Still frugaleering into Autumn.....

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

New thread for us all to chat, support each other and hopefully save some money!!

We have loads of squirrels here. And loads of deer and pheasants about at the moment.

I'm so bored at work literally sitting here with nothing to do....

Have been to sainsburys. £101. About £20 of that was food. Bought lots of pants and socks! Shorts for dp, and two base t's and a pair of skinnies for me. They had a really nice short pinafore, but not in my size, so will investigate online for it. £30 in dunelm for wadding and very thick cotton fabric for inside the sofa, and the standard checkout bits, like bin bags.

need I was so disappointed that almond milk didn't taste of marzipan that I won't drink it! Coconut milk (only alpro) is my bestist treat.

em babies 3 & 4 seemed to screw themselves into my pelvis like light bulbs. Twist and flip and drop a bit lower. It is a most disconcerting feeling. These were my 2 spontaneous labours (and delivery in dd3's case). The first 2 were less cooperative.

Bus was £4.40 :( and Primark was £3.70

Em ugh I remember that feeling and I still get it from time to time. Like phantom kicks / movements. So freaky! DS was transverse and got stuck! Haha

Tesco are meant to have fabulous jeans at the moment if anyone's interested.

I'm going to lose quite a bit more weight before I start buying clothes.
There are 6 more weeks of €30 going into my Christmas Club at work before my trip to Belfast so I'll have €680 for shopping and enjoyment. I would've had €300 more but I'm taking that out this week to pay the mechanic for servicing my car.

Mammy and all I really recommend the ideaof £1 a day savings.. might of got the idea from here but ive done it for a few years now.. nice easy £365 a year ( just for spending by mememe of course!) I just transfer it at beginning of each month into savings account. Lonely I am going to sainsburys here later if you want me to look.. post link and size?

Just 17. I used to get the annuals at Christmas too. That takes me back...

I am surprised about your lack of squirrels Mammy I thought they were everywhere! I do like them, other than them digging up my bulbs. They come right up to our back patio doors as they use the planters just outside to hide their winter stash. Strictly grey ones here, though I have seen beautiful red ones in Scotland.

Snuggly I do feel for you. Twins on an off night must be a whole 'nother level but it wasn't great here either... I went to bed at midnight yesterday (since we weren't able to have dinner till about 10pm) and DD then had me up at 1.45am. And that was the last I saw of my bed last night . She then had a lovely long nap on the school run and is quite chirpy now. Me not so much...

I am planning to make cupcakes for DS to take to school for his birthday and then his proper fancy birthday cake for the weekend. I will buy the buffet food ready made for his family party on Sunday as I can't cook much this year while holding dd 24/7. It will be pricey but so much easier than making quiche etc in the middle of the night! I already feel under a lot of pressure to tidy house, garden etc to a new level due to MILs beady visiting eye - there's a lot I should try to get done. I need to channel Lonely's astonishing productivity for the next few days!

Lonely I'm interested to know how your sofa rehabilitation works out. Our Ribena stained chenille ones were expensive and should last years longer but the seats have become quite thin and saggy, much more so than my much older sofa from the same place. I am wondering whether new seat pads is worth a try?

Red squirrells only here. Greys have proved not to be good enough swimmers to make it over .. The local paper does a grey squirrel scare story occaisionaly but they always turn out to be reds that are a bit old or on the pale side!

Re. Sofas, Obviously I should also lose 4 stone, but that would be locking the stable door after the horse has bolted!

They are still tree rats though!!

Laska I love that a grey squirrel is worthy of a local press story!

Did anyone see the bit about things like fish, cheese & meat being cheaper at the fresh counters?. I checked on waitroses website this morning and it's true. I got a better cut of meat for less money after seeing that. Brisket 😊

A £20 vouchers arrived, finally, so that's one present sorted.

Oh Need thanks for asking about DS's support plan. It was finalised a couple of weeks ago - it's still not great but needed to be 'agreed' to come into effect, i.e. Make sure that funding is in place from Day 1 of the school year. The speech and language goals and provision is still rubbish though, considering DS does not have anywhere near functional speech and communication, so I will lodge for mediation with the LA. If that isn't satisfactory we will take them to the SEN tribunal.

laska thanks, but I just ordered it online! Plus bra tops for dd2, and yet more white polos for ds school. Delivered free to our local (teeny tiny) Sainsbury's in a few days. £24.

seacow I think it's worth a try to fix it. Seat pads are not expensive (was looking on ebay) and I'm hoping the actual covering won't be too hard. Sofa currently looks like this:
But it is very old and sound (was £90 on ebay 5 yrs ago) spends to fix so far is £95 foam, £26 today and charity shop jeans (doesn't count as donating to charity!) Will order some new demin today to do the back panels. God it looks revolting in that pic! All the (mostly lolly/ice cream - thanks ds) stains on the ukky coloured velvet.

laska I like that idea - I get paid weekly and €30 goes into my Christmas Club at work weekly and this is first time I've drawn out of it this year.

em used to do penny saving didn't you?
seacow they're in wooded areas alright like forest parks but other than that not really in Ireland.

Seacow when you live on an island you cant even sneeze and not get into the local rag!
Campaigners against any fixed link proposal - bridge or tunnel - always use the preservation of our red squirrels as an overwhelming reason

Em www.vouchercodes.co.uk/dominos.uk.com

I need to ask a really random question...

Does anyone else find their houses are too quiet? It's just DS and I during the day. I pop the radio on for extra noise. DS's giggles, chatting and toys don't "fill" the house with noise. And it means at times I can hear next door. It isn't their fault obviously (footsteps and cupboards. That's it!). Sometimes I put the washing on just for background noise (frugal fail).
We have a 3 bed semi detached and the house feels too big. Will this feeling fade as DS gets older?

It's just a bizarre feeling. I'm wondering if a fish tank will help to add background noise. I'd love a dog for the extra "chaos" but it's not the right time at the moment. I wish the house was full of kids but unfortunately we cant have anymore.

I know it isn't frugal related. Sorry!! although the use of a radio, TV and washing machine just to have some noise in the house is a frugal fail and my electric usage has shot up. And buying a fish tank / pump and fishies isn't cheap either.

Colliebobs benetint is the answer - it lasts flippin ages so worth the expense - have to be careful how you apply it otherwise you end up looking like uma stubbs in worzel gummidge. Ha now I am dating myself - I remember just 17 and smash its, and I think Jackie but I was more of a bunty type ! need to do school run so will catch up more later!

Collie I have the radio on all day, house is WAY too quiet without it, even with 2 dogs, 2 DC, chickens etc.

I've tried TU again. Spent £145 in Sainsbo's, including 2 jumpers and a new coat. It's all going back, the jumpers look cheap and I really like the coat but it's WAY too big sadly. I tried. I did try, but like a lot of shops they don't stock a lot of size 6. Which is totally understandable, they need to stock what will sell. Might try an 8 in the coat though, this was a 10.

Fucking fucking dishwasher repair blokes came this morning. The repair was booked for tomorrow. Only DS in. Said it was fixed. No paperwork left. It wasn't fixed, it's still broken. DS said they were here about 10 minutes. Mobile number got slammed down on me when I rang. Furious. I did eventually get an answer and they are coming back Friday but I am raging, really raging. Am awaiting a call from the manager of the call centre I booked it through.

Fluffy I've got cheese (apart from those Aldi value blocks) and meats from the deli counter section for years, it's such a con isn't it?

Thanks for the update Seacow. You are doing great. No-one will mind a scaled back birthday for your DS bless ya. You've got loads on.

I've just put one of the heaters on for a bit. It's so chilly!

Lasagne from the freezer for dinner, I love knowing dinner is already made

It is chilly although I managed to get one load of washing dry outside before it rained! Have stuck another jumper on to avoid thinking about the heating...

I keep the radio and the telly on sometimes if it gets a bit quiet here, you need to have another baby Collie

Had a nice day in the end, went to see a friend who has a 2yo who is full on - you forget what they are like, she literally didn't stop doing stuff or wanting stuff the whole time I was there!! Cute though

Dd home and grumpy again, friendship dramas have started already she also has homework to do which is impossible apparently....

That's really interesting that you find the house too quiet Collie. We have debates here about how to make the house quieter, when the only noise that's audible is the desktop PC fan. Just goes to show that people like different things.

Eugh. Just found out three of my school mum friends went away for the night the other weekend. Kick in the stomach. It was three of them and I used to be number 3 but it seems I've been replaced (I know that sounds pathetic and they're all really nice to me but still)

Im on my own all week and we are on edge of village so house always quiet Love it! Love lying in bed in the morning hearing the clocks tick. I do often have radio on though in the evening ( not a big tv watcher).