May the frugaleering be with you - frugal chat and support for frugalers old and new.

[babsmam]

I took the liberty as we were nearly at the end of the last one.

I definitely don't think they would mind. They would just be excited at staying in a posh hotel. You have the choice of Chester, Liverpool and Manchester Hiltons. All look lovely and all obviously close by.

Ah sorry to hear that daily
What's preteen 10-12 ish?
Have a ponder and let us know.

Sorry, new to this thread, depending on how old your children are I would deffo go to Liverpool, we took our 16, 14, 3 and 2 year olds for a couple of nights in the travelodge and they loved it!! Rivers, ferries, and if you have a car go across to new Brighton and you have the seaside :-)

Hi wreck, going to a beach resort. Near Halkidiki. According to Greek friends it's great! God knows I need it.

Step mum still bad. There is no hope really (which makes me v Cross about modern medicine if you know what I mean). I feel bad that dad is coping by himself. I have the time. Not really the money but we can earn it back. I have a 20+ month 0% cc and we are going to the bank to re mortgage (as the terms are up soon) and we want to borrow to get the home office set up. The bank seemed v happy to lend us £100k more!! I was not impressed. I only need maybe £15k. The loan to value ratio is still v favourable so I'm v keen to do this.

Thoughts?

Anyone flown the Middle East airlines ethihad??

Bees go and see the family. Sounds like you have planned to take the financial hit.

Mail, I would definitely make sure the hotel has a pool. That's wherever you decide to go, that will cover bad weather and be fun for the DC. Personally, for a night I would go UK and not too far, being in a hotel will feel like holiday enough. Good luck.

Hi Linds

Not unreasonable at all bees, you go x

Ipsos Thank you for the explanation. Was the referral to a specialist pediatrician?I hope so, it seems remiss of your GP not to have referred sooner, given the food intolerance and also given the very recent conversation you've had re your DS's absence from school. If that's not out of order, being critical of your GP!

Cag I know what you mean, I love English and books and language. I did Lit at A Level. Both DC are good at the subject, but don't 'get' it, or love it, they are maths and science based, like their Dad. Luckily, there's enough maths loving kids in DS's cohort to do A Level Maths and Further Maths.

Stuffed peppers and salad for tea.

Hi Daily is York doable? I took my dd there a couple of years ago and even though it rained the entire wend we still had a brilliant time.

Ipsos I would ask your GP for an ENT referral, glue ear tends to be an ongoing issue and your ds is going to need many, many hearing tests if he is anything like my dd. I can''t fault the NHS care my dd has had over the years.

So have boy cat back just have to wait for the test results now.

Yes, York is wonderful. We are very close to York, and I know it well, so I can help with stuff to do if required.

Oh York is beautiful and the Hilton York is fab

Ok I'll have to do more concerted searching for flights. Was it ipsos who said that we can delete cookies or something so that the websites can't track us and up the price? I read something like that somewhere. Can someone explain how that works?

Bees you want private browsing. What browser are you using? I know how to do it on iPad I'm sure Google will help though

Yes incognito browsing or search on one computer device and buy on another if that's easier

Are you saying I look on my iPad and then book from my laptop or computer? Or is there another way?

Using internet explorer but can use chrome too.

To do private browsing on your iPad open up safari then click on the little squares that makes it show your last visited pages. On the bottom left there's 'private' press that.

This is the pony, totally respecting his feed bowl tonight

Aw, he's gorgeous .

On my list:

Ginger, garlic, REAL TUNA, red pepper, chilli, nooooodles, rice wine, sesame oil, spring onions, cream cheese, washing, tomatoes, salmon, prawns, eggs.

Then A drawing of a flower.

And on the other end - grey grout, wall hole filler stuff, scraper thing, sandpaper

daily agree. Go somewhere close. Ideally somewhere you can just stuff a change of clothes in a small bag. Then order room service and watch tv.

Has anyone ever flown Ryanair. I'm thinking now about using them to fly to Italy. Are they as awful as everyone makes out?

Hey em I would check between Ryanair and maybe BA. And see how the prices stack up. My admin person told me that her last holiday it was cheaper to fly BA after adding things like luggage, seats, food. I'm flying easy jet to Greece this August, I've not flown it for a long time. This will be interesting!! And with 2 kids. Do they do seating or is it free for all? I don't remember. This flight however includes luggage. Not sure about seats.

Daily definitely stay in the uk, it's not worth flying for a one night break.
If you can get room service at some stage that'd be a real kick for the children.

Em I've travelled with Ryanair most of the times I've flown. They're functional the sales pitching is a pain alright but other than that they're grand

Daily I agree with the others - stay close, go for 2 nights; one your free voucher and one paid for (keep trying topcashback , they normally have hilton but havent for the past two weeks or so) OR join Hilton Honours programme which is free and buy some points. Often buying the points and paying with them, works out less than paying cash (because you buy in dollars) - sound complicated but it isnt. If you choose Birmingham or Manchester, save Kelloggs vouchers and and go to Sealife Centre. Let's assume you now have about £100 left - have room service blow out one night and bring back a cheapy kids favourite takeaway the other. And definitely book where there is a pool. It will be such a treat for you all.

Just done a quick check on hilton app.
For Birmingham broad street for example, rooms are "from" £75 or you could pay with £26 + 8000 HH points. They are currently doing a bogof so 8000 points = $40 = £26. So you get your second night for £52 which ever riom you choose, not £75. Does that make sense? Just dont buy the points on a cc that charges fo foreign transactions. £23 saved will buy you lunch x

Monday, went out for dinner, 2 bus fares £1.59 each
Tuesday ordered a roof box for the car for our holiday £394 including delivery. I paid £100 DH paid the rest for my birthday present. Petrol £36 to reclaim, lunch bits were about £10
Today NSD, but need to pay the window cleaner £12.50

On Sunday I was quite despondent about the credit card bill. I paid £3,000 off the card, leaving some money in the bank. When I worked out I had £900 left in the bank after the bills against £1,050 on the card. I also have £200 cash in my purse.

Need to pay £85 for the first communion pictures when I have checked the USB she sent. And I paid £100 to DH's account as the roof box went on his card.

Welcome to new people and returners

Please can I join. I have been lurking on this thread for months and have felt like an intruder. I think it's the best thread on MN.
I wanted to join to say that I stayed in the Gateshead Hilton two weeks ago and it was awful. I was up there for a meeting. The reception staff were rude and unhelpful, and that is when I could get their attention. I parked in the only place possible which is under the hotel,and the charge was £12 per night. They only told me about the extra charge when I asked how I get out through the barrier. Then they charged £8 for breakfast....Newcastle is a great city but the Gateshead Hilton is dreadful.
And I have travelled a lot on Eitiad....a great airline. We use it to go to Asia. The only downside is that sometimes their connections are a bit tight.
I have used Ryan air as well but only to go to Ireland and they are just like easy jet
.
I have been following Cag and the trip to the space centre. I looked it up on the web and it looks great. Please say what it's like as I would love to take my 8yo GDD.
I hope you don't mind me joining. I live alone and am trying to be frugal to save up for some essential building work on my house.