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

Ooooh fluffy I think I qualified for that survey too so I won’t get too excited when I see my mail later 😂

cag I feel so sorry for you right now

Bought lunch £2.80, paid for train. My day hasn’t been that exciting.

Welcome lists

what i loge dungarees, haven't yet bought any for ds. i'm annoyed in a way that i wasn't pregnant during winter - Jojo had some super cute maternity dungarees and a dungadress for sale. if ever there's a time you can wear dungarees its pregnancy meadow take note and buy them!

today has been spendy.

I've been looking for tan/brown knee high boots for a while and not found any i liked in the shops here. So had a look on amazon. Two pairs i liked and ordered both with the intentions of sending one pair back but will probably keep both £138 for both pairs.

we've taken a load of stuff to the charity shop too today - i was reluctant to do it on my own, as the car park is far from the drop off point, and i'd have to take ds out of the car etc etc but got lucky. a man who volunteers there (he knows my dad so know that he actually does) was super helpful and pulled his car up as i was getting some things out of our boot. and he told me to drive down to the drop off point and then helped me unload the car. hooray!

been for a walk with dm and df and ds and happened to bump into my Great Auntie Bunny (who is 96). she was out walking her dog. i hadnt seen her since i was a little girl. she invited us back to her house for tea and cake which was lovely. and she met ds. he is named after my granddad who was her brother so it was nice she got to meet him - she also pulled out a few old pics of dgdad (papa) and said if i pop in next week she has loads more old family ones i can look at, so ds and i have a tea date next wednesday. hooray!

dhal and flatbreads for dinner. this time it doesn't matter if dh is late home...

My no the grant is for science research.

Are you joking about not liking your Beavers? I like mine a lot. I know another Beaver leader who makes it very clear that she doesn't like working with her children and it's awful to watch. I'm sure you must just be having a laugh saying that.

Wine Medal(s) for me!!! - The house is ready for the guests !! (if you knew how much I LOATHE the vacuum you would have been on the sidelines cheering) .

Am hoping the new handheld will make me do it more often during the week.. DH usually does it all at the weekend ..

I do kitchens and bathrooms don't mind that .. its just floors and dusting I hate doing.

Beds made , 'guest room' - my 'study' sorted, and lovely .. although i am here at my desk right now of course

Sauce made for tomorrows dinner which will be beany /cheesy stuffed mushrooms and other yummy veggie bits -sweet potato croquettes - (one guest veggie) and chicken wrapped in parma ham

Oh cag, that sounds painful.
Hi lists, welcome back. Food is exhortation now.
Ah em sounds lovely.

feel the stairs. Not in my office - grim. Definitely fell. Sore hand and a bit swollen but ok.

£9 Aldi.
My bread maker is ready to collect tomorrow. Will nip into tkmaxx for a look as it's next door

Cag gallbladder pain is horrific, I actually had an out of body experience one night the pain was so bad it the weirdest thing, I was on the ceiling looking down on myself rolling around in agony. Pethidine was the only thing that helped a bit, foods that set me off where cheese, eggs and basically any food with more than 4grms of fat in it. I lost weight while pregnant and in those days was pretty skinny to start with. Sorry probably not helping you feel better but def don't get fobbed off, its one of the worse pains you can get and is in line with having a heart attack etc.

So sorry you are going through it, if its any consolation the op itself is quick and relatively painless and I have had no lasting probs other than getting a slightly dicky tummy if I eat too much fatty stuff!!

Todays spends £18 on the works Christmas do, £1 into a colleagues collection - she is having another baby and 60p on a drink.

Lists have you tried shopping at Lidl/ Aldi? I find the Co-op pricey...

Dds going to a friends house in a couple of weeks and I just googled the house (as you do). It’s huge and worth almost a million. She definitely won’t be able to invite her back here

Sunny, I'm not really a people person. I don't mind the kids though, they're ok really. Luckily I have lovely leaders with me who do the talking to parents but while I hide sort other stuff out.

It's hard not to like kids, their so full of enthusiasm & innocence.

I'm waiting for the hot water to heat up so I can shower & go to bed.

That's lovely Em and amazing that she's out walking the dog at 96!

Online shopping just delivered, £57. Catching up with some TV now.

fluffy only some kids. Others are right little dickweasels.

snuggly auntie bunny is it seems a tough old bird. Lovely though.

Ds is not napping after 11am. Well maybe for about 49 minutes in total during the day. This means that by 7 he is tired and cranky and screamy.

Tomorrow we are starting afternoon naps. Him and me. Naptime. It’s happening.

My friend sent me this. Which I think is funny. Scuse the language.

Ds is asleep though. And I’m hoping he’ll stay that way until at least 4.

I have lost two posts today. Both times I was typing with my left thumb over DD's head as I fed her and whacked the wrong link. Not a recipe for success! I am too fed up to try and replicate it all again but there were birthday /anniversary wishes, Cag DH job congratulations, Cag pain commiserations (I had a rumbling gallbladder briefly and literally had to lie down in the street!), Life A&E commiserations and more that I can't even remember. Sorry for all I've missed.

Need, very kind of you to ask after DD. Sleep is still shocking but I'm bored of moaning about it! DD is 5 months now and has still not slept for more than 5 hours in a row. And even that only the once. DS also wakes up at least once a night and needs settling. I look exceedingly haggard.

On a cheerier note I told school that DS has been practicing singing the songs for his Christmas concert and then finishing with a 'Happy Diwali!' cheer. They must have had words because today he was reciting (with sage nods) 'Diwali, which was back in October...'

I am having an exceedingly spendy time. Today I bought a cordless dyson vacuum (not a handheld but a tall one, although it can be converted to a handheld). This week our cleaners were a no-show for the third time in 4 weeks, so I've asked for my keys back. I figure I may as well use the not-having-a-cleaner money to buy a cordless vacuum, and thus hopefully vacuum more easily and often myself. No more cleaners for me, at least till I go back to work. god help me in the short term, DD is not tame yet I was amused to see Laska confessing to similar! We can be sad together

I am also going to buy my micro scooter tomorrow so I can go scooting with DS. This is with birthday vouchers so not real money, but still feels decadent. Their is 20% off on adult Micro scooters this weekend and JL is price matching. I expect that's the best reduction there'll ever be so I'm going for it - exciting! I also need a new kettle as mind is leaking, but that's not really in the same league excitement-wise

Speaking of dull, I am also about to buy lots of LED light bulbs and other bulbs - it's an (apparently unattainable) dream of mine to have all lights working in this house at the same time!

And finally, we are ready to order our new front door. £££. Phew!

New year needs to be extremely frugal. I think I will start logging spends against budget category, YNAB-style. Need to get a grip.

One other good thing: i have lost 16 lb in the last 5 weeks. That is more than DD weighs and she doesn't seem like an insignificant weight, especially when carrying upstairs. So I'm feeling really pleased with that! I think the next month will be hard though, with a few nights out. Also a bit hard on the wallet. Eek.

Argh bugger it stupid phone is definitely on the way out. It's now deleted all my photos :( thank goodness I have uploaded the decent ones of baby to FB etc but otherwise everything from the last few months is gone :(

I've decided I will get a new phone after my scan tomorrow. Just a cheapie as I'm not bothered (current one is DSD's old iPhone with mega cracked screen!) but use my birthday/Christmas money on an iPad mini, which I have been pondering for a long time. Would be mine although I'll put various home ed type apps on there for the caglets too. Maybe. :o

So it seems the good night we had was a blip. Naps have gone to shit too. I think they are overtired.

Not sure what to do today. Hopefully they will sleep! Hope others with babies had better nights.

Nope, not here Snuggly. You have all my delirious sympathy.

Sorry about the photos Cag, you defo need a new photo-taking device with the baby though!

my That's good. I have a nice leader who does all the crowd control and who can manage it in a way that he still looks very delighted with every child. I'm too gentle really to be good at crowd control. I am good at small groups and one-to-one and reassuring worried parents.

Hope the scan gives you some answers cag

Today will be spendy as I've been paid. Hoping to finish my Christmas shopping. I will be able to do all but one I think. Also need to go food shopping, get ds a balloon and make his cake. Oh and post my nephews birthday present. Busy busy.

Have been awake since 330. Ds slept then had a bottle. All good. When I put him back to bed though he went straight to sleep. Hooray. But snuggles snores and sleep babbled his way through until 6am. Dh is also snoring. Catface was on our bed with us pouncing and every time she pounced me she went “mmmmrrrrrppp” they do it on purpose. They know Mummy is a light sleeper...

Ds confirmed he did it on purpose this morning. I asked him whether he knew he was a loud sleeper and he grinned at me.

We’re rushing this morning. Dh needs a lift. So ds is going out in his jammies. Aaah.

seacow I also have an adult microscooter !! You may remember I went AoverT on it earlier this year and landed flat on my face!! .. they are great though I love mine.. My dyson is coming today which is a bit annoying even though its super quick delivery as i specifically asked for Saturday delivery . Also they say they cant leave it. So ill have to work at home again today which may ps the boss off.
Em ive also been awake since 3.30 . I am sleeping really badly at the moment.. this is not usually a prob for me..
cag hope you are feeling a bit better today? It may be a good day for a phone bargain though? I have now got all my christmas pressies i think but might have been on the Hush site gor myself at about 5am today

16lb in 5 weeks! Thats great. Are you doing 5:2?.. ive put on about that since the summer. I blame the sciatica as its definately stopped me scooting and walking .. so annoying.. i have to get back onto 5:2

snuggly no sleep solidarity here. (Sadly)

Morning All, seems like a lot of people are having a tough time atm.
Dd only woke once last night but seems like she's woken up with a sore throat and cough so can't imagine that lasting.
@seacow sorry for the lack of sleep. I find it hard when my little one gets me up let alone two dc waking up in the night but well done on the weight loss. That's fantastic! Don't stress too much about next month. They do say it's the season to be jolly so you can relax a little when going out and indulging etc.
@cag bad news about the phone but at least you get to treat yourself to something a bit special. It's good you had the best photos saved elsewhere too. Hope the scan gives you one explanations too
@snuggly hopefully the dc will nap today and you can rest even if it is a cup of tea on the sofa.

First Tesco shop came yesterday. Was cheaper than expected and should last a while. £33.
Friend is having her first scan today and her dm has come down for it so she's coming to visit dd for tea and cuddles.
Will be a nsd as long as I don't succumb to black Friday temptation. Although am very jealous of all the cordless vacuum talk...

Ooh, what model scooter have you got Laska? I am still a bit undecided but want something with a bit of suspension. And not teeny wheels I don't want to be outrun by my 5-yr old . I am really excited.

I'm doing Slimming World. I find it quite easy to follow when I'm in the zone. I'm not keen on processed foods so it means a lot of cooking from scratch and being organised about lunches etc. I feel tonnes better for eating healthily, weight loss aside. Too much sugar on top of lack of sleep was a downward spiral. Hope you get back on your scooter soon!

I just went all the way to the library to return a book for DH and renew mine only I forgot to renew them. How stupid! Will do it online which I could have done in the first place. Nice walk though in the sunshine.