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

[needastrongone]

New thread.

Lunch was €8 from a gift card & that concludes my spending for today

Cag It's tricky isn't it? My ds fed constantly but I could not find a sling that worked for him at all. He was very long and thin and just seemed as though he would fold in half in a sling.

Eugh been up with ds loads. He wanted to get up at 2am his temperature was really high.

Nsd today as we're not doing anything thank goodness!

Sorry to hear that Wreck. We've had so many nights like that. Will your dh watch the kids for a bit while you have a long hot bath or something? Is his temperature coming down below 38 with calpol?

I didn't even take his temperature last night. I'm sure it's just a virus so I'm not worried

Phew!

Unconnected, but I just saw this on the BBC website:

"Most of us are more grumpy and irritable when we’re tired. That’s because when we’re sleep-deprived our amygdala (the bit of the brain that controls emotions) becomes overactive, causing the prefrontal cortex (the bit which is in charge of logic and decision-making) to switch off. The result? We’re more erratic, emotional and likely to lose it"

This fits a lot with the experience I've had of anxiety post-baby, where the anxiety was clearly just a chemical thing and not at all related to what was going on around me. The pre-frontal bit of my brain actually feels numb with tiredness sometimes always. Maybe that's why gradually accruing sleep over the recent years is gradually making it better.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1X7c1nfXdvy6v1JtylszT96/11-ways-to-avoid-an-argument-this-christmas?intc_type=singletheme&intc_location=radio4&intc_campaign=radio4infour&intc_linkname=article_argument_contentcard6

Happy to report the little madam slept 11-6.30 with only a very brief feed I didn’t even try getting her in her basket though.

I agree slings are brilliant, I love mine, she wouldn’t even settle being held yesterday though :( but on a normal day she does drop off in it and sometimes we are managing to go out without the buggy etc.

DH is off today so hoping to get totally ready for Christmas. He’s working tomorrow so will not be here when the elves visit (they leave the pyjamas at the door). Not entirely sure how that’s going to work.

I may need to face town as I need a little token for a friend’s birthday, and tissue paper. I used to hate crowded shops but I’d welcome the change of scene. And excuse for a hot chocolate when baby needs feeding. Or possibly the Greggs Christmas toastie which is seriously yum

I haven't had a Greggs for about a year. I love the festive bakes, don't even know if they are doing them this year. This is good, it was our thursday lunch thing.

Hoping to lsd today. Going to the old unit, to fiinish all the little wrapping bits, and lay everything out for dp to bring home tomorrow. Laundry, baking and I must clean the biorb the goldfish are in.

girlie what a lovely unexpected pressie. A nice buffer to stash.

sunny I never got along with slings either. And cag I didn't even get a basket for dd3 or ds, just coslept from the word go. I'd just defer getting her to sleep on her own until you are moved and settled. It sounds like she's having a performance upgrade to me.

Yup lonely I haven’t tried one but the festive bakes still exist :o

I didn’t even try getting her in the basket until a couple of weeks ago, she usually does the first stint (2-4hrs) in there, then comes in with me. Which is about what the other two did I think just starting a little later. I felt a bit more nervous about it this time though because she sometimes slipped off my arm and I’d wake up with her face down or too close to the duvet, and I sleep so much more deeply now I get paranoid about not waking up to move her. So I’m trying to find a balance really. She is actually quite a good sleeper so far when she’s not windy I think, she seems to have got used to night and day being different at any rate.

I should get up, soooo much to do.

It appears that alcohol is not my friend. I think my hangover started about 8pm last night, it appears I am not an afternoon drinker

I am definitely not an afternoon drinker Love! Can’t handle it at all.

I have sooooo much to do today - putting away about 8 loads of laundry, doing another 4, cleaning the whole house (not too small, full of clutter and currently minging), cleaning the fish tank, changing the beds, last bits of wrapping (including all the stockings) and packing for the inlaws. Which is quite a mission with a baby in tow. I have to take all meals for DS too as it doesn’t occur to mil that children don’t eat at 1.30pm and 7.30pm.

If I get the chance tonight I will drink Madeira and paint my nails a festive colour. Not sure that will happen!

I wish I’d given everything away like Sunny !

I've stopped now. It will do and if it doesn't tough. Sainsbury arrived and the pickers had made a right mess of the orders. Sorted though I do feel sorry for the poor driver. Got a refund on my missing items of about £10.
Made chocolate cake and fruit scones. No not enough chocolate for the icing though. Meh

Okay, so we are only just up my busy day has gone to pot. I have sorted the animals and thats it. Dd3 is bouncing off the walls excited.

Dp is making porridge, this will do for food. Must go and finish the wrapping. We did get out dd2's laptop and the ps4 last night and set them up. Small victories.

Think I'll do a mince and potato pie for tea, as my fridge is heaving with 20p veg, and we're not doing the veg for christmas day. Copious quantities of party platters and assorted crisps/crap for tomorrow night.

I don't feel remotely festive today! Blah. Housework central but we are all on a go slow.

Frugal win! Have been after a Joules Coat for ages and just saw someone selling the exact one on a selling site for £20!

I have just picked up the meat from butchers £100 .DH insisted he was making beef wellington for Christmas lunch so 50 of that is on the beef fillet ..otherwise a gammon, sausage meat and a rolled shoulder of pork (with which I will be making Porchetta for Boxing day) .

Its also to take cold meat along to my parents and brother on the 27th .. (they dont cook much any longer so we are supplying the food) ..

DH has just counted 25 bottles of white in the shed plus 4 of bubbly (2 of which are my 60th birthday gifts I was saving) .. I think he has been stockpiling on the quiet !! .. However I am mainly a red wine drinker....

We are going to Waitrose later ... veggies, cheese, red wine , beer for DS and stuff for the Pannetone DH is making later.. ill need to keep him out of the snacks and deli aisle !!

You'd think it was a siege .. There will only be three of us , mostly!

I just realised we forgot the bread sauce!!! Noooooo

NSD & I got £5 nectar points off e rewards. Which means I can have the dark red jeggings in sainsbos if they have them tm for free. I've only got 6 pairs of jeggings.

I haven't bought a turkey yet. I'll go late tm & try my luck. C'est la vie & all that.

Love it when that happens Wreck

Today was my first day in the shops for Christmas so it was spendy, went to a shopping centre in limerick, I bought for dh and my uncle and then dc bought for df dm dh and a godmother. Treated myself to a set of newbridge Christmas dessert forks €15 as I was buying a set for each godmother and dm. I resisted a set of shot glasses from newbridge that I'd also bought as a present for someone, I may see if they come down more in sales / they're only €13 and are an item of beauty but they are a want not a need & I wanted the forks more. I'm going alcohol free next year anyhow.

Treated dc to milkshakes and myself to a Crispmas sandwich from O'Briens I haven't had a sandwich from there since I became a mother

Cag I've never had bread sauce but I think you make it with bread & milk could you improvise?

€20 Tesco on food
€38 on a bottle of whiskey for dss he got a promotion at work

Fluffy I'm too time poor at the moment for surveys, we're not shopping much in Tesco & spent our shop and scan points on a microwave so none from that either this Christmas I've been gifted quite a few vouchers though spent one today on gifts & will transfer same to cc got a letter from cc saying it's over limit turns out booking.com can take payment for accommodation for next julys holiday any time €896! Dh has it in a house repair fund for his parents home so will take it from there & repay weekly from joint account. The amount our childcare bill is reduced by will cover it
And df's Christmas present paid for the flights & we've £300 set aside for it so only spending money to save

Have spend last hour & a half plotting next years budget in my head

Looking forward to French stick later hardly ever buy one but did today.

Just. Sat. Down. Agree life, if it ain't bought (apart from a bottle of bleach - toilet, Christmas Day, everyone is here, want it spotless), that's it, it's staying in the shop.

I've spent a fortune on food, I could rival you seacow and laska, but we are doing tons of entertaining and I like having everything to offer folk. And I like having folk here too.

Stayed within budget, just. Only just. But did it.

Cag
Bread sauce is easy if you have spare white bread.
Warm a pint of milk and put a bayleaf , onion halved and some cloves (about 10) and a tsp of peppercorns.
Leave for a couple of hours off the heat,then strain into another clean saucepan
Tear up bread quite small and chuck in until its thick,simmer a litlle then add cream and grated nutmeg

It's only us home for Christmas so I haven't gone mad. In fact I've splurged on ready made veg so I can just microwave it and spend more time with the children and less in the kitchen.

Present shopping completed ..Did son shopping too as he is too poorly to go out ...Just need to brave aldi and Bm tomorrow first thing ..