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

[needastrongone]

New thread.

fridge sorry to hear about your lad. Hope you starts to mend soon.

What is this snow I am hearing about?. I am in shirtsleeves at Mallorca airport waiting for a flight home. Top frugaling tip - go away for Christmas. And buy your presents at the supermarket..... Cheap moi?

We don't have snow

I need to go and pick up the food shopping. £83 ish but includes 14 evening meals so hopefully next weeks will be cheaper!

My butcher is stopping trading today. Gutted. Might go down and see what he has left.

NO snow here. Just wind and wet. Eugh.

Dh has this morning claimed he needs a break from ds so has gone off to nap in the spare room. Apparently he didn’t come to bed until 3 ds was awake at 4 and dh hasn’t slept at all.

Annoying really as there are a ton of chores which need to be done today and I wanted to get a head start so we could go and do something after my riding lesson.

Not going to happen now. If dh was awake and could deal with ds when he needs bottle changing etc I could get on with things. But he’s not. So I’ll not be half as efficient as I could be.

£27 Riding and I’ll probably have to get some bits for NYE today - we’re going to a friends for a party.

Soooo he didn't go to bed until 3? And is complaining of lack of sleep? 🎻

Yep.

Ds has just gone to sleep in the middle of our bed on top of the duvet. After his morning bottle I let him wiggle about on the bed. He doesn’t usually nap there though. But he’s absolutely sound asleep. Arms up over his head starfished out. So cute. Dh is sleeping in the spare room.

I’m going to try and use this opportunity to have a shower (leaving door open and extractor off so I can hear ds if he wakes up...). Then I can maybe get on with the day.

cag that was my thought too. When dd1 was a tiny baby I slept on the sofa as dp was awake all night with her crying not I'd had a c-section and didn't sleep in my own bed until she was 3 weeks old, when he went back to work (for 7 months). I was a different person then.

We are heading north, despite the ice warnings. We'll only stay a couple of hours, but still. So, we'll need diesel, some food for lunch, and probably something on the way home. But it's got to be done!

em life with a wee child slows down. Everything takes longer. Either you trojan through it, or let your standards go a bit! I had low standards to start with

unescorted you lucky thing! Going away abroad for christmas is my dream.

Morning.

That's a shame about the butcher life, just lack of trade?

DH's can be really annoying at times can't they em?

Hope your DS is okay fridge, it's awful when they are slightly built anyway.

Hugs for Teddy adora, my littlest is scared of his own shadow after being attacked, you feel so bad for them.

DD was exclusively BF when DS got chicken pox, she was only about 12 weeks old bless her. She was utterly covered in them too, so no immunity from me, even though I've had them. GP said it can still happen. In fact, she got them again when she was about 7.

Got to pop to the feed shop today and to sainsbos for a few essential items. I've been hugely efficient this year at using up all my food. I'm like you seacow, I don't mind paying for good food but hate waste. Tonight is ham and turkey pie for the family, ill probably use the last of the gravy too. I'll have roasted sprouts, sweet potato and tofu.

We got tons of snow but it's all gone. I was out running in it. Lost the back end of the car on the way home as the roads hadn't been gritted and it was fair coming down, swung completely into the other side of the road ha ha, slightly scary and exciting all at once, no harm done. My tyres really needed changing, something DH has promised to sort for ages (his account), £850. Yes £850. Company expense luckily.

Done some lazing, lots of cleaning (no cleaners this week), lots of sorting and training. Glad to have the house to ourselves yesterday though.

Waves at unescorted

How were the polenta biscuits snuggly?

SInce my last post I’ve showered dressed washed up emptied bins and have made porridge. ds has just woken up.

He’s now in his chair and I’m eating porridge on the couch with catface. Team “mummy” is all present and correct.

need yep. He’s annoying. But he has been good. He’s been home the last week so I’ve used this as my opportunity to rest/see friends without ds etc. Dh loves spending time with him but he doesn’t “do” anything with him. No tummy time no toys etc. I need to encourage that. They chat a lot though and ds is way more chatty with dh than with me. So I need to chat to him more.

Got my long boots out for riding today. They’re waaay warmer than my short ones. Need to dig out my waterproof too

Delicious Need and so easy. I am already thinking of variations eg using oats or coconut instead of polenta.

Morning. We're only up a short while. DD seems to be embracing her teens and hasn't surfaced much before 11 each day. She occasionally gets back into bed at a later stage for a rest . I think she's found secondary school a lot more tiring than she (or I) anticipated, with earlier mornings and later finishes. And more work in terms of homework and exams. So she's really relishing her free time.

It's really nasty out - windy and rainy. Storm Dylan is on the way. Very jealous of those of you who've had festive snow. Although sounds like you had a scary skid this morning need - glad all is ok.

Should be a NSD unless you count my Tesco delivery. Actually, the next few days should be NSDs because I've no plans to go anywhere or do anything much.

I want to sort out some paper work over the next few days and also do a clear out of DD's wardrobe. I think she's more clothes sitting on the bottom of her wardrobe than she has hanging in it!

£2.50 butchers. Bless him he's so upset I gave him a hug. Yes need lack of trade. We are in the affluent area of town. Lots of houses so should in theory work. Lots of families and retired. Looks like the bakers next door are selling too. Gutted.

What a shame Life I hate how so many small shops are disappearing.
Hope all poorly ones get better quickly.
Good to see you unescorted and Adora

Yet more rain here, so miserable.
I'm on my own for the afternoon so am going to crack on with some decluttering. We had nachos with a leftover turkey mix last night, it was delicious.

That's awful. Although I'd shop at ours more if I could email an order in & pick it up later. Ours is comparable to Aldi in price. I don't like the queues.

Need Have you got winter tyres on your car? If you're changing them anyway you may as well. Obviously not if your swapping it in August. One of our relatives uses them as he has to drive in a snowy country.

NSD.

That is a shame Life. I feel so sorry for businesses that fold and it’s a real loss to the high street. Use it or lose it, I guess, and often not enough people do.

I was expecting my family in the next 30 mins or so for roast beef lunch but they are stuck in traffic. I decided to slow cook the beef rib at 70c for 5 hours to keep it medium rare all through but in spite of putting it in at 7am it was still really cold in the middle at 11 so I chickened out and put the oven up high. Hope I don’t I overcook and ruin it! I have a meat thermometer which I am stabbing it with at intervals.

Re. Life with a baby, I didn’t get anything done without DH around until DD was 4 months and started napping in her cot rather than on me. Now I run around like a loon for 2 hours a day and the rest of the time I juggle her. Standards have definitely dropped for the time being! It’s a real luxury when I have time on my own though.

Thanks Tayto and Fluffy, it's actually a 4x4. The tyres were really badly bald, totally illegal to be honest. I've nagged DH for a while to get them changed (it's the company account) but he got told to get them changed yesterday....

To be fair, most cars couldn't even get off their drives yesterday morning, it came down thick and fast for a couple of hours and the roads weren't prepared. Mine did well, even with illegal tyres

Spends today
£20 M&S every single thing reduced, proper haul of food.
£20 Sainbo's essentials
£45 Feed shop, as needed flax oil for the pony.
£2.50 car wash - they rinse off the mud from the farm but nothing else, stops it dropping all over the drive.

I meant to mention that I've fallen out with Ocado a bit. I pay £3.99 for a delivery at anytime. They wanted to charge £9.99 for a Christmas delivery with a £90 minimum spend - which I thought was a bit off personally.

And all the snow has totally gone now and we've got the same damp and miserable stuff you all seem to have..

I know what you mean about standards dropping Christmas. I have the kitchen and proper thorough clean this morning including cupboard doors etc. It was the first time in several weeks I've managed more than a quick wipe round the surfaces.

I've also put some things in the loft and dh cleaned the bathroom so it's a bit better today but there is still Christmas chaos everywhere!

Good to see you unescorted ! i love going away at Christmas but haven't for some years now.. (perhaps next one!)

Wet and miserable /dull here .. the only snow we've seen is a bit on top of south downs and grey slush in Watford the other day.
lazy morning in bed .. now I am about to make the Postponed Boxing day Porchetta for this evening, we have a friend for dinner and are having a pre- NYE here as she has to be back at work on mainland 6am NYD sadly ..

should be a NSD

The joy of teenage kids is that you can still keep on top of stuff a touch more.

Tayto - I meant to say earlier, both my DC were shattered after their first term at high school. It's a long term anyway but there's so much new stuff to learn and get used to as well. No wonder your DD is tired. Chuck in a few hormones too and it's an interesting time....

So your on slicks then like a f1car?. I've come off the road in snow when we lived rurally. Bloody frightening.

Waitrose don't charge for delivery & one time the order had meat counter topside in it which was £2 more than I'd ordered so my card was declined & they still bought it to me, I'm at least 20 miles from the store, & I paid when they got here.

It was a bit but I am not one to dwell. I'd never get to the farm in winter if I really thought about it at 6 am on a snowy/icy morning, I just figure I'm only ever going really slowly so the most I'd do is bump the car rather than sustain massive injury iyswim? Losing it on a motorway, much more serious.

Might as well have been slicks they were so bad. DH is stupid enough to have slicks - they look like he's got continual flat tyres they are so thin.

They sell Waitrose stuff with the Ocado delivery I notice, I often get their value range if I book a delivery. I can see how you can shop there just as cheaply as other supermarkets.

Anyone know an ecological furniture polish? I used Method for my other products but there wasn't anything in Sainsbury's today. I'd rather not have something containing beeswax.

Riding done. Absolutely soaked through. Got in and found a towel and my bathrobe by the front door. Yay!

Have come home and dh hasn’t showered but he has made me a tuna melt and the kitchen is clean. And bins have been taken out. Well taken to the front door. Not to the outside bin but I’ll drop them out later.

Need to go to the shop later and buy snacks for tomorrow. And some wine to take with us.

NSD today💪🏻