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Fantabulous February with the Friendly Frugaleers!

999 replies

Cagliostro · 30/01/2017 17:23

Hello everyone, new thread time yet again!

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ItalianWiking84 · 03/02/2017 08:06

Just out of curiosity do you have a name law in the U.K.? Like which names are allowed? Like the name Willow. We have deliberately chosen international names for the girls, and the second name is Italian. They also have both our surnames, like dh and I.
wreck a friend of mine also have an insulin pump on her all the time, remember when we started school her parents came with a doc and explained it to us kids.
Sorry to hear about those who have a hard/difficult relationship with their parents. Makes me appreciate my relationship with mine a lot more, have in my book the best parents and they are on speed dial for all weird kind of questions always lol. Dh also have a really close relationship with them and goes to my dad for anything he needs talking about, because he's dad is useless (fil is a kind man but a musician who lives kinda in his one world)

em what about French names?
And it's called panini Smile

Cagliostro · 03/02/2017 08:18

Cath I assumed because of last period - Em said she was a week late so that'd make sense. Confused the heck out me the first time that did, as I'd assumed you count from conception.

Thanks re: our friend. It's so sad, he went back to school for a bit as he wanted to try it but it knocked him back so very far. Still he's making progress so that's awesome.

Italian nope no name laws here. I thought you were suggesting panini as a baby name for a second. Would perhaps be Panina for a girl. :o

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ememem84 · 03/02/2017 08:21

cath I was feeling weird and my period was 5 days late. So did a test. Then went to the gp who did a test.

italian The more I think about it the more I like "panini" for a name!!! Haha!!

I really like Aurelie but our surname starts with an "A" so I don't think it would work. Or Oceane or Amelie (although Amelie is too close to my name). Or Delphine or Mirabelle (which I think means plum).

for boys I like Toby Jude Max

Dh is all about the "out there" names (de-Jean? D'Angelo Indiana etc). He's wrong.

We have a ton of time though. We're both going to list 10 of each names. Then see what crosses over.

tayto Due early oct. Eeek. So many things to think about. Mat leave whethe till go back to work etc.

Will at some point have to find cute maternity clothes. Luckily all the new stuff I've bought recently has been stretchy!! So it'll be ok for a long while.

ememem84 · 03/02/2017 08:22

italian there may be laws here though I'll have to check. Most of the time our laws mirror the uk but Sometimes deviate. Will check.

ItalianWiking84 · 03/02/2017 08:32

Spendy day today, 2* 25£ for my great grandmother birthday and grandmother. My cousin bought the gifts so need to bring the money tomorrow and need a bottle of wine for my aunt who also have her birthday. And then I'm picking up a wodden play rack for baby dd, to hand toys on. Got it for 20£, new price is 50£ so pleased with that.

ItalianWiking84 · 03/02/2017 08:40

Ha ha cag panini is a cute name lol. We have name law here so some names aren't allowed and if the name is not on the list you have to apply , we did that with dd1 middle name, but there were no issue because it's a legitimate Italian name and my Italian grandmothers name.

em Mirabelle is plum in Portugiesisch if I don't remember all wrong.
Lots of beautiful French names too I think and Italien names of course lol. I can also list loads of Danish names if you want an unique name in uk lol...

northender · 03/02/2017 08:53

Morning all.
girlie I work in a community COPD team with a palliative arm, so we feel like professional funeral goers sometimes but it is a real privilege to be part of people's care at end of life. It's hard but very rewarding.
brighter sounds like you've had a tough few months. I don't know whether it would help you but I know that our local NHS counselling service take self referrals. I can PM the contact details if you want.

10 hour shift today, starting at 10, then straight out on a leaving do. I'll be driving as I'm working the early shift tomorrow so I'll be on tap water, just food to pay for.

CathodeRayTube · 03/02/2017 09:19

That makes sense Em. Thanks. When I did this I was so interested in it that I did lots of tests and it was very clear to me the day that the kick off happened. The scan suggested two days different, and he was induced a week late in the end. It's all very interesting stuff.

You may find you don't need maternity stuff per se. You're the same build as me and I never did. My bump didn't show at all until 7 months, and I was still in my usual clothes at full term, but with trouser button undone and connected through buttonhole with an elastic fastener. I did get a bigger coat, but that was all. I always assumed that everybody ended up in those big tent-like maternity tops, but it never happened to me. You love clothes though, so maybe you could go to town on it and have a lot of fun.

Cag Sorry to hear about your pal. The driven nature of schools here just seem ruinous to me. I wish I could get out of here for ds. He's been 100% attendance for a whole term, and now this one bug has got them down on our backs again. Stupid people.

IdStillRatherBeKnitting · 03/02/2017 09:38

Oh baby names! The minefield. Dd1 &2 have proper classic names, except I spelt dd1's easier (ie wrong), both go by super normal shortenings. Dd3 was my choice as I was on my own by then (I cut her cord, the midwife was most suprised), she has an unusual real name, which a lot of us use everyday Flora and ds is named after his uncle who was born too early (22 weeks), luckily for a 1970's name its a good one!

Hoping for a nsd today, might need to go to the butchers later.

cath if you can grow toms, you can grow cucumbers, exactly the same process. I'm going to try the little bite size ones, and some round yellow ones (I think they're really small melons) this year. I start early but never let them get too warm, so they don't get leggy. Up here (almost scottish border) we are usually frost free by early April.

IdStillRatherBeKnitting · 03/02/2017 09:51

em just a thought, be ready for lots of new bra size changes! Ime if you're well endowed to start with, they only get bigger, and bigger...If you need underwires, don't be talked out of them. I was told it was bad for milk ducts blah de blah, but honestly, sometimes people need some structure! Saying that, times have changed a bit, the feeding bras you can get now are not at all like the hideous non wired works of the devil I had for dd1 in 2003!

I might be wierd, but I took a front and side pic of me just before hospital with each baby. I come across one now and then, and can't quite believe it's me (and no wonder the skin on my poor tummy is like crepe paper!)

SnugglySnerd · 03/02/2017 10:15

knitting my boobs haven't changed at all in 2 pregnancies, so disappointing! I am still the same size as before DD1 although I am using the loosest bra hooks now. I was hoping for some brilliant cleavage but no such luck! Sadly maternity clothes are designed for boobs as well as bumps so they are disappointingly baggy around the bust and I have to wear a lot of scarves to hide the gaping!

ememem84 · 03/02/2017 11:30

I'm annoyed because I just bought new bras!!!! Waaaa!!

Beeneatingburnttoast · 03/02/2017 12:41

£890 to plumbers
£660 to builders
£76 to breakfast/after school club
£45 Tesco

Ahhhh! I'll go hide in the unfrugal corner.

Childminders hasn't sent her invoice yet but DP will pay it.

It feels better to get the bills paid though as now I can see how much money we have left. Builder money was sat in the account all of last year so we always seemed better off even though the money was spoken for

Beeneatingburnttoast · 03/02/2017 12:46

Oh em I bought some lovely jeans just before I found out I was pregnant. Have never fitted back in them Blush

I'm sure you will be fine. I was very skinny pre-baby, now not so

ChristmasSeacow · 03/02/2017 14:29

My boobs have gone up 2 cup sizes and one back size so far and I don't think they are done yet. Am 34JJ now and straining. I wore underwires all the way last time as I couldn't actually find soft bras big enough Blush. And I certainly have a fair bump already (but I am not tall or athletic in build short and decidedly dumpy ). I just boggle at the idea of mostly wearing normal clothes to the end - that would be great!

I love the French influence of names em, especially appropriate where you are. Alliterative names can sometimes work but often don't, ime. Maybe you can get away with an 'A' name? We've pretty much picked this baby's name as it was top of the girl list last time. I am keeping an open mind in case something better comes along though, and we still need a middle name.

Panini is a plural word but I think the pedant friend is being a bit unnecessary as it has really entered the English language in that form to mean one sandwich. Next time you see her point out a grafitto on the wall. Or eat a scampo Wink. Both possibly also lovely names for a boy.

£70 today for DS's private SLT appointment. He had become extremely anxious about dirty /wet clothes recently and has taken to randomly undressing (even in the street) and demanding clean ones. Even when there is nothing visibly wrong with what he is wearing. I am feeling really concerned about how this might spiral into a massive issue but don't really know where to turn and don't want to do anything to nakd the anxiety worse. Will try the SN boards but really I suspect we need a good child psychologist, with personal recommendations. No chance of getting help on the NHS so probably more cost. And in the meantime he worries me more every day 🙁

I should get out the house but no ideas of where to go as it is a bit grey here (and water /mud /dirt trigger meltdowns at the moment). Glad it is Friday and DH is around for the next couple of days.

WreckTangled · 03/02/2017 14:32

cath we have lists and spreadsheets for everything you can think of Grin I just talked my step dad through testing her sugar level and got him to get some sugar into her. She was fine in the end.

That's interesting north I'm always astounded by the amount of our COPD patients who still smoke.

I love the name flora

I tried doing some exercise but I've got such a bad headache!

Saw one of the people who interviewed me today. Turns out she's a patient at work.

Swimming lessons later so pizza for dinner.

rattieofcarcassone · 03/02/2017 14:56

Can I hop in in the vain hope that I'll be able to keep up?!
DH and I are living with my parents whilst saving for a house. Having had a mortgage application turned down due to 'low credit score' Hmm and missing out on a great house (one of the very few that's come up in this area!) we've realised that we've either got to aim for a more expensive house to avoid the cash buyers who do up houses to rent/sell on or a 10% deposit, both of which would require a bit more cash. The "low credit score" is because we've never been in debt, pay off our credit cards each month and have never had anything big on finance Hmm But if we get a 10-20% deposit we'll be much much more likely to get the mortgage Hmm

So we need to start being a bit more frugal to get that 10%, which is another £8-10k. We have £7k specifically for the deposit but a bit extra floating around if we find somewhere that needs marginally bigger deposit. I'm religiously going through our YNAB every few days to see where we can cut spending even further, though I think we're at the point where we need to look at our food spending (currently £250pm not including takeaways Blush ) which is difficult as I'm gluten free, I'm also vegetarian, which makes it extra fun! And not having a huge amount of space means that we can only do a limited amount of batch cooking and bulk buying before our two small cupboards and fridge/freezer are full!

We have a nearly 3mo DD as well (I'm on mat leave until the beginning of June, then I need to find work on weekends) who causes us to go through a ridiculous amount of wipes despite using cheeky wipes for changes done upstairs, so we've just bought a second cheeky wipes set to keep downstairs in a bid to save £30-odd a month.

I did two small food shops in Lidl and Aldi yesterday and spent around a tenner in each, I was impressed by how much I got! I usually go in there for bits and pieces but I may try using it for my fruit and veg on a day to day basis instead. And I didn't even look at their bargain bins because otherwise I'd have spent a lot more

At the end of the month we're going to buy zoo passes for two years, it's about £100 each for DH and I but it's 20 minutes away and we could easily go at least once a month, I'll probably go more often with my BIL and nephew and once DD is toddling around, so in the long run it'll be a lovely thing to have. We're lifetime NT members too but the closest ones to us now are just over an hour away, which I don't fancy doing until DD is a little older/feeding is a little more settled! But that will sort us out for family days out for a little while I think!

SnugglySnerd · 03/02/2017 15:20

Welcome Rattie, you sound like you have got off to a good start with frugalleering!

I'm not being very productive today. Have tried to pack hospital bag but my mind keeps going blank and I can't think what I will need. Have also realised I need to buy a few things e.g. toothpaste and some things I want to take are in the wash so might just wait and do it on Monday.

On a positive note I haven't spent any money all day!

WreckTangled · 03/02/2017 15:36

Didn't get the job. Apparently it's on a points system and it was very close 🙄

Beeneatingburnttoast · 03/02/2017 15:39

Sorry to hear that wreck. Gutted for you Flowers

Cagliostro · 03/02/2017 15:50

I had a panino for lunch today. Giggling at the idea of eating scampo too 😜

Welcome Rattie I love carcassonne (the place, the novel and the board game)

Need to phone GP I think (again - already rang this morning to see if they'd done my letter as they'd said, no of course they hadn't). A week late now, feeling really sick all the time and more exhausted than usual. I have POAS twice this week but nada. So most likely candidate a UTI. Bah

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Cagliostro · 03/02/2017 15:51

Aw sorry Wreck their loss for sure. I hope they can give you some useful feedback x

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Fluffycloudland77 · 03/02/2017 15:53

Oh bollocks, you poor girl wreck. I bet school jobs are highly sought after though because of the holidays.

Did they give you feedback?

£3.60 on stamps.

NSD yesterday.

Welcome rattie, don't worry about keeping up just be frugal.

WreckTangled · 03/02/2017 15:55

No I didn't ask for it though Blush

Beeneatingburnttoast · 03/02/2017 15:56

Just had to order a new toaster as just saw something burn out inside the old one

Ahhhh! Must not spend any more money