Festive Frugaleers - Chatting and saving through Christmas.

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Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

By popular request - copied from an old thread grin

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.

Great news about your friend Creme.

Em, don't cancel yet, NYE is ages away. See how you feel.

In NYE news, 10 more folk have text asking to come to our bash. That's 60. LOL We will survive.

Ah need can I come?!

Yes thanks everyone a good clean will make it look good as new

Em it's hard because obviously if you're loosely ttc the doctor may not want to do much. I would assume most options considered would be hormonal contraception or SSRIs/antidepressants. I think either way it's definitely worth speaking to them. I bet you'll feel a whole lot better just for doing that.

I'm having some mint vienetta. It's the best.

Em I certainly don't miss periods - one of the perks of being pregnant! I definitely found my periods were worse when I was off the pill and ttc. I am not sure what they can do if you are ttc yourself as a lot of hormonal options would be ruled out I presume, but a good idea to see the Gp and find out what your options are.

MissA I am new to the thread but a long-time lurker so I remember you! Welcome back.

Need pie and peas sounds great. I am hosting NYE but there will only be 9 or 10 of us so not too bad. I can't get the per capita costs that low though! I am doing a chicken tagine and veggie one, and will slow roast a lamb shoulder with spices too. Couscous on the side. I'll get the guests to bring dips and bread to start, and beer if they want it. We have loads of champagne because we overcatered for our wedding almost 3years ago and are still trying to get through it! And I'll make profiteroles and hot chocolate sauce for pud as it is actually quite cheap to make. Will hopefully be a good evening and I hope I actually manage to stay up till midnight

Glad you found the bracelet Girlie. When I turned 18 my dad offered to give me some money or buy me a piece of jewellery and I chose the jewellery. He got me a lovely diamond ring. When we moved to this house in 2009 I couldn't find it and thought it had been stolen by the naughty plumber's apprentice (who was sacked for stealing DH's iPod at the time). Fortunately I hadn't noticed the ring's absence straight away so didn't accuse him of taking it. Anyway, imagine my joy when I found it a few months ago! It was hiding amongst some costume jewellery instead of being in the proper jewellery box. It was especially poignant as I had been very upset about its loss when dad was diagnosed with cancer last year - the reason I had wanted a ring instead of cash all those years ago was so I would always have something from dad. So I was so happy to tell him I had found it, and to wear if again.

Creme glad your cousin is improving.

Got a lot to do tonight as we are going to in laws tomorrow for 'Christmas' and then straight back on NYE to a lot of cooking. We will have people staying and at the moment you can't see the spare room bed

I have been reading but not keeping up with posting, will try to do better! About £10 spent taking DS out to lunch today, just for a change as I am getting cabin fever, and £4 strawberries. Still have about 1/3 turkey to eat but it is going in the freezer, I need a break!

Need I couldn't get 60 people in my house!

I struggle to get six in my house

Creme, so glad your cousin is improving. Being on life support sounds really scary but sometimes the organs just need a complete rest.
And Girlie, it's great that you found the bracelet.
I wouldn't let anyone in my house at the moment; it's a cross between a building site and a plumbers' merchants.
My New Year's resolutions will involve getting fit and eating healthily. Last August one of my aims was to go to the very expensive gym that I had joined at least twice a week. Well, I did in August but not since.
So 2017 it's get fit again and eat no rubbish.

Em, when I was younger I had bad periods and was put on some pill or other and then had some sort of cap inserted (disgusting). As soon as I came off t he pill and was ttc they got bad again. They found I had a hormone imbalance.
I am sure it's hormones all settling back down again. I know that's no comfort but perhaps talking to the Dr will help.

lifelong we are in Pollensa just now. At the villa con blanco. It is a little way out of town but has a pool, loads of running about space chickens banana trees olives and citrus grove. Not frugal but so worth it. The guy who owns it left us a welcome food pack and a bottle of wine. Called in in the morning to check we had everything.
Cag don't over think forms for public sector. Put it in the structure it is because - that way it can be copied and pasted. Answer the background, economic and strategic cases - what is happening/ happened why it will save money and how it hits their targets. We are over worked so if we don't need to second guess then it helps.

Having caught up .... MissA lovely to see you again but wish it was without car crashes and study debt. You can do it. Teaching is one of those jobs that I could never do but am thankful that there are amazing people out there that can and do.

Em it isn't great the whole period thing. I can't help thinking that if men had them there would be a lot more done to make it easier. I have just started menopause and it is fucking shite - weight gain , flushes and big never ending sodding periods. I am going to buy shares in Tampax to get a company discount. Sorry that is a bit of a rant.

MissA lovely to see you! Were you the lady who was quite poorly at one point? Great to have you back on the thread

Periods are rubbish, I need to see the Dr because the headaches I am getting around the week of period are really very debilitating and seemingly getting worse, that and the fact that my periods are getting heavier - ugh.

We are back home tonight, its really lovely to be back. Have spent the evening sorting out stuff and tidying, will take the tree down this wend (as soon as Christmas is over it starts annoying me )

seacow trying I think in some way I just need the dr to tell me it's all hormones settling down. And I'll feel better.

Dh just asked how I was. He's worried. I explained how he had no clue about how this bollocks felt. He agreed.

I agree with him that maybe a huge part of it is exercise related so I need to force myself back into the gym once it opens again. Need to. This will help sleep too. Which will in turn reduce anxiety. The anxiety I have is obviously not helping the hormonal stuff because I get more anxious etc vicious circle.

I guess there's a lot of hormones over the last 8/9 years or so flooshing about so things are bound to get a bit crazy.

unescorted rant away. I'm annoyed that I'll be on two periods while on holiday. And potentially feeling like shite in between. So will not only have to fly long haul will also have to do it whilst feeling terrible then have to see pregnant sil and suppress all feelings of jealousy and be happy for her (I really am happy for them) then fly long haul feeling like shite again and lug all tampons and labs to the other side of the world.

Gah.

Thank you unescorted I really need to get it done. Appt with CAB is on 9th for the PIP form, but want to get the housing one done before that.

Definitely going ahead with trip free January. Basically I decided a while ago that we've been doing too much lately and I wouldn't book onto anything else for a while. It's hard when there are so many bargains to be had! Home ed trips are so cheap! But no, we will stick to visiting mum in new year, which has already got that play added that was postponed from earlier this month (when they had the technical fault), and a birthday party. Other than that, just the regular clubs and meet ups in town.

Can't remember if I mentioned I've joined the 'no buying books in 2017' thread - that shouldn't actually be too difficult, I have loads at home to read and it gives the added advantage of allowing me to declutter anything I won't read again. I have also decided I need to apply the same logic to notebooks, I have quite a few unused and loads of scrap paper/refill pad type things around .

And I'm not going to buy any DVDs or board games in January either (NO WAY I could last a whole year without getting any of those). That isn't a financial issue, as books/games/DVDs come out of my pocket money so are limited and accounted for, it's more that I want to get back to basics and stop so much coming into the house. And books for the Caglets (the no buying thread refers to books for myself only). We have loads of games/kids books and a few DVDs we haven't used yet so I'm going to ban the lot for a month and see how we go. It will be interesting.

Well I boiled diluted vinegar in the kettle for a while and left it overnight. It hasn't made any difference 🙄

We are leaving for london soon going to see Disney on ice. Need to pay parking hopefully we can find some easily and lunch. Also need fuel.

Em That's pretty much the same as me. It might be worth asking about zantac. If it's stomach acid that's causing it then that would settle things down a bit. You can figure out if that is the problem by taking a couple of rennies when it's bad and seeing if it helps. The over-the-counter zantac disagrees with me, but the generic version is great.

It's worth also reading up about a condition called chronic hyperventilation, which causes nausea and anxiety, and which can be controlled if that's what you have.

Dh and I have been together ten years today that's more than a third of my life!

I think you're probably right EM about the hormone flux. I'm having this same problem because I'm coming down from 4 years of round-the -clock breastfeeding and living on adrenaline because ds has a sleep disorder. Two GPs that I talked to said they'd had exactly the same symptoms when they went through the menopause.

Maybe this is just what happens when we go off a massive hormone cliff? I know I felt similar for a while in my teenage years when I was going through a but adjustment in body shape. (getting curves and so on).

There are definitely ways to help the symptoms a bit so as to make life more comfortable, but I think that other than that it may just take a bit of time. Sorry to hear that you're going through this. Good to keep asking the GP.

I'm new here
I've had similar problems EM. I was given mefanamic acid and it really helped. It has setttled down now, I was in pain for 15 days out of 25 and found it hard to walk sometimes. Was really worried about being pain over Xmas but I've had no pain at all this time! Such a relief, hope it eases soon for you too.

Gosh Frecn Welcome to the group and thank you for bringing solutions. Did the GP say what the condition was that was being treated or just fix it without a name?

Hi Frecn.

Poor you Em. Try to do the stuff that you know reduces the anxiety at least, until you have seen the GP. x

Wrecked You would be most welcome for NYE!

Scarecrow I've done the 'cook for all' approach. It's just too stressful and expensive. Pie and peas (the pies bought from the local butchers and win awards, for circa £1 a pie) I thought of it a while ago. Easy to stick in the oven, peas in SC. Very cheap to cater for a lot of folk too. It has to be easy catering for so many I think. But I agree, hard to do it any more cheaply too.

Personal trainer session this morning for £15. Should be it, spending-wise.

DH is doing my nut, he's been given a blood pressure monitor as it would seem he does have high blood pressure, stress of work being the factor. Keeps a log for a week of twice daily readings. He's got himself into such a worry about it that it's compounding the issue. Takes it constantly (I mean constantly), anxious as hell, vicious cycle. Got himself down and upset. WTAF? What's the point in worrying about something until there's a reason to worry? You would spend half your life worrying and not actually living. Daft bloke

Hello, jumping back in for the umpteenth time! This time with a new name... I was Ursula and had newborn twins who are now chubby 4 month olds lying either side of me in bed! How are yours cooking away snuggly?

MissA I remember you when you were a very regular poster (but can't remember what my name was then). Well done on completing your PGCE.

Sorry to hear of your rough time Em. I felt awful both on and off the implant and I'm really reluctant to use hormonal contraception now. If you don't want to host NY then don't. Or make it a daytime/pre-going out drinks and nibbles and spend the rest of the night curled up watching tv.

We've spent loads over Christmas. Not on presents as we spread the cost over the year but lots on food/drink/petrol/meals out. Most of it has been absorbed by DH's recent promotion (equating to an extra £500pm) but in the new year we want to start saving for some home improvements or house move (we're going to outgrow our current house pretty quickly!)

Thanks for the welcome!
GP was really unhelpful or so I thought! He said it could well settle down after a few cycles and I thought he was making it up. But it did. I think it was hormones

Welcome, Frec and welcome back Waitresses. I can't believe the twins are already 4 months old, where did that go?? I'm ok thanks, feel like I've expanded massively this week possibly due to Xmas pudding and mince pies and am suddenly quite uncomfortable.
Back to work stress kicked in last night and I haven't slept. I'm only going back for 4 weeks I really shouldn't be this worried about it but I was awake for hours thinking first about work and then how we're going to cope with the babies and without my income next year.
Oh well, just have to be practical and get on with it all I suppose!
DH has gone back to work today. I am missing him, we've had a lovely week all at home together.
Hoping to have a quiet day with DD. Need to be brave and look at online banking/cc bill later.

girlie yes I was really ill in 2014 and had 4 operations ending with a really big open op in Nov 2014 which was decisive and utterly successful - have been healthy since then and so grateful to the wonderful surgeon who finally recognised the problem and fixed it!
Thanks all for the welcome

I remember that MissA, I recall you doing loads of work on your laptop in hospital.

Scarecrow I keep meaning to ask, is cooking a passion of yours? You seem to do a lot and the things you make sound incredible, so I wondered. I love it too, although I am not brilliant with deserts at all.

Just had porridge, made with coconut water, a teaspoon of cocoa powder and fresh mango on top for breakfast. Yum.

Em, eating really well and drinking lots of water will help too. xx