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

[Cagliostro]

Hello, all welcome!

£7.50 national trust tea shop
£10 Chinese takeaway

Fluffy that's horrific idiot staff couldn't be accidental

I miss subway. We don't have one here. We have a to. Of super amazing independent sandwich shops though. But sometimes. Sometimes subway.

So many things we don't have because "they" won't let "them" in - examples being: Nando's, Wagamama s, whetherspoons, subway, greggs (this one actually did come here for a bit but replaced two local bakeries and no one was bothered by it), Sainsbury's, Asda, Aldi, Lidl, all the uk mobile service providers, all the other gas and electric companies, Morrisons....

Sigh.

Anyway. I've given my poor feet a nice treat. They were getting a bit puffy in the heat so google said to soak them in peppermint and Epsom salts. I had mint leaves. And mint tea bags and Epsom salts so threw a bunch in the bath and soaked my feet in nice cold water. Dh has obliged and has rubbed minty foot and leg gel in for me.

Dsis earlier asked me what I thought would be worse. Pregnant through summer or through winter. I think I'd probably have put on more weight if I had to go all the way through winter. Less likely to go outside and exercise more likely to eat stodgy food.

I am very glad I've reached the final stretch.

Catface liked her mousies. Shes licked them all.

Lovely day out with an old friend and her son and DS. We went to the beach for a long walk and delicious ice cream and then had pizza in a pub/restaurant, before back here for a cuppa. Spends: £8.70 postage; £2 Greggs (snack for DS); £8.30 ice creams for the 4 of us; £25 credit card for our share of the meal and tip (2 pizzas, a glass of wine and a pint of lemonade) and about £4 in Home Bargains (shower gel, allergy tablets, flapjacks, a 6 pack of crisps and a pint of milk).

Ah Wreck that's tricky. Is it far enough that you'd definitely have to move school then? I am obviously somewhat biased due to our own situation but I lean towards saying do it, as with a boy and a girl they'll need their own rooms when they're bigger and moving schools might be less stressful while they're younger and more adaptable, theoretically. But then it depends whether this opportunity is likely to be repeated in the future or not too. And what the school you'd be moving to is like. Argh! Not an easy choice really.

Not sure why I'm awake at silly o'clock. DD's melatonin seemed to help - she was asleep only a little earlier than a normal good day, but was quite a lot calmer than usual before that, and no anxiety or resistance at actually heading to bed. Could be coincidence but a positive start I think!

That is totally grim fluffy , not sure if I will visit subway anytime soon

Good start on DDs sleeping cag . Will be great if she sleeps more before you have a tiny person who sleeps less!

What do you live in at the moment wreck ? 2 bed house or flat? Do you know exactly where they are offering to check out school/ transport links/ closeness to supermarkets? But yes, a big decision

em you are on the last stretch of pregnancy now. You are allowed to be totally fed up some all of the time. But DH sounds like he is taking good care of you which he should!

Yesterday's spends
£81 in Tesco. Stocked up on 2x washing powder and 2x Tesco pull ups as had £9 off voucher along with the weekly shop

Today I think we may get the paddling pool out for the DC. Also considering getting our sun loungers out which we have never used since moving house 3 years ago. I bet the DC won't let us sit down though!

New house is in a lovely town ten minutes away. Same place dd has her swimming lessons, nearest medium sized supermarket, three outstanding primary schools and in catchment for an outstanding secondary but even closer to a good secondary. We could probably still keep them in the current primary and it isn't oversubscribed but I wonder if it's better to move them sooner rather than later. Dh doesn't want to move them at all.

Spinning this morning. Then we're going for a walk and picnic. Spinning is free after last week but my turn to buy coffee.

Morning guys. I haven't read back but the words 'ginger pubes in a Subway' have stuck out as I skimmed........

Been a busy few days but caught up with life now hopefully.

Yesterday I did one of my mad long races with my friend. 25 miles over the bogs and heather of the North Yorks Moors. Rewarded with some fab views though and there's generally a good sense of camaraderie at these events.

Good luck holly.

Fingers crossed your DD slept well cag.

I spent a tenner on petrol and £15 on take out pizza for me and DS in the evening.

Elevation is for lonely.

100 re online surveys, it really does vary. Some surveys can take about 20 mins and be really dull. You also normally have to get through some qualifying questions first and sometimes get screened out which frustrating when you feel like you've done most of the survey. You can't also guarantee to get a survey to do when you have spare time. I tend to do them sat on the train/ waiting for DC to fall asleep and whilst half watching tv. You also sometimes have to wait a while to get enough points to redeem a reward. But on the plus side it is very nice when a gift voucher arrives!

Thanks for all the good luck on the triathlon 😊 Run and bike was fine, I found the swim pretty tough. Must practice open water swimming a bit.

Mammy congratulations on the weight loss, that's a good effort. How have you done it?

Fluffy that is grim about the pubes in subway 🤢

wreck tough decision but I'm sure the kids will do great whatever you decide

need well done on your race. Beautiful view. I've just signed up for a 20 mile race in Cheshire next weekend as part of marathon training 😬

I need to stay close to home today as some bar stools are getting delivered at some point. Probably going to be a day catching up on housework and gardening, and hopefully chilling a bit as last week was stressful and next week is going to be worse.

Bacon I've kinda given up on surveys recently but I do have a lovely €10 easons code to spend
Have found a lovely gift for my best friend who's due a baby it's a frame that holds first baby grow and mittens and photo on a washing line she's due her first in a couple of weeks so will use it on that.

Wreck does your primary school feed into those secondary schools? You sound positive about moving. Do you do all the logistics of getting dc to and from school or does dh share?

Need view is fabulous. I need to do a long run today. My car also needs to be dropped at garage 12.4 miles away, think I'll drive there & get dh to pick me up after 9-10 miles. I'm up to 6.5 now and half is in 3 weeks or do I just run the whole lot and walk when I'm no longer able? Time constraints will probably mean going for first option anyhow.

Cag I've been awake last few nights during the night too. Great there's an improvement in dds ancient levels so quickly

Creme nice day out for you all do the ds's get on well

Holly cross posted with you
Well done on triathlon, how is the body today?

I've been following Richie Howey have you heard of him? Basically it's calorie counting but with emphasis on percentage of protein carbs and fat to suit each individual. You find out your calorie burn from your Fitbit. So I'd to buy one but bought an older model so was cheaper. He advises 15k steps per day also which I don't do so going to aim for reaching that over next month

Fluffy that's so grim, it should put me off subway for life but it's just so delicious

Em I remember that last stretch of pregnancy and my feet and legs being the thing that suffered the most. I used to have to coerce DH into rubbing cooling gel stuff on them at the end of a day and I definitely put on more weight being pregnant over Christmas than had DS been a summer/autumn baby.

Yesterday was a write-off as DS is cutting his 2 top teeth so didn't sleep all night so I was wiped all day. We ended up going out for dinner to cheer ourselves up so that was £35 we didn't intend on spending.

Today should be a bit better though, we got some sleep as DH went on the sofa, DS is asleep on my lap for now so we're having a lie in and we're planning on doing some clearance on our very overgrown back garden as it's been neglected and now resembles a jungle

I've been looking at RH. I won't need the fitness as I can't do hitt and plan 4 X gym Min a week. Will see next week when I get back to it.

Oh big decision wreck.

Going to watch a friend run today. Dh out at bike club.

I've woken up feeling a little overwhelmed today. There is so much to do at home, it's such a mess. House, garden, need to sort/find back to school stuff, have loads of work to do, need to make food for lunch and tea... must calm down and drink coffee.

I might just go out on my bike instead for an hour!

We had a long meeting about our bike club last night, the dc were amazingly good, so £68 in tesco after on earphones for dd1 and 2, lunchbag for dd3 and a 'little live pet' for dd3 and ds, a ladybird and baby that are just like a hex bug. Great stocking filler for 4-10 yr olds! Plus food for the weekend so hopefully won't have to go out again.

wreck if the house is better/bigger garden, go for it! Can you do a pro/con list? If you can leave dc in their school for now, thats great. I left dd1 for a year at her old school, when the drive (super windy road, 10 miles) got a bit much I moved her to the village with the really good comp in it (9.5 miles, but easier road). How often do 3 beds come up? Your dc will not want to share forever.

Oh lonely. Can you do a must do today list and a leave for late list to do over the next week?
How's the bike club/shop going. Don't say if you don't want to but i recall a bit of a difficult time not long ago. Hope the meeting was positive.

Morning all. I've just woken up. Well I was awake at 4...I needed a wee then catface decided it was playtime. So I got up and sat on the couch with her ended up falling asleep there until 7 and then crawled back to bed. The funny thing is dh asked last night jokingly whether I was going to watch the boxing...because I've been waking up at night a lot! Turns out I could have watched it as was up anyway! not interested in it though

Today I think we're going to friends for a BBQ. But this morning I'll probably just chill and want to sort through my stash of beauty stuff to make sure I don't need to buy anything before baby arrives.

Need to list a few maternity clothes on eBay today too. I am really looking forward to not wearing them in a month or so's time!

Had a wander round town with dsis yesterday. She was lookin for new work clothes. So many lovely lovely things - which I'm probably not going to need! As won't be heading back into smart ish work wear until May! We've planned on going to Southampton for the day in Feb half term to shop - H&M and primark mostly.

We can do an early morning flight out and a late flight back and just take a backpack with us. Have a nice lunch somewhere. Some wine. Have a girls day. Dm is on board with this - she's said she'll take baby boy for the day! she's a legend

DH out on his bike. I am here in the garden..
BLISS

Looks lovely laksa

I'm on the couch having stripped both beds and have have put one set of bedding in the wash. Catface is most put out. I took the bedding off "her" bed and now she's sulking under the tv cabinet.

Need to go to the shop in a bit to buy a few bits to take with us to BBQ. Dh has beers but I think I want a nice non alcoholic something. Something that isn't Coke or lemonade. Maybe an elderflower something. Or a non alcoholic beer. Sadly I finished the french ones I had yesterday. (Well I had the last one yesterday).

I love Southampton em!

We're at a bikers café ds is in his element. We're going to go on a walk in a sec. it's so hot 😎 perfect.

The primary school the dc are in now feeds into a different secondary but it's so small. There's only 9 in dds class so they'll all be lost in the secondary which is another thing I've worried about! I'm going to arrange to look at the house and take it from there.

Hello everyone, hope you are all well! Things have been mental here & very very unfrugal. Moving house is so stressful and so tiring and so expensive!! We have been here over a week now, had a nightmare time with letting agents, there are loads of repairs that need doing but mostly quite minor/non-urgent now but it's still a pain in the ass for DH to have to call them all the time. Our bedroom and bathroom and kitchen are mostly sorted now bar a few tiny things, so it's mostly just the living area we need to make more livable and then eventually sort out the tiny bits and bobs and decide what we are going to do with our spare bedroom which is currently a wreck and a holding place for all our stuff that we haven't unpacked yet .

On the plus side, I survived an entire week of my new job, 9-5.30pm and am enjoying it and am super proud of myself. We have also been doing lots of nice things with friends & family which is nice but also not frugal at all. We are going to the pub later to meet up with some friends and then having dinner out with my parents & siblings although they will pay for that.

Front grass is cut. Sun loungers had to be scrubbed as were horrible when they came out the garage but now looking like new again. BBQ lunch has been eaten and DC are noisily squabbling in the paddling pool. But I have sun glasses on and am sat on my sun lounger 😎

Glass of Prosecco and your life would be complete Love

Ah lonely, I get your feeling totally. Would list making and prioritising stuff help at all? It's that 'can't see the wood for the trees' situation isn't it? Do what you can, you can't do more.

That's such fantastic news Meadow. Well done on getting moved and a full week at work. Both are extremely stressful situations and you've done it

Love the garden Laska, looks amazing.

Not familiar with RH I am afraid. I've made an effort to up the protein though as I think it helps with recovery from hard training too. It's probably too late for advice but don't run the full distance now Lonely. You will be too tired for the race itself. You have enough fitness to get round. Bodies are generally far more capable of things than the mind allows them to be.

Looking close to a NSD.

Looking to menu plan and also to change energy suppliers for frugal matters. I've been pretty reasonable for frittering to be fair. Staying strong, despite enabling by LASKA

Also have lots of produce from the garden use so all good there too.

There's also a mystery benefactor that keeps leaving bags of green beans on my door step. I haven't worked out who, but they are very much appreciated.

Sadly, my friends DF passed this morning, so the decision to come home was a sound one.

Ds has had the best day!