Friendly Frugaleers Ambling into Autumn, watching our wallets and the weather!

[Cagliostro]

Hello! All welcome as we continue trying to use our money wisely!

lovely Cag

Thanks cag 😊

Thanks Cag
I put everything in mine -thats what a DW is for .

Thanks cag

I've just had cuddles with my friends 12 day old baby 😍

This afternoon I'm making banana bread and cupcakes. All my banana went straight from green to brown. And also a lasagne for dinner 1/2 for freezer.

Today will not be frugal. We have decided to order a play pen for Cagletini. This isn't something we have used before but it's getting towards the start of term and I'm having a panic about how we are going to manage the more structured regime (in which DD1 in particular still needs a lot of input/attention) while also having to constantly get up and remove her from furniture etc :( she is happy playing generally so I think she will be ok in it for short periods. Aaaargh

Thanks Vag!

We have peanut butter cookies just cooling now. I am going to put the baking sheets in the DISHWASHER afterwards. Living large. And yes Cag, I will used the time saved wisely for #making memories 😂

Actually our plans for memory-making have been postponed due to rain, rain, rain, which wasn’t on the forecast last night. We were going to take a picnic to a nearish country park with a nice lake to wander round - last time we did this it was November and we almost lost toes,it was that cold. Instead we are staying in and baking, and I am spending a fortune on dc stuff. Boots and trainers for DS who has no casual shoes £67 (school shoes were new at half term and still fit, though in the spirit of the new school year I may clean them ). Then logo school uniform stuff, £56. Gotta pick it up from the supplier as I’ve left it a bit late for slow delivery.

I have some iron-on labels but would like some of those sticker or tag things that you just attach onto labels and they don’t come off - any recommendations?

There you go calling me vag again seacow. Rude. 😱😂

at Vag.

Sea I get my name stickers from woven labels. They have 10% off code if you google I just get these ones and use them in shoes, on water bottles, pe bag etc. They lasted all year and because you can choose a colour and symbol they're easy for ds to quickly identify.

I can freeze my banana loaf and muffins can't I? Also need to meal plan as going shopping tomorrow. Clearing the overdraft has really motivated me to be frugal again

Thank you Cag

Our dw is a Miele, it's got 14 place settings & is huge inside. I still need to run it twice if I've done loads of cooking. You could look for a basket/cage for Tupperware, like they do for baby bottle teats.

NSD.

Vag 😂😂😂😂😂
How rude !

Vag 😂😂😂 so funny!!

Yes all cakes freeze well ime wreck

My mum has taken dd out for a bit as she has loads of energy all of a sudden and was literally bouncing off the walls!!

All the bras/ crop tops ordered for dd from M&S are going back 😞 we are still no further fw in the department. Have reordered everything in a massive size to see if that helps!!

And I bet not one of you read it to rhyme with Cag, did you 🤔😂

Oh god Cag, sorry about that . My phone does that a lot but I usually catch it 😂

Baking sheets don’t fit in the dishwasher unless I lift the top basket, in which case the tall glasses don’t fit. I guess DH can wash them after all #memoriescanwait

I am not making much progress with the unpacking of the last holiday bits. Time to declutter ruthlessly into a black bag, I think!

Have just redone our budget and it leaves us £700 a month for food and fuel that works out at £160 a week (accounting for five week months) which should be doable as long as dh's jobs continue to be local.

I use baking parchment and just rinse Sea likewise cake tins,use liners
DH would be slaughtered if he put any baking tins in .
Am distracting myself from the most utterly boring bit of data analysis in the history of the world.
I have eaten everything and if I have anymore tea I will never sleep again

It’s funny isn’t it wreck I have found it much easier to be sensible with money once we were out of the overdraft. Turns out having a positive bank balance is addictive :o

I have no chicken. I swear I ordered a whole chicken in the Tesco order but it’s not on the receipt (so at least I didn’t pay for it). I am doing a massive batch cook of bolognese (2kg bulked out with grated veg too) but don’t want to use any tonight as some will be put in a lasagne for DS’ birthday dinner tomorrow.

Can’t send the others to Asda as they have gone to gym. Hmmph.

Will catch up later.

Text from DM earlier sent me into a spiral of panic (am ok now though). “Coming Home (from holiday) tonight as don’t feel so good home around 730”

Panic 1) fuuuuuuck we’ve got about an hour when we get home to clean the house!!!!

Panic 2) how “not feeling good” is she. I mean it must be serious if she’s coming home. They’re in France at their place. So no money lost etc. I called and she’s got s stiff neck, has had a headache for 3 days and is light sensitive.

Have made her a dr appointment for first thing tomorrow but she’s promised if she feels no better she’ll not argue and will go to out of hours this evening.

Also went to see dsis at lunchtime. She’s back from her trip and had a bottle of pink gin for me as well as a ton of chocolate from her treat cupboard for the team at work. Yay!! Plus more make up stuff she won’t hse and some hair bands (she’s had a hair cut and it’s short!) and a top. So a frugal win for me! Especially the pink gin! Woooo

She also bought Dm a rather phallic bottle opener from her trip. Suggested notgiving it to Dm today

Oh my em
*
Cag* hopefully we will be able to get on top of things now! It's so shit only having a couple of hundred in the Black each time we pay money into it.

I've sat down and now I just feel really tired! Still need to fold the washing and put he clean sheets on the bed.

em she should really see a doctor now with those symptoms in case of Meningitis .
Will pm

Gosh, I hope your DM is okay em. I'd listen to quite, she's not one to worry overtly and knows her stuff it seems.

Okay. I'm needing some help. DS is obviously going to university soon. I'm trying to teach him lots of cheap healthy recipes. I know he'll eat lots of Pot Noodles but he does generally eat pretty well.

I've got the following taught already. All varieties of things with mince. Jacket spuds. A basic tomato sauce recipe to put tuna, sausage, veg etc into or by itself. Veg curry. Stir fry. A big baguette with BLT etc. Eggs (all varieties). One pan rice. He doesn't like lentils.

What can I teach him that's easy, quick, cheap etc? And realistically that a student will actually cook if you understand.

£40 Aldi, half us and half bits for DS.
£50 John Lewis on towels, airer, sports bag/rucksack for DS.

Pasta pesto and peas.
Quesadillas
Nachos

He will be one popular guy if he can cook.

Toasties. Fishfinger sandwiches. Waffles and spaghetti hoops.

I’ve told Dm she needs to see a dr. But she wants to be home. Which I can understand. Their place is hour from st Malo and they’re booked on the ferry tonight. Getting in here at 7. It’s an hour on the ferry.

I do get those symptoms myself with a migraine. But have made her an appointment for tomorrow and she is adamentbif she still doesn’t feel well when they get here they’re going to a&e/out of hours. (Essentially the same place).

I’m sure she’ll be fine though.

Good luck there Em. That's more excitement than I'd look for in a day. I hope her travels are okay.

I'm going to a hospital appointment tomorrow to have my breathing checked and I'm absurdly excited about it as I've had a breathing problem for 24 years and this is the first time I'm going to talk to someone who really understands it. I'm going to try to keep my head on straight and have written down all of the questions. I wondered if you would cross your fingers for me?

I've had that with a virus too but she should go straight to out if hours, definitely not go to bed Em.

Jam I bet there's a student cook book on kindle. I've definitely seen pot noodle recipes you can do at home so don't rule them out. Does he like beans? Suet? whats his favourite takeaway? I"ll look in my book for it and give him the recipe if I have it.

Fajitas in pitta bread?
Fish cakes (ready made)
Whole chicken portioned up (he would need chicken shears but whole chickens £2.50kg) you've got stew with dumplings, traybake, curry, fajitas, baked risotto.
Kedgeree. Sounds poncy but it takes minutes and Iceland do cheap smoked haddock. I use smart price rice in mine. It's basically lazy fish risotto.
Doner kebab is quick. I bet pork mince would work and it's cheaper than lamb.

Which supermarkets will he have?.

Would an instant pot benefit him?. There's a thread in chat at the moment and people are raving about them.