The Friendly Frugaleers: Saving and chatting as the heatwave rolls on.

[BestFootForwardAndThenSome]

Now that I've put that in the title, we will almost certainly get snow. LOL!

Welcome to nearly-August.

I too have an embarrassing amount of beauty products, but it would take me too long to get them all together to list them

NSD today as was working. Definite change in the weather, was 12.5 degrees driving home

I do Bandit. There are a lot of allergies in our family and asthma on my dh's side and I read in several books that to help with that it was best not to use strong chemicals. I also read that the idea of cleaning is not to kill every bug in sight, but to get rid of grime that the bugs might live amongst. So I give everything a good clean with plain soap and hope that does the job.

I clean the bathroom with baby shampoo and the kitchen with fairy liquid. I also spray the sink and basin with vinegar and leave for two hours to break up the limescale and it works beautifully. When it's washed with soap after, it all comes up shining and new.

Then very very occasionally I bleach things just to be sure, but that's more like twice a year, sort of thing.

To balance this, I am incredibly careful with raw meat and fish and I never let it touch surfaces and always wash my hands after touching it myself. I don't feel that there are any particularly buggy things to be washed away. So I think I'm doing okay. I hope so anyway.

I did a year of microbiology at University and I kind of run my kitchen like microbiology lab, iykwim.

As with all things, I could of course, be talking total bollocks.

I seem to have 4mm needles. I wonder if I'm maybe pulling the yarn too tight. I'm not sure what's it's made of. I must find out more about this. I'd like to be able to knit nice scarfs.

Old keys gone, woohoo! However it transpires that it actually was 2 months notice not 1. Big sigh, bye bye deposit (most of it). Going to council on Monday as they did say they can give extra housing benefit (and possibly council tax benefit) if you are required to keep paying rent after moving.

In other news, Cagletini just stood up for a good few seconds unaided. Bugger. She also climbed onto the windowsill in our room so I guess we will be moving the bed!

Spends £80ish in wilko on various things for the house including 3 tins of that washable paint! And I've hung up bird feeders as the sooner we can get birds visiting the better. But I only got one loo roll holder and towel ring as I forgot we have two bathrooms now 😂😂😂

Birds love sunflower hearts if you can run to them. I am gutted for you Cag. Such a bloody shame. I'll be painting with that paint on Thursday.

£29 Karen millen top reduced from £99.

tbh we weren't really counting on getting any of it back at all. They are happy with most of the issues being wear and tear though thankfully.

So in a way if the council pay HB for this month we will be better off! But anyway what will be will be. I am just happy to be out of there officially now.

I think we might get some of their bathroom paint too. The wallpaper in the downstairs loo is hideously tacky :o

That sound eminently sensible Sunny
I get very concerned with the killsallbugs stuff thats everywhere -basic knowledge when I was at school that you should clean dirt,oil,dust away not kill every blooming thing.
Unless you have something very nasty-then go ahead!
I use Method in the kitchen and bathroom and twice a week hoover/damp dust and mop every where .
Im also a big fan of handwashing with good old soap and water -always before you eat and drink or if you have been out .
We never get stomach bugs and only the odd cold.
I never use air freshner either -thats what windows are for and I air daily whatever the weather .

We have arrived. Via Pizza Hut in Inverness (desperation - DH doesn’t even eat cheese so not ideal. However, we had to feed the kids. It turns out DD can’t get enough of spare ribs. She looked like Pebbles Flintstone waving them about ).

Our bungalow is rather 1980s inside but fine, and in an amazing setting - this picture is from our garden - there’s literally nothing between us and the hills! And we are 5 mins walk from the shore of Loch Ness. If we avoid being bitten alive by midges it’s going to be amazing.

Dd is in bed and DH is reading last stories to DS. I have put away the £120 Tesco order. We will eat like kings! Still have some unpacking to do tomorrow but right now I am knackered and just want a G&T and a bit of telly.

Am so annoyed for you Cag re. Deposit. But you gave notice ASAP so even if you’d known you couldn’t have done anything more. I hope the council can help, it seems a bit harsh when giving notice on private market terms.

Sunny that’s not bad! Admittedly not obviously useful , but not bad! If you can get into knitting I think you’d like it on two counts: first, as Lonely says it’s very therapeutic, and secondly, creating and replicating patterns has a lot in common with coding - well, it is coding really! So I think you would really enjoy that side of it, seeing how the stitches make interesting patterns.

I can’t believe you got so much bargainous yarn Lonely, was that online? I am still eyeing up Quite’s yarn. Might have sold out now, I’ll look in a mo.

Exciting news about the move Em!

Where are you on hols Love?

NSD and placemarking

This time last year that stash was probably twice as large. So I’m doing well. I’ve ploughed through it. Just need to keep on keeping on at it. Am determined not to waste any more money on beauty stuff. I’m happy to pay money for the things I love (Dior eyeliner is my fave so far - smooth lasts ages) but have wasted so much on so much over the years. So no more beauty stuff until I hit the last one of a category. I have enough.

The house would be perfect. It’s a nice area, there are shops about a 20 minute walk away (same as Now really), driving to town and Nursery would probably be better from that location, maybe quicker, good size rooms, garden is south facing, the closest primary school is a good one, busable to a nice small town/village/harbour area with restaurants and pubs, supermarkets 10 /15 minute drive each direction, house has planning approved for a two story back extension, it’s move-in-able...

Dh said that in theory we could offer today and say asking price and remove from market. And he thinks they’d go for it. The sellers have a new build to go to and don’t want a chain. But we’ll be in a better position once we know when we’re going through court. So well know more after Tuesday. Fingers crossed.

Had veggie enchiladas for dinner. And then Dh bathed ds and he went to bed. Dh and I sat and watched the new season of orange is the new black.

Now I’m in bed.

Bandit It sounds as though we are right on the same page there. What's "Method"? I also am a big fan of hand washing before eating and after being out. I was also a huge fan of playing in mud as a child, and had an unfortunate habit of eating nectar from rhododendron bushes. I am an idiot.

Having said that, my digestion is a mess, and we get a lot of bugs and I'm currently being tested for salmonella and campylobacter by my GP because I've had a gastro bug for 3 weeks. I'm not sure that I'm a shining advertisement for my cleaning regime. At least no one can say I'm a mess because I use to much bleach.

Forgot the picture. That fence is our Garden fence.

Air freshener baffles me.

That's a lovely view Christmas. I can't wait to go out there and explore in the morning and I'm not even there.

Air freshener also baffles me. I don't get on with smells really and it was quite early in our relationship that dh realised that scented deodorant was what he called "woman repellent". We don't have scented anything anymore.

I don't like air freshener either.

I love method cleaning (it's a brand sunny they do cleaning sprays etc)

I'd never really used bleach until doing the deep clean on the old house

I see what you mean Cag. Do you think it's okay to just use soap? I'm starting to wonder if I'm getting something wrong and just not seeing the wood for the trees.

Method fan here too. I don’t like the smell of traditional cleaning products at all but the rhubarb kitchen spray smells lush. I clean so I can’t see dirt (and especially grease - can’t bear grease) but I’m totally cool with a bit of invisible dirt. Am really careful with raw meat etc though Sunny, like you; my sister has a PhD in microbiology so she’s trained me re. what matters and what doesn’t.

We’ve lost the gin. Might have left it in Huddersfield. Luckily we packed another bottle

That sounds just like me Christmas. I cover my tracks like burglar where raw meat and fish is concerned.

Theoretically plain soap ought to kill bugs anyway shouldn't it? I'm a bit confused about why it wouldn't. When I use bleach it seems to be just like soap but much stronger.

This seems to be the official line on home hygiene:

www.ifh-homehygiene.org/factsheet/developing-hygiene-practice-home-%E2%80%93-ifh-risk-based-approach-home-hygiene-targeted-hygiene

It seems to think that disinfectant matters:

"In many situations (e.g. handwashing) a “hygienically clean” surface can be achieved by soap and water alone, but recent studies suggest that this process is only effective if accompanied with thorough rinsing. Wiping a surface with a cloth (or mop) will merely move organisms around the surface and onto the cloth and hands to be transferred to other surfaces. This means that, in some situations, we should not be afraid to use of a disinfectant. "

Also, now I think about it, my ds is a liability on this stuff as he is rubbish at handwashing, even after visiting the toilet, and often likes to hold onto the toilet seat, so that's not that helpful.

That factsheet also says that the business of being too clean is also rubbish. It says that we have no need to be exposed to pathogens in order to avoid allergies. They think instead that we need to be exposed to non-pathogenic bacteria more and "helminths" in order to avoid allergies.

This is what it says:

Although experts now agree that the term “hygiene hypothesis” is a misnomer, there is still a strong “collective mindset” that dirt is “good” and hygiene somehow “unnatural”. Although there is good evidence that microbial exposure in early childhood may help to protect against allergies, there is no evidence that we need exposure to harmful microbes (pathogens) or that we need to suffer a clinical infection. There is no evidence that reduced exposure to pathogens through hygiene measures such as handwashing, food hygiene etc. is linked to increased susceptibility to allergies. A consensus is now developing amongst experts that the answer lies in more fundamental changes in lifestyle that have led to decreased exposure to largely non harmful organisms, such as the normal microbiota of humans and animals, microbes found in the general environment and helminths (worms). The data suggests that these exposures are important for development of immuno-regulatory mechanisms. There is still much uncertainty as to which “lifestyle” factor/s are involved. There is also no evidence to suggest, as is often stated in the media, that we need to get regular infections to boost our general immunity to infection.

So there we are. Who knew?

I don’t think plain soap kills bugs, it’s a surfactant but not a disinfectant. So it should remove it from the surface (properly rinsed) but it won’t kill the bacteria etc. Bleach should kill most things but won’t necessarily remove them.

I usecsurfactants (grease removing sprays) or mild disinfectants but I don’t bother to bleach. I’m just careful about having separate boards for raw and cooked meat, fish and veg. And I clean them with lots of washing up liquid and very hot water. I don’t tend to get stomach bugs thankfully.

Maybe she's a frugaleer?

Wool warehouse drops cotton sale seacow. I really rate drops yarn, it's uber economical and is mostly natural fibres. My favourite is the 4ply alpaca silk. Cotton will totally do though! Fab view, and glad you got there in one piece. That is an epic drive.

I'm just getting to bed! Feel like a right party animal 😂 went to a fake festival and saw fake Queen and fake Oasis who were both brilliant. Hoping my ears will stop ringing soon though!!

Only spent £9.50 but owe a friend £10 for the ticket.

Must sleep work tomos! !

Sounds fun girlie! Hope you're not too tired for work

It's still raining here and meant to all day. We're up early to go to Bath, the dc are still asleep though. Annoyingly I can't find ds' light weight rain coat. Dd is still wearing the one lonely gave us (she loves it!).

Thanks Christmas. That's good to know.

Man damn am I cheesed off with this bug I've got. I'm on day 23 now and I still can't drink properly. This is just not amusing any more.

On the plus side, it is raining.