Festive Frugaleers gather round the (best value and carefully researched) Christmas Tree for support, advice and chat. All welcome.

[needastrongone]

New thread.

NSD

Have managed not to twitch today (although I did yesterday).

Started wrapping yesterday night, round two tonight and then hopefully just one more wrapping session after that.

We only have DPs grandad to buy for now and he is generally miserable about everything he gets . Need to get a few nice bits to take to my brothers on Friday. We don’t do gifts for him and his DP, but need to take something nice. He likes the finer things in life, so we will be spoilt there. DDs are so excited to stay at their cousins house for the first time.

em your MIL is bonkers. Speechless 😶

Glad to see fluffy is still being frugal, even if the rest of us are not

Has hamburgers had her baby? Did she NC?

I was wondering about hamburgers

Yes the twitch, I was worrying earlier that I hadn't bought dd enough.....

Just heard that a very elderly relative is dying I think we had all begun to think she would live forever, bless her.

Oh no girlie sorry to hear that.

Baby Ham was due indeed around now by ELCS I think but she hadn’t been here for a while, hope she is ok.

Lonely please post lots about your batch cooking etc. I really do need to learn frugal food ways.

Aaaah the twitch. I have basically avoided it by being so disorganised that I’m not actually finished yet. I have never left it so late to decide a main present before! I do have a couple more things to decide for others too. I will probably end up in town at least once more but will have the Caglets with me so can’t twitch for them anyway, and I’m too stingy to pay for fast delivery via amazon.

Tiny frugal win, I was planning to pay to borrow line of duty series 2/3 (I enjoyed the latest so was watching them from the start via the library) but just saw they are now on iPlayer. Along with Miranda. So I won’t bother gettting the Netflix free trial until I’ve at least watched all those.

Back from Olympia .
It was absolutely brilliant !
Lovedcevery minute and the show jumping was super tense
If you go em take plenty of £££.
Laaaarvley posh horsey clothing,boots, cashmere,booze etc
I spent £15 on a tshirt

Ah sorry to hear that girlie.

Hello! I'm back! ..

Florence was AMAZING.. overwhelming, very crowded for the first two days -(We are totally godless so didn't know we'd be arriving on their Annunciation bank holiday) and wet! Was cold , but much warmer than here it seems ..

DH did a fantastic job, first class flights , really really posh hotel (I think we Grubby Oiks just about pulled it off !) .. champagne and nibbles in the room .. the lot ! A really fantastic 60th celebration and I feel utterly spoiled.

Did I mention Florence is amazing? We saw loads but could have stayed another week. Ate some utterly brilliant food and found some really lovely places to eat - all local trattorias though ... The hotel had a Michelin star restaurant they tried to tempt us with but its not our thing at all .. ( we didn't eat any Gelato Em either ..it seemed rather weird in the cold and rain..

We've just just had DGS for the weekend so I am finally getting back to some normality..

So.. I am a pensioner ! One of my old work pensions has matured and I got my first 'payslip' yesterday and a lump sum in my bank last week on my birthday .. This is nice as I now have a v healthy sum in bank ( for the first time ever I must say ) and the determination to leave work is now even stronger .(am not looking forward to going in tomorrow) . but at least I should only have about 3 more months now.. DH is now also planning to leave his job within the next couple of months

So.. my 2018 ££ goals will be to live very differently as a retired person, with a retired DH !.. This feels like the start of an exciting new journey ...

Ive come back and realised that I really haven't bothered about Christmas at all. I have a few things, but must get my act together ..

Have no fear though , budget will still in force .. the lovely pension lump sum is destined for a savings account ( if I can find one with a reasonable rate of interest.. . So far looks like the Post Office is my best bet.. but even their interest rate is pretty bad..

Campervan fund that is

Hey laksa. Happy birthday to you. Pleased you had a good time.

Tesco Bank have decent rates atm. I need a new savings account in January.

Thanks life ill have a look, some only allow you to put in £3k but i dont mind spreading it about (..Get me!! )

Ds doesn’t have a temperature. Phew. He seems ok in himself. The cough isn’t a cough. If that makes sense. When he cries (for example when he’s hungry) as he breathes in he makes a honk noise. It’s odd. I’ll see how he is tomorrow and will make a decision whether to take him to the doctor a day early.

pink so glad you had an awesome time. If I get tickets it’s going to be a spendy as f weekend. We’ll have to fly to London, stay in a hotel, obligatory shopping (primark! And H&M!) then tickets then as you say food drink while there and loverly horsey shopping.

laksa so glad you had an amazing time in fierenze!! My fave place ever.

Happy birthday Laska and glad DH did good with hotels etc

Horses aren't my thing but my dsis's love Olympia, glad you had a good time Pink

I've been wondering how Ham is doing.

Cag I am also more disorganised this year than usual (when I am working full time!) . So not twitching, just trying to get main gifts sorted. Just about there though still have a mound of wrapping to do. And I need to do the urgent Christmas cards (elderly relatives and people I hardly see as a priority) - I won't manage my usual people this year.

Waitrose top-up was horrific, you should chuck me off this thread . I didn't even buy much chocolate! As well as that I've spent about £60 on Amazon, including £30 for a new kettle as mine is leaking, and a couple of gifts for DH and DD.

On a happy note, DD has slept much better for the last 2 nights, just waking around 11pm then 2.30am then 5.30. I am a new woman. I have no idea what has caused this - we've been trying to give her the meds but not managed to get them into her for the last 2 days. I bought some Ella's smoothies to disguise the taste and she seems keen but can't get the thickish mix through her bottle (still on slow flow teat as she won't take a faster one). it's a work in progress!

This pic is my dinner. I upgraded the planned sausages and mash to toad in the hole (with bacon wrapped round the sausages). With mash and home made onion gravy. It was fab and DH is very happy now

seacow that looks so yummy. How have I never thought of pigs in the hole as it were? So pleased dd has let you rest a bit.

em be careful with ds' barky noise. It could be croup. This is horrid and scary (for parents). My ds had it a lot until he was about 3. The barky cough/breathing noise is unmistakable.

laska so glad you had a great time in Florence. No sneaking off as you have a lump sum - you have worked bloody hard for that.

Have put most of the rest of the decorations up. The living room is looking a bit batshit actually. We are going to chuck the really shit dfs sofa tomorrow and bring the antique chesterfield I'm fixing up home instead. I will grab some throws to cover it in the meanwhile, until I actually finish covering it with the denim (that will be never then).

Sorry to hear that Girlie.

Happy birthday Laksa.

I was supposed to have a NSD today but we all needed collection for the carol service so spent £4.50. £8.50 total for the weekend, so not horrendous.

I have to do the last of my posting tomorrow so hoping that wont be too hideous. At least it's not a euro a stamp, like for some of you.

We moved the sofa. As you do, at midnight. We are one of those families with a sofa in the front garden. I suffered some squashage, and sustained a surface wound. Typical.

I have the opposite of the twitch. I've wrapped all my girls' things but stuff keeps arriving from relatives and I'm now convinced they've got far too much and am so tempted to unwrap some things I've bought and return them. They get overwhelmed if they get more than about a dozen presents each and my MIL has gone completely overboard.

Ouch Lonely!

Ouch Lonely! Still, job done. I was wondering what became of your denim upholstering project - is this the one where you bought new foam pads for the seats? Did they work out?

I have just fed DD as normal except it wasn't normal for her - before she even really started feeding she gagged spectacularly (on thin air, as far as I could tell) and then couldn't seem to feed. She was crying and taking the bottle and then spitting it right out and crying again. After taking practically nothing she has finally gone back to sleep, with much wailing. I am a bit shaken by it and trying not to catastrophise about swallowing problems etc. I am already a little worried that she will only take slow flow teats, at almost 6m old. I mentioned it to the gp the other day but she didn't seem bothered . Not sure whether this is a physical or psychological issue. I might try speaking to a health visitor, although they vary wildly in usefulness in my experience.

I am not googling 'baby + swallowing /gagging problem'. That way madness lies.

Well done lonely. Everyone should have a sofa in the garden. Probably better in the summer when you can sir out and drink tins on it while screeching at the kids. all the stereotypes there

Christmas, sounds like a worry but DON'T Google. Could it be she breathed the milk instead. I do it sometimes with saliva. Keep an eye on her though if it happens again and you are worried pop to see someone.

Em croup is very distinct. Does actually sound like a seal and it's worst on a night. Steamy bathroom helps.

Off work today. Wrapping presents and need some last bits from sainsbury. I hope dh had got my paper from his car before work

Ouch lonely!

Yes em watch out for croup. Not much you can do about it mind.

Oh Christmas how stressful for you!

Today is dh's birthday. We're both working but we're all going to prezzo for dinner (with clubcard vouchers!)

thanks people ( birthday was last week though but strangely although I thought I'd dread the big 60 (and people will keep saying ooh in that 'oh dear, getting older voice') It really feels like the start of an exciting new life change for me.

Dont worry lonely I wont be blowing it .. this thread has finally taught me (some) prudence!!

but of course there is the Campervan plan..(sometime in the next year or two ..)

but ho hum .. I d better get up and make an effort to go to work ..
I did just manage to but Dh's christmas present though.(a new Walkman he wanted , hes such a tech dinosaur!! thats something ..

Bloody Amazon though , they have loads of stuff only available to prime members ( trying to get you to join up for 7.99 a month )for delivery this week.. I am NOT falling for that and not much point here anyway as no one can guarantee next day delivery anyway)

lonely have you got an inflatable santa to go on it?, then it will look like it was meant

seacow hope Dd is ok now, frightening but it probably was just breathing in milk

As well as thinking about going to work ,I should also think about getting some Christmas food .. I did order meat from butcher on Saturday though..DH is attempting beef wellington for Christmas day as there will be only three of us ..

Laska Florence sounds amazing, your Dh did really well. Happy birthday, belated though it is.

lonely Cost of bulky collections what it is I'm not surprised you have a sofa in the garden.

.. funny how I always post in threes ( four now!).. its the way I am , I have RL conversations like this also, perhaps I should change my user name to PostcriptsRme

Right i cant put it off any more .... Office..