Frugaleers Frolick Frugally through February

[Ipsomatic]

Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

By popular request - copied from an old thread

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?

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thanks snuggly it's all a bit confusing. All this "you should have xyz" but do I need xyz? Probably not.

Dh is being all sorts of helpful today. He's out a wash on (albeit the same washing that's been in the machine for a few days) and has properly cleaned the kitchen. Bathroom next but I must shower.

My plan today is to try and feel more like myself. So nice shower wash hair moisturise and cute outfit for today are needed. Then I'm opening the windows (carefully so catface doesn't get out) and letting the sunshine in.

Must make catface a vet appointment too. She needs her claws clipped (I know I can do this myself but don't know how so want the vet to show me how to do it properly) and she gets a bit of a teary eye. Always he same eye. But only for like one day every couple of weeks. No puffiness no redness no gunk. Google tells me I should look out for that.

She's on the end of the bed now. Looking resplendent.

Good advice re post baby clothes. I found nursing clothes a faff and just had loose tops that lifted up easily TBH. Nursing bras OTOH are a must.

Creme hope you're feeling ok and All too - that kind of thing can really rattle you so take it easy.

Seacow I've just read your post about DS' 1 to 1. That's devastating :( I'd be extremely pissed that they hadn't told you personally as well - you should have been told as it's your son she is with - but I guess when communicating with the school it would be better to focus on what they will do going forward. They need to give him time with the new one before the current one leaves. Poor DS, it can be hard enough when school staff leave suddenly (and of course as you say they have every right to!) but when a child has autism and therefore NEEDS more consistency and predictability... aargh. :(

Sadly, schools aren't under any obligation to tell parents about these issues. It wasn't even in the school newsletter that I was leaving and the teacher whose maternity leave I was covering was coming back, for example. So not all of the Reception parents were aware. I bet lots of them were annoyed though!

Thanks for all the kind words. So far, not quite as achy today and no heartburn so far, but my throat feels worse and the glands are up on both sides. I'm back in bed with tea and toast, but I will try saltwater gargling when I get up again.

Creme. Take care of yourself.

Em My advice, as always is not to over think it. Therein lies madness (or anxiety....). A lot of the Hush clothes will work well for pregnancy, as I was perusing the site last night and thought the Harem trousers would be a godsend for you in pregnancy. Anything that digs in is awful, especially as you grow, and these have nothing.

Should be a NSD.

Did the Parkrun today and pleased with a time of 22.5 minutes after an awful lot of training this week.

SC Beef adobo for tea tonight.

ps - with feeding, Snuggly and Wrecked give great advice. I did same as Wrecked re the vest top.

But you will probs find your own way. One of my friends used a muslin cloth, placed very subtly in strategic positions, depending on what she wore!

need I was thinking that re hush. i want a lovely maxi skirt for the summer. I know new Look usually do some super cheap super soft ones so will have a look nearer the time. Am also partial in summer to short shorts. However fear that being preggo in short shorts may look a bit trailer park. So may just go for "shorts".

A friend of mine just whipped her boobs out whenever wherever. She was not at all embarrassed. The waiter in a restaurant once was though...!! Not sure I'd be that brave! Haha!

Another one for vest top loose top on top combo for feeding.
In first pregnancy I didn't need maternity clothes until last 6 weeks which was only 4 weeks cos she came 15 days early, second pregnancy I needed them by 12 weeks & for quite a while after

So far today have succeeded in having a shower washing my hair properly and have thoroughly moisturised.

I have a fancier than usual outfit for a Saturday on. I have done another load of washing. Have changed cat litter (with fetching face mask and elbow length disposable gloves and lots of hand washing -dh being away in two weeks means I will have to empty the litter so taking precautions dm did offer to come down every day and do it for me but that's a bit lazy of me)

And have steam mopped the floors.

I'm hoping I can get away with stretchy summery clothes and won't need to buy new stuff. Even though some of the stuff I've seen is super cute.

I only thought this morning that I'll have to remove my belly piercing at some point. 😭

Definitely makes you feel better doesn't it? Putting decent clothes on, moisturising. Just taking care of yourself.

I thought of one of those really loose dresses they have at the minute for you too, being so tall. I figure Jersey is pretty warm through summer and early autumn right? It would look shite on me, but lovely on a tall pregnant lady.

Omg em I will not show you the horror that is my old piercing post babies...try and get a plastic retainer one to put in!

A sunny day! Yay. Am out in the garden, ever digging. I will get it done this year (not sure what it is though). Have moved 12 slabs to make a flat area where it isn't slippy with mud to build my potato boxes on. Just riveting!

I always just lifted one side of my top to feed, but for ds (as I had to feed him at the shop, only semi private), I got two stretchy tube things that go from below your bra to tuck into jeans, thus not showing swathes of blubbery tummy. They were great. Maternity clothes are horses for courses. Having had 4 dc, no1 I had no fluid and barely had a bump, just one pair of jeans needed, no2 I was like a ship in full sail for 7 months, no3 and 4 nice normal bump, maternity stuff needed for 2-3 months.

I did plant my tomato and cucumber seeds last night.

snuggly I did that too, with the two layers for four years. Works fine and saves a lot of thought.

And it's also totally okay for you not to feed, if it doesn't work or you don't want to. x

Ah, the trade offs! I used to gave a lovely belly button. Alas no more. I do have lovely dc though. But then I'm not fit, and never took much bother with myself. Are any of you the one rare woman whose body went 'ping' to just the same as before dc? We must all know one!

Before my sister committed to having dc, she made me show her my tummy, as a worse case scenario. Twas very embarrassing. dd3 was 1 and I'd lost about 3 stone very quickly at the time. We have a strained relationship, but I dearly love my nephews!

Knitting I left hospital in my size 8 skinny jeans

Em about all the weird stuff they want to sell you for babies - I thought a lot about it all before ds was born, but then it turned out once he got here that some babies need some things and some need others. For example I thought about slings and read about the different kinds and in the end he refused to go in any of them. Actually he didn't fit in most of them at all, so it was pointless trying (too tall and thin and just folded in half in a sling).

So, whilst it's good to research what's out there, it might make sense to wait until you find out what kind of baby you get, and then order or buy things as you realise that they will be needed. With me, it turned out that a musical mobile was the critical thing that I needed post birth. I could have done with two really.

Other things that were a Godsend for us:

Tough washing machine

tumble dryer if you live in a hard water area

boarded loft so you can put toys up and bring different ones down on rotation.

These days - amazon prime really helps, as it means I can get stuff that's needed without a trip out and without much delay. Does that exist in Jersey, and do you have a longer lag in buying things because of stuff coming by boat? That might alter things.

Yep, that's me too!! And I could post a picture of my abs now, but you might not like me.... I'm 45. Lot of work though!

Yep temps here get to 30+ on a good summer. So floaty dresses and flip flops.

I said to dh that I'm tempted to do both bottle and breast feeding (so he can feel involved too so I can get some rest) but we all have great ideas...

I like the idea of slings. But I suppose it depends on whether baby likes them.

It's so nice to hear about all of your experiences. We've only told close family really and while they can offer support only my mum has had babies. And that was 30+ years ago.

I know everyone says this but I am determined not to let baby ruin our lifestyle. I have this idea that he/she will not stop us. If we want to join friends for a day at the beach then we go (but take baby) if we want to stay out late on the beach BBQ'ing and having a beer with friends. Baby comes too. If we want to go to local folk music festival we both can. Baby too. I so far only know one person whose managed it. We're fairly relaxed so I guess it should be doable.

remind me in a years time to report back on that one!

Also yes we have Amazon prime. We got it mainly for the tv. But the stuff is great. I don't get next day delivery. But next next day weather permitting.

Em I had great dreams of taking the baby to be with friends too, and sadly it didn't happen and I had to trade in my entire previous set of friends for an entire new set of friends. It was quite surprising. Babies are good for meeting new people though, at toddler groups and school and stuff, so one way or another it will work out for you I'm sure.

Em I imagine it is easier to take baby out and about with you when they're little and not mobile but maybe more difficult once they can talk more and want to walk about? My mam mixed-fed all three of us right from birth so that my dad could share the feeding. I'm pretty sure the NHS website says to wait a month or two before introducing bottle in case baby decides not to breastfeed anymore and my auntie who has my little cousin said she had this problem but I'm not sure if it could have been overcome or not as like I said my mam did it with all three of us right from the start with no problems, but I know every baby and every mammy is different!

Today should be NSD. Shopping coming later from Asda that I did yesterday online, about £70 . Was not expecting to spend that much! I feel like our food bills are high but then some of it is for the DGuineaPigs and I do make use of offers, buy own brand mostly etc so not sure how I could reduce it really.

Got a sore throat and snuffly nose today, caught from DH who had this for the last few days . I've only just had a slight cold from him the other week as well, he catches everything in the hospital and then gives it to me . It's so annoying! Hoping it won't get too bad as I missed a lot of my classes last week due to anxiety so I really can't afford to take more time off uni so soon.

If my anxiety lets me and I'm not too unwell tomorrow I would love to go into town to do some shopping as I need some new leggings for sport, a new sports bra, black tights, and some socks. Any suggestions on affordable but decent quality? Sports bra probs go shock absorbers as pricey but worth it and last ages.

meadow I bought loads of gym stuff from m&s. They have a great range of stuff.

H&M stuff is good too. I bought some neon sports bras there a couple of years ago and a few pairs of gym pants. We don't have a H&M here sadly so I can't vouch for quality recently. But the stuff I have had lasted and washes well.

Meadow I got that kind of stuff from M&S too, it's been really good.

It's interesting to me that you alternate between having such big anxiety that you can't go to lectures, and then other times your are zooming out and doing world-changing things like helping the homeless and doing sport. Do you find that your condition has really good days and really bad days? I always imagined that stuff like that made people just feel middling all the time.

I'm very interested to understand, as you clearly are experienced at managing your condition already and must know exactly how far you can push your system. I lose that you get out and do such amazing stuff when the going is good.