Austere April Advances (even though it's mid March.....). Frugaleers Unite

[needastrongone]

New thread. Can't link.

Aww lovely horse em. Had a busy couple of days, going to catch up on the thread now...

If we had kids he wouldn't be able to just drink his body weight and write off a weekend.

Too bloody right and I hope he accepts that! I've seen too many threads on here about DHs who insist on carrying on as they did pre-DCs.

Adora he's not got his rota yet trying not to be too paranoid that something's gone wrong but his official start day is Easter Sunday, I think that's just because their week starts on a Sunday generally as I don't know if they're open then. Not that we're fussed either way as we don't celebrate Easter other than an egg hunt in the morning. So anyway, we've got a week basically.

Found out that our local bus company is giving all children free travel on the Saturday, and dance club isn't on, so DH might take the DCs somewhere for the day to give me a break. Hopefully somewhere cheap though as it's going to cost a fair bit getting to Watford for the HP event. We have tomorrow, Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday mornings, and all of Friday to try and do as much as we can. We got a good couple of hours done just now I think, and headache has shifted. Just having a rest and then we'll continue.

It's really depressing me to see all the stuff that has been a total waste of money purely because of the clutter - things that we've bought and that got absorbed into the general mess and ended up getting lost/damaged etc. Ugh. Embarrassing but a good incentive to change.

Grr at mean colleagues.
Nice horse.
Frugal win we got someone car park ticket as they came out £2 saved.
£8.40 swimming
£5.18 MacDonald bleurg but dc are having a junk day as I can't get Saturdays right
Dh and I will get takeaway later £13 ish. Which dc will share too as MCD doesn't fill them but they won't have it. stay out of b&m next door

Back again, after rejoining, getting super ill and falling off yet again.

All in, not done too badly this month. Still spending more on groceries than I would like, partly because I've had to alter diet because of illness. Anyway, pay day on Thursday and fingers crossed, will have made it through okay.

I would like to come in under budget next month, but two weeks off in Easter, spending time with other people, could well scupper that.

It's really depressing me to see all the stuff that has been a total waste of money purely because of the clutter - things that we've bought and that got absorbed into the general mess and ended up getting lost/damaged etc. Ugh. Embarrassing but a good incentive to change. I think that's a familiar feeling! I used to take a couple of car loads a year to the charity shop and STILL reclutter. It was shocking. I am finally getting a grip of myself, mainly because of the damning realisation that the work I do that pays for all this needless stuff is hurting me and not sustainable. Less stuff = less work, which has to be a winner for me. Plus, having a less cluttered house is far nicer so you appreciate and use what you have. Mine still has a long way to go but I ran around trying to find clothes for a charity shop bag the other day and only got 2 things. That is a huge improvement on the days when I could have filled several of them every time.

It's the having to either wrote off a whole weekend or having to do things myself.

I've chosen just doing things myself this weekend. I've been to b&q and ordered tiles. I've done 4 loads of washing changed beds cleaned bathrooms and washed up.

Don't get me wrong. I'm guilty of going out and getting shitfaced a little bit tipsy too occasionally. But I just seem to be able to get on with the things I said I would.

Today's spends £25 riding, £2.68 on two packets of bin bags, £5 something on Coke sausage rolls and crisps.

Oh Bees, sorry to hear you were stalked and spotted . Honestly, is nowhere safe for a vent any more?

Welcome back Audit and Kinky. It's great to have you back on board.

Spends: £10 gel nails and £1.40 on milk and chocolate.

cag glad you had a good holiday. I am guilty of buying multiples of things as they get lost/broken under clutter hoard

Dp is taking codeine just now, it makes him a bit strange for an hour after taking it. Naproxen will be out of his system by tomorrow, then we shall see. He has severe nerve pain from a broken back years ago. We should get the thyroid results on Monday, honestly, on all the websites, he ticks all the symptoms except the lady specific ones; so I'm hopeful we can get some answers and get him a bit better again. Going forward with the nerve pain...off to pain clinic to see what's next. He's been through most things, can't tolerate opiates anymore at all, and used to take anti-epilepsy meds to block the nerve pain. It is ongoing...

How shit to be outed by awful colleagues, have they no lives of their own? I am a preverbal open book, so never worry what (little) I post. Then again, I don't have a decent career (anymore).

Spent today on chicken feed, and ferret food and toys (about £35). £18 in Tesco, and £7 in the butchers, £3.30 sending another labradoodle to Australia, so postage for that is in my paypal.

I really hope you get answers Knitting - I also hope they did the more detailed thyroid-specific tests? I've heard something about a basic thyroid test not being conclusive and that it's best to get something like T3 and T4 or something tested? . Chronic ill health is just shit.

Kinky I totally agree re: stuff, and it's the clutter itself that makes me more ill as well as my work. I know my life will be much easier if the house is less cluttered. Really hoping that DH's better work hours will help as well.

Well, the speediness continued, but I had to buy the last of DD1's birthday presents for next weekend.

£50 on a Sparks scooter, got back a £10 Toysrus giftcard (which may do as a present for someone). She wanted a Y-flicker which I wouldn't buy, but I didn't make her choose a cheaper one.

£51 in Sports direct. £33 on new trainers (her feet grew 1.5 sizes between September and December) 2 packs of trainer socks £4 (perhaps now she'll stop nicking mine?) new swimming costume £10 and a cap she liked £4.

£16 in hobbycraft buying Easter hats and decorations. DD1 said she would give me some money back, but as it is for school, and for both of them, I don't think that's very fair.

£2 for parking.

I need to go to Tesco when we get out of DD2's swimming lesson. Hoped to get there earlier, but had a police lady coming to raid a statement from DS after a woman slapped him on the bus a couple of weeks ago. I didn't expect it to take 2 hours, but she explained everything yo him, and was really good at asking questions to get him to explain what happened in his own words. She said he should have called 999!

Oops, forgot £83 on tickets for Marwell Zoo for DD1's birthday treat next weekend.

OMG, Audit! An unknown woman SLAPPED your DS on a bus?. I would be fuming! He sounds very brave. I hope the police catch her. How dare she!

Audit that's horrible. Poor DS and well done on making a statement.

audit gosh that's horrible! Your poor DS.

bees sorry to hear they stalked and spotted you.

I'm a tad worried about that happening too!

Spent £15 on fuel today and that's all.

May go out and buy ice cream later. Craving all sorts of random food lately

NSD.

Oh my god Audit, what kind of adult hits a child?. I hope the bus has CCTV.

bees People are vile aren't they?.

£25 in M&S getting a Meal Deal, plus bread. Not frugal. Too hangover to care.

Wasted a whole day being hungover. Very unusual for me so major sympathy from DH, but no excuses from me, my own stupid fault entirely.

Audit No words re your poor DS, welcome back though.

Bees Nasty folk. Why, what do folk hope to gain I wonder?

DH has done a cash deal, so we've some extra money swishing around.

And trying to get my head around everything the accountant told us yesterday about payment of dividends.

I've had a hangover all day. Three small bottles of beer on no food apart from a piece of cheesecake.

Omg audit how?!!! What happened?!

Yes people are quite vile. I would never have outed someone and if I did spot someone, and she/he was a friend, I would tell them discretely.

Then again how can anyone think that person is someone they know irl? I wouldn't be bothered and frankly people who I really trust at work are far and few. So the detail I might have shared here, most wouldn't know anyway...

The folk apparently thrived on gossip. Interestingly the gossip wasn't even about the main reason I posted. Does that make sense? It was along the lines of wow, bees actually earns that much? How can she? (Which was not at all the reason why I posted in the first place...).

Are they commies?

People who are highly educated tend to earn well. Otherwise we'd all get pg at 16 & bum around eating sausage rolls from well known bakeries while tucking our muffin tops into joggers & yelling at our kids to stfu.

Ugh bees ignore the jealous twats! Being nosy about your earnings is just vulgar (not sure I've actually ever used that word 'out loud' before!).

And Audit OMG! Glad the police were helpful.

I think we've achieved a fair amount today in the bedroom (oo er - not like that!). You can actually SEE THE FLOOR ignoring the fact you can't currently see the bed - carrying on in a few minutes, taking the laptop upstairs so while we work we can watch the King of the Hill DVD we bought on our holiday. :)

Spends:
£0.80 DD's bus fare to/from dancing (DH used my pass) - need to sort out her quarterly one.
£1.10 fiction books DH wants to read to the DCs (Jules Verne omnibus and The Hobbit)
£0.25 DH bought a cute egg cup with his pocket money :o each to their own...
£2.81 I ordered that book about board games from my pocket money. Excited!

Sigh. Must crack on.

Except I don't really know who these jealous cows are... My friend told me about it. He didn't tell me who the twats are!!!

Was a couple of pages back now but cag we love anime too, have quite a few dvds and merchandise around the house! The dvds I bought were arrietty, whisper of the heart, only yesterday and nausiccaa of the Valley. Castle of cagliostro is the next on my list :) these are my slippers which I bought as they reminded me of soot sprites

Also a few people have mentioned children wearing out shoes - we buy toughees now for dd and they are amazing. She wore out Clarks in 6 weeks but these lasted until she outgrew them.

Spends today £6 family yoga £2 bus and £30 in lidl

Just about to watch spend well for less on catchup :)

Thanks for the support everyone.

DS was on the bus coming home from school. It was quite full when he got on, an ok'd woman was sat by the window in the first row of "priority" seats behind the driver, DS sat on the other side, on the aisle seat. He was twisted round talking to a friend. Another lady got on, middle aged, the old woman heaved herself up, leaned across the school girl next to her, through 2 people standing in the aisle to whack DS on the top of his arm telling him to get up to give the middle aged lady his seat.

He moved, but nearer the end of his journey, after talking to his friend, he walked back up the bus and (using DS's word) "discretely" took her picture.

The bus does have CCTV, the police have viewed it. They can't see her hit him, but the rest of the scenario, as he describes it can be seen. He says he wasn't hurt, but wax shocked.

What made me most proud was that he said if it goes to court he doesn't want to give video evidence, he doesn't want to be screened, he wants people to see he is not afraid to tell the truth.

To be honest, we have been surprised the police took it so seriously.

Nocuts I have heard of toughees, but DD2 is only 5 so I worry about her shoes not being professionally fitted. She has worn her shoes out, but I also think she has grown out of them. Her previous shoes were only half a size smaller than her school shoes, and they were bought about 15 months ago.