Still frugaleering into Autumn.....

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

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

love oh gosh I hate nights like that! Glad she's bounced back super quickly.

We also get broody on and off. But I do vividly remember the reflux though. Puke everywhere!

Now we get broody for a Labrador or a retriever. Would love to rehome one. But I'm not ready for a puppy and it's tricky to adopt a dog with a little child at home (understandable!). He / she would definitely complete the family though!

It's raining all day here today so we're going to bake apple, pear & blackberry crumble. DH is going to bake cheese scones. Then we may go for a walk in the mizzle later.

Em could be your body having a clearout ahead of labour

I'm still poorly was in bed at 8.20 last night & Fitbit says I was sleeping at 8.37! Woke up from a dream of being on the toilet @ 4.20am to discover I'd wet the bed happens every few years if I'm sick. But I just washed & dressed my bedcovers yesterday so I feel really cheated!

Dc came in at 7.10 & eventually left at 8.20 when they realised I was not able/interested in play/chat/getting up. We won't be going to their first parkrun ever either today

I've just complained to Tesco online. I had a mouldy cherry tomato & they packed the cleaning stuff with food. Have pics of both for evidence.

Bacon well done to your dd for getting to bathroom. And your dh for sleeping in with her.

I'm 100% over being broody. I knew I wanted two, had two, job done. Ds pregnancy was horrifically long & tormenting & then had two Post partum haemorrhages to seal the decision I admire friend's babies but think to myself secretly thank f it's up not me!!

I made these yesterday No bake weetabix slicess*

Tayto ye had a bonus & needed those things. 3 pairs of shoes for €135 is super especially including dr martens. Fridge sounds good value too and a meal out occasionally is good too!

Oops mammy I bloody hate those toilet dreams...haven't been caught out by one yet but it's been touch and go!!

Im hoping that's what's happening. A nice clear out before baby clears out.

We're still in bed here. I woke dh up at around 5 with another pee trip. Catface then hopped on bed and started massaging his ribs. So he didn't get a huge amount of sleep either. The three of us are just chilling. Catface is dozing, dh is reading a book about leadership and I'm mnetting and drinking tea. I contemplated a strong coffee to see if it had the desired clear out effect but couldn't handle it. Haha!

One of my dresses will sell on eBay today. Yippee! For at least £10.50.

I think I'm feeling less broody as the birth approaches! I can't imagine bringing a new little person home having been just us four for so long. I had spent a long time trying to get over the broodiness as we had reluctantly agreed it wouldn't be a good idea to have more. And then this happened I'm still blaming DH and his Ninja Sperm :o. I think a big part of me still doesn't believe it!

I found out this week that in this council they rip up carpets before you move in no matter how old or new they are. Due to fleas or something . So will need to somehow put aside the money for that. Not that I'm averse to wooden floors (and Ikea do cheap rugs right?) but when Cagletini starts climbing stairs etc... can't deny I'm a little sad as I was excited to move into a house with proper carpet (we have the super thin trade stuff they put in when building new housing) more for the warmth of it than anything. I understand why though in case of infestations. Ick. But anyway there is no way we will be able to carpet it straight away - when we move we will have to buy both Caglets' beds and the new fridge freezer, so that plus actual moving costs will clean us out. My lovely mum already insisted that if there is an overlap on rent she will help out although I don't want to ask because she is retiring next month (she will have just turned 66 but felt pushed because of horrible company taking over public services ugh). On the plus side she will not be working by the time baby is due so if I'm induced at due date (7 weeks today!!!) she will be free.

Need to decide when to get the skip. Don't want to do it too early but it does make sense to get rid of as much as we can before baby arrives. But we could move further up the list soon - found out that more housing tends to become available after a cold winter, which is a horrible horrible thought :(.

cag I'd get the skip sooner rather than later if I were you. At least that way you'll have hopefully made a dent in your decluttering before baby arrives and brings with it more clutter

I was chatting with sil last night and admitted that when they announced she was pregnant last year I was unbelievably jealous. That's how I knew I was ready (or as ready as I'll ever be). She sent more pics of dnephew. Omg. He's a cutie.

Forgot to tell ye ds & his friend succeeded in flooding bathroom yesterday. Water flowed into kitchen! They thought it was great fun

I'm up making dc pancakes dh is still in bed, he wasn't aware trip to parkrun had been cancelled so he obviously couldn't be bothered

I think you're right em we have made good progress with decluttering over the last year or two but we seriously need to get the big stuff sorted. Just need to figure out how we will manage without certain bits of furniture etc when we don't know how much longer we will live here. Storing Caglets' clothes without the under bed storage etc (also realised we don't actually have anywhere to keep baby's clothes, nappies etc). It's a thinker!

But when a house comes up you have two weeks to start paying rent or you lose it! So time is a huge factor and I don't want to be adding a skip into moving chaos.

I can see what they mean about the carperts cag. We inherited carpets as we moved in here renting and it was 15 years before we finally tore them out. They were truly awful. I wish we'd chucked them years ago. In fairness, when we first moved in the house was only getting up to 14 degrees in winter even with the carpets, so I can't imagine what it would have been like without.

I had fried eggs bacon tomato and avocado for breakfast. Quite nice really but I still could devour Krave or Weetos or something right now I should decide what my first post baby breakfast cereal will be bran flakes if necessary and make a list of all the yummy things to buy once she arrives and I can eat normally. It also includes a big box of HC chocs that DH ordered ages ago for our "first meeting" anniversary which is a month before baby is due. Hopefully the use by date will be ok!

I'm wondering though if I'll end up putting on weight instead of continuing to lose after the birth because I'll be so happy to carb it up and I'll be knackered... hmm.

Totally freaking out having read yet more about GD, carbs, sugar crashes etc. Being a chronic overthinker really doesn't help .

Personally cag I'd bite the bullet and get rid of some of the big stuff. Could the Caglets cope with their clothes in storage boxes for a short term. Not ideal I know. But is it an option?

Dh and I went crazy back in 2013 (I think) and got our kitchen ripped out and replaced, redecorated our living room dining area (making it more open plan) plus our ensuite and got new wardrobes fitted in our room. We were relegated to our spare room for 8 weeks. Everything was piled up in plastic boxes and on a clothes rail. And it snowed. Unheard of here. Thick drifts of lovely snow which delayed things. Sigh. Then our electrician died (not whilst working here - but on the final week of the job...)

It felt like forever. But we can laugh at it now...

Yes I think they will manage. They already have one box each (one of those fabric things that looks like a cube seat... although it says on the label not to sit on it!) with their jammies in and that works ok with plenty of reminders to put the damn lids back on :o. I'm also thinking we could hang aaaaaall their t-shirts (currently all folded in drawers under DD's bed) - and keep them in our room. We have a wall to wall built in wardrobe doors don't slide properly but let's ignore that and DH and I aren't fussed about clothes so there's heaps of hanging space left really. Thinking maybe underwear/PJs stay in their room in their boxes, proper clothes hung in our room (need trouser hangers though) would be a cheap option.

The main thing is guilt that they won't have bed frames until we move. They will actually be totally happy to sleep on mattresses on the floor (they sometimes ask to) but I feel guilty asking them to do this long term (just not sure how long long term IYSWIM). But also just getting as much stuff out of the house is seriously needed

cag declutter the big stuff asap because you'll be swamped in baby stuff in no time. When DS was a newborn we had a tiny 2 bed and i remember feeling overwhelmed by the washing a newborn creates. There was washing & baby stuff EVERYWHERE! Luckily we moved into a 3 bed shortly after (which we had to get new carpets for too. It was £2000 for the whole house including underlay and fitting)

We bought loads of new rugs from Ikea and eBay. They were about £35 each. Draught excluders were mega handy too.

Can you pop some sentimental stuff / DVDs / books into some boxes and store at your mum's until you move? That may save space to begin with.

How about renting a storage unit? Down here they are really cheap but the price is definitely a regional thing. You could pack a box & take it to the unit every week. One box per week or something.

Has your mum got a loft? Or a garage?

I wouldn't feel guilty about it either If they're old enough to understand why it's happening. Not knowing how long term long term will be is frustrating. But you know you are moving right? That's the main thing to focus on. It is happening. And who knows - long term could be two weeks from now.

I do sympathise though - decluttering/moving/big changes are super daunting. I'm quietly freaking out here today about baby. Deep down I know we'll be fine. But this morning I'm "what if" ing all over the place. doesnt help that I'm feeling dreadfully uncomfortable today. I'm still in bed. Staying put for as long as I can. Dh is cleaning the kitchen.

Cag our first house was new and we'd no flooring of any kind until we could afford to buy it (in stages). We bought a big rug for our sitting room which took the bare look off things. MIL gave us an old carpet which someone was getting rid of - we put it in the bedroom. It was red and some sort of horrible shiny fabric which meant that the hoover just kind of glided over the surface of it without actually hoovering up any dust or fluff. It was really vile . Eventually we got the money together and bought a laminated floor for the sitting room and lino for the kitchen (we really wanted tiles but couldn't afford them). But we didn't have any kids at that stage and I can understand your reservations about a baby crawling around on a bare floor.

In Ireland there's something called an Exceptional Needs Payment which covers things like buying bedding for someone setting up home for the first time. I don't know if it would cover flooring. Is there something like that in the UK? If the rooms are small, could you buy a carpet offcut as a temporary measure?

If you're moving up the housing list fairly quickly, then I'd be inclined to get the skip now and get rid of as much as you can. Maybe it's just me but I found the first few months with a new baby totally overwhelming and exhausting - it was just a blur of feeding, burping, cleaning baby puke, changing nappies etc. There's no way I'd have been able for a big clear out and loading up a skip etc. And you'll have more space for all the baby's clutter .

Could you buy some plastic storage boxes for the kids' clothes and also for the baby's stuff? That would help with moving 'cos then you just have to put the boxes straight on the removal van and straight into their new bedrooms when you get to the new house. It would be one less thing to pack.

Love sorry to hear about DD . Hope she feels better today.

Girlie also sorry to hear about your DD. Poor little thing! It's awful seeing them so upset. If it continues, I think I'd have a chat with her class teacher or year head (whoever you think most appropriate).

Sorry, I cross posted with the last few posts.

Can anyone recommend some decent kids trouser hangers? We have been using Wilko ones but they are really stiff (so the Caglets can't always use them themselves) and the clips keep falling off.

Thank you all, some very good points there! I think I will be doing some more list writing today. Have managed a little housework today and now sitting with hot water bottles under my knees!

£2k for carpets! That's depressing considering we may only be able to live there 5 years (new rules, you are assessed after 5 years and kicked out if circumstances change). But TBH I have always wondered about wooden floors at least in the living room (especially when we get to weaning stage :o) so maybe I'd focus on stairs and bedrooms. Depending on timing we may be out of the depths of winter anyway, and surely a council house HAS to have working heating so in that sense we will be better off than here. Actually need to think about some plug in heaters for this winter, we have one but it's not going to be enough with a baby.

Aaah em it is a huge change. But when you meet your little boy it is just mindblowingly, indescribably worth it.

Whatever you do, don't put a carpet in your dining room. What were we thinking?

Cag We loop trousers through hangers with a bar at the bottom. For smaller rooms you can get laminate off eBay from local sellers who've got a few sqm left from DIY projects. The underlay is cheap on eBay too. That would do for bathrooms, maybe a kitchen too because all the floor space is taken with units.

Yorkshire pudding batter made (with sr flour)✔️
Whole meal bread in breadmaker✔️

The vegan lunches off Jack monroes blog are saving my shopping budget. Dh still hasn't noticed the huge fuck off sack of spuds in the utility cats room so next time I'm getting the 54lb bag.

Collie That foil for radiators is a bargain, I bought the kit off Amazon & it was just foil and plastic paper binders. I'll find them & link. You could tell the difference the first night we used them.

spine bars

You cut the width of the metal brackets behind the rad, put a spine bar at each top edge, roll it over once & suspend the panel behind the rad.

I'm sure my kit was circa £30.

cag if you have spare trousers / or that the caglets have grown out of - you could make them into draught excluders. Chop the leg off and stuff with any spare fabric you have e.g tights, old flannels, odd socks, old tea towels. Then either sew or scrunch up the ends & pop a hair band around the ends. It'll look like a giant christmas cracker but they are ideal for doors or draughty window sills. Might need them with no carpets around

mammy thank you for linking that recipe!

cag just another thought but curtains - have a look around charity shops for these. (If the house comes without)

Do you have a local freecycle? You may find someone offering bed frames & anything else you may need. We received a gorgeous pine dresser from freecycle.

We just had a massive trip to the recycling centre. No idea how but we seem to have hoarded old Pyrex casserole dishes, saucepans, baking trays and old towels / bedding. We've cleared out a double kitchen cupboard and one of those foldable Ottoman things!

If we forgot we owned it - we ditched it

Another thing that takes up space. DVD cases! We bought a DVD storage box a few months ago so have sorted this out. Only kept DVD cases of special / rare / foreign DVDs. Also kept box sets in tact like Sopranos and Green Wing. saved an amazing amount of space. So so pleased!

Storage idea! Could be a bit sharp? But possibly useful to anyone?

fluffy thanks for linking the binder thingies!

Thanks for ideas, Collie I LOVE green wing :o :o might have to watch some tonight. Alan Statham is one of my favourite TV characters ever (love him in Spaced too). We use those Caselogic folder things for DVDs, we have to as we own at least 2000 discs I reckon #obsessed

I am resting and writing lists. Here is what we will need to get hold of once we have actually moved:
2 beds for Caglets
Fridge freezer (American size one, money in ISA already)
Rugs etc if bare floors
Cotbed if we haven't already bought one - depends when we move but if she's small enough she can stay in a Moses basket till then or more likely in our bed
Carpet if we can afford to get some bits
Ikea kallax - will be storage for all books and board games, current stuff falling apart
Wardrobes/clothes storage for all of us (unless any is built in like in our current bedroom)
Curtains
Dishwasher but mum already said she is buying us one as a housewarming gift - beyond excited as we've never had one

And before we move we need a new washing machine, bed for us, vacuum cleaner and possibly a temporary small fridge freezer.

This is all assuming the house would have an oven fitted already!? No idea if it would. Otherwise have to add that to the list as a priority, we do have our tabletop one which we could take temporarily but it is a bit rubbish TBH and doesn't keep temperature etc.

So that plus the cost of actually moving... not sure our bank balances will last long!

Oh and the cost of actually hiring a skip of course. Need to be extra frugal. While also not altering our shopping to rely on cheap carbs. And buying a few other baby bits we need.

Have had no luck with FB and freecycle etc sadly as no car (not even my parents' as dad had to stop driving) so can't collect anything. Ditto with storage, we'd have to take it all on the train.

I think a dw will make a big difference to you, washing up is beyond rubbish & expensive to boot.

Just avoid Electrolux, mine was beyond shit but the builder probably got a huge discount for buying 40 of them.