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.

Ok cag, hope you got some sleep and take a deep breath.
Book the return train I imagine coaches with young dc would be worse. Do it on an incognito browser so you search from yesterday doesn't record.
Order some tesco vouchers for Friday meal. before that first see if you can get your meal deal for later. For a hospital appointment they may move it.
It's easy to say but don't beat yourself up. I've don't the same loads by being disorganised and had to throw money at it.
Look at your list and prioritises: what has to be done when and what doesn't matter as you are going to big cities and what you forget the hotel can help you find.
What can you get delivered before to ease the stress.
Cag you will get there and we will help you.

Will be visiting primark today. With dd so will be spendy and need to get dh a birthday pressie as we are camping next weekend and it's his birthday after that.
Ds is going to a skate park in a city about 45 mins away.
Dd had a dance exam this afternoon
This morning the house is a wreck and needs sorting. It's all getting on to of me a bit. I need to rein in my spends as some big bills are coming up

Morning all! Popping in again to say hello. I've had a horrendously spendy couple of weeks - lots of emergency hospital visits so totally hear you on the stress spending! Mine also included a very last minute train ticket (no railcard) as I wasn't up to driving. It actually turned out to be money well spent as DD loved the adventure, we were comfy and I did pack a picnic!

babs what a lovely, practical message for cag. I feel calmer and keen to get some things done just reading it! Cag you can do this! Kept your eye on the goal - a well deserved, long-awaited holiday with your family.

Cag. Deep breath. Write a list of all you need to do. Break it into small daily chunks, which you know you will accomplish each day, so put less on each day than you might be tempted to do. Cross it off. You are also tired, life is a million times harder when you are tired. Small steps, don't think of EVERYTHING you have to do, one thing at a time.

Hey babs, you almost never moan on this thread and always support. Do the washing and make sure everyone is fed, clean the loo. All else is a bonus. Write a list, as per Cag. Take care.

Ipsos. Thing is with this EU vote, and fair play to you for trying to figure it all out, is I'm beginning to feel like a resentful, petulant teenager about it all, I feel like I am being told what to do, by a myriad of folk whose business it is non of, to stay in. And I don't like being told what to do. I want to hear the positive aspects of staying, and of leaving. I am sick of being told WW3 is imminent if we leave, or similar if we stay. My gut is 'out' and the ride the storm, my head probably differs.

Spends yesterday.
£20 cash to DD for cinema and meal with her mates.
£20 to DS for pizza.
£32 M&S for flowers and wine for friends birthday.

DH and I had a rare afternoon together and wandered round an art gallery, and 2 small independent furniture shops, gathering ideas and plans for a couple of the rooms in the house that need work.

Today is a garden day, and we will invest in some large pots for the patio.

Thanks guys, twill be fine or i will rejig the budget to get a cleaner. Added stress with ddog will need me to come home at lunch to walk him or he moves to mil's for good as he is too old to go between now.
Sorry things are stressful too Ursula
Need I was expecting you to have invested in some art.

I'm with you on the eu thing need. My gut says out but I struggle to articulate why through the propaganda. We got a leaflet from the electoral committee yesterday that felt very unbalanced

Get the cleaner, it transforms your life. You find the money, I just make sure I spend less on food. Plus, she uses her own cleaning products, so I rarely buy any of these.

Didn't invest, but there's one we are tempted by, it's whether we wish to invest a chunk of money in something like that. Although, it's making nothing in the bank...

Place marking

Okay, so a menu plan;

Today - pork steaks in creamy mushroom sauce, veggies or salad.
Monday - Citrus spiced salmon, salad.
Tuesday - Spicy vegetable soup.
Wednesday - Bolognaise.
Thursday - Saffron and Rosemary chicken.
Friday - Tagine.

Art is one of those things that can increase dramatically if an artist is or becomes popular, then again they don't you still have a lovely work. Depends if you don't mind potentially being worse off money wise.

Cag hope you got a decent night's sleep, how are you feeling today?
Hope all in ok with you too, ursula?
Probably a garden centre trip for us too, and we're going to do some baking.

That's very interesting to hear your thoughts on the referendum need. I am also struggling with it. The only thing that I really feel confident about is that if Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, and Nigel Farage are on one side then I want to be on the other side. Can you imagine what it would be like to have Boris Johnson as Prime Minister with the other two by his side? If they are in charge I will actually Leave. Me, and probably also Scotland, possibly together.

Creme I'm finding your advice about CFS so extremely helpful. I messed up and crashed again this week, but now that I know what it is I can make sense of it all so much better. I am resting and practising hard at turning off my adrenaline rush. You're a bit of a life saver there. Thanks for explaining this to me.

I'm still £5 a day under budget this month for groceries. I have absolutely no idea why.

I'm also in the leave camp. DH doesn't know, and trying to find balanced information to enable someone to decide is impossible.

Last night £62 on parking for my October parking at the airport. I was expecting 26% quidco but it is showing as 10%, do flipping complicated, I never seem to get what I think I will.

I need to contact Quidco as I ordered our mobile wifi with 3, but I can't see what, if any, cash back I am due.

Thank you all so much. I really don't know where I'd be without you lovely Frugaleers!

Sorry about my ranting last night. I agree, it feels so much worse at night, and with the fibro symptoms being pretty bad at the moment it's all spiralling a bit.

I've booked the return train - somehow it's only £23 on the way home, compared to £77 on the way up, and I feel like it's sort of balanced out a bit. Also need to book the Leicester-Birmingham, and the train to and from the NEC (unless a bus is better for the latter), but those should be pretty small. Doing the in private browsing thing too, thank you! I totally forgot about that last night, and about cashback too, oops.

I've got to take DD to gym in a bit but I'll be back tonight to go through the lists so kindly written for me. One thing at a time, I am feeling more like this will be a costly mistake that we'll learn from, rather than a terrible disaster that's ruined the holiday

Is anyone on premium membership with Quidco? Wondering if £5 a year for better offers is worth it.

I'm in the leave camp too. It's my gut reaction.

When they start catastrophising you know they've run out of reasonable arguments.

I don't think it will start ww3. I don't think house prices will plummet. I don't think the rest of Europe will stop trading with us.

I think it will be a stay result though because we're too chicken to find out.

I've missed most of this thread. Anyway, better late than never.

I've just gone back over the last 5 pages or so.

Cag sorry to hear about the train tickets. Try not to let it get you down too much. I also have a tendency to get overwhelmed by things (to the extent that I start to feel a bit panicky). Doing up an action plan is the best way to tackle things as then you feel like you've taken control back.

Em sounds like your poor DH needs to see someone (doctor? counsellor?) to resolve his issues. I'd imagine he's trying to put a brave face on it all, but then it all comes to the surface when he's asleep. Sleeping in separate beds is only a short term solution. But I understand that you can't make him go - he has to take this step himself.

Laska enjoy your new car. Wishing you lots of happy and safe driving in it.

Audit sorry to hear your mum ended up in hospital. Hope they can identify the problem and she feels better soon.

No news really with me. Just plodding along and waiting for pay day. As well as all the usual bills I have a lot of expenses coming up relating to DD - book rental scheme, cubs camping weekend, dance class fees, birthday present for her friend etc.

Cag train from Bham New Street is either one stop on Virgin or a few stops on local service, use the local one, it's cheaper!

Sorry, that's the train from New St to Bham International (for NEC). Where are you staying in Brum?

So. I've had two nights now of uninterrupted sleep and feel so much better for it. Dh went to bed last night he thinks at 11 and has only just surfaced.

ipsos I showed him the link you posted. thank you for that.

tayto ive mentioned him seeing someone. He thinks it's a good idea. As someone neutral can help him probably better than I can. Too involved I guess. He doesn't feel ready to do it yet but agrees it might help. Baby steps right...?

It is raining here today. So an indoors day. Washing bedding to be changed and cleaning to get done. I've set the map my walk app to track my movement around the house. Just to see how far I'd walk when doing chores. So far, 2km.

Have ditched four tops this weekend. Two in the bin as they were just old and full of holes. Two for charity shop.

Tattoo has got to the scanning over skin peely stage. Tattoo lady told me it'd itch like anything at this point yep and that I wasn't to pick or scratch it. Just to put tonnes of nappy rash creme on it.

was paid on Friday so bank accounts are looking healthy need to stay making a shopping list/ meal planning as we've seriously fallen off that wagon.

Am also going back to really taking care of myself. As I haven't really been. Today I'm a bit more dressy than usual. I've brushed my hair (unusual for a Sunday if I'm staying in it usually just gets given a spray of dry shampoo and pinned up) have put on make up and am wearing earrings! And a nice outfit. Have also used up a much loved but ancient body lotion. So now I smell like a grapefruit! Happy.

Gosh, for me there's no question about it for remaining. I avoid all propaganda for both sides as I am so sure on the issue! I think it's because I grew up in Ireland in the1980s and 1950s, and our country benefitted tremendously from being a member of the EEC, as it was. Even as a primary aged child, I could see signs of gradual improvement and regeneration going on all around me. We were firmly taught to think of ourselves as European as well as Irish at school too. So basically, I had no idea some people had negative connotations of being in the EU, until I had been living in England for a few years.

We're all still friends, right?

Ipsos, you're very welcome. It's all a work in progress.

Cag, glad you've booked the train and you're feeling calmer. So what if you were a bit disorganised this time? It's a holiday and now your DH has a steady job, you can afford it. Relax, enjoy and put a note in your diary to start looking for tickets 3 months before you go next time.

Need, your day out sounded lovely and chilled. I hope you get your pots today.

I'm not allowed to vote in the eu thing. Which is a shame. As whatever happens it will affect us here.

Audit I agree very much about the lack of information. I think part of the problem is that no one knows what will happen either way. The EU is a big first time experiment and we don't know how it will develop. The alternative of exiting the EU would also not be a step back to the way things were, because the EU will still be sitting next to us like a huge behemoth, but with us excluded. It's a judgement call I think.

Fluffy I also think it will be a narrow stay result like the Scottish referendum. I think (Hope) that people will be too sensible to throw away all of the wonderful bridges that have been built in the last 40 years.

Creme I'm with you. The beaches in our home town were all covered with sewage until the EU forced the UK government to sort the problem out. There's nothing quite like wading through condoms to focus a child's mind. I just wish the government would put some jobs in the north and properly fund the schools and NHS. I think that would solve most of the problems that are currently being blamed on the EU.

Sorry for wittering about the EU. I find it all very interesting. Tell me if you think I should move this to a different thread.

Any time Em. I hope it helps.

NSD except for a small tesco shop today. Still in powersave mode here, trying to get back on my feet.

Of course we are still friends you gotta vote for what you want.

It's not fair em can't vote though. Why can't you vote?.