The Friendly Frugaleers, watching the pennies as we wait for sunshine!

[Cagliostro]

Hello, all welcome!

Hello everyone. I've been reading but not posting this week, struggling for time and energy and feeling guilty about all my convenience spending 😳 Work has been crazy busy. Today was particularly unrelenting, I was hardly off the phone. I'll claim back for two dinners this week that I bought when working late.

Sorry about you fil Cag, hope he's ok. And fingers crossed for your parents Sunny. Hello to everyone else and sorry for not keeping better track of news.

Laska i think it's worth a try going to the gp. i don't think they should prescribe strong tranquilisers for sciatica should they? I'd have thought they'd be more likely to send you to a physio or something like that, or maybe that you could just go to one privately. I definitely don't thing it's a good idea to buy diazepam without seeing a GP. I think it's addictive isn't it? Probably a physio, or an osteopath or a chiropracter would be better, depending on the problem.

I just woke up out of a dream where I had the flu and now I don't know whether I have or not. Dreams are so odd.

I read up on sciatica and in may places it says you should go and see chiropractor or osteopath, not just any kind of GP or general doctor.

^many not may

laska if you have pain like you describe then definitely get yourself to a GP who will be able to refer you to a physio (as a physio I'm biased!). Some areas have an NHS self referral service for physio, thus avoiding the GP step. Back/leg pain can feel worse because of stress, but is likely to have a mechanical cause which can be corrected/managed. Even if you haven't had an acute injury, it could be caused by a chronic issue with posture or something like that.
creme well done for holding out, I'm drinking less as part of my fitness plan & lime & soda is what I tend to go for.
Girlie sorry you had crap weather. We love camping but we are definitely fair weather campers and our maximum is usually about 4 days although generally it tends to be two!

Marking place, will be back

Glad to hear you had a good but soggy time girlie . Also if you were ready to come home then no reason to stay any longer

laska . Stress, minus the sciatica alone, is a good enough reason to see the doctor too

My very small other suggestion laska is has someone done a DSE assessment for you at work? Your chair (amongst other things) may need adjusting or not be fit for purpose which won't be helping if you sit down a lot. If your initial assessor can't help, then you should get referred to a professional who can advise on better equipment. Sciatica alone should get you a referral can you tell I recently did a DSE course

What's DH clothes situation today em ?

laska, big sympathy re the back, having had chronic back issues for many years I do understand. I echo what north has said, sciatica usually has a mechanical source, but it could be maybe that because you are stressed, you are holding yourself tensely, and this isn't helping. I've had all sorts for then GP over the years, including diazepam and much stronger!. They only give you a few tablets usually, not a repeat prescription, to monitor you. And usually not immediately before other stuff.

Physio, acupuncture and osteopathy worked well for me but the thing that has worked best is strengthening all the surrounding areas, to take the strain from the back. I've had to work really really hard to do this to be honest and my back issues didn't completely solve themselves until I did. I bet now, if I stopped all the strength work, I'd suffer again. Turns out the physio was right , funny that north eh?

Yoga, Pilates and specific exercises from the physio would help maybe. Acupuncture did provide a release of the muscle tension for me too, which felt like heaven at the time.

Also agree with love, stress is a reason itself to go to,the doctor, and the only thing that niggles my hamstring (running injury, back related) is sitting at my bloody desk! Another reason to give up work.

Waves at adora

Glad you had fun girlie.

Are you fully recovered fluffster?

Today is dress down so we don't need to worry about it too much love but he's pulled something from the bag destined for the charity shop.

He's going to have to do some laundry soon. Seriously. I've also had to hide the couple of new tshirts I bought him for his birthday at the end of the month. Just in case he gets into those early. (One is super cool - remember those global hypercokour colour change ones everyone had early/mid nineties? I found him one. #wifepoints)

Other spends yesterday: probably around £100 on Amazon on baby things (baby monitor, growbags, waterwipes, sophie the giraffe and Ewan the sheep all essentials according to friends)

Sort of Need.

Em I wonder if your dhs colleagues/friends/well wishers are giving him similar advice? "Stand firm, she's being really unreasonable".

Girlie Will you go camping again?.

£6 top up shop yesterday.

fluffy it wouldn't suprise me if they were. Some people on his team are very much "the women's must stay home because...women's" My boss heard the saga the other day and asked why our housekeeper doesn't do it? Had to point out that we don't have one. He was a bit "but how do you get things done..?!" (We panic at the weekend and evenings and have learned to live with a bit of mess - note to dh "a bit" not a fuckton).

As soon as baby boy is old enough (hell as soon as he's here) I'm going to teach him laundry. Teach him where dirty clothes go. And how we make them clean. Mil did all of dhs washing until we got together when it was then expected I did it. Which I don't mind doing, he does do other chores, but it's the laziness that bugs me).

Anyhoo. The fact he's had to charity bag rummage means it'll probably come to a head this weekend.

Em You should so be writing a novel. I don't read fiction but I would certainly buy this one.

When I met Dh he was newly single & his mum went around to clean his house. He was 40. I was very

at housekeeper.

I should point out boss is in his 60's and before he came here to live he'd lived and worked in the Middle East and Hong Kong where apparently housekeepers are totally normal.

It just the laundry where we usually have issues (that and he's taken to using my shampoo - which has annoyed me because the shampoo and conditioner were at the same level....now they're not...! )

He's generally pretty good though and has been amazing since I found out im Preggo. IN theory I could probably get away with just doing nothing. And he'd do it. But I'm saving that for when I absolutely need to.

Am I right in thinking Em thats its not that you mind doing dh washing its just he has to out the dirty washing in the right place?? Not sure what justification he could have for that tbh.

Yes North think we are def fair weather campers as well my poor friends that came with us for a couple of nights got completely drenched, their tent leaked and all their stuff got soaked!! Am really fed up this summer has been so rubbish it will Autumn soon and don't feel like we have had any Summer really.

Fluffy are you still poorly? Did you go the Drs? I'm not sure tbh, I would go but think would only book 2 or poss 3 nights but that said its so much work so def not a holiday!! I ache all over and felt the most tired I have felt in years by Wednesday I would definitely use a tent already put up again though, that was the saving grace as our tent was very sturdy and big enough for all of us (me, dd and our friends) to sit in just about!!

It also worked going on holiday with my friends, they have a dd similar age to my dd and the girls were inseparable so we all agreed we would do something similar again not camping as we all got on really well.

Need to go and collect the cats as they are still at the cattery thats going to be £72, also need to pick up some food mostly fresh stuff so hopefully not more than £20.

I reckon total holiday spending money was about £120.

No more holidays for a while now though as once i get the car on Saturday thats us completely cleared out.

Can I join? I've enjoyed lurking on these threads on and off for quite a while - if only I'd joined sooner! Headed to university in September to become a MH nurse so belt-tightening is a must

Hi everyone! Today I am 41.

laska phone the gp. Living with back pain is no joke. My dp has severe nerve damage, and he is in a lot of constant pain. Currently hooked on tramadol (he's very aware and careful with it, he underdoses every day he can), but we have been round the houses and tried pretty much everything. The gp will not mind or care how long it's been. If you don't like the one you see, just ask to see someone else next time.

I'm feeling so bad. Dp got me a new phone, the one he wants, not the one he knew I wanted. So I'm feeling so ungrateful. Why do I always feel like this on my own birthday? My parents gave up getting me "very nearly right" presents years ago, and give me cash now, but now I fear they'll have got me a present, and I'll have to do the bright smile and "oh, I love it" again today. My old phone is old but works perfectly, my tablet is beyond broken (the on/off switch has gone inside as I broke the housing) so now I need to replace that, I was so hoping he'd bought me a new tablet as he'd been hinting for weeks. So ungrateful.

Sorry for crap post there, reafing back I dound like a petulant toddler!

Hi chaosis all welcome here, if you can put up with my moody oversharing!

need it sounds like you are having a lovely time, your posts are sounding so relaxed. Not that you're ususlly uptight, just so busy, iyswim!

sunny good luck with the house, it will be brilliant to have your parents close by, everyone wins in this situation. I think you are almost exactly a year older than me.

em I loooved my global hypercolour t shirt, I wore it until it didn't hypercolour anymore. I bought it in c&a, anyone remember them?

girlie well done for camping, in the rain! We lasted 2 days (6 years ago) and the weather was fab. Keep warm, rest up!

fluffy you're still poorly. Go to the gp, get them to culture if it's tummy related, you've no spare to lose being poorly this long

Hi thanks for your replies.. will think this all over ( i actually dont want to go to doc.. but thats who i am ) but think yes perhaps i should i am going to give it the weekend ( we have dgs) and then decide.
When i went before they werent v helpful. The nhs physio was positively rude basically saying i shouldnt have been referred and was time wasting . so i gave up.. it is stress im sure , but really i dont have anything to be stressed about when i think about so its all a bit silly . ( i know , i know , some people you just cant help !!)
Work Seating is fine Have done all that . I also bought some great slopey rocky stool things for work and home which were recommended from doing Alexander technique a few years ago ..
Anyway thanks!

lonely thanks for the welcome and Happy Birthday! I don't think you're being ungrateful - DH has always been awful at presents so now I just give him an actual list and tell him to pick something. Saves money and my false smiles! Sorry you're having a rubbish day - hopefully it turns up a bit

lonely happy birthday. I dont think you are being ungrateful its often when people give us gifts that we feel that they really dont know us! If youve not unsealed the phone box could you get an exchange?

Oh and hi chaos this is a lovely friendly and supportive corner of MN. Welcome have a