Scrimping through the remains of September, Austere Autumn approaching, frugal friendly 'Fred

[Justanothermile]

Thought I'd make a new thread, I'll post on the old one and alert to its presence.

All are welcome, we are friendly folk.

I've just built a nest of tables (which I bought with the proceeds of our old coffee table that was too big). It's much easier doing flat pack furniture when I have dh's battery driver to hand. WreckCat is enjoying the box.

I'm debating making soup for lunch. I know I probably should but I'm just so tired! Suppose it's easy enough though I don't even need to peek the veg just chop it all and chuck it in the saucepan...

Have you considered sticking four jacket potatoes in a casserole dish in the microwave and then getting back into bed? That's working out well for me today.

£61 Asda 😱😑🤦‍♀️ That included leggings etc and also DH got me a fluffy dressing gown 😍 and easy meals for today (we have all but given up ready meals lately now that I’ve got better at batch cooking etc but today needs must!) DH is cooking the rest of the pork chops for lunch before he goes to work. With naice coleslaw.

Haha! That would be nice but much too much to get done today unfortunately

north the party sounds brilliant , I bet you looked fab!! Glad the antibiotics are helping ds.

cag that does sound like the period from hell 😨 hope it settles down. I take evening primrose for pmt which def helps, pity the fool that crossed my path without it!!

We have had a good clear up here, dd tidied and hoovered downstairs and I did upstairs, have also portioned up the bolegnaise to freeze. Will take one portion to mums later for dinner. Dd now doing homework before we go out.

Cag one of my friends had a bad time like that that turned out to be an ovarian cyst, but I think it was very clear that that was what it was for a long time before it got that bad. It didn't seem to be much fun for her at all.

I did ponder that as I mentioned I was diagnosed with PCOS recently. And have had some pain there, it felt like ripping a muscle a few days ago. So will keep an eye. I’m not going to the GP unless it continues a few more days as I do think it’s just this one IYSWIM.

Thanks will find out about evening primrose, I have heard good things! Must check it’s ok for BFing. The paranoia and anger are insane. But the really weird thing is with this period they aren’t there.

I love how on this thread we can talk about anything :o 💐

Pork chops are done yummmmmm

Forgot to mention my bus pass replacement arrived yay

Busy busy here, DS birthday and our wedding anniversary.
Lasagna made, scones made but not my finest, sandwiches, party food.
Dancing to musicals tunes. Dd age 10 3/4 telling me to turn it down.

I like how we can talk about anything here too Cag. I used to be really squeamish about medical stuff but I'm getting quite good at at now. It's got to the point where my neighbours, who I know only slightly, are now coming to my door to confide their medical problems, and then bringing me tins of biscuits to say thank you. I feel like the world's rookiest doctor.

I tried evening primrose when I had a mega period (it didn’t help immediately - I thought it would...duh) but it did help me a bit the next one.

But then after that I was pregnant and pretty sure I threw them away.

I am feeling the effects of last night now. I’m in ds’ room with him and catface. On bed. He’s napping. She’s napping. I’m meant to be sorting his clothes but am also contemplating a nap.

I’ve said to dh I’m doing sober October. I’m very tempted to give up drinking. It’s no good for me. I did have a bit last night (a g&t and half a bottle of prosecco) but I don’t feel sick or anything, just a overwhelming tiredness. Because it doesn’t help me sleep.

I think I either need to limit myself to one drink when we go out. Or no drinks. I can’t cope with feeling like this with ds around.

We’ve done some good playing in the last couple of hours. We made skittles with kitchen rolls. And threw a ball at them. And we’ve played outside with his walker and trampoline.

Dh is watching the golf.

Dm’s Making apple crumble and she’s volunteered to make my cake for the bake sale tomorrow.

That period sounds awful Cag. I’ve only flooded once, sadly it was on to my chenille (uncleanable) sofa. It really made me feel nervous of going anywhere for days though. Snuggly it must be ghastly for you when teaching!

Happy anniversary/DSbday Life

I’m flat out trying to get the house in done sort of order, spurred on my the thought of returning to work. It is basically clean and tidy but cupboards are heaving and we have far too much clutter. I’ve cleaned the fridge today thoroughly (taken all the shelves /drawers out and washed properly) and am chucking away all the old hardly-used stuff leftover from a distant recipe (preserved lemons? Cornichons? Tikka paste?). Next time I use any such ingredient I’m going to have to make a concerted effort to use up the rest. But at least now I can get stuff in the fridge door.

Second lot of laundry on, will do a couple more after this. I have tons to put away too. And I’m making minestrone soup for lunches. Gammon is in the slow cooker for later (with Boulangere potatoes /sugar snap peas).

I can’t get over how tidy my wardrobe looks, I keep going to peek at it!

I have sifted out a few occasions dresses that I know I’ll never wear again, from when I went to more regular black tie events /posh weddings. I think I am going to try listing them on a Facebook group I’m on. I just need to work out what postage would be and get some stuff to package them up for posting. I’m not sure they’ll sell but they are lovely and in mint condition so worth a try. I’m not sure I feel like braving eBay selling just now! 🤞🏻

The month is not ending well - new glasses £109 and we need to grocery shop which will be £££ as literally no food, loo roll, shampoo etc. 1st October cannot come soon enough! I'm also planning on a couple of weeks healthy eating as I've lived on biscuits for the last month and definitely lacking in energy. I'm hoping to go low carb / cut out sugar in October - how easy is this on a budget?

www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-32677-1331/tranexamic-acid-oral/tranexamic-acid-650-milligram-tablet-oral/details meds for heavy flows. Don't forget you can take ibuprofen and paracetamol at the same time for pain.

Cag Verity is the pcos charity, lots of info on there. I've had it years, pm if you need to.

Time Not too expensive if you shop at aldi/lidl. Eggs, cheese, fish are all cheap there and chicken but chicken is too low fat for low carb on it's own. You'd need a cheese/cream sauce for energy.

Life happy anniversary and happy birthday to your ds

We have come home for lunch so yay that’s £10 saved. I did but myself a sausage sandwich though £3. I feel like I will never be warm again - this is always the case with Sunday’s activity. It doesn’t matter how well I wrap up the cold gets in my goings and then I get sore!
Fluffy that’s a good point about Aldi/Lidl and low carb I found low carb expensive but we didn’t have a local Lidl at that point.

Happy anniversary life and happy birthday to your DS.

cag, fluffy I have pcos too and had a cyst removed in 2013, but couldn't get all of it so I still have some stuck on my ovary. They put in a mirena coil as my periods were so heavy, and every few months I have a very heavy period, with light ones in between. Being a woman really sucks at times

Hoping it’s ok to jump in mid thread and join you - I’ve half looked at the thread in the past and picked up some ideas, but I now need to reduce outgoings in earnest and thought that regular chat might help to maintain my focus.

I’ve just found out that I’m going to be made redundant at Christmas, and although the payout is decent, I want to keep it in reserve and cut our outgoings so that we can live on DHs income alone - then add back in ‘nice things’ and build up savings as and when I do start earning again. So we need to cut our spending by about a third. Plenty of fat to trim but it’s going to take concerted effort - which along with the shock of losing my job is feeling a bit daunting!

Welcome Mimena

Thanks fluffy il try and stock up on eggs etc - will be good for breakfasts! We didn't actually go shopping as the supermarket car park was heaving (3pm in a Sunday) and just couldn't face it. We have sausage and pots so bangers and mash it is (healthy eating starts tomorrow!)

Welcome mim. Sorry to hear about redundancy but good that you're seeing it as an opportunity. There are lots of savings to be made with extra time to shop around, bake, batch cook etc x

€30 on riding hat
Grandad bought the back protector €85
€10 on toys at horse fair
€6 bumper cars
€4 on church donation

€20 dog nuts

Girlie you just reminded me I used to take starflower oil and found it good for pmt must purchase again.

Hi mimema welcome to the thread, do you think you'll look for another job or just trim the expenses?

Hi mimema I am a newbie too.

We managed a pretty frugal Sunday.

Sold some outgrown kids waterproofs for £10 on facebook.

Spends:
£2 on carrots and apples (for humans not darling horse)
£1ish on atora for dumplings

DH spends:
£6 bottle of wine
£1.60 on 2 bags of maltesers after swimming

On the plus side I have made a big beef stew with 5 portions left over, a chicken and stuffing pie is waiting to be cooked which will be 8 potions. All the mash to go on the side is made and ready to go in the food prep boxes to be frozen. Sweet potato and chicken curry is marinating ready to be shoved in the oven tomorrow should be at least 6 portions in there, will make the naan and rice ready for freezer some point tomorrow.

I am following the mooncup with interest, currently have an implant which stops all periods but it needs replacing (well it did in May) and I am a giant wimp so hate having it removed, as need three shots of local anaesthetic and the b*stard nurse never believes me that the first two don't work until she starts digging.

Nsd today. Welcome newbies.

DD's topic this term is the Stone Age and my dad has given her a Stone Age axe, two blades, a scraper and an arrow head to take into school. She's really excited to show them off.

cag sounds a horrible night last night. I hope tonight is better

Will 'DH' be able to take DS to any of his weekend activities in the future wolf? Or is that completely out of reach at the moment?

Welcome mimema

I had one drink last night and feel horrendous today. Maybe dehydration more than the booze.

Currently struggling to get DD2 to bed. Her bed is too soft and not bouncy enough to go to sleep on apparently

When do you start back at work seacow? Just think coffee and getting to have a wee in peace at work unless people at work follow you there

Thanks for the welcome all!

Mammy, I’ve got a pretty specialist type of role, and I don’t live / can’t commute to where most of the jobs are (London), so my plan for now is to try to get freelance work and keep an eye out for a more local permanent role. If the freelance work takes off, I might carry on doing that. But it’s unpredictable, hence wanting to have our basics covered by DHs income.

Wreck, I’ve got a couple of primary DC and they would love to take that Stone Age haul into school, how cool!

We’ve had a NSD today, as we did the big food shop yesterday. It’s a top area to look to cut - first step is an inventory of what’s in the freezer, we too often buy duplicates of what we already have.