Frugaleers, keeping their frugal resolutions in the new year. Keep on, erm, resoluting!?

[Cagliostro]

Hello everyone! :)

Yes babies are up and about now thanks.
Going out for a meal tonight, proper Birmingham balti, won't be expensive.
Tayto how long was your power off? What a pain! Hope food in freezer is ok?

Glad to hear it, Snuggly. Hope you have a great meal out.

Creme after having flu earlier this month I'm debating getting the vaccine next winter.

Snuggly great news

Tayto most unusual on a Sunday do you live near a company using three phase power or a substation? Irritating, especially as a hot breakfast is nice at the weekend.

The power was gone from 9 - 1. I never thought of the freezer stuff! Iirc the ESB card said something about essential maintenance.

creme huge sympathy from a fellow sufferer!
I'm feeling v slightly better today but it's been a week and a half not sure whether to go in to work tomorrow or not. I hate taking time off but I think the reason that this has hung around so long is that I kept rushing about as normal, including working evening duty until 11.30pm on Friday.
Hope all is well with babies snuggly
I spent a good hour yesterday laying in bed writing a list of baby names

I can't think of any, Peonies! Especially not boys.

Tayto food should be ok for a few hours so long as the door was shut. I think the instructions for our freezer say it's ok for about a day in a power cut.

Hey all. Quiet at home day, would have been a nsd, but £3.99 google play on a book.

Did a job I'd been putting off, shaving the little dog. He is a show type cocker, and was very shaggy. I have taken over a kilo of fur off him. And he had a bath after (in the old belfast sink outside), just between his toes to do with scissors later when dp can hold him. adora what happened to Teddy? Looks like a big wound.

Lamb in the slow cooker smells amazing, have high hopes for super organised meals

Hope your hair works out em, I used to colour mine at home, but am too old to care now!

The dye has come off my hands. So I'm hoping with an intensive wash and all the stain remover it'll come off the towel

productuve day here. Two loads of washing done. Litter tray all cleaned out and dried and refilled. Car break light fixed. Hoovered. Toilet rolls replenished in both bathrooms. Bins emptied and dry clothes put away.

We are having. Dinner with parents tonight so are heading out for a walk soon. Will walk to theirs the long way. Hoping to get at least 7kms ticked off the list.

snuggly I've only done girls so far, going to start boys today

Worked til 2.30 then did the shop:

£7.18 Home Bargs cash
£26.68 Lidl - joint account. Can't use the joint agai til Friday, it's pared to the bone.

Meals this week:
Salmon risotto with edamame bead
Lentil & chickpea curry
Moussaka and posh bread from freezer with salad
Prawn stirfry
Chicken traybake
Chicken, chorizo and butterbean stew

Will catch up now.

Thanks all. Yes, we will be sad to give dpony up. He's part of our lives. But he's also getting on in years and needs to be kept fit, otherwise he will stiffen up and get old. He's very fit and still thinks he's 3. He's better than being retired to a field. We have a big cry last night again.

NSD today. I did a XC race with the club this morning, first lady home for my club. Chores this afternoon.

Menu plan.
Mary Berry sausage and rich onion gravy.
Jamie Oliver drunk chicken and wraps.
Soup - probably minestrone.
Veggie bol.
Gammon, sweet potato wedges and veggies.
Pork meatballs.
Home made beans on toast.
Lamb and roasted veg tray bake.
Beef and chorizo casserole, veggies.

Left over meat is used for sandwiches.

Get well soon Creme.

Life Yes you are correct. We won't go to a home that we don't know.

Lovely meal plan confused.

Knitting I have a cocker spaniel and a springer. Love my spaniels but we walk a lot.

Frugal plans for the week are to plan the holiday and finally sort DC's phone contracts.

We've saved £1400 this month from disposable income. Really pleased with this.

need I'm glad I'm sounding more jolly. I do notice it myself too. I'd started having new health gripes about 10 months ago and a couple of months ago I realised that more iron was needed, so I've been munching beef, steak and liver every week for a while. It's definitely helped, along with several other things. The sunshine is very intense here at the moment too, which is really helping. I'm definitely on a mission generally though. Fingers crossed it keeps going the right way.

That's a huge step to be without pony isn't it? Will your dd have something else to hug through her exams? Maybe more dog time? You're going to be rolling in cash when all those fees have gone. What does your dd hope to do at University or beyond school? Will it be more horses or perhaps other animals?

to all poorly frugaleers, and glad the babies are awake Snuggly

A tip I saw recently if you're going on holidays to put a coin on top of some ice in a clear container if coin is at bottom of glass when you return you'll know the power was out for long enough to defrost everything in freezer & your food has refrozen.

Snuggly do you know if you are having boys or girls or one of each?! I found boy names easier than girls, for some reason when I was pregnant with dd I had convinced myself I was having a boy so didn't give much thought to girls names at all I like quite traditional names though, Alfie, George, Henry etc.

Have had a lovely day here, its been really sunny and I have dried a load of washing outside we were going to go on a bike ride but I got my bike out and realised the tyres are completely flat so we went to a local park instead. Had a nice time, home now and chilling out with a dvd.

Everyone should get the flu vaccine, I am a massive advocate of it after seeing how ill dd was with flu last March (her throat swelled up so much she was ventilated for two days and in hospital for a week ) would never have believed flu could be so serious in an otherwise healthy 10 yo. Hope you feel better soon Creme

I use Spatone Cath, it's liquid iron to put in water. I have started to take it following starting to run again. You are supposed to absorb more iron this way, but I have no way of knowing if that is true.

Yes, she will have him until October, then we will sell. She has so many potential interest that she doesn't have time for due to pony iyswim? She's massively into music and loves going to concerts. Also, computing. As in programming. That said, she has just recently completely taken apart her old laptop to figure out how it's all put together.

Unlike DS, she has no real idea re degrees at this stage, which I think is fine, but she is stressed about. No animal vocation. She's going to take English Lit, Maths, Computing and Biology for A Level, so a good range to options.

I'm glad you are feeling positive. It shines through in your posts. I do hope it's a gradual return to health that continues into a permanent transition. I love being outside, I really do.

Productive day.
Made ginger cake, flap jack, choc cake, rice pudding, soup, roast dinner. I have used y up a lot of baking cupboard stuff but have run out of something now. I also thought I had a traybake tin but can't find it so improvised. Lakeland here I come.

Looking at keilder for Easter or October and playmobil land. Not sure yet.

Pleased you felt movement snuggly.
Also that the hair worked em.
The freezer will be fine for 4 hours as long as the door was sealed/ shut.

GWS poorly frugaleers

Northender I started a quilt this weekend too. I'm doing the Patchwork quilt a long by the Fat Quarter Shop. Free pattern every month. It's perfect for using up scraps as the pieces are small so no excuse for me to buy more fabric .

I have a joint of beef in my slow cooker - smells amazing.

I am also hugely in favour of the flu vaccine. I've had it the past 2 years since I was seriously ill. I have also found that I have not succumbed to so many colds since taking vitamin c and zinc (touches wood).

NSD

Oooh are we talking baby names? Fun!

My favourite names at the moment are Silas (b) and Emrys (G).

Hope the hair dye works out ok. My mum used to keep old towels and even an old nightie for dying her hair. We have a friend over on Tuesday to cut DH's hair, but I'll ask her about dying hair too. DD would really love blue hair and I've said since she's not at school I don't mind dip dying the ends (no way is she having dye near the roots yet) but not sure how best to go about it.

Yesterday was fun but it really wore me out. Pain this morning was through the roof. We just went to a nearby town for lunch for DH's birthday. Wetherspoons was rammed so we went to a different more expensive pub but the food was nicer.

Jan 21
Train £15
Lunch £36ish
£3 chocolate on sale in boots (no skincare stuff left) - was the Choc on Choc brand that they've been selling the last few christmases, NOT worth the hype at all imo (they should have been a tenner 😱)
£4.47 charity shop, oh god, my no buying games in january thing fell apart somewhat!!! 3 games for that though, all perfect unplayed condition, all had been on my wishlist for years and should've cost £50. Couldn't help myself. Maybe my rule needs to be "no buying NEW games/on amazon etc" and allow myself the odd used bargain if I see one 😳😂 anyway one will be put on the home ed budget (hieroglyphics) and the other two will be out of my pocket money

need that is amazing savings. I can't wait till I'm back earning reasonable money again. Loving your meals. I love a good meal plan share, I find I get loads of ideas.

In other news, DD (nearly 4) has the pox! Just spotted the first few blisters. I was sort of hoping shed catch it after her mate came down with it. I had it aged 10 and was quite poorly, so better early on I think.

That's a great tip for all the time Mammy, I like it! I always struggle to know if a powercut has been too long for the freezer.

Thanks for the reminder of the flu vaccine Girlie. I haven't done that yet.

need I don't get on with supplemental iron which is why I'm in this spot. But I like steak very much and also liver, so am enjoying the current plan very much. I'm doing a super-detailed food diary for another dietitian this week and hoping for more information from this lady. Those are fabulous A level options, from the earning's point of view. Well done your dd.

Thanks for the kind words about me perking up. I thought so myself, but it really helps to know that other see it.

Take care there Cag. I hope you feel better soon. Pub sounds nice.

I nearly managed an NSD today except for 50p on some photo prints for a competition.

Yes definitely better at this age I'd say. :)

Oh wise ones, any idea how on earth to get this long hinge off? It was a fold down bureau type door but it's come off. Happy with that as it is just used for big board games anyway so happy for them to be 'on show' like on other shelves. We've managed to remove all the fixings but this and it's too small a height even for the little screwdriver attachments to get in where it's attached underneath. Any ideas please?

Thanks Cath :) and I'm glad you are more positive too. I agree re: NeedDD's A level options - yay for maths in particular of course! 😍😍😍