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

[needastrongone]

New thread. Can't link.

I did something I've been putting off since moving in. Cleaned the downstairs windows! I moved in June and the windows were already dirty then, so I reckon it's at least a year since they were done. I'm quite proud of what I achieved in an hour: inside and outside of sitting room, kitchen and bathroom windows and glass panels in the front door. Also did the outside of the back door, an outside table and top of the outside storage unit. I know a lot of you could do a lot more in that time, but that's all I can manage with my fatigue levels. I'm wiped out now, so no more for today.

NSD.

Take the small wins crème.
Em I know it's not allowed on here but lol

North h&m have an offer 25% off first item n free delivery code is on their home page oh and if you were to accidentally forget something and have to place 2 or 4 orders it works multiple times and ladies leggings are on offer for 3.99 so 2.99 with code.

I'm totally confused by the name changes too, but in the new user interface the names don't display at all on my screen unless I hover the mouse over them, so it's like a guessing game based on style of the post.

My garden designer visit is now put off until Thursday so we can get over the flu. Probably for the best really.

Thanks East I'll look at that as dd needs other clothes too & likes H&M.
Haha fluffy I do get quite evangelical about it! Ds was quite fascinated by the amount of water from a relatively small amount of clothes. When I started on the energy differential due to a horizontal vs vertical spin I sensed him glazing over

Afternoon all. It's been a completely mad week and I've lost track of the thread totally :(

No usernames displayed? Oh heck that'd drive me crazy. It's not like that for me thankfully (on laptop).

I'm having a little rest while perched on the tiny portion of bed that doesn't have piles of clutter on it! We've made more good progress but there is so much stuff I just haven't a clue what to do with!

Well done Creme

Thanks Cag. I keep looking at the windows, amazed by the amount of light that comes in. Yes, I know that's sad! Hopefully I can get the insides of upstairs done tomorrow.

Well done you, for decluttering too. Maybe you could post a list of the items you're struggling with, to see if we could suggest what to do? Even finding somewhere to store them all, then working through it in your own time would help. That's what I did at the beginning of my decluttering journey nearly 4 years ago.

North I am a recent h&m convert especially the organic cotton baby n children clothes at fraction of frugi and maxomorra costs although still a sucker for their funky pattern dungarees

Well done Creme, that's loads. I hate cleaning windows, I always manage to smear them.

North Well done to your DS

I've spent about £15 today on food, as we were out and about and all our friends were buying food. I felt a bit humbuggy to DD not allowing her to have some.

I've had a big delivery of stuff from the Next sale. Very little is staying though, most going back.

Need to menu plan now.

DH has done loads while I've been out and about, which is fantastic and appreciated.

I've discovered I need summer uniform for DD on Tuesday and work stuff for me. I could start buying for holidays and next year uniform but their growth is so erratic

£6.50 owed to dh.
£13 Tesco but £6 was two rolls of frog tape, it's usually £6-7 per roll.

I love cleaning windows, I use the karcher inside and out. It's £14 to get our windows cleaned here so I'll keep on doing it.

Ipsos You're really going through it. It will be lovely for you to get the garden done. It makes such a difference to a house. Bit like adding an extra room for the summer.

We had roast chicken with Yorkshires, rice, stuffing and peas for dinner. Yum!

I'm so excited as I'm going to London on Thursday. Going in the day and I'm going to do some shopping whilst I wait for my friend to finish work then we're going to see Ellie Goulding and staying in a hotel and probably more shopping the next day. But first on Thursday morning I'm going to dd's Easter service, she's in the choir and has a part to say.

That's what I'm hoping Fluffy Well done on the window cleaning. That must be wonderful. Ours are definitely in need of a scrub.

Thanks again, everyone. I really am amazed at the difference it makes.

Gosh, your London trip sounds a lot more exciting than ours, Wreck. We're thinking of a museum and the zoo.

Which museum are you thinking of going to? I'm sure you'll have a great time we want to go to the zoo so if you do go I'll be interested to hear what you think.

TBH, I don't really want to go to the zoo at all, but my sister really wants to take my 3 year old niece. I'm not that keen on zoos, but Bristol zoo is good and has a great record on animal conservation. The Isle of Wight zoo is also good, but it's really a Big Cat sanctuary. The museum is not far from where my brother lives. It's the Horniman in south east London. I've been planning to go there since I lived in London in the late nineties!

Well done creme it is amazing how much of a difference clean windows make.
I'm trying to mealplan.
Today Fish pie & veg
Mon Pasties dh is bringing back from Devon
Tues Spag bol
Wed Quiche & coleslaw
Thurs Kidney bean & carrot burgers
That's all for now as our plans for the Easter weekend aren't finalised yet.

Managed to get one raised bed dug over today which is the earliest I've ever started in the garden I think. More to do tomorrow. Will post a pic later if I can figure out how to get it from my phone!

Aw, I used to go to the Horniman all the time! I grew up in Bromley and it was a frequent destination for school trips. I must take the DCs sometime. I hope the totem pole is still there. :)

Thank you Creme I kind of ran out of steam and so some stuff has again been shoved in boxes. The difference is massive though so I'm still very pleased. I need to think about what we should aim to do tomorrow morning (not the afternoon as we're trying a new Spanish club).

I'm getting to the point again where I can't see much that can go. Like toys, the DCs genuinely do play with everything they have! I really thought I'd have sold or packed away for the mythical third baby stuff like Happyland by now - my youngest is 6 - but no. I'm glad they play so much though so I'm not complaining really.

Cagliostro One of our best moves ever was getting the loft boarded. Now we have about 10 big boxes of toys up there and three in the living room and we just rotate them round as fast as needed. It's a great help with ds is stuck in with a lurgy as we can get a new box down every day or more often if needed. He considers the attic to be one huge toy shop and it keeps the living room from becoming totally overwhelmed.

Nsd. if you don't count the snacks j bought at the shop using Dhs contactless card...

Spent the afternoon watching 50 shades of grey. Worst movie ever. The books in my opinion were terrible so I must have been pretty annoyed to watch the movie.

I'm ok now though. Had nice dinner and wine

Creme getting time & inclination to declutter are my main obstacles.
8 bin bags ready to go to new homes. 2 for charity shop recycle only though.

Good going, Lilac. Even after nearly 4 years, I still managed to fill a charity bag, sort out a box of stuff for eBay when I can be bothered, and chucked away a few old cables, an old router and out of date medicine. It really is a lifelong journey.

Em, at the treats on the contactless card!

I really wish we could do that with our attic Ipsos! Sadly it's a tiny one with a hatch, not even a ladder or anything so it's not one we could adapt and use regularly IYSWIM (not least because we are renting). Still, we are definitely getting there. Board games are now all in ONE gigantic cupboard, our books are in another, the toys are gradually finding proper homes. We definitely don't need to buy any storage, we have a few Ikea Trofast trays spare and I've found a frankly embarrassing amount of Really Useful Boxes in various sizes.

We didn't leave the house so it was an NSD as well, yay!