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

[needastrongone]

New thread.

Need to rein it in here too! We will need another food shop before new year as we have DSCs round and there isn't room to store all the food now. 6 adults and 2 kids to feed. I think we are done for presents for all but need a few bits like tissue paper and foreign currency

Doesn't look like dad is coming to visit today so I think we will stay in. I'm tired anyway even though Cagletini had a decent stretch of sleep. DH is off tomorrow so any last minute bits can be done then if necessary.

I also need to sort out a last minute visit to my hometown as a family friend offered a lift and extra bed but I have no idea what I have the energy for, or time TBH as it's all a bit crazy next week. I seriously need to organise all this in advance next year as it stresses me out every time even though there's no complicated family politics or anything (not worthy of an MN thread :o) but I still worry about making people happy! And it's more complicated now of course due to having a tiny person to transport and all her paraphernalia.

Actually I'm going to start a file on Christmas next year and write down all the extras that I usually forget about, like crackers, so they can be budgeted for.

Morning all, had a lovely long lie in this morning which was lovely esp as it took me ages to get to sleep last night (think i'd eaten too much as kept feeling hot and sick ) feel better this morning!

Just checked the account and i have been paid - woo hoo! Looks like a lovely healthy pay packet as well as the my bank shift is in there as well. Need to remain v sensible though as now have 5 weeks till get paid again, will budget a small amount for the sales and another small amount for rest of dds bday stuff.

Am proud of myself for not going over drawn in December though I had a whole £24 left in the account!! Obviously helps that pay day is a week early

Right need to sort myself out, going to start taking stuff and food over to my mums, may meet a friend for coffee later but should be a LSD...

I twictced! But its an 'after christmas' twich as i refused to pay Amazon next day postage( no point here) . Bought the dvd series of Line of Duty as our holidat viewing we wont be able to watch it until after 28th anyway.. I also bought AltJ's Relaxer cd for me.. but that hets downloaded on my pc straight away also I think..
Planning on cooking today mince pies ( homemade mincemeat made a few weeks ago) and lebkuchen for staters.. possibly some lemon curd also as treat for DH

Ah the old phone keyboard mistyping was pretty good on that last post.. I assure you that I have not been on the sherry yet!!

I just started watching line of duty series 3 this morning :)

Feel quite shivery and achy today so hoping it's not FruFlu! Going to have packet couscous with feta cheese for lunch followed by opening the lebkuchen. I was going to order from Tesco but then found ones with apricot jam in Morrisons. Lazy lazy day.

Oh a question for good cooks here... We have a stupid amount of those frozen parsnips (DH gets a great value frozen deal at work and we wanted all the other stuff on it) and we will only use a few for dinner. They are honey glazed. Would roasting them and blitzing with stock for soup be disgusting? Or viable?

That would work just fine Cag, you could add curry powder to that.

Crackers & cards are half price on Boxing Day. I'll be down card factory at opening time.

You don't have to treat verrucas, it's a virus wrapped in keratin so it's not easy for anything to penetrate.

a 750G jar of Nutella €5.15 and a protein bar €2.50 they're my spends so far today

Have not managed to be frugal at all recently - think the lead up to Christmas was the wrong time to start. I will need to start again in January and this time be stricter.

i think i twitched - but think i can justify it. and it was food.

parking situation here has reached peak "piss off em" today. to the point i cried down the phone to dh about it. have managed (just) to get the car out of our space so i can get DS (not "Dan" as my earlier post autocorrected...) in the car. i've just got back and the little gobshite has parked right on the line and I can't get the car into our space. or i can but i can't get out the car, and the neighbours on the other side won't be able to access their car. so i've had to park elsewhere. Before i parked elsewhere I manoeuvred car to "almost" in our space, and took pictures and have sent to dh and asked him to send to the landlord.

so i wasn't best pleased when i was on my way into town because of this. but. met my bosses wife for a coffee. a hot coffee - she held ds and played with him. so lovely. then on my way back to the car i realised i hadn't eaten all day so stopped at the posh market deli and bought a toastie. posh delicious fluffy white cabbage loaf, delicious german smoked cheese, salami, rocket leaves. and a fancy pelligrino (?) sparkling orange drink. £7.50 on a sandwich(!) usually i'd scold myself. but needs must.

it was delicious. melted cheese can solve most problems.

I think you deserve that one em.
£162 bastard pounds on 2 tyres and tracking. £1.99 b&m on Sharpie, £18 Morrison's on cheese, bean and sausage and 2 DC PJ's. Everywhere is mental.

Thanks fluff. I will continue to leave them alone.

Ffs em what a little twat. I bet it took him ages to passivley aggressivley park his car. A posh toastie is definatley allowed under these circumstances.

I have shopped. £88 in asda, using £25 cashback coupon. This includes a bronze 6kg turkey, a 17kg sack of dog food, and £12 on cat and wet dog food (we ran out of dog food last christmas). Plus a few extra stocking fillers.

Then £95 in Morrisons, using £20 coupons. Everything else.

I need a sim card for dd3's phone and I. Am. Done. This will be 99p.

So £45 of free stuff, but still spent over £170

At my brother’s house and my champagne keeps getting topped up. Already feeling the effects as not much of a drinker nowadays

Laska Thanks for the goose tips. That's great to know how to mumsnet a chicken. I always wondered.

I've got a bit behind reading but I've had a good week.

I resisted the temptation to twitch, and instead had a massive spring clean and freecycled a lot of stuff that other people can give as Christmas presents.

Now we will have a lot more space and a lot less dust and we haven't spent an arm and leg on stuff that would just take up space after Christmas. Quite pleased with that.

Cag Good luck with your dd coming off the melatonin. I love melatonin. I used to take it for jetlag. It totally saved my bacon.

Thanks also for explaining about the assessment. I think we have a community pediatrician assessment in the works, and it's great to know what to expect and to feel that it might be a positive thing.

Ds is having a lot of playdates this week which is great.

Our weather is really really odd. Thick cloud overhead which makes it so dark, it's almost dusk during the day. It's also so warm that I had to turn off the heating and open all the windows because it was hot and stuffy in the house. That is not at all normal for December.

A few mince pies...
Also do you like my pinny? (Failed to get a decent photo of me wearing it! I need a selfie stick for Christmas..

Lebkuchen with orange icing..
. Time for a ..I think...

NSD & gfk internet monitoring sent me a £5 Amazon code.

Em He is a little shit bag isn't he?. He'll be like that in his 50's when he's got a wife with huge blonde hair & a leopard print cardi.

Had a surprise today my god mother sent me a cheque for £250 she apparently cashed in some shares and wanted to share them with me!! So generous, will put into savings for now, might use some of it to do stuff to the house next year.

Had a nice day dropping round Christmas cards and gifts, also made Christmas cup cakes to take to the stables tomos for all the helpers. Off carol singing later - a very christmassy day!!!

I’ve so far resisted a passive aggressive Christmas card “I hope you get everything you deserve”

Oi !! Fluff!! You dissin' leopard print? (see pinny above)

I have my G&T

Was the card from MIL Em ? ..

. Go all Jane Austen .. (Emma).. 'I only deserve the best... (treatment) because I wont put up with any other..' ( almost quote I think)

Love your pinny Laska... and all your baking!!

You all sound really festive. I just feel overwhelmed and stressed by it all. I'm actually more organised than usual but still feel like it's a never ending list of things to do. Hope to get it all out the way by tomorrow so I can enjoy a relaxing day on Christmas Eve.

I whatsapped DS my photos of mince pies and lebkuchen ( he wont be here until Sunday) as was accused of child abuse.. .