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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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mammymammyIRL · 10/02/2017 08:44

Oaty Berry Bites These are yummy, I don't make flapjacks as I'd eat them all!

This is the Brown Bread recipe I got at my nutrition & cookery course. I use a deep muffin pan to make brown scones from it too.

1lb wholemeal flour, 1 tbsp mixed seeds, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp breadsoda, 1 egg and enough buttermilk to make a very wet mix, dropping consistency, approx half litre. Bake at 200deg for 35-40 mins, muffin tin needs to be well oiled/buttered/sprayed with spray oil, I use silicone paper wrappers for my loaf tin. Muffins take a bit less time to cook, cooked when you knock underneath and it sounds hollow. Then turn out a give a couple more minutes upside down in oven to dry out crust.

Very healthy & dense so filling. Lasts about 2-3 days no longer.

Oh em that overwhelming tiredness that comes with pregnancy is incredible isn't it? But so much easier to do when you're on your first pregnancy.

knitting what age is ds? I remember that feeling of waking up and not knowing if it was still evening or if I'd slept the night through and cold because invariably you're outside the covers not under them Smile

My refund hasn't arrived and was hoping to use that to buy me my new outfit in penneys. The joint account owes me big so I will use money from there but replace it when I get my refund.

Thinking of buying dh a flask for Valentines, is thermos the best? A colleague had a thermos with a spout so you didn't need to open flask and let air in & steam out but said it leaked after a while which defeats the purpose really. Anyone use flasks? I don't drink hot drinks myself and work in an office, he's a truck driver

Needastrongone · 10/02/2017 09:00

Sorry, this is a quick post, but I really hope I didn't come over as arrogant in my post about DD? She's absolutely not perfect.

Cagliostro · 10/02/2017 09:24

Not arrogant at all need!

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mammymammyIRL · 10/02/2017 09:33

Not to me you didn't need but I just find you're straight forward when you post.

I've a credit card query. I've got a credit card with balance of €1500 (interest rate 18%)and one with €400 left that the 0% period runs out next week. Should I transfer the bigger balance to 0% for 6months/7 months or 3.9% for 12 months? I'm leaning towards 3.9% for 12 months to allow for any hiccups which is doable comfortably.

Fluffycloudland77 · 10/02/2017 09:35

I think thermos are the best, or Stanley if he's prone to dropping things.

Switched bb to BT, I could have had fibre for an extra £60 but I can't get my head around the connection charge so I'll stay with BT for 12 months and see how I am financially next year. It works out £10 a month after cashback and pre loaded MasterCard.

CathodeRayTube · 10/02/2017 10:37

Christmas that's very weird about your physics teacher. He sounds a total knobend.

Snuggly I think my neighbour with three kids has a Renault megane. It's definitely a Renault that's somewhere between the size of a fiesta and a focus. They manage to fit three car seats in and also park the car in their postage stamp of a front garden, which is a critical requirement here.

Might be worth posting in chat to say - if you have three kids, what car do you drive. You'd get a good idea of what's feasible that way.

Need Building a pc is really fun. We usually follow the guides on the Ars Technica website. With PC components there's a big risk that you buy all the right bits but that they just somehow don't quite fit together. The Ars Technica website people do a thing every few years where they survey the market for the best prices and choose parts that they then test to make sure they definitely fit together. If you want to get a build to work first time then it's a great idea to just buy exactly the bits that they recommend and do that. They usually do it for three prices brackets too. Here are the options:

arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2015/12/ars-system-guide-november-2015-bargain-box/
arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1302031

My brain is kind of on fire with excitement from my equality meeting yesterday. It seems as thought right now they are trying to change the way science research works so as to keep women in the team beyond the childbearing years. I hadn't realised how frustrated I was by all this until the asked the question.

NSD so far, but it's still early.

northender · 10/02/2017 11:05

mammy I'd say Thermos and dh has had a similar experience with a flask with a spout so wouldn't get one again.
need you didn't sound arrogant at all.
Cath good to hear you sounding so up beat.

mammymammyIRL · 10/02/2017 11:20

Good to hear people confirming what I thought already, stick with Thermos. He's carrying it in a truck most of the time but does throw his bag around fluffy will he remember not to do this because of flask Hmm

CathodeRayTube · 10/02/2017 11:21

No you didn't sound arrogant need. That's great that you have very able kids and especially that they do stuff they like rather than following the herd.

MeadowHay · 10/02/2017 12:25

Cathode Thank you for working for the advancement of women in science! I'm not a scientist but my dad and DH both are so I do have an interest in it I guess.

The children downstairs have been banging really loudly on their windows for ages. Surely you would tell your child off for doing that? Or am I being too strict? It's really annoying and because I'm so jumpy as it's stopping and starting I keep jumping each time it starts again (obviously not their fault I'm jumpy and I never complain about the kids shouting and that because obviously that's what kids do). -.-

It is snowing here, I e-mailed my manager to ask if I could work from home today because of the snow - I struggle to walk in snow due to sensory problems (Asperger's) and anxiety about slipping and things. Probably sounded daft but he said it was fine. Probably shouldn't be on MN but I'm ahead with my work so far so it's fine. Grin

DH is about mid-way through 6 12h days in the NHS Shock. I don't know how he does it.

Mammy I have a thermos flask, it is new and I've only used it once so far but it seemed good and didn't leak or anything as I was terrified about that. We also have a thermos travel mug thing that is good too. Also the oaty berry bite link keeps linking me back to this thread?? Confused

IdStillRatherBeKnitting · 10/02/2017 13:15

Have been pointlessly spendy today. Ugh. The only plus is that I spent a lot less than I would have done before. £9 home bargains on sweets and a bin. £10 in morrisons on lunch and ribs to slow cook for tomorrows tea. £19 in Homebase on 2x seed potatoes, a crown of rhubarb and a brambly seedling apple tree (8.99 what could go wrong?). Then £14.99 in argos on a shredder. The wormery needs lots of shredded paper.

mammy ds is 4.5 I have been very soft on him. He did sleep all night in his own bed last night (yay) though.

I noticed in Morrisons that they have a new sign on the disabled loo: a man, a wheelchair and a lady figure, written underneath "not all disabilities are visible" Go Morrisons!

IdStillRatherBeKnitting · 10/02/2017 13:16

Whats with the clicky links coming up with the shop names? Has mn signed a huge deal for adverts pay-by-click?

CathodeRayTube · 10/02/2017 13:45

Meadow Thanks for the encouragement. Smile I'll keep trying. I know what you mean about banging being really annoying. I find bangy music that is so much loved by builders really hard to live with. I always ask them to turn it off.

mammymammyIRL · 10/02/2017 14:13

Oaty Berry Bites!

WreckTangled · 10/02/2017 14:41

Haven't caught up yet.

First choice declined so they offered me the job!!!!

I need to sort childcare so I haven't formally excepted yet...

WreckTangled · 10/02/2017 14:44

Mmm mammy they look good!

I would do 0% for six months and then switch again to another 0%

SnugglySnerd · 10/02/2017 14:51

Cath it's great when you get such a buzz from something isn't it?

£250 deposit on a new car! In the end I decided to be very upfront with the company we currently lease from, explained our situation and our budget. Asked if I could switch our current lease arrangement to something bigger. Talked them down a bit on price and said I wouldn't be agreeing to any add ons like gap insurance. I did get a service plan as that works out as good value, we've done it before. They were quite happy to upgrade and as our car is only 2 years old it still had a lot of value in it. As a result we will have a newer and bigger car for £70 less each month than we are currently paying. I'm quite happy with that but I think this time we will try and buy it outright at the end of the agreement even if that means getting a bank loan.

So that's one big job/expense ticked off. Next on the list are getting the cat an appointment at the vet and getting curtains for the babies' room.

CathodeRayTube · 10/02/2017 14:57

Wreck Massive congratulations!!!!!!! That's the best news ever. Very well deserved it is too. Yay! StarStarStarStarStar

Snuggly Yes I'm really excited. I wish I could calm down to be honest. Must think calm thoughts as it the holiday now and I'm still on fire.

Great news on the car. Well done. Smile

lifelongfrugaleer · 10/02/2017 15:26

£150 on food shop. 150 fucking quid!
£6 on posh biccies for friends. £32 Lakeland.

Will catch up next

lifelongfrugaleer · 10/02/2017 15:27

Oh and £12 snow shovel and there is no fucking snow!

lifelongfrugaleer · 10/02/2017 15:34

Yeah wreck

WreckTangled · 10/02/2017 15:35

Childcare sorted!

CremeEggThief · 10/02/2017 15:49

That's great news, Wreck. Congratulations! Wine

Life, hope your friend is bearing up as well as can be expected. There's a bit of snow here, although most of it has turned slushy.

Happy birthday, Seacow, hope you're having a great day. It's mine tomorrow. DS and I are going to York for the day.CakeWine

Spends: £30 hair cut and colour and £20 gel polish on fingers and toes. New shade is khaki. I love it!

Fantabulous February with the Friendly Frugaleers!
allthebestplease · 10/02/2017 16:09

wreck great news about the job.
Regarding credit card swap, how much of a fee do you have to pay?
cream great nails.

£20 diesel. £2 pastry thingy. £5 wine.

I watched Trainspotting 1 last night, takes me back to being at Leeds Uni (reach for the lasers!)

Cagliostro · 10/02/2017 16:12

OMG yay Wreck epic news! Congratulations :o :o Star

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