Frugaleers hurtling through November... is it too early to mention the C word? All welcome for money saving chat!

[Cagliostro]

Hi all, please settle in for chatting about all things frugal, and all things everything else :o

Yikes lonely!
Thank you snuggly I'll check that out. A huge majority of our home ed friends are out for the same reasons.

How do I do emojis on the app? There's a smile button but nothing happens when I press it

And what happened to my paragraphs?

I had separated the above post into separate lines but now it's not showing like that. Gah.

Small success overnight - managed to get Cagletini to actually sleep on her back rather than propped up on me. Not that I don't enjoy the latter but she sometimes slips or rolls over and I don't feel it's safe. Her next to me in sleeping bag (with arm holes tightened as it was too big) seems a fair compromise #knackered

Aargh I miss ye guys I need to catch up properly
This weekend was super spendy but I think I can probably count presents left to purchase on one hand now!

Lonely I've bought a book about sensory processing disorder that Girlie mentioned (SPD, not the book). It says that some people over-react to smells and tastes and light and all sort of things in this condition. I've just read a little bit of it but it made a lot of sense to me and I wondered if I could ask what you think?

It says that if someone is trapped in fight-or-flight mode then their senses can be ramped right up and their brain gets far more information about smells and light and sounds and so on, than is needed, which is why the over-sensitivity. I think that would make a good deal of sense in my current situation. It sounds as though if I can relax right down to my proper state then the over-sensitivity might go away.

I just wondered if that would chime with you too? (No answer required if that's too personal a question.)

The book is "No longer a secret" by Doreit Bialer and Lucy Jane Miller.

Lonely Dh would love one for his u boat watch. It adds an extra layer of ponce to watch ownership 🙄

NSD.

Sunny there was a boy in my class once with those exact issues. He found school very very difficult because of all the sounds and noises especially areas like the canteen.
He left in year 9 as they moved area but I'd love to know how he's doing now. I can't imagine he could have remained in a mainstream school. He really couldn't cope.

Agh.. one more thing bought super cute realistic looking amimal glove puppets for dgds fox/dog mole and rabbit.. will be great for story telling . Tkmaxx 4.99 each . Small Kids love glove puppets i think ..
Also bought the stuff for the christmas cake.. i use a recipe that doesnt need to be made that early ..

Sunny I know your question wasn’t directed at me but since my trauma that resulted in PTSD, I have found I cannot cope with sensory overload. I’m finding this conversation super interesting as a lot of what you’re both saying resonates with me. Also, I read yesterday that Epsom salts can help because the magnesium encourages the brain to produce serotonin which helps with relaxation. Just need to order some now.

Lilly I also have PTSD symptoms, so maybe that 's what it is. This is the thing that really confuses me. When I read up about all the medical conditions, so many of them seem to have the same symptoms. Thanks for chipping in. It encourages me no end to hear that it's not just me.

Snuggly That sounds hard for that boy. He sounds like he would be great in the countryside or somewhere like that.

NSD yesterday but DH bought a new Dyson, mainly to stop me moaning at him about the amount of hoovering I have to do to keep on top of the dog hair. He doesn’t hoover because he works really long hours and does a lot of stuff with the kids at the weekend - I tend to whip around quickly with the hoover when I get home, before I pick them up. ANYWAY bloody DPD we’re supposed to deliver before 12, has to ring Dyson to complain when it didn’t turn up, then it was being delivered this afternoon and then the DPD driver sent a “sorry we missed you” text without even bothering to come to the house!!! FURIOUS. 20 mins on the phone to Dyson later, it’s apparently coming this afternoon at some point and I’m getting a free filter. I thought the whole point of Dyson’s was that they don’t need filters??

Need I seem to remember you saying once that people can’t tell there are dogs in your house. Please inspire me with your de-hairing tricks! My boy is 9 now and I’m fairly sure he’s moulting far more these days than he ever has before...

Sunny it’s horrible isn’t it. Have you ever had therapy to address it? I’m going through CBT at the moment so I’m hoping I will get better at managing it. What I find is that I am absolutely flooded with adrenaline in really simple situations, such as getting the children out of the house in the morning and I go from calm to screechingly hyper in about 0.6 seconds. I hate it. I physically shake with it sometimes so I’m trying to ground myself more and keep calm. It’s exhausting to deal with isn’t it.

Intended to get £10 worth of fruit and veg and leave it at that today... but that failed as had to buy some medication dp needed that's another £7.50 down the drain. Also ended up buying 8 pints of milk so that should last a while - plenty of time on use by.

Still working on getting through freezer and have just meal planned to 8th December - should have everything except a few perishables. Hoping to only spend £30 on food between then and now if I can manage it though £3 a day seems a bit optimistic but needs to be that way right now

Yesterday was a NSD though :)

Requests for Christmas events starting to pile up. Would like to take DC's to pantomime but its so expensive - everything is so expensive :(

I have sensory processing difficulties as part of my autism. I am hypersensitive to light, sound, touch and smell. Basically everything except taste. It is one of the hardest things about being autistic for me and the biggest reason why my sleeping has always been bad ever since a baby - I didn't sleep through the night until after I started school! I do have some coping mechanisms in place now though which do help to an extent.

DGP1 had to stay overnight at the vets . DH is just about to go and collect him now, they said he can come home but he is still very poorly, they don't know why, and we will need to syringe feed him every 3 hours round-the-clock - which will have to be DH's job given I'm so ill and the sight of DGP1 choking and spluttering being syringe-fed will certaintly make me vomit. I feel so sad for DH he got back home at about 3am last night from emergency vets and then was up at 8am for driving lessons and test, failed his driving test which he's pretty upset about and now has to do the hour trip to the vets to get DGP1 from the vet and then set himself up for 3-hourly syringe feeds including all through the night . I feel so helpless and like a huge burden.

Laska The animal glove puppets sound lovely, I would have loved them when I was little hehe.

Spends today:

£11 on breakfast - one full breakfast and a coffee (dh) bacon and egg roll and a tea (me)

£2.67 milk

£7.68 Waitrose for batteries and Jaffa cakes

£2.45 polish bakery on sourdough bread. Smells amazing.

And. £38 at the post office. Collecting a parcel mil sent. Apparently the contents contravenes postage laws between jersey and nz (baby clothes sweets). And is over £250 in value. So I had to pay the gst tax. Ffs. Have asked dh to mention it in a funny way next time he speaks to her. It’s not the first time this has happened.

Other than that we haven’t done anything. I’ve collected my winter brushed cotton bedding from dms where we’d stored it and have thrown it on the bed. The new set id ordered for the spare bed arrived so I’ve thrown that on too. Catface is so happy with her new bedding...

I’ve done a mega shopping list for tomorrow. I’m getting up early. Going to the supermarket (Although the freight boat hasn’t come in again....) then coming home then heading into town to Christmas shop. Alone. Dh has given me a list for his family. It’s much easier doing it this way. He tells me what he’d like to buy and I buy it. That way they won’t get forgotten but I’m not taking responsibility

Starting next week (new month) I’m going to take cash with me and onlh use that. Not something I’ve ever done before. So should be interesting.

Oh meadow you aren't a burden. You're growing your child, DH's child! That's an important job and exhausting even without the HG.

£20 haircut for me and DS. Nice to start seeing friends again I have been such a hermit between illness and anxiety I've barely left the house other than with DH. Hair should be more manageable now too.

Actually Sunny living in a giant city probably wasn't any good for the poor lad at all! I believe he had an older brother with similar issues so maybe they moved somewhere quieter.

Spends today £34.95 on a shirt dh likes for Xmas and £357 paying off cc.

I spent £38 in tesco, a couple of stocking fillers, wrapping paper, 2 sets of cute polar bear lights, the usual!

£28 feed shop, chicken food and sawdust, poor things are so muddy with all the rain lately.

£42 on postage, 14 parcels away! All paid for, but still loads for one go. Must transfer from paypal.

£250 em what are the sweets made of? Baby clothes must be super high end designer?

Wood burner on (and christmas garland candle) with all the soft outer cases from the instruments lined up infront to dry. Must always check car doors are closed before bed. I need less routines, not more.

Yy lll that's just how the adrenaline gets me. I tremble uncontrollably, my voice shakes, the works. No clue on why it triggers, but its such a pita. My smell/routine/want to hoard and collect definatley ramps up whenever I am stressed or feel out of control. I was terrible as a teen, I think obtrusive thought ocd; absolutely fine while I was working (in a very stressful responsible job, go figure!) and since having dc have what I now see as awful anxiety. I get by with the ocd traits by living in chaos. I can't hope to control the mess, so it's ok iyswim.

meadow your poor Guinea. I do hope it rallies and gets better. They're very fragile little things, but bursting with personality! We have decided no more rodents. Dd3's lived until it was 7, we nursed it for a long while, she loved it so. Fingers crossed for you x

Does she put a return address on the parcel? You could forget to collect it next year #oops. Our old ll had parcels sent to their house for the ndn to pick up & redirect until I refused to take one and it got sent back to the sender.

I wasn't lying though when I said the adressee had moved though.

Need I tried the superdrug own Glycolic pads, 👍👍. There's only so many ways you can add Glycolic to pad though. It's not rocket science is it?. I might buy the Glycolic toner next, it's a big bottle & will surely last longer?.

Oh lonely I am just the same with the chaos! I am unsure whether to chase up the OCD thing or not (it was a psychiatrist who was supposed to be screening me for ASD which I was diagnosed with a few years later). I have found out though that postnatal OCD flare ups are very common though. Which makes sense really.

Lilly Yes I'm seeing somebody about it now. It came on with me after my son had sleep apnoea with four years of no sleep and two traumatic operations. I think it's largely burnout tbh and will get better in time but parts of the sensory trouble were with me before that. I have a good idea what caused those, but knowing how to solve them is trickier.

Am nodding along with all the anxiety talk, it gets me from time to time and it normally plays my stomach up and occasionally makes me actually sick. I tend to know what to do these days to sort myself out before it gets too bad, I find work def helps as it gives me no time to think about myself iyswim.

Dds SPD is a lot better than it used to be, she is hyper sensitive to quite a lot of things and can become easily overwhelmed. I think what helped dd was gradual exposure and careful planning!!

Pay day today woo hoo

NSD.

TO be fair they are pineapple lumps which are just delicious. But still. I thought about not paying the cost and having it sent back but it’s only cause more bad feeling.

Funny thing I’ve noted is she’s addressed it to “mr and Mrs dh’s initial surname” this doesn’t bother me. But it’s funny because when mil was married to Fil she hated it when people referred to her as Mrs Fil.

Frugal and health win today - for the first time I managed to walk to taekwondo AND home again. So no bus or taxi fare and I felt OK after despite not having been able to manage that walk for a long time. Yay!!!

Well done cag

£88 Smyth's toys. Good chunk off my list. Next stop Argos

I bloody love pineapple lumps.

Need cat food today.