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?

orchard.tesco.com/ Sign up to this.

www.topcashback.co.uk/home And this.

www.quidco.com/home/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub ditto.

www.checkoutsmart.com/ Plus this.

www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new?page=3 Check this daily.

Eeeeep anxious this morning as I have an appointment with the lady in the disability centre @ uni who is the mentor for students with ASD. I need to ask her for a letter to support my PIP appeal and thinking about it makes me feel so anxious blergh. And also help with student finance who have cocked up and are claiming I'm resitting my second year all of a sudden and so am not entitled to any funding (which is obv incorrect).

Should be NSD though. My tummy is all squirly and horrible with anxiety. Better hurry up and get ready as meant to have academic mentoring session with that mentor at 12pm. Honestly I don't know how the new cohort of disabled students cope without non-medical helpers allowance to pay for mentoring like I get each week as without it I don't think I'd be still doing my degree, it is sooo helpful. Because they can't get it anymore as the government cut it from Disabled Students' Allowance from this cohort onwards, heartless gets.

Girlie So sorry to hear about your brother, that sounds awful I hope he has as speedy a recovery as possible, and it's great that you're all going to be helping him out.

Meal plan:

-Roast chicken dinner
-Chicken casserole
-Chicken with pesto, spaghetti, cherry tomatoes, feta and olives
-Pasta bolognese
-Pizza (swimming lessons)
-Bean burgers with chips and veg
-Kievs or spaghetti bolognese

Breakfasts will be American pancakes/hot cross buns/toast with marmite

Lunches tuna, cheese, humous, carrot sticks, sandwiches, wraps, fruit, yoghurt

Will make some more butternut squash soup and will make a carrot cake with Ds later. This time I won't burn it

Payday!! although am hoping its not right as was hoping for a bit extra, still don't seem to have the enhancements on there not seen my payslip yet though....

Have blitzed the house and its all sparkly, got some friends coming for lunch that haven't seen it before so wanted it to look nice.

Thanks for the well wishes re my db, will see him this arvo so will have a better idea then of what he can and can't do!! Apparently his work are on at him already to be back in by the end of the week he is a teacher and atm can't go to the loo unaided so can't see that happening!!

Thats good ipsos the only side effect I had was a sore arm for a day or two, its almost a year since dd was so ill which doesn't seem possible!!

Meadow sorry to hear you're feeling so anxious, I know that feeling well and its rubbish just remember though that although it feels bloody awful anxiety itself is harmless, it can't hurt you and is just your body responding to excess adrenaline. Sometimes I find challenging anxiety to do its worse helps that prob sounds stupid but quite often I would get worked up about feeling anxious and the whole thing then spirals iykwim. Good luck with the meeting.

Aiming for a NSD.

Sorry to hear about your brother, Girlie. DS's teacher in Year 6 broke his collar bone and was off from around Bonfire night until after February half-term, so the school are definitely barking up the wrong tree there.

Hope your meeting goes well, Meadow.

I've been to Aldi, as I didn't need much. Got lots for £14.53. Meal plan is:
Today: Quorn and veggie stirfry.
Tomorrow : Pancake Day. Assorted fillings. DS is in charge, as I'm not good at pancakes.
Wednesday: Quorn chicken burgers, oven chips and salad.
Thursday: Mediterranean veg and bean pasta bake.
Friday: same.
Saturday: Quorn sausages, chips and beans (DS is away, so I get to have something with beans for tea. Hurrah!)
Sunday: macaroni cheese(homemade from the freezer).

Should only need milk, and possibly bread. Oh and black pepper, as I've almost run out.

That's a good idea about the anxiety Girlie I'm watching carefully as my flu vaccine finds its place today and feeling a bit nervous about the middle too. I know fine well that it's anxiety, but it's still easy to get caught up. I like your idea of challenging the anxiety to do its worst. I'll try that.

btw I broke my arm a few years ago and they didn't sign me off initially in a&e but then I had to go back for a follow-up appointment and the lady then signed me off unequivocally for two weeks. I told her I had to work and she said "no you don't, you have to go shopping". I went shopping.

Upon making another carrot cake I've realised what happened on Thursday. I forgot to put the sugar in!!

I would think he will need two weeks off at least, I would be worried that a child would accidentally knock into him, they told db in a&e that the break was quite close to an artery so not the sort of thing you want to displace!!

Well meeting was ok, advisor is lovely as always and said she would write a letter about all the support I get at uni for the PIP tribunal. And also chased up student welfare about my student finance problem. Missed both my lectures today though as wasn't feeling up to them but it shouldn't be too hard to catch up later.

Got my payslip today as well although it looks like HMRC have messed up our marriage tax allowance as I have the tax code for the recipient when I should have the tax code for the transferor so DH will have to ring them about that to sort it. Don't actually get my money until tomorrow though (last day of the month is when it comes through).

Got a letter about housing benefit overpayment as well because it took them so long to stop our benefit after DH told them about his job. We only owe them about £50, two weeks worth of HB as we only got about £25 a week before anyway. DH will need to sort this next week when he's back.

NSD today and I have a pizza in the fridge for my tea today, a Pizza Express one . I am doing well without DH so far he will be pleased.

Wreck Haha that is exactly the kind of thing I would do!

Not a NSD £33 on Amazon, oops!

Well done meadow You really are on top of all those details. You're a trooper.

Wreck that's excellent about the carrot cake. Did it just takes like carrot on toast?

It actually didn't taste too bad, certainly not bad enough for me to realise at the time what I had done. I only realised when I got the sugar to make one today and saw the new pack was still full!

Interesting! It's surprising how many things taste okay with no sugar since I reached adulthood. I suppose I would have thought differently as a child. My dm once made tomato chutney and doubled everything except the tomatoes by accident. Everybody who tasted it said it was fantastic.

Gosh thats bad luck on the two broken arms!

Mmm carrot cake... i think if you were going to frost it you could definitely get away with limited / no sugar in the actual cake?

Picked up a free coke (o2 priority) and some 25p paracetamol to get my 50 bonus points in boots. Also they had boxes of wipes on 2 for £13 so I got 2. I had a bonus points voucher for 150 points. Things went a bit downhill when they gave me a makeup / skincare voucher but to be fair I needed new foundation and powder and a moisturiser, got a nail varnish too as there was 3 for 2 on makeup. So that was a bit spendy - £22 spent but got the nail varnish free on 3 for 2, a further £8 off in vouchers and had another bonus points voucher for 200 pts when you spend £20. The checkout lady was impressed anyway lol

OMG! Blue Shopping in Boots is like doing A Level Arithmetic these days. You must have had a lot of fun there.

Pancakes Thread

girlie your poor poor brother, great that ye can all rally to help him out. His work are being very unreasonable, can they not see the practicalities of the situation?

Spends this weekend
€14.10 in cleaning supplies on 5l vinegar, popcorn boxes for dd, a wedding card and lots of bin bags
€10 on 4 Striploin Steaks
€8.45 on petfood & milk at Aldi
Tesco coming tonight €97.36 - they gave me a code for €10 off €100 delivery, I'll still be buying next week's shop from Aldi

Meal Plan
Last Night - Chorizo & Bacon Carbonara (no shopping done)
Tonight - Burgers & Chips (dh has a meeting so needs to be quick)
Tuesday - Pancakes
Wednesday - Beef Stew
Thursday - Sundried Tomato Pasta
Friday - Quick Salmon Quiche
Saturday & Sunday eating at my parents

That sounds like a nightmare, Wreck, I'm hoping not to be in too long, certainly hope it won't be a repeat of the fiasco when DD was born!
I forgot to put the sugar in some biscuits once. They were so hard they bounced! Nobody could have eaten them without breaking their teeth!

Section is next week, Ipso! I'm feeling ok about it but worried about what everyone will eat in my absence. Going to cook a bit pot of pasta to provide DD and whoever looks after her with lunch for a couple of days and there should be stuff in the freezer for their tea. If all else fails they'll just have to go to the chip shop!

Spent £17 in Lidl this morning, I did a stock up of cereals, tea bags etc. and lots of biscuits. I remember eating a lot of biscuits after DD was born!

Going to do food shop tomorrow for this week then get a big online shop at the weekend with plenty of treats and things that are easy to cook!

£26.50 hairdressers this morning.

£10 in Morrison's. Somebody gave me a heat pad for my back. Awesome. I would have missed him except he's my boss and it would be inappropriate.
£5 skatepark later

Well done Meadow glad the uni person was helpful (they should be or they're in the wrong job!)

Girlie your poor brother . There'll be no dignity in it, that's for sure!

Fluffy kitchen shenanigans sound fun... but I think you've had a bare floor for ages so you are getting there.

Snuggly DD won't starve - if all else fails she'll eat your biscuits . And at least you've had your hair done, it will be much trickier soon! Hope DD gets over her wobbles soon. She probably hadn't really thought about being separated from you as part of the process. I remember when my sisters were born, my mum was in hospital for 10 days (v long slow labour and then hanging about afterwards - it was the 70s). I remember it being a rather weird time in limbo, but I was fine (even though I was staying with complete strangers as no family nearby )

£2.50 hospital parking again (consultant review cos of my age but no dramas) and then about £10 in greengrocer and £6 in Tesco on odds and ends like mayo and peanut M&Ms

A result though - After writing to our child development centre about my concerns about DS's anxiety we have had a paed appointment through. I am pleased they acted on my letter actually - and a reply in less than a week for an appointment just 3 weeks away! Took 7 months to get our first appointment.

Oops, just remembered it was a spendy day after all: I ordered DS a bike today -£150 plus £12 delivery. It's a special one designed for SN - v light frame, suitable for use as a balance bike or pedal bike from age 4-12. Hope it will be a good investment. DS loves his scooter but we are starting at the beginning with a bike. I've been dithering over this purchase for ages! Am excited for him, I hope he likes it.

Sounds lovely seacow! Glad you got the appointment so quickly.

I thought my first attempt as Yorkshires was quite good but my sister laughed and asked if my oven is broken 😭

Nothing wrong with those Yorkshire. You got a good rise there wreck

wreck they look perfect to me. Yorkies are a staple in this house, I use Marco Pierre White's method stolen from Masterchef Australia is anyone else hooked on this excellent programme? Makes the uk version very grey equal volumes of plain flour, eggs and milk, pinch of salt. It has never failed!

Spent £33 in aldi on a top up, plus salmon for tonight, salmon has shot up in price here. And I made a zooplus order of 2 sacks of kibble, ferret food and treats, new dog bowls and a "furminator" which I have high hopes of getting all the shed out of my thick visla. £49 all in with £8 discounts.

€20 at butchers on low fat pack - steak burgers steak mince chicken fillets pork chops & chicken sausages. Yummy

Sea the bike sounds amazing
Snuggly my dd didn't want a brother only a baby sister dh had to tell her at home so she wouldn't strop in hospital & she's loved him ever since. This was proven lately when he broke up the Lego castle she made at Christmas & her reaction was it's ok db can't I make it again

I have a furminator for the Bengal, he rolls over to get his tummy done!.

wreck Yorkies are meant to look like that. I bet her vegan ones don't rise like that.

girlie Your poor brother, I see the education dept are as sympathetic as the NHS though. You need arms to balance when walking so I don't see how he can expected to work like that & he is going to have to wee at some point, who's going to hold him while he does that & do his trousers up for him?. Utter madness on their part.

Snugg I had fish and chips when my mum was in hospital when I was little. It was great. It'll all get figured out.

£3 lunch. Am now a qualified spray tanner! With a very white bottom. We all kept our pants on.

Not an nsd.

I dabbled with Amazon pantry. And ordered 2x Morrisons laundry tablets some takeaway boxes and 2x comfort fabric softener for £11.

And then stopped in "Tesco" for cereal bars for snacks £5 or so.

Oh and a soup for lunch £2 hot and sour chicken noodle.

We're having baked potatoes with tuna and cheese for dinner. Yummmmm proper comfort food. We're in for more stormy weather here. The met office have issues a red flood warning. Strong winds with extreme high tides equals risk of flooding. The coast roads have been mostly shut. We got home ok and don't live on the coast so will be fine.

It's times like these I'm grateful we live in a flat. Can't worry about damage as we're not responsible for any of it.

One load of washing on. Make up off. Pyjamas on.

And I've a half day tomorrow morning. Dentist followed by phone calls and another load of washing probably.

I've never heard of Amazon Pantry, will have to investigate. My Prime membership needs renewing next week, I'd better make sure my details are up to date.

It's nice hearing all your sibling stories. I am an only child (but now have step siblings) so I can't draw on my own experiences.