Fantabulous February with the Friendly Frugaleers!

[Cagliostro]

Hello everyone, new thread time yet again!

Are we meant to move over as soon as you post the link? I don't know it works.

Cag I try to watch my caffeine as well, I usually have about two cups of tea and sometimes a coffee each day. Like you I only really drink coke when I'm out or at a party, but more for the expense and also the fact that I know it's so bad for your teeth!

Regarding PIP, I just had my face-to-face assessment last week. Didn't really warm to the woman doing it but she seemed alright I spose. Second time I've been through the process in about 3 years . Now is the long wait for the dreaded brown envelope! Never claimed ESA though I probably could have done in the past but it's so long and difficult and heard so many horror stories that I didn't bother.

Lemon there's a much more tedious way of making risotto & results are almost identical.

So much for walking today, it's pouring rain so roads are dark & dangerous.

Will go before driving home from work tomo as dm will be there with dc

Nah just move over whenever, we are nearly at the limit anyway since we are on page 40 but there are no rules for that sort of thing!

I hope you get your PIP result soon. It's horrible waiting for this kind of thing! A friend told me recently it's not even the people who assess you who make the decision, it's someone in an office reading their report. Yikes.

I don't drink tea or coffee (well, the occasional tea if I really need the comfort) so it's mostly just fizzy I get my caffeine hit from. Trying to mostly drink water at home but even though I love water generally it's gone back to tasting like a swimming pool again.

Cag I can highly recommend brita filter jug for making water taste good. I buy an annual pack of filters about every 15 months

£10 petrol
£12 work stuff.

Good luck meadow, Cag & Wreck

Thanks Cag.

Swimming is £24. Ouch. Next week will def be beans and pasta week.

Thanks cag.

That sounds like a better option thanks mammy - we have used bobble bottles but with 3 of us using them it ends up extortionate and they seem to lose the fresh taste quickly, and the lids get scuffed really easily too which is yuck. Where do you get the stuff? I prefer cold water too so would be good to have it in the fridge

Checking in, still haven't caught up.

£20 Matalan, school uniform and vest tops for hols
£2.20 coffee while DD in ballet. Cafe is closing, next week it'll be the pub!

mammy no, he hasn't seen (or in any way contacted) his daughters for 6 years. Six. dd3 is nearly 9. Sigh.

I am dreading calling the new csa people, as the situation is complex. The last time I called (3 years ago) they wouldn't even open me a case. It will have to be done, but don't think I'll ever get a penny for the girls that way.

On a chatty note, I live on coffee! Have at least six cups a day, at least one a proper coffee machine jobby. And a can of diet coke, but have weaned myself off that a bit, as I was having 3-4 cans a day, not good! Our water at home is delicious, but at the shop it is foul (9 miles away), I put cycling hydration tablets in it there shoplifted from my own shop, I even order the flavours I like best

Thanks Cag and fluffy. No doubt I will report back when I get my brown envelope.

To the mums; is reception too old for Peppa Pig or are they still watching it at that age? Also are there any good Easter alternatives to chocolate? Would like to get my little cousin something for Easter, she will be nearly 2, and whilst I could get her an Easter egg I suspect she will get a lot and it seems a very tiny age to be eating tons of easter egg chocolate (would mum and dad eat most of it at that age?)!

Just spent £40ish on grocery shopping online @ Iceland. It will be coming tomorrow afternoon. Although I'm hoping DH will remember to bring bread and milk back on his way home from work tonight as we have ran out of both, woops.

Confused I really need to buy some vests as well. I just wear them in the house when I don't go anywhere it's good to have some comfy vests. My old ones all eventually fell apart/became grim so had to bin them months ago and never got around to replacing.

Checking in, you lot have been right chatter boxes today thanks for new thread Cag

That recipe looks ace Wreck and hope you get the job - you are a lovely person and 90% of whether you get jobs or not boils down to personality imo, so you should be top of the list

Cath 10 days for tummy bugs is a really long time, I have had noro virus and was over it in 5 days. Dds last vomiting bug lasted a day of throwing up and a day to recover...

Still no Need going to inbox her to check she isn't trapped under something heavy!!

I was back to work today, was o.kay I guess am now on 'sickness monitoring' as I have had 4 days sick in 3 months (actually in 10 months but because I had them close together it hits a target) bit annoying really as I don't consider myself someone who takes the piss.

Checked my payslip apparently I didn't get my enhancements because the banh hols were after the cut off point for the month - grr, will get them next month instead.

Right dd is nagging me to play Connect 4, see you all again in a bit!!

cath I had noro for 7 days and my little brother (7 years old) had it for 10. It sucks.
Very busy at work today, it just doesn't stop!
The next two weeks are crazy but then it should calm down.

Thanks for the new thread.
Very spendy day in Ikea but all on stuff we needed.
Returned some unopened paint to B&Q, got £14 back so that's something a bit frugal anyway!

I love coffee too!

Meadow yes I think it is a bit. Although they may still watch it they might not want to admit it. Re Easter how about a cute egg cup? You can get some sweet ones.

Aww thanks girlie. Bloody hell, what would happen if you got flu?!

Ds enjoyed his swimming lesson, mainly. He waved at me without crying and he was happy when get got out, even said he wished it had gone on for ages!

I am in charge of putting a baby box together for a lovely colleague who is going off on mat leave in a couple of weeks, any idea pregnant frugaleers? I reckon a £20-£30 budget (maybe slightly more) thinking things like nappies, wet wipes, some baby vests... is there anything obvious i'm missing?

Meadow I find the best ones are from H&M. Keep their shape well, really cheap and they do the longer line ones for people with big arses like me!

Hello everyone. I've been trying to keep up once again but not doing a very good job with it. Sorry to hear some of you are having hard times at the moment.
Fingers crossed for you Wrecked.

I've been plodding on till pay day here (Tomorrow! Finally!). I've got about £25 left in the current account BUT up until December I was usually at least £800 into my overdraft by payday so this is really good for me. I've also put a big chunk into my savings this month (they needed the boost) so all in all it's been a super frugal month.

I'll have to go to the supermarket to stock up on veg tomorrow and am going to do a supermarket order for the weekend so might be quite a spendy day.

Girlie what about nice hand cream? I went through gallons of the stuff when DD was tiny, so much hand washing!
My phone wants to change hand cream to handcuffs. Don't include handcuffs, that would be weird!!!

Meadow lots of kids that age watch Peppa, personally I think Ben and Holly is vastly superior though :o as for Easter, yes egg cup is a lovely idea if she likes boiled eggs, or an egg cosy? Or TBH I'd probably go for a book or a t-shirt in that position, could always be something spring themed or with a bunny on it or something. :)

WTF Knitting why did CSA turn you down?!

Girlie how lovely, a baby box! Something treaty for the mum definitely - nice bath stuff or something. It depends how well you know her I guess as lots of the things I found really useful are quite personal like arnica tabs and tea tree/lavender oils for after the birth, lansinoh cream etc. Oooh I wonder if Boots still do baby sponges though, I got one for a friend once that was SOOOO soft - it's not like a normal coarse sponge, it was shaped like an animal IIRC. Cute. Sudocrem, muslin cloths? Baby towels are nice, they are square with hoods to keep them all snuggly. Just for fun I've added a pic of DD in hers. Nearly 10 years ago! Errrm BFing bracelet or something, you can move wrists so you know which side to start on :o although again that's making an assumption and may not be good if you don't know her that well. Wrist rattles or 'foot finders' are nice toys that often get forgotten and wouldn't dent the budget much, Mothercare have nice ones

Baby towel pic!

Thanks for the new thread Cag.
Hope you feel better and brighter soon Mammy. Fresh air always makes me feel better. If I am in all day I feel really cooped up. So hope the walks cheers you up.
Well done Cag on getting those forms in. They make it really hard don't they.
Hope you get good news soon Wreck , but if you don't get the job, never mind. You did your best and it is their loss.
NSD , well apart from £2000+ to the plumbers 😳

Cute photo, Cag!
Those baby towels are fab. I've just bought DD some colourful towels from Ikea as is reckon she's getting a bit big for the baby ones now plus we need them for the babies!

One of those Lamaze toys that clips onto the car seat or buggy would also be good for a baby box. Nappy cream? Baby shampoo?

It will all be worth it though, Trying.

Thanks for the new thread, Cag.

Would have been a low spend day but got home after 6.30 with cracking headache, Dp sat on the sofa shivering unwell with no dinner cooking and kids not ready for bed. Chinese got ordered yum.

Worked an extra hour and a half today but may end up losing the time if DP isn't well enough to take kids to nursery/breakfast club on my next week day

My DD in year 1 still likes Peppa. Although her little sister adores Peppa so she may just still like it because we watch it.

Mutterings are going on about another office closure. Pretty depressing as my commute is 1.5 hours each way already- any longer journey time is making me want to cry as I'll barely see my kids