Remember remember it's frugal November

[LonelyOversharer]

Woo hoo! I've never done the new thread before!

You all do such lovely cakes! I can do a wonky sponge 😩 You'll never see me on bake off.

I'd want to keep that hog sunny although I know that wouldn't be a good idea really.

Doing beef dhansak out of my takeaway book tonight. Cubed frozen steak from Waitrose. Looks like winalot.

WOW mammy great cake. Agree with you - yes you could buy from shop and save time. But I still remember the cakes Dm used to make for birthdays. The pirate boat was the stand out fave - bootlace rigging, mini roll cannons, Malteser cannonballs the works.

£27 Riding. Dh has been with ds. Apparently he’s cried the entire time (ha!) has all smiles and calm now though. So either he’s tired and full and content or he missed his Mummy and is happy she’s back my moneys on the latter

Dm is crazy. Apparently df used to make her a tea while she was up at night. She’s a bloody martyr though. She fell last year hurt her ankle. We told her to go to a&e as we thought it was broken. But no. She struggled on walking on it for 3 weeks - went on holiday etc. It was broken. Not badly. But she didn’t want to cause a fuss or not be able to drive or anything and let dad down.

I’m very much of the “I can’t do this for xyz reasons so need help” camp.

Sold it Fluffy - what time do you want us for dinner?

Em (and others with kids who've suffered to others' views ) have you seen that new comedy 'Motherland'? It's hilarious and yet depressingly resonant of competitive mum life, at least in London. Luckily it's nowhere near that bad where I am but I've seen the signs! I do a good cake but that's where the Alpha Mum effort starts and ends here.

Great job Mammy - and if that Thomas is covered in buttercream then DS salutes you! I made a fondant-covered one once, he was ecstatic but buttercream is his true love. He can thank my genes for that.

Cag I was so pleased to hear that your DS is showing affection for the baby. I know how huge that is. My DS has been dutifully kind to his sister (goodnight kisses etc) but has only just started voluntarily 'playing ' with her a little (splashing her in the bath) and he hugged her for the first time last night. And DD was really laughing delightedly at DS. I was very proud and happy 😍

We've decided what to spend DH's £2k 'gift' on from work. .......... a new front door. We'll replace the tatty wooden door and side window with a nice secure composite door. I can't decide on the colour though, I am dazzled by the choices! Our house is a1930s semi in white render. We have a small sheltered porch area with terracotta floor tiles. What would you go for? There's all the usual solid colours but also a very nice colour they call duck egg blue but is actually a little bit greener. Hmmm.

Quiet day at home today though DS is being a bit whiney so I'm about to chuck him out to the park with DH! It's spendy though as I am getting on with a lot of Christmas shopping (in-laws and what have you). I have also bought a second hand dehumidifier on FB which I am hoping to dry the leaky conservatory out with. £70 for that.

I am also hovering on the edge of being a bit naughty. Pils very generously gave me lots of John Lewis vouchers for my birthday back in February. I saved them for after the baby, thinking I might like to treat myself to some new clothes. However,I am seriously considering getting myself a mini micro scooter so I can go out with DS. And because I loved scooting as a child.

Oh and Mammy I agree - it's much more expensive to make a good home made cake than to buy one from a shop (excepting made to order ones). I reckon I spend a similar amount on making DS's special cakes as I do on his birthday presents so far!

Is there a chance the scooter would be cheaper in the Jan sales Christmas? Might be worth holding on a bit longer...

We have had a busy morning baking, baked a lovely banana cake which we have just scoffed a generous slice off, is delicious. Have also got a loaf of bread in the oven, it looks massive through the door!! I really like making bread but omg the mess it creates have had to spend at least an hour cleaning afterwards as the flour goes everywhere.

Off to the cinema in an hour.

no christmas haven't seen motherland yet, been meaning to catch up with it.

have just submitted my Dr's invoices to medical insurance people. have also submitted the hospital invoice so if they approve should get about £200 back. hooray.

have also sorted washing and want to vacuum. but dh is watching rugby and i know i'll just get in the way.

updated budget spreadsheet too - we are about £20 over the baby budget section for this month. but this was the first month realistically so we were using it as a trial...so we can see what needs increasing/decreasing. so far we're ok. underspent on food. underspent on "cat"

must get petrol tomorrow.

We’re going to have another go at fireworks tonight as last weeks didn’t really happen. Only down the road so fingers crossed...

Mammy brilliant cake!

Excellent cake
Food shopping was cheaper than usual but I didn't need as much.
Some spends in town. Went to a free Lego thing which was great. £6 on minifigures

I typed a post earlier but I mustn't have hit 'Post'.

DH is away so DD and I are having a quiet day today. DD has exams next week so I'm encouraging her to do some study. We took a break for a while and did some Christmas shopping locally. They've some lovely gift ideas in the local pharmacy (there's a gift shop upstairs) so I've picked out some presents but I'm going to hold off until their Customer Appreciation Night on Thursday as they'll have 20% off everything then, which will mean a significant saving. We popped into the local cafe for lunch. I had seafood chowder and DD had a chicken goujons bap. We're too full now for dinner so I don't have to cook. Result!

We took our hedgehog to the hospital today. He has ringworm apparently and was immediately whisked off into isolation away from the zillions of other boxed hedgehogs that were stacked everywhere. Apparently this is a big year for Hedgehog ringworm and they have loads like that.

It was quite a pricy trip as it was £33 entry to the zoo, and we gave £20 for the hedgehog's upkeep, then ds spent £9 on a dinosaur. It was really fun though and we saw some amazingly busy animals.

Am catching up after falling off again for work reasons!

terrifying experience for you @ememem84
Unfortunately having a child (particularly a boy) means it feels like you spend half your life down A&E following various acts of daring etc. Well that’s been my experience anyway....

Has anyone heard from @hamburgers ? Hope she’s doing ok.

 for those whose children have had health troubles.

@ChristmasSeacow I watched the first episode of motherland on catch up earlier and howled. It was basically my life as a working London mum with never ending guilt. So funny.

Will carry on reading and check back in shortly!

Hello 👋🏼 I’m still here 😊 Just lurking.

Having a tough time of things and just feeling a bit down about everything especially in the lead-up to Christmas and having pretty much no room spare in our budget to buy gifts this year (which is fine because neither DH or I are close, emotionally or geographically, to our families but it would be nice to have the option at least!).

Any spare cash we have goes to saving money for our baby due end of December. It will all be worth it when she’s here 😊

@LillyLollyLandy I’ve been told that! But my parents spent a lot of time there with me and dsis. Rather accident prone...

It certainly will be worth it. That's the best Christmas present ham

I've been in a&e loads with both of mine - one of each sex

Poor hedgehog, I hope he makes it. I watched something that said badgers were eating hogs and as their numbers rose hogs fell.

Is anyone having problems with valued opinions?. I cannot get surveys to work.

I've emailed them.

I have been to a&e loads of times with dd, she is ridiculously accident prone its a wonder I haven't had ss knocking on my door

We are just back from the cinema, film was o.kay - not amazing but o.kay. We went to the cinema in another local town as the tickets are a lot cheaper but unfortunately didn't realise they had a carnival on so we had a job getting home!! Anyhow home now, eating our fresh bread for tea which is delicious. Mum insisted on buying the tickets so have managed a NSD.

£110ish on Amazon, birthday present for one of DD's best friends, bobby pins for ballet, the other 8 items are Christmas presents - domino rally for DS, Playmobil Porsche/Jack Skellington popvinyl/descendants 2 DVD/mermaid sequin cushion for DD1, teething link rings/bell rattle/Meg and Mog board book for DD2 (that looks like I've massively favoured DD1 but we were really struggling thinking what to get her so I just got on with it - loads of ideas for DS this year so will sort later)

Super fucking wheezy this evening. Excellent.

Went to Sainsbury's for shopping. It's so much more expensive than Morrisons. £77 spent, and not enough for the week, hoping I have enough in the freezer to see us through.

£28 in McDonalds, our once a week meal out (erm, except I went their for lunch yesterday!)

Also spent £10 on a book about the periodic table for Christmas yesterday.

Got the letter from income support today to say I've been awarded it, which is a relief. Just waiting to hear from tax credits, hope it doesn't take too long. And need to let housing benefit office know I've been awarded IS.

I also got ex-h to sign the form to transfer one of our joint accounts to my name, so will have to go on a visit to the nearest branch next week. DS5 is pleased as it means a trip on the trams (he's obsessed with transport!)

I need to start Christmas shopping but as I home educate DS5 he's always with me, and the others are teenagers so don't go to bed early so I can wrap and know all my hiding places and are sods at looking.

It's so much harder Christmas shopping when the kids aren't at school isn't it 😱 Pretty much everything is going to be Amazon this year TBH

YAY at getting ex to sign the account over! ⭐️️ Double yay at trams but can you resist getting it a few more stops to Ikea...

Well who wouldn't like a tram ride?. At least he signed it & you've got some cash coming in. Did you apply for council tax reduction too?.

I think sainsburys is terribly expensive too. People look at me like I'm deluded when I say Waitrose online is saving me more money than Aldi but it's true. They do good meat offers & if an items short dated they give it you free. I just do top ups in Aldi now for things I know are cheaper by a country mile.

Cag Coffees a bronchial dilator.

I’ve never been on a tram.

Phew, busy day here! Did lots of shopping, tesco £50, £23 on 10kg of ferret food, £30 diesel, £67 clutch, dp was made up as he got a 35% off coupon at checkout! But, dp gave me the money for the clutch, and I made £47 on six lots of yarn on ebay, about 100 more lots to go!

Party for my dad, pizza, cake, standard. Cake worked well and was v easy, made better by clotted cream, raspberries and blueberries! Mum was terrified of a surprise party, so they are off down south to see a show! I'd never have done her a party, but we have some pushy relatives.

laska lovely unicorn stuff! I got her some pj's in tesco today with the unicorn emoji on!

Just spent £60 in amazon, 2 christmas pressies and big post bags, much needed as I use tiny ones for etsy orders. I have 6 etsy orders too! Vary from £8 to £40. Ace.

Wow great news on the etsy orders!

Aaaaand another £28 on eBay, 2 Phoenix comic books for the Caglets to share, a tudors quiz game for DD1's stocking, and wrist rattles/footfinders for DD2

It really adds up fast 😳

Thanks for compliments on cake - ds offered his 34 year old sister a spoon to lick when she came in the door today & told her it was Thomas flavour icing! It was indeed buttercream, I'm not artistic enough for fondant although I try occasionally. Dd's christening cake was very bumpy em I too remember my dm making them for us! The mayday one with pole in middle & ribbons was a favourite of mine. Everyone is in bed here except df is gone to pub with a friend of his who lives in my village so rather than wait up for phone call I think I'm going to go join him now