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

Hiya. Northender found me floundering about and pointed me in the direction of this thread. I was made bankrupt this week and my finances are a bit of a state. May I join you? I'm hoping to get a bit of a budget and a plan together so I can hit the ground running once the Christmas madness is over.

Hi dorrit welcome. That must have been a tough time but a new start too. What were your spend triggers ie not enough money, too many bills, emotional spending etc.
If you want to post details we can help you budget. If you don't then that's fine too

Hi littledorritt welcome to this cosy corner of mumsnet

Hello Dorritt. Poor you, that must have been incredibly hard for you. There's no judgement here, just lots of support and advice.

Em Your poor DH, is he okay? Must be terribly shaken up.

I am at winning a pony in a raffle Mammy, such a random thing!!!!

Just waiting for Lonely's flapjacks to finish cooking then taking the dogs out, ddog1 needs some eye drops so I will do tomorrows planned small shop today - just almond milk and bleach and sweet potatoes!

Spends so far
£5 core and conditioning class.

That reminds me need I've sweet potatoes that need using maybe I'll do a traybake tonight instead of the curry I've got in my head!

Dh is fine. It looks grossa lot worse than it is: black eye bruised cheek bone stitches on his eyebrow. He’s home from work now and is claiming he’s fine but won’t help me out. He doesn’t want ds to scratch his stitches (understandably) so won’t do anything for him. But won’t do anything else either - because he’s not well. I’ve snapped at him already #badwife

Spends - £60 M&S on undies socks and bibs; £73 on clarins for dh (and also me because I forgot something the other day and they also gave me a ton of freebees); £19 mothercare on next size up bodysuits and vests for ds ;

Welcome newbies!

Sleeping bags are ace em I worry much less with a wiggly baby at night. Ouch poor DH.

:o at raffle pony. Certainly a step up from a goldfish in a bag!

Baby is now 10 lb 1 Oz so doing well yay!

That does sound sore em

Oh I'm going to make flap Jack. I'm bored so it will fill a bit of time. DC are not well and twisty. Should be my shopping day.
Ginger breads made for work, garage freezer defrosted.

DS is 15lb 1. Proper chunk.

I’ve got the sleeping bags out their packaging and am going to give them a wash then from tomorrow (or whenever they’re dry) will use them. He’s napping now in his basket - I’ve swaddled him up and tucked the blanket underneath him. Like a baby burrito.

That sounds painful Em. The twins love their sleeping bags. They smile while I'm zipping them up!

I have no idea how we're going to do mornings Mammy! It's going to be like a military campaign! They will go to nursery with their big sis!

Welcome Dorritt.

Dash it all, no peanut butter.

Ah babies are growing well.

Well I've bathed and hair washed dd. Rehung the hall curtains, done a bit of ironing, outside lights and a bit of washing and ironing. Sounds productive but isn't really.

mammy, talking of sweet potato here’s a picture of my tea last night, it was tofu, sweet potato and sprouts (yes, really!!), marinated in olive oil, 2 cloves minced garlic, teaspoon ground cumin, seasoning and some balsamic vinegar. Nom.

Sounds like are quite fed up of poorly DC life....

To be fair em,if you had a black eye and stitches having been in an accident in the morning and DH snapped at you for either not doing housework or helping with DS, you would be a bit pissed off on here!

£12 Sainsbury’s but got the milk and coffee for work so will claim about half back.

God yes, love my dc, can't wait to go back to work. Dh turn tomorrow

Welcome Dorrit, glad you've found us

need absolutely I would! I’ve been a smidge unreasonable there I feel.

Got a quote from the dentist for Invisalign. £4004. It will be done within 9 months and covers - initial consultation (today which I paid £54 for), scanning/moulding of my teeth, making the mouth guard things (two a month for the 9 months) three retainers and all appointments.

They’ve also given me info re payment plans. Either 0% finance over 12 months, no finance and payment over 6 months (with 50% payable upfront) or pay the lot upfront (which is £250 cheaper).

Going to talk it over with dh. I have money saved and have been talking about it for a while. Now would be the best time to get it done as am on leave so appointments wouldn’t clash with work. Bad time because December is my last payday. But money already saved...

Just checking in to make sure we've all blued £2.50 on a euro millions ticket for tonight. I quit playing, but for £101 million it is worth a punt!

Spent about £180 today. £100 in costco, but £42 of that was an epuc huge dog bed (memory foam with gel as well) for infront of the fire. £10 in ikea on the very important dachshund toy for dd3, straws, bottle brush and 100 tealights to make fire lighters with (thanks Kirsty). And £68 in pets at home on a new biggest size plastic moulded dog bed (they sleep "as one dog") and cushion (clay will eat this in about two days). So it was dog bed day.

sunny hope everything went very well for ds and he isn't in a lot of pain.

Welcome dorritt we prattle a lot, but I've changed my shopping habits so much since joining the thread.

Well done em and cag on your healthy growing babies.

em I take it your dh is feeling very sorry for himself? My first question is always 'is your bike ok' when guys fall in our races, quickly followed by 'are your teeth still there?'

I almost cried at ds' nativity play. He was only a groupie. But he looked so cute.

Do it em! Dd1's treatment, u18 subsidised full fixed metal braces are £1200, so for the adult invisible ones I think that is very reasonable!

What's Invisalign? Sorry!

lonely the dentist said that for fixed braces it’d be £3500. Or if I wanted ceramic ones which Could Be colour matched to my teeth (but £6000!!) so those aren’t an option.

Yes, the private orthadontist we see said that some rich mad parents do pay for the ceramic braces for their kids!! Barking. So for £504 (why the £4?!) extra you can have the invisible ones. Cool, and you won't look like a teenager, bonus.

need they're like very thin clear gum shields that move your teeth. They really don't show much at all. A great choice for grown ups. On a side note, I can't believe how quickly dd1's teeth have sorted themselves out.

I think I’m going to go for it in the new year. Dh thinks I should as I’ve been saying I’m going to for ages.

Fake kfc for dinner. Homemade spicy coated chicken goujons, slaw, onions and veggies. Mmm.

I’ve made a new thread. I’ll link for the laptop.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/3111205-festive-frugaleers-gather-round-the-best-value-and-carefully-researched-christmas-tree-for-support-advice-and-chat-all-welcome

Last post ! See ye over on new thread
Em definitely go for it money is earmarked for it anyhow and with the house purchase coming up & having childcare as an upcoming expense you might not get the chance again