Fluffys frugaleer thread. All welcome.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Wwyd just discovered that my bank is offering 15% back on the very sports shop that I purchased my trainers in. Will I return & get it refunded to my cc & charged to my debit card for an extra €15 saving?
If only I had read my emails yesterday!

mammy if they haven't been worn I totally would!!

£33 in sainsbury, lots of unnecessaries and I feel a bit bad. I only needed hot dog rolls, fish fingers, waffles and crisps for MIL (babysitting). I'd got so much better at not impulse purchasing.

Lonely I really want to see your quilt when it's done! DS loves planets, you may inspire me... I'd like to make him a weighted blanket as I think he would find it calming. Maybe I could pump it up with planets?! I am sorry about the job, it must be especially galling when you have so few options, logistically, because of the DC etc. You sound incredibly busy, productive and capable, employers are lucky to find people who work hard and have common sense but too often the recruitment criteria are experience-based.

Important thing I have written and lost twice:
Copper it must be so scary about DGS. It's a shame about your jersey trip but like others I think it is good to have less time to worry about it. It will be a very hard few days of waiting and entrusting his life to others but they will be really well qualified. Specialist paediatric surgery can only be carried out by surgeons in designated centres that do enough of it to be really good at it. That stuff is not for dabbling in so you will get a highly qualified and specialist team who will the best there is. I think you might have mentioned the Brompton previously? It's an excellent trust, he will be in the best of hands

It's a few days ago now but Cag I don't have Aspergers but couldn't agree more about the postnatal ward. I hated it last time, found it incredibly stressful and noisy and the lack of privacy (when I needed to discuss bleeding and boobs) was awful. I tried to upgrade to a private room but none available. I'll try again this time but otherwise, if I have a normal delivery at a sensible time of day I will try to go home the same day. It's the only part of childbirth I am feeling stressed about and it is coming up very soon!

Thanks for asking Need, the midwife appointment was fine (and no parking ticket!). She wasn't worried about my cankles and said the dizziness I have been feeling is due to my anaemia (now on supplements) and surprisingly low blood pressure. They're not bothering to see me again until my due date (if not induced by obstetrician team before then). Frogmella's activity has really increased in intensity recently - the undulations of my stomach are visible across the room now . It's such a funny but nice feeling.

I am going to try posting before summing up spends. If this disappears again I will be VERY CROSS! Sorry to all those I missed - I can't remember now.

Phew. Girlie I meant to ask whether your leather jacket problem has abated? You seem to be cracking on with the garden now so presume it is better?

Spends - too many to mention really

Worked on Tuesday and Wednesday. Bit spendy on Wednesday with Pret mac n cheese etc 🐷. Not been paid for any of it yet because of recruitment being slow and IT problems. However, I am mentally racking it up, hoping to get paid from next Friday or the one after at worst.

Thursday was spendy: carpet guy £££. Handyman ££ for 4 hours but he did quite a few jobs. Best of all he repaired 4 sizeable holes in my kitchen ceiling plasterboard where a plumber had had to cut them out to find the source of a leak 4 years ago . I'd tried to find someone to fix it before - builder said no, plasterer said job too small... Now I keep looking at the non- holes and feeling really chuffed. He's coming back to do some other jobs at a later date. I love him. Yesterday: cleaner £48 (for 4 hours - pricey down here ) and SLT therapy assistant session £50. And then £120 on amazon buying crocs for me (for hospital bag and as a contingency because most of my shoes don't fit over my swollen feet) but mostly educational resources for DS as I need to start doing some therapy games /exercises with him at home. I don't feel bad about that though - it's what his DLA is for. Overall though - .

Today DH is in Ikea buying a Kallax storage unit and a Chair for baby's room. Then we just need a chest of drawers then done!

This is mostly exceptional stuff above the normal run rate but it's a bit scary, especially as cash flow is still not great. Waiting for money from a few sources (mainly my old company that has been in the process of wind-up for 18 months now - and which money I had planned to be living off during this career break). That needs to be sorted very soon!

Need to spend the weekend doing my comments on DS's education plan thing - deadline Monday. I think I will be having a late night or two. Hope you are all having a bit more fun this weekend!

Yay your post worked!!! :o I'm glad little frogmella is doing so well. :) Agree that baby moving in late pregnancy is weird! I can't wait for DD to be able to feel it though, she's always talking to my belly :o

I am happy today as we've been looking at all our finances and thanks to the PIP (and the resulting help such as bus pass) plus DH sorting utility and credit card, we are going to be significantly more settled financially for the next few years. Just need to plan properly to stop any extra getting frittered!

Less happy as this cough is still annoying the crap out of me and it's one of those where coughing makes your head feel like it's going to fall off. Think I'll phone the GP on Monday although I'm not sure they can do anything really. It's seriously getting me down though. I was supposed to be taking the Caglets to a free science event today and I'm just not able to.

All you need now Cag is a nice new home with enough bedrooms! Fingers crossed something comes through this year

I'm blitzing my kitchen today so this is just a quick post between jobs. I'll be back for a proper read later on. I've just cleaned out the fridge so having a quick cuppa before I dust and wash down the cupboard doors. My fridge is ancient and we're hoping to replace it soon so I kind of resent cleaning it, but it had to be done.

It's a sunshine and showers day here. Lots of rumbly thunder too.

DD has gone to her friend's house.

Spent about €8 on a top up shop.

Rant here
. So have parents and db for lunch. Have just served nice meal pork roast veg sweetpotato etc ( i hate sweet pot so had just pork and veg) . Dessert was summer fruit pie with choice of custard or cream. All tuck in. I dont have a sweet tooth so forgo pie.. but do decide to have ^one^ spoonful of custard. Cue " you shouldnt be doing that" from dparents and " no wonder you are always on diet if all you do is eat spoonfuls of custard" Grrrrr!!!!! ( THIS IS WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN LIKE ALL MY LIFE) No wonder i am still a effing mess at nearly 60 still.. Ok ..rant over . ( btw i am' only' about 10lbs overweight )..
. Back to serve coffee and grit teeth.. i love them , i do but ......( well i supose you can never please them. If i challenge them as i do . They say they only tell me this . for my own good !!) No wonder i drink !!!!!!!
....

And relax....

.

Hello all, taken me a few attempts to catch up!

Lonely that really sucks, people are so discriminatory towards mothers sometimes its not fair

Wreck I had the opposite experience to you post natal, dd was whisked off to scbu with breathing difficulties and I was wheeled back (post emcs completely traumatised) to the post natal ward with all the mums and their new babies. Makes me cross now as clearly not appropriate. Cag can totally understand wanting your own room.

Seacow sounds like things are coming together in prep for the baby - so exciting! We are still finding lots of leather jackets unfortunately but I think there seems to be less and we have found a few dead ones so am hoping the treatment has worked to some extent. I need to put another treatment down really but can't afford it atm, I have to say I am completely brutal with the ones we do find, I have a pair of scissors I am keeping just to cut them in half its a shame we don't get more birds (due to the cats) as apparently they love to eat them.

Have been out in the garden again, planted a load of bulbs - dd helped and have put some more grass seed down. Dd has decorated the ceramic pot I bought and planted up the plant for it, looks absolutely lovely and am sure my dad will be thrilled with it. Will def do that again for a gift, dd spent a good hour decorating it as well so win win there

Spent £15 on grass seed, sawdust for the hamster and some cards.

The garden is def done for now so my aim for next month is no garden spends I need to let what I have planted grow.

Rant away laksa it's infuriating people commenting on eating habits/weight. My mum asled me the other day what diet I was planning on going on post baby. So I could slim down quickly. I was 🤔

Spends today £25 riding. Super super lesson today. Asked pony very nicely to jump a double fence. And she did. It was the first time I'd done that. Eeek. Dh dropped me off as he was going to see fil. I hadn't realised he'd come back so early and saw the whole jumping thing!! He said it looked good though!! phew

The boy seemed to like it too - after I jumped the second time he went all wiggly!

Went back to see fil as he wasn't in when dh went (hence him coming back so early) and told him about his grandson. He was pleased.

Then, we did something very cheeky. A house down the road from fil is going to be on for sale at some point soon (house inherited etc people don't want it etc). So we knew people were in cleaning as could see them. And knocked on the door. And told them we'd been looking and would be interested in buying. Left our details so once they have a valuation they said they'd be in touch. Fingers crossed.

Oh Laska there's no need for that

My dc are slowly killing me.

I've hoovered all of downstairs including under the sofas.

Laska cross posts, that is so rude of them could you do the classic mn 'did you mean to be so rude' thing?! Am a bit worried about this lease hold thing as have horrible feeling mines a lease hold, is that when you buy the house but its for a set number of years? Mine was 100yrs....

Wreck how about a dvd afternoon?! Dd has been watching it wreck it Ralph for the last hour and a bit!!

£130 in sainsbury. These fricking cards are costing me a fortune as is the JO book. Dh has rediscovered cooking so I shouldn't complain.
Cub camp this afternoon. Sunshine and showers but I'm shattered now

Wreck It Ralph is a brilliant film! The DVD also has my favourite animated short (Paperman)

They sound horrible and rude laska :(

I have had yet another nap this afternoon. Caglets have been watching Avatar (the cartoon, not the awful film with blue people).

Thank you seacow I think it'll be more likely next year than this, going by the numbers on the home bidding system. I feel lucky enough with that though, a big part of me feels like we don't deserve it TBH

How rude laska. Smile and wave and ignore.
How was the open day em? Shy bairns get nowt as they say.
Ah need, sorry you are still having a tough time with dh.
Yes please to Lego cards. Will pay postage and stuff. I can't pm off phone but can reply so can send you my address

Wierd weather day. Sunshine, torrential rain, hail, thunder...

Got the planets cut out before town. £24 in next for a shirt and trousers for ds for this christening, he still needs shoes, will order from amazon. £5 on 2 fat quarters as I didn't have enough yellow for the sun. Then £51 in sainsburys on dog food, cat fud and meat and assorted bits. I was really good for me though, and didn't browse through the clothes or the housewares.

seacow a heavy quilt is such a good idea. I recommend charity shop jeans. I made a quilt in demin (pre dc when I had time!) and stitched a 13 tog quilt into it. I love it, but dp can't bear it as it literally weighs a tonne. I'll see if I can dredge a pic out of it. I love denim and will cover the battered Chesterfield (under the patchwork in the photo, the olive velvet is truly grim) at our shop in it soon. I may have a huge stash of jeans

Lovely quilt.
Good luck with house em
DH got paid on Friday yay, we are saving all our pennies for the house move 🏡. And so DH went to cancel our subscription to The Times and they gave us 3 months free, plus we will still cancel. Also cancelled Spotify as have amazon prime which has music so why pay more?
I've not bought any clothes or shoes or bags or make up for 3 months. Which is a huge achievement. DH never buys clothes, and have been frugal with DD.

need what is your business?

lonely how do you survive if your business doesn't pay a wage, must be so hard.

Spent today £6 at the local church as they had a family day.

Well 3 months free is not to be sniffed at.

Need Do you think he's going manic?.

£60 on a neutrogena electric red/blue light mask. I have rubbish healing skin so this will make me look 21 again in dimly lit rooms. The power packs need replacing every thirty days but I've found a hack on YouTube involving soldering irons, Philips screwdrivers, wire & solder. Dh thrilled at the very idea.

£15 odds monkey membership. But I took that out of matched betting profits.

Lonely You are SO talented, any form of sowing would be beyond me, what you do is amazing.

Laska Absolutely and totally no need for that shit is there? Folk are so thoughtless aren't they?

Riding sounds lovely Em, hope the viewings went well.

All, it's technical industrial spray equipment for specialist coatings. Niche, but lucrative. But so niche that recruitment is tough too.

Ouch to Sainsbury's Life, if I went there then I would be glad to help.

I'm going to forget folk, I can tell! I feel I haven't 'spoken' to Girlie for a while!! Waves....

I am going to post my spending and hide...

$60 Top Shop, one fucking pair of jeans for DD, who new Top Shop was so bloody expensive? Plus it was like having a weird time warp thing, everything is all 80's based fashion-wise, I felt like I had stepped back in time. It was bad enough first time around!
$135 Hollister, annual stock up for DS, who cares not for clothes but seems to like Hollister.
$29 New Look, pair of shoes for DD.
$65 outfit for DD.
$135 2 pairs of shoes for me.
$6 parking.
$7 lunch
$17 present for friend.

Balls, it's worse than I thought... shoes are ace though

And I didn't buy more make up but Urban decay calls to me every time I go in JL. Nearly caved for a Bobbi Brown mascara.

I need the pony to get better so we can spend all our time in a field at the weekend....

Fluffy, no. Quite the opposite, I think that he's been manic for ages and crashed. This is the long and low slump until we climb back to normality. Whatever that is. I'm not sure how much energy I have for it at the minute but I'll summon some from somewhere (probably from a gin bottle or by running, or both...). As you said before, the 'rinse and repeat' process that is bi-polar is the hardest bit, DH will never be 'better'. This will happen again, and again and again.

I'm actually okay though, don't worry. I really am. I haven't been, but I am now. X

Fluffy You are so ingenious, lol at the light. I'm impressed with the betting too. I wouldn't have the patience.

Shoes, love shoes