Super Scrimpers sashay, save & --squander-- their way through September

[lilacclery]

Thought I'd start us off!

Dh just called to let me know he's gotten a raise of 100£ per month. That's the second raise since he started in February. Very proud of him

Great news! Well done to him :-)

italian great news!!

snuggly interesting. Millie was living outside but in the shelter had food and water next to each other. Maybe I'll separate a little bit.

Eeek need 17 that's like OLD!

girlie The beach is a 20 min walk :) that'll do!

lilac it's pretty much the same as what we live in now. 3 bed semi with a huge garden. I don't drive yet so the distance to school / nursery is really important as I'll have to walk it in all weathers.

We've found a house that's even better but I don't think we can go for it - we'll phone up at 9am bang on tomorrow. Please wish us luck - we really need it!

It was a successful NSD though and hopefully tomorrow will be another

italian well done to your DH!

Fingers crossed, Collie. 0.8 miles is do-able. We always had at least a mile and a bit to walk on our school runs.

Good luck Collie. It's such a roller coaster experience isn't it?

I'm doing 0.8 miles with Wilf and the buggy and plan on doing it in all weathers. It's fine. I take him a drink and a snack for the way home. It takes us twenty minutes, it takes me about 15. We talk about things and get some vitamin d and fresh air. I tell myself it's bad for the car to drive some short journeys anyway. And the children perform better in school after a morning walk.

Mummy and Creme I love you both so very very much!

I feel much less anxious now!

Collie, don't worry. I used to walk DGD that far to nursery from when she was 2. After a while she used her scooter. I just bought a decent winter coat and waterproof boots. We really bonded because she chatted away to me and like Mummy I took a snack and drink.

NSD

Nice one Italian!

Got my first pupils of the new term tomorrow. [surveys messy living room nervously] Need to get organised. But looking forward to bringing a bit of cash into the house. :)

Need to figure out my tax return! Not that I've earned anywhere near enough to pay any, mind. :o

£30 on railcard (already got £5 off today's train fare using it), £5.35 train, £5 taxi (I paid one way, friend paid the other - there's no bus to the woods we were at). £5.60 bus, a few quid here and there on drinks/snacks, took main lunch though. Adding up the travel costs I really doubt we can continue long term. But may do the odd block of sessions. It was great, but probably not enough to make it worth paying all that money for as they do a lot of the same stuff in the woods by our house. I'm really glad we've got two more sessions though.

My recent game purchase arrived. Instructions only in German :o but downloaded the English PDF and printed it double sided so it looks like the real deal. I do love having a working printer and no longer having to worry about the ink running out (we're using Instant Ink so I have up to 100 pages a month for £3.49).

collie I walked 0.6 mile to ds's pre-school and ds went on a large trike with a push handle. It was definitely doable.

We had the smaller blue equivalent of this trike:

www.awningsandaccessories.co.uk/caravanawnings/prod_2359179-Pedal-Pals-Boys-Trike-12-Blue.html

I attached a handle from ebay that was a bit like this:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PARENT-HANDLE-FOR-CHILD-KIDS-BIKE-CYCLES-COLOUR-BLACK-WHITE-GIFT-/131357622456

Ds rode that everywhere daily from 2.5 years to 5 years, when he switched to walking or cycling a two-wheeler.

I've walked about 3000 miles with ds because I live in Cambridge, which is a largely pedestrianized town and we can't really drive anywhere. I don't like to put ds in a seat on the back of a bike because I've had a couple of cycling accidents in recent years.

In the end I bought that trike and it was a real boon. He steered and pedalled and I just held on to the handle so I could stop him if need be. It's a lot easier than a pushchair as he supports his own weight and propels and steers. I just had to walk alongside. Much quicker than walking too.

Hope that helps. :-)

Good luck collie. The right house is out there. As others have said 0.8 miles is doable. Something wheeled or pull ds on a sledge when it's ice and snow.

£50 diesel. £5 in the range and a £10 home bargains.
Hair cut today £40, need wraps and fruit too

I think 0.8 miles is doable too. I would probably be in pain doing it but I would hope that t would also build strength in my hips and therefore would get used to it.

Should be nsd today.

Just emailed music teacher to say dd can't do the recorder lessons. It's £10 for twenty minutes each week. We simply can't afford it feel like a shit parent.

Don't feel shit wreck. That rate is ridiculous. My dc get it free in school. It's hard but dc have to understand the money runs out.

I think that was good parenting Wreck. Bankrupting yourselves for recorder lessons would not be a good life lesson really.

wreck don't feel shit, you're teaching your daughter that money doesn't grow on trees and that sometimes you've to wait for the things you want.

genie I love your ds's trike. Trying to decide what to get ds for his birthday at start of Nov. Dh wants to get a tractor like €200(he didn't realise that), I had kind of planned that for Santa. I've got €15 discount off a €50 spend in Littlewoods which must be used by 16th Sept so debating next stage carseat which we'll need at some point next year(would prefer to do this on interest free for 6 months though) or tractor. There's a go cart for €70 which I think would be fabulous but dh has his heart set on tractor and he has had a contentious relationship with ds up to now and I don't want to dampen that or be the decision maker all the time either

Thanks everyone! DS has a bike too. Just need a bigger helmet.

Wreck that's exactly it - it will be so so so painful. But my frequent physio sessions and my steroid injections will help. And my consultant says "keeping building the muscle in your hips" as it supports my hip joints. They've recently increased my anti inflammatory prescription too so I actually think that maybe I can do it. Feeling very optimistic!
Don't feel like a shit parent. £10 per session is ridiculous.

It will be a NSD today :)

Fingers crossed collie...
Spending the day sorting out baby clothes.... So should be nsd

Sorry collie I thought it was something like fibromyalgia not your hips that troubled you, I can see why the walk would be hard going for you

I amazed there are any parents willing to waste spend £10 on a 20min recorder session tbh, the school are taking the piss! Def don't feel like a shit parent yy to what Genie said.

Collie 0.8miles is def do'able, I think you should keep saving towards the driving lessons as well though

So I have the day off and so much to do, so of course I am sat on the sofa on mn!!

My to do list today;
General tidy up
Hoovering
Put some pictures up (they are still in apple in the corner of the living room!)
Make banana muffins (to use up over ripe bananas)
Hang out washing
Take stuff to charity shop
Make a couple of phone calls

Best got off my butt then

On another note I see in the news that Concentric won't be having their contract renewed - thank God for that! That company are a complete disgrace

Thanks everyone

Collie I would be inclined to push through the pain as I know it would be better for me in the long run.

I have lots to do today too it's my only day off this week and the place is a tip. I'm still sitting here drinking coffee daydreaming about going to pizza express for lunch though...

wreck that is ridiculously expensive for a 20 min lesson. Don't worry about it.
I'm having a productive day today doing jobs. I have written a list which has motivated me. So far I have vacuumed and mopped downstairs, cleaned the hob, put away loads of washing and have more in the machine, tidied up kitchen and scrubbed bread bin out.
Just having a well-earned piece of malt loaf then will do some more!