £124 lighter... 2 pairs jeans, 5 nice tops, 2 bras and a cardi though, and 6 tops and a hoodie for DS and tights for DD - they had a sale on so i did well for the money. And the new clothes are lovely I feel fab in them. And it turns out dressing to my shape put me down a size on top woo!

We are also off on a rare date night now to the cinema will be about £20 I think roughly.

Sounds good you seem really happy with them blue

NSD today! Been house hunting in my dreams and surfing today.

Matalan is great, Blue. Sounds like you got loads for your money too.

Very long and spendy day today - £90 at Sainsbury's but at least all 3 dc have school shoes, trousers and shirts - had to buy dd (10) size 3 shoes from ladies section since they didn't have any school shoes in her size
£18 at McDonalds for lunch, £2 for park and ride, £12 at Boots, £3 at WHSmith, £32 at TKMax where I found dresses for both dd for family wedding, £13 at M&S, £3 at Prospect Hospice. DD was bit grumpy because she often needs size 11-12 clothes since she is tall for her age. She is a normal healthy weight so I wish they would put height on clothes rather then age.
Dc had homemade pizza and garlic bread and dh and I had the Chinese takeaway box from Sainsbury's which was cheap but awful
On my bookshelf I just put all the books from the same author together except for the bottom shelf where I keep all the big books, I have Kindle but I still prefer real books

How old is your dd Love? My dd is (just) 10yo and in 11-12yo clothes, also tall for her age and i am as to what happens when she starts outgrowing those clothes as most kids clothes ranges seem to stop there!

I went on the Mountain WareHouse website tonight and found dd a new coat that was 50% off £19.99, seemed to tick all the boxes so hopefully it will be o.kay, also picked up a fleece for £7.99, t.shirt £2.99 and waterproof trousers £8.99 all for dd. Will need to try all on dd so some may go back as she is such a fussy bugger

I have now organised her playmobil, lego and sylvainian family stuff into containers. Not particularly aesthetically pleasing but tidy at least

I actually have very few books for someone who reads a lot, I find if its a book I have enjoyed I pass it on to someone and if I didn't enjoy it it goes to the charity shop! The ones I have I keep ordered in size and by author.

Dd is still awake, complaining of pain in one of her legs - am thinking growing pains? Its the back of one of her knees and afaik she hasn't injured it, anyhow have given her dose of ibrufen so hopefully she will go to sleep now.

lilac The Little Mermaid was 1989? Really??? I feel very old now, I'd have guessed it was around 1997!

Girl my DD gets growing pains a lot in her legs. Hope the medicine has helped, we give ibuprofen or calpol when it strikes.

My dc both complain of that sort of pain. Always at night and only ever in the back of one leg, we always put it down to growing. Hoping for another nsd today.

Thanks guys

Ha. My books are in the very sophisticated height order. I hate undulating shelves. I will takle books later. There is more to sell but had to wait for dh o come in and see what he wanted to keep.
£84 in sainsburys. No meals planned and will do aldi on Monday.
Blue. I'm an apple and hate the pregnant look with certain clothes. May have to hit Pinterest too. Matalan is great and sound like you got good value.
Sound level like a productive day love. My DD aged 8 is in 10 clothes and as she is 136 cm we are having booster seat battles. DS is in his age clothes though.

Meal plan:

Nachos with mince etc
Burritos with left over mince
Chicken goujons and croquettes
Lasagne and salad
Fish cakes and noodles
Bacon risotto

Also have stuff for homemade pizza and a couple of portions of shepherds pie in the freezer.

Morning,

It has taken me all of yesterday to catch up.

My books are by subject except library books that are in their own section. I don't keep novels as I would be buried in books - I put them in the collections at stations or in the book swap at work.

Fuzz could you not "pay" your dh to do the garden?

LK hope your dgd is making progress still. It is horrible waiting and not knowing what teh out come will be.

Re tall kids - the clothes just run out. We have the joy of a dd who is 5'6'' with a 21'' waist. She has a 32'' inside leg. It is impossible to get clothes that fit - even "Super Skinnies" are baggy. We can get them at places like Selfridges at £100 per pair. Skirts that fit around the waist are about 4 inches too short. Coats that fit across the shoulders are too short in the sleeve. And everything is so adult - she is yet ready to be seen as a sexual being, but the clothes are cut to accentuate those bits she is trying to ignore.

Dh had been struck down with the fruflu but is still going out with his friends today he sounds awful and has just made me a cup of tea that I don't want to drink in case he gives me the damn bug back.
Need to take ds to rugby and then to pick up Harry potter costume from Sainsbury for the dreaded world book day. Also need to get the car washed as the accident damage is being fixed tomorrow and it's a requirement of the repair people. Just hoping the other driver pays up once it's done

Today will be nsd. Meal planning cleaning sorting stuff out. Outfit planning for the week. It's Dhs turn to go and get wet and muddy today - he's off to football.

Cinema last night cost me £9.85. But worth it as haven't seen friend for a while and we stopped for a glass of wine after. Lovely evening.

Little mermaid was the first film I saw at the cinema. I was 5....

Charlotte's Web for me - I was 3 and it was a kindy / school trip. What were the teachers thinking? I remember being counted several times and we caught the public bus...... I cried all the way through. Those were the days.

Hated World Book Day! Seemed so contrived, and an extra layer of pressure for working parents. And non working parents for that matter.

Nice sorting Girlie

Babs You of all people, who is always so supportive of others are perfectly allowed to come on here and vent. We have all done, and we will all do it again. Hope you feel better today, sometimes a sleep and another 'fresh' day helps enormously.

Em Filming your riding is A Very Good Thing. Helps you see bits of technique that could be changed etc and see how much you have improved too.

Spends today will be paying for the saddle (gulp) and £6 training.

I let DH arrange our books because he fusses and thinks he has the perfect system . Overall we've had to stop buying them except on kindle as it reached critical mass.

Today will be nsd except for milk. It will be a quiet day just finishing homework with DS and prepping for return to school.

I remember little mermaid well, when we lived in a student house at Uni. It was one of the only 2 videos we had, the other one being Angel Heart. We used to sing along to the songs after a night out...omg Emem I must seem ancient to you!

We're off to the library. Our local one is open 7:30-7:30 on a Sunday which I think is pretty good.

Dh hates my obsession with books. I love them. He bought me a kindle which I use for travelling. But I always have an actual book on the go.

When we moved into our place he insisted I leave all my books behind. I had ideas of building shelves all through our hallway.

We compromised. I have three bookcases all double stacked and only kept the important ones.

I have stopped spending money on books though. And am working my way through the classics via kindle.

Must get to the library though. Haven't been for ages.

sporting no, not ancient!! More experienced maybe... .

need agree. My instructor videos us sometimes for her records. And if I've got someone watching (dh sometimes comes with me to get some fresh air, or ddad likes to watch apparently it makes him feel young again if he can say he's taking his daughter to her riding lesson. We then maybe go for pub lunch) they record it for me. It definetly helps. I can see that I tip too far forwards when I'm in jump position for example so have been conscious to try to correct it.

Interesting reading about all your tall dd's what age is yours unescorted? Dd almost 6 is also very tall mainly in age 8 clothes, clothes come off her 8 year old niece and straight onto her. I'm short 5'2 so I'm fascinated.

Yes 1989 for little mermaid, just looked up Robin Hood to see when it came out em as that was my first in cinema 1991 I was 8. Dd was nearly 4 when she first went and ds 2 months! Different times eh?

I spent €0.00 at party last night dh was delayed at work so I went alone & drank water, babysitter cost me €30 though

Today will be a personal nsd but I will stock up on olive oil at Lidl as its half price
Wreck that's great about library ours don't open Sunday's at all

unescorted have you tried primark for jeans? Or m&s.

I was that tall skinny kid like your dd. I lived in leggings (back then it was a thing too!)

I'm 5'9/10 now and a size 10. Finding jeans/trousers which are long enough has been a massive issue for me. I used to swear by topshop tall Baxter jeans. But they've discontinued I think. Now I buy primark jeans (long length is a 34" I think) and they fit perfectly. If I remember correctly they also go down to a uk4.

I also bought a pair of skinnies from m&s a while ago. Great quality. High waisted and can be tumbled so the fit shrinks right back in. Also the long length fits me properly.

I ditched trousers for work as they're all either too long or too short. Neither looks good on me. I opt for skirts/dresses instead.

Robin Hood was after little mermaid....? No way!!!!

Google never ceases to amaze em