Frugaleers - joyfully jumping into June

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New thread. Xx

Happy birthday Wrecked! Sorry about using birthday money for necessities, that sucks.

Life my DS has been a little sod at times today too. And my patience is a little short

I am so happy to be done with the project, I still have to talk someone though it but no more writing! Mammy I think it was sheer fear and adrenaline that pushed me through - I couldn't send a half-written report and it's my professional reputation at stake so I ploughed on. Not about the money at all by the end.

I suppressed my nesting instincts while working but they've come back in force today! I am about to wash down the icandy buggy my friend gave me, which I have only just got back from the repair place. Also urgent to do: remember how the baby car seat works and also the tens machine. And pack my hospital snacks most important of all

Happy birthday Wreck! :) :)

Happy birthday Wreck 🍸

Lots of chat! Have been busy and now dizzy with tiredness so can't remember everybody's news but must say well done Christmas so pleased you managed it, and happy birthday wreck

Bit of a spendy day here: £57.73 weekly shop, £9.95 for baby sunglasses as DD hates getting the sun in her eyes, and £3.23 batteries. That last is a bit frugal though as it's for a pack of 5 watch batteries so I don't have to pay lots to get my watch battery changed and the rest will keep for next time it needs replacing.

Happy birthday wreck 🎉
Using birthday money for food sucks but if you've had an awesome holiday I guess it's been worth it.

It's now June €0 has been saved from our children's allowance to pay for trip to Canada next year
There's something every month

I'm reading all posts but not been posting as often as usual.

Thanks everyone. Yes we had a great time. If we had known I'd start this new job then we would never have booked NZ and Barcelona. It's just unfortunate timing. I'm owed £580 in expenses so far but won't get it until July and will be about £700 by then.

Hi all, struggling to keep up as been another busy week!

Well done seacow you have done so well to work so hard this far into your pregnancy.

Happy Birthday Wreck

Has meadow been AWOL?

Thank you Copper I will get back to you, I have lost the plot a bit with these flipping lego cards!! Will pm you tomos.

Had a busy day with work and then rounders tonight!! Had about an hour between finishing work, collecting dd and rounders starting so we got fish and chips for our tea £6, picked up drinks and snacks in Tesco £1.50.

Day off tomos thank God!! Although its going to be quite a busy day as cats are both going to the vets for their boosters and I have the joys of a smear test in the afternoon plus its the school fete after school.

Happy birthday wreck

Just a sandwich bought today. £2.

Dh has just Skyped mil. Shes as joyous as ever. Told me I was looking enormous (bitch) and she wouldn't be suprised if baby boy was a 10lb-er + Dh was. According to her.

He wasn't. We've got his baby notes etc. He was 7lb6 and I was 6lb3. My midwife thinks we'll have a 7lb-er.

Mil also noted that I shouldn't be drinking wine (I wasn't, dh was - except when she said that I had a couple of mouthfuls of his glass of red - my god it was delicious)

And she's mightily pissed off that we're not moving now. Dh said we're looking forward to making spare room baby's room. She got sulky "but where am I meant to stay when I visit?" "You'll have to pay for a hotel if you can't be hospitable"

Dh said she could stay with friends. Or pay for her own hotel. I bloody love him.

em but bloody well done for DH telling her straight.

mammymammyIRL my inbox pounds is still registered to my UK address so I'm not sure how it would react if I put in a new address, but "inbox dollars" is the same site with a slightly different name and I'm pretty sure is available in the USA and possibly other countries too.
Coppersulphate yes im in Australia.

Meeting lovely friend for lunch today. French cafe for galettes and salad and maybe chips

Should be around £11

And have a half day. Yay! So I can enjoy my lunch without having to rush back.

Happy birthday wreck.
Well done em dh. You have decided to stay for a bit?

Nsd planned today. Will need food over the weekend though.

Happy birthday Wreck.
Yesterday was fairly good. £2.40 reduced price sarnie lunch at course(sadly no more corporate catering in public sector these days)

Arrgh posted too soon! Anyway £20 diesel to top up car so have enoght to last until middle of next weekas car will then be on drive for 3 weeks. Have i mentioned that i am going on holiday ? for 3 weeks ? (Not getting boring am i?) .. fake tanned my legs last night, . This morning i smell of biscuits !! ( has anyone else noticed fake yan products smell like that?)

Oh i cant type on this phone..
!

life yep staying put. It's the sensible option. We can save money and then pop the flat on the market again next year once the baby stress has gone.

Dh said he thought although we could in theory sell and find somewhere he wants me to feel comfortable in our new home. And he thinks moving now would be too stressful for me as I'm used to getting stuck in and helping etc. And I'm getting to the point where I can't and don't want to decorate things etc.

If we stay where we are there's no stress. Financially we know where we stand - mortgage payments bills etc won't change. The only change will be baby. Catface won't have to get used to a new place and hen a new baby. Just a new baby. So it's the best thing for everyone.

Staying out means serious saving and moretage paying down to give us the best chance at a move next year.

I think next month we're going to look at breaking our mortgage and refixing early - currently paying 2.89% Hsbc are offering 1.99% 5 year fix. Dh thinks we'd save over £400 a month doing this. Even with the early break fee (although that would be minimal as it's on a day count basis and our fixed term runs out next sept).

I'm sad we'll have to wait for a garden but we've managed this far and when baby comes it'll be winter. And mum and dad are only 15 minutes away. And they have an awesome garden. And we're right by a park. And lanes to walk in. Etc.

laksa NO! You hadn't mentioned a holiday!! 😂
I love the fake tan biscuit smell. Mmm.

Oh really? I thought i might have... must have slipped my mind..were going to Greece.. i expect it will be like Cleethorpes on a wet weekend.( apologies to all in Cleethorpes)

Dotcom Dh does our watch batteries, even on ones with a gasket. YouTube is good for jobs like that. His watches charge as he moves around or something.

Wreck Happy Birthday, 30 isn't so bad!. Lovely flowers, you arrange them better than me. Dh has to do mine or it looks like they've been in a horrific accident.

Em People like that think their so subtle don't they, it makes them look idiotic. She can pay for her own sodding hotel as well.

It's the dha Laska, it always smells of biscuits. There's a chemical that doesn't but it's mega expensive so it's only used in the professional spray solutions in tiny amounts for longevity.

Em Your MIL makes me laugh so much, and then I remember it's not a novel but real life. She really is a Jane Austen MIL.

We're having a couple of quiet days here which is just as well as we were about to hit light speed.

Fluffy I think I'm awful at arranging flowers!

Have to pick up the food shopping after work then come home and get dressed up. I've got three schools to visit this morning.

Ok lodger I'm not in UK so it may not work for me, maybe I could use my Address Pal address, it's a dummy UK address for getting cheaper deliveries from UK. Amazon have cottoned on that a lot of people are using it, and they sent an email this week just to make sure all of the details are correct on address, obviously some people weren't getting it alright.

em your mil is a piece of work isn't she fair play to your dh for standing up to her, probably easier to do over skype than in person

Sounds like you're content with staying in your own flat, and you've got lots of fresh air and free space around, and won't have to tend to a garden so more time to enjoy baby boy.

fluffy thanks for clearing that up about dha, I love knowing little facts like that!

laska no you hadn't mentioned holiday at all much
I love hearing about all of your holidays. I'm determined that our holiday to Canada will happen next year, I want to avoid debt over it though if I can. Once dd finishes school, usual spends of bus money €20, ladybirds €2 and drama €5 will firstly be used to buy her school books and then remainder will go towards next years holiday.

Must have a look through wardrobes and attic to see if I can sell anything.

Washing machine repair guy came, the main board had been leaked on and was fried, he replaced but replacement was faulty so €90 bill deferred to next week. We have the machine since Jan 2009 but last engineer said it should do us another 5 years, that it was last of the good ones. This is first expensive repair so I'll keep a tally on it.

Also going out for lunch today like em my friend is on half day so she won't have to rush back to work but I will

Wow em she is a delight! glad you're happy staying in the flat and the good thing is that it means Mil won't be able to stay at yours if she 'accidentally' turns up as soon as you give birth!

Ta fluffy I'll take a look on YouTube cos it's proper fiddly!

Should be a NSD here, hoping to spend time in the garden with my girl

dotcom no risk of her accidentally turning up. She has no money and is far away. Far far away.

To explain very briefly the backstory she lives in New Zealand so distance is nice. She hates me. Thinks dh should ditch me and get someone better (she's said I'm not good enough in the past and has implied it a lot...). Dh has only in the last year started standing up to her - previously I had no issue doing this myself but now he's seen it firsthand he's much more capable of saying no (he went out there in march on his own - I was meant to go too but didn't want to fly in the early stages of pregnancy/morning sickness/ slight fear of flying...)

She's also awful with money and asked dh last week for a loan of £10k. To cover rent etc. He said no. Because he's found out she's off to Hawaii and the US for a month. He did offer to pay her next months rent if she gave him landlords bank details etc but she declined said its be too confusing (she knows he'll be hopefully getting a bonus...).

I should write a book...maybe that's what I'll do on mat leave.

em so basically your mil wanted your dh to fund her holiday wow. Ignore her (I know you do) trust me, you are not enormous, she is just a cow. Gold star to your dh for telling her straight. Staying put is a good plan. I think you'll find relaxing in your mums garden much nicer than trying to sort out a safe place for a crawling boy next summer! plus grandparents are just ace when you need to close your eyes for five minutes

I went up to gap, and spent £64 on myself Shorts, vest and 2 pairs of jeans. I must have tried on 20 pairs. Settled on a pair of 'boyfriend crop' a uk size 6, and 'always skinny' in an 8. Sizing has gone batshit. I wear a 10 everywhere else. And £40 in tescos, but will get that back as it's stuff for the race mostly, eyes new baking trays and big bottle of vanilla