Frugaleers chatting and saving even further into August...

[AGenie]

Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

Useful links copied from last year:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/1324074-For-those-who-cant-afford-to-use-central-heating-this-year-How-are-you-going-to-cope

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1543785-your-top-tips-for-money-saving-and-a-more-frugal-life

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1600030-Small-money-saving-habits-petty-even

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1628874-Gas-Elec-Bills-monthly-and-SKY-so-angry

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1911061-NO-MORE-COLD-MUMSNETTERS

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2209167-Slow-Cookers-are-shit

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2224969-saving-money

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2258202-Debt-mutual-support-thread-number-6-start-the-new-year-with-a-clear-purpose-and-keep-moving-forwards-even-by-tiny-steps?

orchard.tesco.com/ Sign up to this.

www.topcashback.co.uk/home And this.

www.quidco.com/home/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub ditto.

www.checkoutsmart.com/ Plus this.

www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new?page=3 Check this daily.

cag, what are you doing up at that time? Reminds me of myself a few weeks ago, I didn't sleep from 2am onwards!! God, that was hard!

cag that's so sad. Feel a bit sorry for the kid... Only a bit mind. Bully suck. I was bullied for years at school. In my old legal job I had to do some legal aid stuff. Sat in on an interview with a more senior colleague with one of my bullies who needed legal help for something. In a horrible way I took pleasure in knowing that I'd succeeded.

genie my aunt has diagnosed all of the family with various things. She's not a doctor or a medical practitioner. But she works in a lab. So obviously has more authority than the rest of us I'm apparently (according to her) a "classic high functioning autistic over achiever" my cousin her daughter is dyslexic. Aunt has blamed the school for the fact cousin has no job qualifications. Because the school didn't pick up her dyslexia. I may have pointed out that if cousin had actually attended school instead of skiving they may have had a chance...

Riding today then popping in to see dm who's just returned from France. I hope she's brought treats!!!

Cag My advice will probably go against the grain, so I'm prepared to be the only one.. Your DD looks like she is starting to equip herself with the skills to assert herself once again after a difficult experience. She's been very mature about this last week or so and this girl. It sounds like the other kids are too. Kids say stuff, leave it, they are dealing with it themselves.

£4 karate DS last night, I anticipate a LSD.

I spent £10 last night on a gorgeous Fred and Noah '1' tshirt for my little boys first birthday party next month. Essential spend right?!

Going to change my usual Saturday spending spree at the shops with a trip to a local second hand sale at church this morning and only going to town to refund some winter boots I bought that I don't really need.

I agree with how expectations of having 'stuff' in childhood has changed. I do worry about the pressure my children will feel when they're older but for now I only have the one year old and he's too little to notice. I do remember my friends teasing me for having 2 stripe track suits instead of adidas!

Cag that's brilliant about your bra and great idea about getting in touch with toy companies, let us know how you get on
Need well done to your friends dd despite what was happening in her home life
Em I agree seeing cervix on screen is super weird but it's good they took a sample. It hurts a bit & bleeds a bit too, as it's a cut that can't heal quickly like ones outside our body. Mine was done the day before my best friends wedding & I'd to try store pantyliners in a teeny handbag

I brought home a flyer yesterday for cooking classes for kids & then copped on & said to myself I'm not working in the evenings anymore we can have a kids baking/cooking night at home once a week now.

8 I also have critical illness & income protection cover as I'm the bigger earner, it's worth it for the peace of mind it brings
Sierra how's sw going for you?
You can make waffles in a waffle iron using the banana oat pancake mixture. I'm a former slimming club leader as of last week I resigned. My pancakes are made by pouring some boiling water over porridge oats leaving to swell beating in an egg some vanilla essence & some milk if necessary. Then I heat some sugar free jam in microwave. It's yummy. I'm sure it'd work in a waffle maker too.
I'm just not sure we need a waffle maker. Other members of our Facebook slimming group insist I do
Agenie laughing at your neighbour paying dc to go on trampoline, guess she wanted a break from them

Right now that I've caught up with the rest of your news, here's mine
Spent €40 yesterday on some pre loved jackets for dc a mini Boden for ds, a long fur lined trespass for dd & a next one for dd. These will be their coats for trips to playground, beach, playing outside at home & their Hatleys will be for school & trips to town etc. I'm not at all brand oriented but the cheaper shops coats cost almost as much & don't last or stay fresh looking as long.
€20 diesel
Today will be €1.40 on daily mail newspaper with magazine included. My weekly treat to me.

I will earn €11.25 today from family of my one to one slimmer. I've another visit to do with them. The mother has asked if I'll continue to weigh them weekly or fortnightly as her ds won't attend a class. This is against the terms of my contract & I'm unsure what to do. Currently each visit to their house has been worth €41.25 to me. Wwyd?

Em that must have felt super to have become so successful for your former bully to have to listen to you & see your success

Interesting to read about the two stripe vs three stripe clothing
Had a discussion about this with dsd (we are the same age) regarding jersey day in school. GAA is a major deal in Ireland & jerseys can only be bought from one company costing €55. Children would be ridiculed when they're older about having the penneys version. So unfortunately despite being from another county I will probably suck it up & purchase a jersey for dd at some point. She has a half & half one my home county & where we live already so I guess this will be passed on to ds & at least eliminate buying two.
Where we live GAA is people's lives however not the case in our house or dsd's either. Our dc will all attend the same school

I would do it Lilac, to be honest. Who's to know and what would happen? Did you resign for any particular reason? SW I mean.

Another sleepless night. That's about 2 weeks I haven't slept properly for. I don't think I can have anything stronger than camomile tea in my condition can I? Problem is that I'm so tired I'm just moping about all day which makes me more stressed about all the things I'm not doing and then I don't sleep well again.
I think I need some exercise, not just a slow walk round the block with DD. DH is giving me some small tasks to do today so I feel like I've achieved something.
Sorry, feel like I've grumbled a lot this week. I'll try to snap out of it.
Need a couple of things from Sainsbury's today. This is becoming a regular Saturday outing, not frugal!

lilac GAA? I may have missed that.

The dr yesterday told me no sexy time for 2 weeks, also no swimming, no saunas, no hot tubs, no tampons and no baths. Gutted as my bathroom is now finally finished. And we finally have a working bath. have told Dh that I am having first bath. He'll have to wait.

I remember the two stripe vs three stripe at school.

I was watching t inside the factory this week on Bbc and they went to the trainer factory (new balance?) I had a pair of those when I was younger as my pe shoes. I was ridiculed because they weren't nike airs or adidas. Now they're ridiculously expensive. Dh has a pair for just wearing (he has gym shoes running shoes etc). About £120 I think. I remember them being so cheap back in the day. They were the only "brand" trainers we were allowed.

My dad was really into sports and believed if you were any good you would still be good in cheap shoes. For pe. His theory was if we were superb athletes the talent would shine no matter what then we could have the cool as shoes.

Sadly neither me nor my sister are athletically minded. I knocked myself out once playing hockey (ran into the fence).

Em there is a NB outlet shop over the road from one of our offices. I pop in when I am there.
need I find my running friends all get to 50 and need their knees and hips replacing, but in general I think you are right about there being a lower incidence of chronic illness. I wonder which way the cause effect relationship works - ill people tend to run less or running makes you less ill.

Snuggly I make a home made snooze indcuer... hot blackcurrant with cinnamon, cardamon and clove in. I have no idea why it works, but it does. The other tip for falling (back) asleep - you know when you close your eyes you can see colours swirling around infront of your eyes? Some of the swirls are darker than others. Gently (this will make sense when you try it) concentrate on the darker patches - this causes them to grow. Keep watching them grow and slow down their swirling. Next thing you know it is morning. I suspect it works by emptying your mind of "things" allowing you to relax and drift off.

I have a joy filled day of doing the Aldi shop - now the boys are back we are cooking properly. I think I will also make some biscotti, cakeage and pasties so there are snacks for the hungry mites to eat when they get in from school. My Mummy with the mostest facade will slip within a week.
I had wanted to finish up the wall in the garden but it is raining & I don't think my wall building skills are up to judging the cement texture to take into account the extra water. Nothing to with not wanting to get me wet of course.

Good advice, unescorted, thank you. I'll try that tonight.

Em I watched that too then checked and found that my 70 quid NB trainers were made in China. I was quite disappointed they weren't made in Cumbria!

Yesterday was £6 on wine for dinner, dw freshener, eggs etc.
Today about £10 topping up weekly shop.

Aldi do blue eggs now. Very pretty.

Recieved a John Lewis voucher off valued opinions in the post, it's a card so you can use it online. Only earned £4 off them this week.

That's a great sleep tip Unescorted.

Re the running. I think it's somewhat over-egged that runner will get bad knees and hips. There's certainly new evidence to suggest so, but I need to read further to substantiate. Certainly in my case it was something I did worry about, as I didn't eat brilliantly in my early 20's (like most!). I've had a lot of MRI and bone scans in the last few years, my own bone density and wear and tear is excellent, so all the years of 50+ mile weeks haven't had an affect, even though I worried it would!

A tip about running trainers would be to get your gait measured correctly in a specialist running shop. You can then take their advice and buy the recommended shoe there and then, or go and surf the internet for cheaper deals on that model. Often, last seasons model will be no different, just a change of colour or whatever and can be picked up very cheaply. Start fitness often have great deals.

Fantastic wedding on Thursday. £40 fuel and £49 spends.
Friday £8 EH tea shop. Popped in to see an old friend who lives near the hospital while dh went visiting. Was lovely to see her and saved me tripping up into Lakeland which would be very expensive.
£50 sainsburys and £4 football today.

We go to the nb outlet in Keswick when we are there. I think they do mail order too, or used to. I'm not allowed to run but I like their cross trainers.

Pleased things went ok em.
I'm going to try that sleep advice. I keep a note book near my bed so I can write the random thoughts that strike at the witching hour. Sorry you're not sleeping snuggly. Moan away we all vent on here now and again.
My kids are probably spoilt they are but I grew up achingly poor with nothing and while I can afford it i do. We do have charts about money and I'm still teaching them to save, budget etc

I'm very lucky here that my socialist DS (almost 14) doesn't care about brands and is happy with Primark or Matalan trainers. I've offered to buy him a nice pair of Adidas shell toe trainers for his birthday, but he's not bothered, although he agrees they are nice. However, he still wants expensive phones, laptops, etc.

Lilac, I can well imagine how GAA takes over in your adopted home county. The half and half jersey sounds great though. I think I would visit the client for 1:1 support too. If you're not working for SW any more, surely you're not bound by the rules of a contract?

Thanks for the riding tips need. I didn't get any of that from one school so going to serve them. There are a couple more to try nearby.

Lifelong, glad you had a good time at the wedding and you were able to pop in and see a friend to co-incide with hospital visits. I managed to book tickets for Kynren next Saturday. I hope the weather is better than it is today!

Eugh just tripped over and gave myself a nose bleed. No one here to give me a hug. Stupid non working les.

£62 lidl
£22 tesco
£29 fuel
£6.50 car wash. Was going to get a cheaper one but felt sorry for the man doing it and he was really nice.

Meal plan:

Chicken Selection box with croquettes
Gammon wth new potatoes and veg
Ham, pea and mint casserole
Spag Bol
Couscous with roasted veg and feta stuffed peppers
Cod in parsley sauce with new potatoes and veg
Chilli tortilla lasagne

Back to school Tuesday so breakfasts are crumpets, English muffins and fruit.

Lunches for ds will be wraps with humous/ham/cheese plus yoghurt, fruit, cherry tomatoes, oatie bar and crackers.

Oh forgot sausage rolls for dh never mind.

It's not sw its Unislim I work for. The contract states you can't set up on your own or work for a rival company for a year or two after finishing with them. Guess they could sue me, how would need to report me I guess.

Only made €7.50 today as one son wasn't there well €37.50 but the other 30 was 2 months ago so that's well spent!!

If I was to do it would €30 be fair? It means being gone from my house for about an hour & its 18 miles round trip.

Oh no, Wreck, hope you are ok. Has it stopped bleeding? Have a hug from me!

oh hope you enjoy it creme. it would not be pleasant going today as there is zero shelter. the special effects are awesome.
hope you are ok wreck. ((((hugs))))

Thanks snuggly yes it has thankfully. I'm going to cheer myself up with tier bread and roulé followed by a film and popcorn in bed that's if I can get the dc indoors they've been at the park with the neighbours for ages (it's practically in our garden)

Meal plan

Saturday - chicken nuggets and beans for the kids while we have a late Indian
Sunday - slow roast pork
Monday - pork fajitas
Tuesday - pork hash
Wednesday - butternut squash risotto
Thursday - sausages and waffles
Friday - satay chicken and rice

Today was £40 in aldi and £56 in Costco. £3 in the pound shop to be recouped from ds1. Have also ordered a cover for our new garden furniture £15.

We went on a family trip to aldi and Dh was impressed how fast it was and what we got for the money. He said the people behind us in the queue were shocked we had a trolley load including a joint and kitchen towel and loo roll for £40.

lilac SW has been going pretty well. I've lost 12lbs and have another 8ish to go to get to where I'd like to be. Knowing I'm going to be weighed weekly definitely keeps me focused on maintaining good eating habits. I find it frustrating at times that with 2 young DC I can't put the time into prepping all of the meals I'd like to try and DH is a bit of a fussy bugger and won't try some of them. But I'm finding ones that work for me and I think it's a good, long-term/sustainable program.

How's your FIL doing lifelong?

Spends £7 SW, £3 on smoked salmon (my lunch for next 3 days though) and it's our monthly takeaway night tonight - woo hoo! Curry, here we come!