New frugal thread for autumn savings

[SnugglySnerd]

Just filled up the last one. Hope you all find the new one!

I will be brave and say that when they talk to us

Going to try and cheer myself up now with new Big Bang Theory

Agree with laska tell them they need to go through insurance. That is what insurance is for! If they don’t have insurance, then that is a price they need to pay for not having insurance (it is a traffic offence to not have insurance too)

My friend's DH who I am seeing tomorrow works in insurance as well so maybe he can give me some pointers too

Cag I bet your neighbour is covered but just doesn't want to pay the excess or lose a no claims bonus. It's annoying for them but TBH worse things happen in supermarket car parks. Even though you want to do the right thing and pay for the damage your DC did it's hard to really know what that was. And they might also take the piss and get old scratches sorted too. So I'd not agree to anything in a hurry, just say as little as possible and take advice from CAB or similar. And try not to worry yourself sick over it, easier said than done I know

Oh cag lots of great advice. Please try not to worry. And remember you should be moving soon, so you won't have to see the car and feel rotten all the time.

Been on the turbo again. 20 miles. If I'm paying £8 a month for zwift I'm going to use it! Now muching a family sized bag of sweet and salty popcorn. I'm hooked on the stuff.

Yes that is what I thought as well. But I don't blame them as it is not their fault at all, if I'd not been so stupid I wouldn't have let them play round that bit of the house.

Really hope it can be sorted quickly as I don't want this hanging over us when baby arrives. That is probably behind my total desperation to just get it over with TBH. But hopefully we can sort it properly.

I have been sensible and had dinner despite not wanting any, so I can test later (what I really want is nice stress relieving CARBS dammit :o) I am now watching futurama, DH is knackered and went to bed but there's no way I can sleep yet.

On a lighter note, sunny Sidney Sussex is where my dad went :) not that he ever did anything with his geography degree!

Thank you all so much BTW. Have somewhat monopolised the thread! Seems to be one thing after another at the moment. But I'm really lucky to be able to talk here.

Just need to fix my thoughts on getting ready to meet our little Cagletini instead. She's kicking the shit outta my ribs a wriggly little thing :) ❤️

Does anyone ever do anything with a geography degree Cag?

PMSL seacow (and I just realised it was you who mentioned it not Sunny oops sorry)

I needed a laugh reminds me of the song from the awesome musical Avenue Q "what do you do with a 2:1 in English" or something like that

Ah well, a 2:1 in English, let me think. .... from what I can tell, manage approx 30% of the literature questions on University Challenge and otherwise work as an accountant?

I really thought Sydney Sussex was charming. Pretty but not ostentatious.

:o

As a non-graduate (had to stop my OU degree when I got too ill) I am ecstatic when I get a university challenge question correct :o

Fuck I can't stop sobbing tonight. Held it all together all evening somehow but am now a snivelling wreck. Today was hard even before this whole car thing. I met an old friend which was lovely. But seeing DS talk to her was really painful - I swear he is getting even worse at having a reciprocal conversation as he gets older. He just doesn't understand it at all. And that will always be a struggle no matter how much I teach him, and not everyone will be understanding and patient about it. It won't go away.

The DLA forms are sitting on the table and I'm just looking at them wondering how the hell I will manage to fill them in without completely falling to pieces TBH. It's so weird listing all the things they can't do, and yet at the same time we still get comments about how they can't possibly be autistic, the diagnosis is rubbish etc. But it isn't, they were diagnosed for a reason, and the reason is they can't do what most kids can. I really wish they could though.

I get it Cag I really do.

I take DS to school every day. We wait outside with all the other kids and parents. The other kids are all excited to see their friends and they go off playing together. No one speaks to DS. He doesn't react to the other children and stays by my side the whole time. If a parent asks him a question (name , age, do you like being a big brother etc) he doesn't respond. Because he can't. Most days I don't think much of it because it's my 'normal' but other days I feel really upset at how different he is from other children. Taking him to school really brings that home.

(And he has to fondle all the different shrubs on the way )

On another note, DH has been trying to get DD to sleep for 2 hours. He is tired and cross and frustrated. I woke up when I heard her crying to find that she had a raging temperature from the jab (this one included meningitis b which floors most kids). And he didn't notice, even though I told him she might need calpol and left it out for him. She's had it now and has completely crashed out, as has DH. I'm going to try putting her down....

That didn't work

Yep. Still not down. Alarms go off at 6am

Aww seacow hope she's calmed down now

Cag could your dh fill out the forms. I know you found last lot of forms to get a diagnosis very hard going but I s for your dc's benefit & it will be hard but worth it (very unmumsnetty hugs)

Seacow do you think your ds enjoys school while he's there?

Oh no seacow :( poor DD and you, I hope you can somehow have a restful day after this

Thank you for understanding, I know you get it. Does he enjoy going in? It's horrible seeing the stark differences isn't it. It was the playground before school/nursery every day that first made me see that DS has issues really. It's easy not to see it so much at home because as you say, it's just your normal. And it doesn't happen so much now for us in HE basically because most of their friends also have ASD, ADHD etc. So it's more something to bond over with the other parents, they always understand. I think yesterday was difficult as it involved so much interaction with the outside world so to speak, and that shows up the differences so much more.

And there are good things too (can I admit to an awww at your DS fondling all the shrubs - my DS is a total sensory seeker too, although I know it can be awkward/embarrassing ) - they can be completely adorable, they are funny, they are kind. Yesterday morning I was saying how cute DS is when he does his maths, the way he concentrates and then explains everything to me in that funny way he has. That stuff helps. The form being all focused on the negative is going to be quite a change from the way I normally get to view it all. But I know that's the point of it.

I haven't really processed it all I think. Although I cried with relief when DD was diagnosed (I was convinced nobody else could see it) I thought that it all being official wouldn't make much difference. But it was only a few months back and times like this make me see I've really not dealt with it yet. Which is understandable really. My own diagnosis was entirely positive but I guess it is different as a parent because it makes you worry about the future and it brings it home that they won't grow out of it all.

I hope you've got some sleep, I'm going to try and get some more myself now. Sorry everyone for waffling

Thank you mammy I think I will probably have to do a lot of it because I see a lot more than DH does TBH (simply by being with them all the time). I will make him do it with me though so he gets to see more of it. There is a council guy whose job is to help people fill in these forms so I will make an appointment with him too I think - bit of a hassle right now but will be worth it

Hope you managed to get some sleep. I'm just getting up for a 14 hours day - joy. Or at 6.46 back home at 8 tonight.

Cag YY to getting some advice.
If to go down the payment route ask to see 3 quotes on proper headed paper. With which scratches are being fixed specified.
Do you have free legal advice on your house insurance or through a union subs?

Get the help cagh to fill in the forms. Can you get them copied anywhere to be able to have s practice form. Or write you answers on paper before to fill in the form. You can do it you did it before.
Get some sleep first though.

Oh seacow! Poor you

Cag it'll get sorted don't worry you can do this!

Work this morning then I've got the opticians this afternoon. Hoping that I can be in and out and home in time to get the children...! I definitely need new glasses I only went six months ago but didn't bother getting the new ones.

No, no sleep. I had 1.5 hours before DH went to bed but was then awake all night from 1am. DD was mostly asleep but wouldn't be put down and was too restless for me to catnap while holding her (which is what I usually do). She cried between about 5.30 and 7 and has now crashed out again. I am holding her, DH is getting DS ready. I am expecting upset there as DS has been refusing to change into his PE kit at school so the school has asked us to dress him in it on Fridays. I don't think he will take the change to normal routine well...

He does seem to like school Mammy, I think because he likes routine and he really likes phonics, numbers and learning stuff that has an order about it (months of the year etc). He's not going to cope well with the creative stuff but that's not a pressure at the moment. And he's currently oblivious to friendship issues but that will change too.

He also enjoys scooting to school, what with the shrub fondling... also we have to go through a foot tunnel under a railway line and he loves it because it echoes (he makes peculiar noises all the way through). So it's good that he likes it at least!

Cag you are right, it's not all bad. He is sweet and affectionate and polite and very unworldly - he still hadn't opened all of his birthday presents because he's a bit uncomfortable with new things. It's refreshing not to have a child who wants lots of stuff. He takes pleasure from the small things in life. I am very proud of him.

Defo get help with the forms, I did.

seacow I'm so happy to hear that as dh's dgs has sensory issues and struggles with noise/emotion and isn't great for communicating, he started school in Sept and I worry for him getting lost in the system.

I'm kicking myself as just started using cashback ireland again the other day - the €50 payout seemed so far away! and discovered that living social pays out at 5% on it. In past two months I've spent €435 ish with living social - that would have been €22 onto my existing €11 balance oh well I'm sure there'll be more purchases in the run up to Christmas

Yep I'm offended Christmas!

I had no idea about hidden gruffalos either but I'm going to be going through DD's books later!

The bloody postman has just banged the letterbox so hard it has woken up ds. I hope he goes back to sleep. If it's just junk mail I'm going to be livid!

Have followed someone's sensible idea of buying a couple of Xmas food bits every week. I've got mincemeat and crackers (the cheese variety) this week. Think I'll get fruit for the cake and pudding next week as it'll be time to make them soon.