Frugaleering, cakes and baby talk

[Taytocrisps]

Just starting off a new thread as the other one was getting full.

Wreck That sounds good.

Money out today;
£21 three weeks supply of gourmet off Amazon.
£9.95 hotel choc tasting box, free bag of chocs. £4.50 cash-back. It's for Dh.

Money in;
£5 nectar points for dhs nectar card. Hoping to use that for a January shop so I need £60 or so by then. £50 to go.

Laska I didn't have a spice bag but got dominos delivered at midnight

I got drunk & had to leave my mains after me & go to bed for 2 hours. Got up then when rest came back at 10pm fully refreshed & raring to go (English gang went to bed) Irish gang stayed up drinking & singing & dancing in our apartment until the early hours

Early morning frugal win here.

Our Simba mattress didn't arrive last week and we're waiting for a refund. £599

Achicha have Eve (very similar) mattresses on offer for £479. Then found a 20% off voucher. Meaning we saved £220!!

Amazing!!

NSD for the rest of the day

Great saving collie

Think we will decide on our next fixed rate mortgage today and apply. Unlikely to part with any cash but looking at the figures over 2 or 5 years doesn’t feel frugal. Also want to look at life insurance as we have none and we think some would be a good idea whilst we have big childcare costs and high amount of mortgage outstanding

Well done Collie.

Yesterday apart from bacon sandwich was £5 on wrapping paper and badges. £30 on ds cake as don't have time to make.

Today is gym then shopping. Food and party supplies probably £200 mark. Then want to go to Smyth's, decathlon, sports direct and hobby craft all of which will be £££££. But out of Christmas/ birthday pot

Excellent frugal win Collie.

Love Did you hear interest rates are set to rise in November? Carneys been itching to raise them for a long time.

Well done collie

Today I need to go to the post office. Dh is going to town to buy my birthday presents

I'm planning on unpacking the gift hampers we have and sorting through things.

Dh is making Jamie's miso steak with pak choi for dinner and a side of stir fried chill garlic broccoli. Mmm

On dh's list for town are thank you cards.

Anyone need a vacuum cleaner? Damaged box sale from Vax here the passcode is VAXSALE17 :) just got a cordless for £65 delivered! That's one thing we needed off the list :)

We are on fire today!

I've ordered a free sim off o2 to see if I can take advantage of the priority club offers without topping up & I've found another home made dishwasher powder recipe. Will try it later.

Good idea! And fab mattress bargain collie

We really need to order a bed. And a fridge as it's still freezing everything no matter what we do.

And need to get going on the skip hire. Fuuuuck.

Fab Cag, you are enabling on vacuum cleaners!!! I'll stick with Hush ha ha

Talking of dishwashers, I have managed to get SMEG to come out next week and fix it for free as it's not far out of warranty. They value their high quality reputation so have extended my warranty to 5 years too. Now in a fight with the company I used initially for a full refund as apparently they can't repair it until 20 October... long shitty story.

Got my shit together and took the dogs out at 8am to the local country estate, which involves a drive. It's a still, stunning autumn day here and I'm glad that I did that as it was beautiful.

Ordered a massive supply of dog food but calculated the best value way to buy our food. I'm a bit precious about what my boys eat so it's not the cheapest food on the market but if we eat good wholesome food then they do too!

£5 - school workshop for DD
£40 DS driving lesson.
£160 dog food, I reckon at least 6 months for 2 dogs, probably more like 7/8. I'll split that cost over 4 months.

Great bargain Collie!

How's things going Em. We had the Gnarly Peanut Chicken from the new JO book last night, super easy, tasty and very low carb Cag.

Oh and £7 on race transport.

Ooh I got to be an enabler! Yay :o :o

Going for breakfast shortly. Massive greasy fry up cravings (was supposed to have one yesterday at the park but we had to cancel sports club due to the weather). Yummmmm and not carby if I choose the right stuff

Thanks everyone. So chuffed with myself. When the 20% voucher code worked I was quite surprised the reviews say Eve is better than Simba anyway.

Oh thanks need is this the five ingredient one?

Super stressful here this morning need

Ds woke up at 1230. Then again at 445. And again at 8. He's been fed changed burped back to sleep. I'm still in bed as is dh. We've had a cuppa. I've removed my nail polish and filed my nails and moisturised. Have read some book.

#stressfulsaturday!

The peanut chicken sounds amazing. I don't have the new JO book yet. I know I'm getting itnfor my birthday though. But not sure who from!

I've been very "grabby" this year and have specifically asked for vouchers for various shops for presents. So I can buy myself nice clothes etc.

Dh is reminding me of the importance of self care. So is actively encouraging me to rest. Nap. Take time for me. he's the best

Need to decide where I want to go for birthday lunch. Here in October they do a "tennerfest" at most local restaurants/pubs. It started years ago and everywhere was 3 courses for a tenner. To try and get people out and about and trying new places. Prices have increased somewhat the booklet which came with the local paper notes the cheapest as £12.50 for three courses. With some high end places being as much as £25. (But still cheaper than their usual set lunch menu). I think for ds' first meal out we should go somewhere casual/pubby. As much as I want to take him to sample the Michelin starred delights of a restaurant on the beach I don't think I'd be able to enjoy it and would feel conscious if he woke up and disturbed other people.

Baby steps.

Yes.

Make a couple of slits in some chicken breast and season, drizzle some oil and rub some grated lime zest in. Fry lightly both sides in a pan (Actually, I think just that would be tasty).

Stir a couple of tablespoons (depending on quantity making) of peanut butter, some chopped chilli (you could omit I guess), seasoning, lime juice and lots of chopped garlic together into a paste. Put on top of the chicken and crisp off under the grill.

Done! We had with some sweet potato baked fries and broccoli.

Loadsa money at the food shops.

Oh dear em, hope your day gets better.

You is chilled em, like I say, I'm sure it helps. Obviously can't change a babies inherent character but I'm sure being relaxed does still help.

Talking of nails, my redone for free gellish looks impeccable 10 days in. Kudos to them, they got it wrong and fixed it.

life day got worse. Dh made me porridge with frozen fruit and apple purée and a cuppa for breakfast and insisted I had a nice long bath. Fml so stressful right now 😀😂🤣😉

Just ventured out on my own. Dh sat with ds. They're bonding over 5live. Picked up things from post office. Yay.

We have been given so many gift baskets. This afternoon I'm going to pull them apart and look at everything we've been given.

Hi all. Just back from holiday and have spent the morning (between XC training session and numerous chores) catching up.

em congrats on the baby! How cute is he 😍 Glad you got home fairly quickly and seem to be settling well at home

meadow glad your job is going ok. Pain about the deposit but keep nagging them. Isn't there a deadline for them to return it to you or tell you why they are keeping it?

collie very good luck with the job hunt, hope your interview was a success. Likewise to sunny's husband and well done for coping while he was away

christmas tough decision about working and childcare. You work so hard to get the best for your son (and daughter of course).

cag how lovely that your friends organised a baby shower ☺️

The perfect bacon sandwich is white crusty roll or sourdough bread, avocado smashed up with lemon juice and chilli and tomato chutney (ketchup better than nothing if no chutney in the house). For sausage sandwiches it's all about thick white bread, ketchup and barbecue sauce. Now I'm hungry!

As usual there has been too much going on for me to mention everyone but hope everyone is doing well. My holiday was great but very far from frugal. Fortunately I paid a lot in advance so only spent around £200 during the week I think. Still expensive though! Back to work Monday so busy trying to get everything organised and sorted.

Good frugaleering folks

I did my first ever park run this morning it nearly killed me I was quite slow but still pleased I got off my butt and did it! Dd was much speedier, she did it (5k) in about 32 mins I won't tell you my time

Just had myself a nice cooked breakfast for lunch which was yummy and now need a nap

Might pop out later to Sainsburys for cat food and to look at the tail end of their sale.... also want to bake a chocolate cake.

Em you are putting the rest of us mums to shame, I'm sure i wasn't even leaving the house until dd was about 4 weeks old although tbf I had to recover from two lots of major surgery!! You are doing so well, glad you are being well looked after.

£18 hobbycraft but my friend with give me £6 back
£90 Tesco fml. Needed washing powder, shampoo and conditioner and four boxes of sugar cubes for dds homework
£37 petwrol
£13 KFC
£6 macdonalds