Jolly japes in July (only if they are frugal)...!

[needastrongone]

New thread

Still not had time to post properly - today turned out to be NSD as dh was too tired for play & it's on again next wed night, not as frugal though cos I'm angling for pre play dinner in local hotel

Thanks for the sympathy lovely frugaleers it is so depressing re the car, it has already cost me £650 this year so the thought of forking out anther £600 on it makes me feel sick. Will get it through the MOT and then look to sell it and get a new I think. Would it be more sensible to buy a car on a credit card or get a loan from the bank? Would be looking to spend around £2500, maybe slightly more...

Can't believe how ill the dog is, I just thought he had a stomach bug, my dad and step mum are beside themselves with worry. Apparently he could recover but its not certain yet if he will

Other spends today were £8 on stamps and ice creams.

Girlie its brixham we've stayed in the past 2 years. Lovely little town and DS loves the harbour but accommodation isn't the cheapest. Really good fish restaurant in the harbour that does fish and chips to take away as well. Mmmm.

Sorry about the poor dog, I didn't realise it was that serious. Can they treat it?

Crap car news all round

Sunny I am glad Beavers is working out. I have put DS's name down, I hope he gets a place next year when he is old enough. It sounds really good.

Life I haven't tried without the nipple shields for a few days. I know my supply will adjust if I can get her to feed more from me but she won't when there's not much there! Vicious cycle. Not given up yet and at least the health visitor today was kind about it and didn't give me any lectures.

Oh, big frugal win - the DWP has confirmed that I will get Maternity Allowance starting on DD's birthday. Yay! That's about £580 pm until march, a big help. Also we've only got one more month of private nursery to pay for (£450) and then childcare costs stop until I go back to work. So we should be able to significantly reduce the rate at which we are spending our savings.

Once things settle down with the baby I will try to reduce our food spends a bit. We are fortunate in that we don't have to scrimp on food really l but I feel we are a little wasteful - mostly through planning to cook and then sometimes running out of steam. Also not always eating leftovers. I'd like that to stop.

DH has put my eardrops in and I can't hear anything at all now on the bad side. Hopefully it will improve over the next few days!

Christmas yes Beavers is great. I'm sure he'll love it.

I had a bit of a shock the last two weeks when we got a new intake of kids, several of whom are only 5 and half. It turns out that a lot of our beavers are actually cub aged and should have moved up about 6 months ago.

I'm going to find it really odd when the big ones go and we're left with the tiny ones. The big ones are almost like adults to talk to, and tiny ones are still rolling around the floor and sneezing messily all over each other.

It makes realise just how much children change developmentally between reception and year 2. It really is staggering. Ds is late starting so is only going to have 1 year in Beavers. I'm glad tbh. He would have been far far too young to start at 5 and half.

Beavers used to be strictly 6 in DS's day. I remember him having to wait til October half term, a month after his 6th birthday. I think 6 months at that age can make a huge difference, Sunny.

I've been to Brixham once for a week. It was the Easter holidays and we were incredibly lucky with the weather; it was well into the 20s most of that week! Charming town with lots to see and do, in and around the area. I haven't been back to Devon or Cornwall since moving north in 2009. Maybe next year...

Spends: 50p on a can of beans.

My noisy neighbours below have moved out. I reckon they've been given a council house as there were 5 of them cramped in a one bed flat covered in horrific mould and have suddenly moved into a three bed house. That will be so much better for the kids having more space. It is weird though when you know you will never ever see people ever again, isn't it? Not that we were friends but still used to seeing each other often and saying hi and that. Feels weird how many people in life you only know for a brief period of time and then never see them again . I don't like changes like that, it upsets me, maybe an autistic thing, idk. I get tearful for some reason...I should probably go to bed!

Girlie I really hope the dog recovers, I am thinking of them . MIL's eldest dog passed away a few months ago, idk if I said anything about it here, it was sad, DH grew up with her and was understandably very upset about it. We talk about her now and then. I like to imagine she is rolling around in grass somewhere with other little dogs.

DD2 woke me at 3.30am. She's now happily snoring beside me but I am wide awake and hay fever has kicked in. It's going to be a long day!

Additional spend yesterday was £20 of nectar points on 6 crystal glasses. Hopefully they will be nice. This has now saved £60 of John Lewis vouchers from our birthdays where the plan was to buy new posh glasses. I suggested to DP the vouchers could now go towards a new iPhone for me, unsurprisingly he was less keen

Fingers crossed for all the frugaleers that we do not have any large unexpected bills today. There seems to have been a few over the last few days

Interesting sunny about what you said about the younger aged beavers. DD will be six when she joins rainbows in September so maybe my lack of organisation of getting on the waiting list earlier sounds like a good thing

At least the noise should now stop meadow . Hope you get quieter new neighbours but you're moving too soon I think

snuggly hope you enjoyed your beer and relax. Another day without curtains shouldn't matter if it's been on the to do list for a while unless you are desperate to move them into their room

Thanks Bacon. My relaxing evening backfired as the babies kept waking up from 11 until about 3 and DD1 got up ato 5. I am sitting in the living room half asleep waiting for CBeebies to start. It's going to be a long day...

Sorry sea, didn't mean to patronise you

They are sometimes too little at 5.5 tbh for beavers. We prefer nearer 6 but we have a big group and sometimes the very little ones get overwhelmed.

Hope frugaleers have a better day. And you get a nap snuggly.

I'm shattered. Should have gone to the gym but soooo tired and 3 late nights coming up. I think I feel worse for not going though. Never mind I will endeavour to get Saturday morning.
Fruit buying today so hopefully £6

Was aiming for nsd today but got my nail appointment wrong. I turned up yesterday. But it's today. 🤣😩

So £39 nails.

Life Yes that sounds sensible. Strictly 6 to 8 would be a much easier group and we could then set up the evenings to cater for that narrower developmental range. I'm not sure why we have this wide range of kids this year. Maybe we can sort that our in future. Some of our kids were 8 in December and some will not be 6 until December coming I don't think.

We also have a lot of girls who have been sent to the group because they have no brothers, and they look a bit overwhelmed by the boisterousness. It's really interesting trying to balance things between them all.

From our experience with the Scout Association, the same 'maturity' issue occurs through Beavers Cubs, Scouts and even Explorers. There's usually a big demand for places, so kids move up a bit late and just the 2 year difference at any age in terms of maturity shows at all the ages to be honest. It doesn't detract from how fab the whole Association is, but certainly makes it difficult to cater for all the group.

Girlie, poor dog and your poor bank balance re the car. You are having a tough time at present, hang in there.

Re Aldi, in addition to all the things already mentioned. The Muller dupe yogurts are brill. The Quaver and Mini Cheddar dupes too. Baking stuff, cheese especially, their veggie crisps fab, most of the cleaning products better than Lidl I find.

Seacow I found the first few months with 2, until we found some form of routine, a bit overwhelming. Do what is right re feeding.

Snuggly You are doing so brilliantly.

HOpe your okay Life.

Spends yesterday.
£20.05 feed shop.
£1.79 cheese.

Yesterday the DC made tea, sorted the washing, sorted the sock pile, did the chickens, wiped all the surfaces down in the kitchen and vacuumed the house. Without being prompted. Sometimes, having older DC is ace!

Also, the owners of the cottage we have booked for half term phoned out of courtesy yesterday, confirming the booking and thanking us, asking for any special preferences etc. Thought that was a nice touch.

LSD today. We've run out of coffee and I might treat myself to the sainsbursy salad bar. Need to be at a school 25 miles away this morning then a meeting even further away then straight to swimming lessons with dd. Busy busy. And it's hot still with no sign of the storms we were promised.

Thanks for all the good wishes for moving. It's today! We didn't exchange until yesterday pm so I was getting a bit concerned it wasn't going to happen. But all came together.

love I was chilled because there was nothing I could really do at that point. All waiting on other people to act, so no point fretting. Also I'm paying for a moving and packing service. That helps 😄

creme miles away from co. Durham, but thank you for the offer

fluffy not sure if this is a forever home. I'm not yet 30 and single, so circumstances could change. Also my family aren't from the city where I live now, so there may come a point where I want to move home. But I'll certainly be there a while!

Will catch up properly later!

Girlie if you're disciplined enough to pay it off then a 0% credit card is best. If you set up a standing order of £100pcm then you'll have it paid off in two years.

Just lost my post again.
Girlie, I hope DDog recovers soon. I can understand how your DD feels. When my old cat died a few years ago I was heart broken. I still can't get another pet. Anyway I am away at the moment such a lot. Next year will be easier.
Hope you all have a better day

Good luck for today Holly btw.

Anyone know what size car would be best for our trip to Italy? I'm being advised quite small, due to the manic driving and tiny roads but also we are 4 adults with suitcases to transport from the airport.

I'm a bit bamboozled. I've used MSE to get the best comparisons but there's that many options.

Gosh sorry about all the bad news. Poor dog :(

Best of luck with moving today!

Not sure of plans today, DD got really dizzy yesterday and is still feeling unwell so may not go to our usual clubs

Hi, can I join this thread?

My husband walked out two weeks ago, permanently, out of nowhere.

I've seen a solicitor and budgeted and I have £820 a month for me and two teenagers. Not entitled to benefits (I know, please don't say 'oh you must be' because I've double checked and triple checked)

waiting for the Jack Munroe book to come out the library

here I am, clutching tuppence but still smiling

Life I didn't take it like that at all! I just wish I could get on that loop...

I've had approx 3 hours of sleep, not continuous, and all the while I was listening to DH snore . And between DD and DS I have just changed 5 poo nappies in half an hour! Snuggly I take my hat off to you! I am also astonished how much we have ben spending on formula. We've been buying the ready made because DD has been eating very little amounts very often (and it's hard to accurately make up less than 2 oz). But now she is having more at a time we can switch to powder. Even so, it's a big cost.

Hadn't refreshed so missed some posts...
Gosh Coffee that's a big change. Welcome! Is that budget after bills but not food?

Need I wouldn't go too big - the motorway lanes are narrower than here, from what I recall, and some old towns do have very tight roads. We went as 4 adults and ended up with cars on our laps in a Ford Focus sized car but were glad not to be driving anything bigger! I was not a regular driver back in the uk at the time though so may have been a bit less confident... even so, now-DH was sharing the driving and he felt the same!

All the best in your new home Holly

*cases on our laps. Not cars - it wasn't that tight!

Argh! Lost a post. Just wanted to wish you all the best for the move, Holly. My top tiPhone is to eat out or get a take away this evening. Not frugal, but necessary!

Welcome, Coffee. I have 1 teenager and manage on £860 a month, on months I don't work (supply teacher), so it's tight but do-able. I've been in this situation for a few years now, since I split up with XH.