Fearless Frugaleers Finding Their Feet in February

[SpottyTeacakes]

I've got fruflu

adora while eyewateringly expensive they are a life essential

needastrongone what do you mean?

£3.69 of boots points used for ear drops. Glamorous. My dinner tonight has been cancelled (Chinese new year celebrations with investment advisers) I'm sad as was looking forward to tasty free food but at the same time glad as am exhausted.

Hope your boy feels better soon Collie and you get a better nights sleep! Healthy snacks are things like nuts, pitta bread and humous, fruit..... thats about as creative as I get

I think filling up on protein and keeping anything with sugar in to a minimum is prob the way to go.

I have managed to get the wrong size light so that will have to go back and be swapped also bought a bag of cat food for £10 which was half price.

Its a beautiful day here, I have optimistically hung the washing out!

If I'm trying to lose weight I try to avoid snacks all together. Sorry that's not very helpful! I think it depends how you're eating so if you're low carbing you could have cheese and ham as a snack but if you're not then cheese probably isn't that great!

Hi all-can I join..I'm just starting life with a very reduced budget and I'm nervous about how it will go!
I've been meal planning for the last few weeks and managed to get the weeks food bill down from an embarrassing 120 quid to 75, but think there might still be scope for reduction. (Though not next week as two extra adults in the house to feed as parents are staying). Think by pay day I might even be able to have saved 100 pounds or so out of my budgeted monthly amount so quite proud of myself as have never managed to do that before even when I had more money. Lots of quite expensive things on the horizon however-hen nights, weddings, best friends birthday, which are panicking me slightly!

don't Sorry, I didn't phrase that well did I? I meant the fees that private dentists charge do get me cross, they are almost prohibitive!

Bad news here. A very close friend of mine has been diagnosed with a highly aggressive breast cancer, she's a GP, she knows what this means. A mastectomy and lymph node clearance yesterday and chemo plus radiotherapy follows. They kept it to their family until yesterday.

I plan on keeping away for a week or two (well, apart from going to keep her company for coffee etc) until the extended family have left, then helping out with meals and ferrying her kids around as required. Discussed this with her DH, also a doctor and friend, we think this is a plan.

Puts it all into perspective sometimes doesn't it?

£15 M&S, some nice treats for DS to take to Berlin with him tomorrow.
£20 Aldi.

I didn't think about being frugal!

Wow Adora!

Sorry to hear about your friend need good idea on the plans to help, you are a nice friend.

Nice morning here with DS, we went to the park for a scoot and a hot chocolate. Tired now, keep forgetting I'm six months preg and can't do as much as I'm used to! Having a sit down with a cuppa now. Spent £12 on parking,hot choc and milk/fruit at the shop.
Also applied for the married tax allowance thing and got an email to say we got the winter fuel payment thing so our energy account is now £500 in credit, should get most of that back when we move house hopefully!

£11 for DH to get a haircut
£17 for top up shop in Aldi

I've ipened some more e savers for monthly spends. I've got
House
kids
Presents
Holidays
Car
Medical and dental
Hair
Clothes
Weekly spending challenge
Penny spending challenge
Ds1 trust account
Current account

I moved all my standing orders to DH pay day.

Sorry to hear about your friend Need, have you heard of notanotherbunchofflowers (I think that's right) they do good gifts for these times. I hope they've caught it. Fuck cancer.

Sorry to hear that need

Laska congratulations! Gorgeous name :)

DH had his meeting today. Boss is reasonably happy with what they've done so far, but has given more targets for a fortnight and DH is certain that they are impossible. If he fails, he will go on disciplinary proceedings. So not just being fired. But in a way he may as well be because what happens if DH ends up being managed out with disciplinary procedures - who's going to hire him then? I really, desperately hope that it's all a moot point and DH can get one of the other jobs he's applied for. Not heard about Tuesday's interview yet, but he's got a different interview on Monday. That one is a pay cut but we are past caring - he needs out ASAP. We've agreed he will take anything going, and just keep looking if it's not the right job IYSWIM. Anyway, the lower wages would mean we are back under the benefit limit, so that would tide us over until he found something better at least (we are currently just over the limit) and it wouldn't be too scary.

Saw the GP today, she's increased my regular painkillers and prescribed codeine as well, and if that doesn't work it's tramadol apparently. I'd really rather not, though. She was so understanding - she's a lovely doctor (she was also delighted that the DCs were merrily sitting there doing maths while they waited for me :o) so I'm glad I held out for an appointment with her.

€12 to mam as she got me a few bits to keep us going! €20 to two DS for discos! €10 in chemist. Still fecking poorly but at least I ate some tea & toast!

Need so sorry about your friend.

Laska congrats💐

Fuzz. Hope you feel better soon 💐

I'm sorry to hear about your friend need. When my mum was on radiotherapy she had to travel to a different city everyday got weeks. All her friends worked out lift rota for her so dad didn't have to drive her everyday. It was lovely and so thoughtful. I imagine offering help with childcare and food for kids would be similarly appreciated.

I'm in a strop about work and trying to resist buying loads of chocolate to make myself feel better. I love my job and the work I do, but there are a couple of other managers at the same grade as me who just drive me mad. I ended up going and doing something else for a year because it got so bad and only came back because I missed the work and thought it could be OK.

A few months in and it has got worse! The people I manage are awesome and we have a great time, but I have become a scape goat across the rest of the team for the other managers incompetence.

Thankfully our line manager is great and told me today she knows I haven't done anything wrong and she is dealing with it. But it just makes me miserable as there is so much bad feeling, and I wonder if coming back was a terrible mistake!

And breath...

Sorry, bit of a rant there.

Nsd! We didn't go to swimming, first one we've ever missed, but ds and I feel rubbish and dd is tired and grumpy. Saved money on petrol. Shepherd pie stuffed jackets and veg for dinner.

Dh's boss is coming back with him in a bit to hopefully fix our shower!

Oh it's not good when you've got shit going on at work is it Jeepers? Just another layer of stress sometimes. Thanks, I wondered about offering to go to the chemo/radiotherapy with her. I want to make sure her DH is ok too, he's very high up in the medical profession, so has an extremely stressful job to contend with too, my friend ran the house/kids/food etc as well as working full time. She'll be off for at least a year now.

Thanks all.

Had a bid on Ebay already for my shoes, going to list a rug for the pony now.

fuzz I think it would be worth documenting EVERYTHING, to look at a constructive dismissal case, even if your DH gets another job I think it might make you feel more in control and would strengthen your case anyway.

Need I'm really sorry to hear that. I can't imagine what it's like and hope I never have to find out

Need I'm really sorry to hear that. I can't imagine what it's like and hope I never have to find out

Need you're right it is a lot.. however I've lost faith in the NHS dentists around here and I just want the work done as soon as possible.

I resisted the coffee shop, and the chocolate at the train station AND I bought my lunch from the supermarket using a voucher. So, all in all, not a bad day for me so far.

adora seriously? £2k??? Holy moly. But worth it if it means dh can hear.

need so sorry to hear about your friend. Your plan sounds lovely though. Just being there to help. You sound like such a good friend.

fuzz I agree with need. Document everything. Tell dh to follow every meeting up with an email stating facts. And to ask if he can record future meetings. And have someone else in the room. Just to listen/witness. He should be entitled to that. ideally someone with a photographic memory

£12 in waitrose on about a million chicken breasts. Out of date today heavily reduced chicken breasts. They're all in the freezer bar one which is going to be stir fried.

need I'm so sorry to hear about your friend.

Today is no longer a NSD as we need to pick up calpol and vicks later.

All I can hear is DH telling the cat she's a disgusting shit box. I can't wait to find out what she's done

Woo hoo shower is fixed! New part was £35. Much cheaper than a new shower.

Collie I was shouting similar at one of my cats who through pure laziness wee'd in the litter tray rather than get his feet cold and go in the garden! Really hope your ds feels better soon.

Fuzz sounds stressful, which is the last thing you need! Hope something good turns up for your dh really soon.

vvv well done

Needa your poor friend, out of all the cancers I think breast cancer is the one that scares me the most In a way its good that she is in the know so can make educated choices but in another way it must make it all the more terrifying.

Have had a very boring quiet afternoon catching up on housework.

Dinner was nice, used the salmon fillets i bought in Lidls topped with a splodge of pesto and grated cheese, had with rice and veg. I drenched my rice with soy sauce because I love it I reckon would work out about £2 a portion so pretty frugal as well.