The Fantastic Frugalleers Meander into May.....

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

Thought it was about time I started a new thread

Wow, Babs that great for your DS....you deserve to be a proud mammy!
I do hope you get the work,Creme, especially if it leads to you being free of those bloody agencies...they are sharks!
Cag, I do admire you doing HomeEd with your DCs. I think it must be really challenging but also exciting.....well done with the inspection

Girlie, when I moved house I had a place empty for a few weeks. I rang the council and they said if the property was empty you get one month free of council tax for an unoccupied property.
It's worth asking if your council is the same. You should only pay if you are occupying it, unless it's a second home. I should have paid £106 but only had to pay £37 ...just for the few days that were over the month, if you see what I mean.

Girlie

The council need to drop off the wheelie bin and recycling boxes. The refuse people dropped mine off when they did the bin collection.

Also you need bin stickers & a house number plaque.

Off to London today for long protracted meeting. There is a lunch to look forward to though! Have a good weekend everyone!

If anyone is looking for a fitness tracker, then top cashback have a 20% off code + 8.08% cashback on Jawbone UP 2 & 3 until 19th June.

Monopolies rule all sorts of stuff in the Channel Islands. It makes it a bit of a pain to save money on the basics.

Will catch up properly later. Got back from camping trip with dd last night. Had a lovely walk at an RSPB reserve yesterday £3 for parking, bargain.
A few weeks ago I asked my cousin (who is a farrier) for advice about where to take dd to try some riding lessons. This week he replied to say he has got her some vouchers for lessons at a reasonably local place which is amazing. It's probably not somewhere we would continue if she likes it as it's a bit of a hike for a regular thing and relatively pricey, but what a great way to give it a try. Dh has done his wife's tax return for the last couple of years so this is probably partly in return for that, but still, what a fab thing to receive.
Planning to finish painting dd's chest of drawers today
Meeting with a personal trainer later today. Not very frugal but very important to me. I've been very overweight for years and have lost all confidence in exercising and the belief I can change. So, this is it, one session a week for 12 weeks with a PT who has lost 10 stone in weight herself so she understands. Hopefully at the end of the 12 weeks I will feel able to continue on my own but if not I will carry on with the PT

Morning all

Have been round to look at a school I might move dd to when we move this morning, it was very nice. A small village school which is very different to the big community school she currently attends, its also a church school which will take a bit of getting used to! Have been investigating childminders and think have found one that does before and after school care so just waiting for her to ring back.

Someone asked about packing, a friend of mine has recently moved and offered me all her boxes and bubble wrap! Very pleased about that, am meeting her on Monday to collect and then will start packing in earnest, I have been gradually sorting stuff out for a few weeks so am hoping it won't be too bad!

Hadn't though of bins etc Fluffy not sure the council have taken over the road yet as its a new build so guess will have to find out about that. Have to fill in a form to tell the council we are moving out of this place so thats in the post to us now hopefully.

Its all a bit scary but exciting as well its been nice having these few days off, I am back to work next Tuesday so organising everything will suddenly get much harder.

Spends.

£11 on a class photo, wasn't going to bother but then thought it would be the last one at this school potentially, £11 was the cheapest one I could get!!

70p on a chocolate bar for dd.

North that sounds great re the riding lessons, it is a pricey hobby but my dd really benefits from it so I find the money somehow (bank of mum helps out a lot!) Good luck with the PT, I reckon you will find it really helpful to have someone there to motivate and support you. I could also do with losing some weight, its crept on over the last 6 months or so, I have been trying to do more exercise but keep finding excuses not to do it have been better this week with not eating rubbish though! Seriously needed it as stuffed my face on holiday!!

They will be doing bin collections anyway. Adoptions more a formality.

Ask the site foreman/supervisor if you have a soakaway. If you do there's no surface water charge.

We had to drag our bins to the top of the road until the road itself was adopted Girlie, took a few months.

Like the idea of the trainer, north, and one that has similar circumstances, rather than a 20 year old size 6 blonde 'stereotype' iyswim?!

Just about to go out, cleaner has been, so that's £30. Best £30 I spend all week.

I'm too nervous about mustard Fluffy, I wish I wasn't. I'm scared I will fall out with it in a few years time, and this furniture is being bought for the long term. I'll post a picture though in a bit of mustard chair, it won't be great as it was right in the middle of the showroom and dark, but was stunning. They had an amazing peacock blue colour too. Fab.

😮

Our council was collecting the refuse before adoption. Mind you I live on a hill. I suspect the pensioners down the road couldn't have managed.

I think if you LOVE a colour it will always look good. I bet if you walked into a friends house and saw them you'd be envious of their bravery. It depends if you have a habit of going off things after a few years or not.

I did a visit to a oap in a house done out it in 1970s decor, maybe late 60s at most. Very stylish egg chairs in white vinyl and huge swirly carpets. It looked wonderful.

Yesterday.
£20 butcher. Dhs money paid.
£27 aldi. £20 of that paid by Dh.
£1.89 homebargains.
£30 superdrug. Big bottle st tropez, beauty blend sponge, two body butters and a highlighting concealer. Bit of an oxy moron there. Got a wedding coming up so I need to look nice.
£4.25 on another fucking tester pot. Dh doesn't like it.

£1.88 squash.
£6 sains sunscreen and squash.
£3 spices but will be free on checkout smart.

This is the colour Dh wants in our hall, landing and staircase. He is drawn to lilac for some reason. It would certainly make a statement with grey wooden flooring. I think the statement is "fuck fashion this is style"

Gaaah so confused by HMRC site. I registered but didn't get a user ID and it won't let me get one! I'm now on hold. Bah.

Nsd. Finally got around to doing level 3 of the shred. Didn't feel too worn out.

I want to join the gym but it's so bloody expensive

do you have a 'thegymgroup' near you? They're quite reasonable/no frills (no pool boooo)

Also... I am now officially in business. Wooo!

I like that colour!

Woo hoo Cag! No we don't. Cheapest is £36.55 and that's with an NHS discount!

Good news Cag

I like the colour too, but might fall out with it after a while. Fickle, me. I am traumatised by my terracotta days and stencilled walls!

£50 M&S.

Oh I used to want stencilled walls! And terracotta colour too. In the end though I painted flowers on, funnily enough, pale lilac.

Blimey wreck that's steep!

Chair

Terracotta was vair sophisticated back in the day. Teamed with blue or green 🙈 As was lemon and blue.

I do like those chairs. As a statement piece it would look lovely with grey.

Gyms aren't cheap round here either. Even our leisure centres about £30 a month.

My £30 M&S vouchers been emailed to me. I'll wait till the sale starts.

Been missing for a week while on holiday, will catch up tomorrow with you guys.

Didn't do too badly in spending really
Really enjoyed our haven holiday didn't 'do' much except relax & enjoy family time

Hi, my local authority gym is £37.50 a month although that includes classes and the pool. But I can't afford it at the moment. I dig my garden instead.

Trying that's what this one includes. I definitely can't justify it though. Would have to do seven classes a month to make it worth while which I probably could but for now I'll just stick with one a week I think.

£9.90 on lunch out. I love that colour on the walls, Fluffy, and I also love the mustard chair, Need, but I see why you've opted for grey.

Pleased you had a lovely holiday, Lilac, and go, Cag!

£13 in tesco, £3 on water pistols for ds1 as he's done super well settling at his new nursery, £1.50 on thyme reimbursed from checkout smart and the rest was dairy free stuff for the boys. It's so expensive but ds1 is tiny and needs more of the soya cheeses / creams according to dietician.