Frugaleers Marching on!

[Cagliostro]

Hi everyone, new thread as previous one full.

All welcome to chat all things frugal (and a whole lot more besides) - do jump in, we are a friendly bunch!

Brighter step away from the shops and the computer

Bighte do you have a garden that you could work in? The sun is getting brighter and it might help. Costs nothing.

Oooops. I really need to get a new keyboard with a working R.

We have snow! Not much, but it's definitely the white stuff. Have you got any, Life?

We have this much snow! I don't think it counts! shocking mess in the front garden

Your poor ds seacow that combination must be his worst nightmare.

So excited for your scan em

Running totally late, might have to shout the girls a hot dinner instead of a pack up. Could get off mn and get on I suppose!

knit what do you think of this bike? www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/urgent-beautiful-bike-woman-giant-/1224995428

On the plus side Christmas that means he's probably not colourblind. I'm always astonished at how my colourblind husband is not bothered by body fluids. Not being able to see red or green is really a massive advantage in certain situations.

Aw poor DS seacow oddly quite a few friends have been woken by their DCs having nocturnal nosebleeds in the last couple of weeks. Some have said it always happens this time of year. Sensory changes due to spring arriving maybe?! Some of them have hay fever type allergies.

Snuggly you've just had two babies, you cannot possibly be lazy FFS! Have they got names yet BTW? I know you can't post them but just wondering if you've chosen or if they are still being referred to as the babies :)

Motivation approximately zero today. Blah.

Oh poor DS Seacow. My own DS used to suffer, it looks like an awful crime has been committed in the room doesn't it? Hope all goes well today. Don't be intimidated by me ha ha!

Snuggly Continue to sit on the sofa, eat biscuits and recover. Be kind to yourself.

wrecked I am sorry about your DH. When I read about how his boss treats him, it sometimes crosses my mind that he needs to find something else (that pay on time and give him a pension.....). But I guess it's to come from him. I'm guessing no change on the pension front?

Ipso My last smear test was done by a nurse and they are well qualified enough to tell whether everything is healthy or not visually. I found, for a smear test, it was as good an experience as it could be really.

Spends today
£130 dog food. We buy a massive bulk amount and there was a discount code floating about.
£20 for a leaver hoodie for DD.

So far.

I've just walked the dogs in hail and gales. Nice.

Brighter You'll feel worse with less money.

Sea Poor lad. Wonder what caused that?. Dh gets them sometimes, I look up to see blood trickling down.

I have to go into town, it's market day 😭

Brighter. Could you afford just a couple of quid and to go out for a lovely long brisk walk, stop at a cafe, have a cuppa? That way, you will feel like you have had a positive experience?

Blimey Seacow that must have been scary and stressful, my dd would have been the same - she can't cope with the sight of blood and panics plus the sensory issues (God knows how she will cope with periods!!) Hope you are both o.kay now.

My day off today, going to pop to the shop in a mo and pick up some chocs/ flowers for a friend thats going through a tough time and got my sports massage this afternoon - can't wait!!

Good luck with the scan Em exciting!

Ok point taken! I think I'm just not very good at sitting still and as I've barely moved since Xmas I'm raring to go! You are all right of course, I don't want to overdo it.

Cag yes they do have names. I've almost posted them on here several times but I don't want to out myself. Maybe I'll mention it next time I fancy a name change!

Seacow your poor DS, that must have been scary for him (and you). Hope he's ok today.

Good luck with the scan, Em. Are you 12 weeks now? It's going quickly! I found the nausea and tiredness passed quite soon after the 12 week scan.

all dp says it looks like a big bike, with very little info on the ad, it's hard to tell. If you could message the seller and ask? There is a sticker on the vertical tube above the pedals which will say the size. The bike clearly looks new (been kept inside). He recons it should have been no more than £350 new as theres no suspension fork, but a google seach turns up nothing, so they've been discontinued we think.

If its the right size for you, dp says about £150 as it is second hand. Hope that helps!

Poor seacow's ds, what a horrible way to wake up
Great news on the promotion Em
Snuggly another one here saying don't be so hard on yourself, relax and eat cake!
Brighter I'd second Need's advice to get out and go for a walk if you can. You'll need to wrap up warm as it's v windy and cold out, dry at the moment. Spending would just propel you further into that spiral of feeling bad.
ipso obv don't know your history but I can't see why you would need a gynae exam for straightforward pelvic floor weakness.

Can't remember when I last posted but I know it's been a couple of days. I'm only officially working tomorrow this week as I'm using up the last of my leave which backed up when I was off sick last year. However I did 3 hours yesterday to catch up and help out & will be paid for that. I've mounted up quite a few extra hours this month and am working an extra day next week. Every little helps.

Had a session with my personal trainer yesterday which was hard going but good at the same time. Went for a swim this morning to keep up the momentum. Haven't lost much weight yet but have seen a massive change in my shape & size (in a good way!) which spurs me on.
Went to our local indie cinema with dd last night to see Hidden Figures. What an amazing film. If you haven't seen it then I would really recommend it . Dd loved it too, it's really inspiring.
In money news, we need a new mortgage provider. We have an offset mortgage with a small building society. They have been taken over by a bigger society and are withdrawing all current accounts (this forms part of our offset package) so it isn't worth staying with them. We should be able to get a better deal but I can't say I'm looking forward to going through all the application process from scratch. We won't be out of pocket financially as our current lender will waive all charges and reimburse all fees we have to pay, it's just time and hassle. We've got until August when the current account will have to close so plenty of time to shop around.

Can I join in?

Until recently we've always been financially 'ok' but we've not had a baby, who's in nursery and with fees bigger than our mortgage, and my ss moving in with us things have got a bit tight

I need help!

So far I've applied for child tax credit, child benefit (though it's going to take 16 weeks!) oh has applied for maintenance from his ex, but they won't do anything until we have the child benefit letter. I've applied for free bus travel for ss (12yo) because his school is miles away, been denied but have appealed.

I've started to meal plan too but that's proving quite hard with a fussy ss.

Can anyone give me any other ideas of what I can do? Poor oh is working all the hours overtime!

Welcome phoenix everyone welcome here.

What big changes in your lives.

I know and practically all at once too! I always knew nursery fees would be a killer but I didn't expect ss to move in with us until it happened so it's all been a very big change!

Like I say I think Ive got the main things sorted but any advice on how to save a little bit of cash will be much appreciated!

I've had a couple of steps forward today.

The car garage gave me my deposit on that car back, which is a great relief. I can think less about cars now.

Also I went to see a fantastic dietician who did a really detailed analysis of my diet and says I'm deficient in essential fatty acids and I've to add walnut oil and rapeseed oil to my diet. Who knew?

Anyway I came home and wolfed a packet of crisps and they were lovely.

I really do love having better control of the finances if only so we can get private medical help with these things. It makes such a difference to see a medic who has time to listen, when there's a really tricky thing to be dealt with.

Welcome Phoenix. Very exciting changes there. Looking forward to hearing all your ideas and learning from them.

ipsos I'm sure the crisps were lovely but might be better to add oils to your cooking or to your foods in its natural form rather than in foods where it's been cooked. Oil loses a lot of its goodness when it's heated.

I logged into my BorrowBox app on my phone last night, I've been using the children's library membership to borrow ebooks on it, well turns out now I can't anymore!! Will renew my library membership as they've lots of recent books available and I think it's just €5 for the year.

Welcome, Pheonix.

Ipso I bought some rapeseed oil the other day, haven't tried it yet but you have prompted me to do so and also made me remember that I haven't taken my vitamin D today.

Am trying to sleep but I can't switch off even with a lovely warm cat on my lap.

Welcome Phoenix. Ask ss for a list of meals he likes and ensure you include them but don't stick to it exclusively. If dd doesn't like what we're having she has toast.

Nsd here. Just had crumpets with butter and marmite mmm

Thanks Mammy I'll try. Tbh anything my inards will put up with is good right now. They're super-picky.

Spends
£4.50 on flowers and chocs for a friend.
£30 for sports massage.
£50 deposit for dds school trip.

Sports massage was painful but good pain shoulder feels much better for it, will def try and go for another one soon. My account is now cleaned out but hey ho only a week till pay day!