Spending October organising our spends - friendly frugaleers this way!

[ememem84]

New thread because old one is almost full. All welcome. fluffy can you be a doll and please post the helpful threads? X x

Girlie Sorry to hear you've had that to deal with just as you're getting back to work. I hope it get better soon for you.

That happened to me with the NSAID cream that I was given to sort out the sunburn skin thing. I looked online and there was very conflicting information about whether topical NSAIDs could cause gastro smptoms, but I did definitely find an authoritative source that said they could. I didn't have any other variables to take into account at the time, so I'm pretty certain that that's what it was with me.

That sucks girlie :(
Thanks for the code born just got the puddlesuit for £16 😍 I got the dinosaur one ❤️🦖 raaaaaah

Finally getting baby to doze off, she has been a moody little madam for a couple of hours and was seriously doing my head in. That combined with trying to explain grammar to the Caglets (they really struggle with even basic stuff due to their struggles with language nuances, because of their ASD) has made for a very grumpy Cag. Thankfully I got lentil soup out of the freezer for lunch, seriously craving comfort food!

Girlie that would be a real bugger if it was the Voltarol. I can’t tolerate nsaids (used to get vioxx before they banned it for little old lady stomachs as my gp used to say) but luckily I’ve never had any issue with gel. I hope it turns out not to be the gel for you just so at least you can have a useful mechanism for pain relief for your neck and arm

Just called Dm and wish I hadn’t. Poor ds is crying in the background. He slept for all of 30 minutes this morning before coughing and waking himself up. Just like last night. ☹️ They’re taking him out in the car in the hopes he goes to sleep.

He’s clingy and teary. Poor babbooooooo

Ha ha, we’ve got the duck one cag! I look awful in yellow so dress the baby in it quite a lot just to get my fix

It’s not that app Em, I think it’s called ParentZone. But it seems to do the same thing. I am slightly at knowing every detail of sleep, nappies, eating... but it is quite useful!

Had a good couple of hours of working in the end, though I was freezing in Costa as they put the aircon on . But I feel less bad cluttering up their tables than the naice independent coffee shops round here, which are busier. Now home and just waiting for the Cleaner to leave so I can kick back with a jacket spud and beans and last week’s EWFL. Living large

I just checked back in out of curiosity as I finally checked my e-mail and found Seacow had tagged me in something and I had to have a nosy . I have not forgotten about you all but life for me is somehow mad hectic yet also really slow and boring at the same time ...how is that possible? I'm not really enjoying the tiny baby stage I'm not gonna lie, I hope I take better to mothering a toddler/child . But then DD cries almost all the time for many days on end so that is very stressful. Doctors can't find anything wrong with her and the HV suggested silent reflux but she doesn't have many of the symptoms. Apparently I was like this as a baby too so hopefully she'll grow out of it. I keep thinking it's me though and something I'm doing wrong that she isn't happy, or that I've made her super anxious and unhappy by myself being super anxious when I was pregnant with her etc.... Anyway on the plus side today so far is A Good Day. I went out to the local shops for an hour and she didn't cry while we were out and is now having an epic nap. She's been asleep for about an hour and a half which is Unheard Of!

Girlie Haven't read back but I am crap with NSAIDs orally too and have to always take them with food and omeprazole. Have been taking omeprazole on and off for nearly 8 years now, but never had any side effects and it really really helps me. Never had a problem with the gels though, I struggle to understand how that could cause problems when such a negligble amount passes into the GI tract that way?

Em Sorry to hear DS isn't doing so well . DH and I say 'baboo' too but we spell it 'babu' for some reason . Never heard anyone else say it til now!

Hope everyone is well. We are broke tbh, thank God for my parents. I probably spent about £30 at the shops? I have about £500 of savings left in one bank account and then like £-300 in my main one. Eek.

Very late thanks for new thread @ememem84.

Spends yesterday:
£10 supermarket (didn't do a full shop this week as I really didn't need enough to bother so will do a few quick shops instead)
£4 coffee and cake

:o I really liked the duck one too, but we are all a bit dino obsessed. She likes to roar! Mum reckons she has similar voucher codes coming so I will probably get some dungarees but I want to look at them in store first as there’s a few I can’t choose between.

I am hiding in the kitchen despite already having eaten lunch. DH’s bread caught a bit in the toaster and set the fire alarm off which woke the baby 😡😭 she’s in with the others having lunch (some of my soup plus a boiled egg) and I’m just grabbing some silence while I can.

Going to try and use up what’s in the freezer this week I think and maybe not need to spend so much with Tesco. Sausage stew tonight (used gluten free sausages, although they were crap so will return to Heck next time, so DH can have some too) bolognese tomorrow chicken nuggets at some point and my healthy lunches are pretty much sorted. Ooooh could do cauliflower cheese with the bechamel for one dinner.

Hoping in half term that we can do the next lot of batch cooking. We need to really start planning lunches as well as dinners, and especially DH’s food as he too often gets home at 10.30pm and grabs cereal instead of something decent. I also need to make sure Cagletini is eating 3 meals a day now. This is one of the things I am planning to talk about with him later. Not sure if I’ll go to tae kwon do with them or not - plan was to sit in the cafe and chat if baby allows 🤔 weather is miserable but I could do with the fresh air if it’s not too awful.

sea we have a book for all of his nappies and food and naps. It’s quite useful as I leave it in his nappy bag and then Dm can see what’s normal for him when she has him or whether he’s eaten xyz.

This afternoon is going slow. I am le tired. C’mon 5pm.

meadow ds is also known as [real name]-bear; little mate; babooobala; captain stinkypants; baby dolphin (he made a noise like a dolphin when he was teeny); squoooshybear; and c-dawg (when he’s feeling gangsta...)

Oh and also “sticky Micky” for when he’s eaten and tries to smother his hands all over my face...

I am trying to write my mid year review. I would rather be cleaning the loo!

Meadow it’s lovely to see you

Im eating wedding cake
I love my job

It’s awful when they’re upset and you’re not there Em 🙁

Ha ha Meadow, I rather hoped I’d smoke you out of your hiding place! Really sorry to hear you are finding the baby stage hard though. You’re not alone - it’s not easy, and for whatever reason (but I’m sure it’s not because of anything you’ve done wrong!) your DD sounds quite high needs. Mine were both moderately high needs - both had silent reflux, both wanted to be held a lot, especially to sleep... neither slept through the night till around a year old. It’s a grind. I did find that around 9m was quite a turning point for both of mine - naps clicked into more of a routine and night sleep got more reliable too (still waking but just the once) and the reflux definitely improved. I think it’s natural to wonder whether it’s something you did but honestly, some babies just are more needy at first, it’s the luck of the draw. And some people just don’t find the baby stage especially easy or fun anyway (I was okay with it but it’s definitely not my favourite part). Once they get into their second year they get a lot more fun and interesting - the walking, talking, really responding to the world.... Hang on in there, it will get easier. I promise.

Finances sound tight too - is it that your regular outgoings are high or have you just had unavoidable extra expenses? Is there any prospect of things improving soon? It’s great that your parents are willing to help though. It’s an expensive time with a young baby, with maternity leave, and all the gear they need, and they just keep growing... I’m just going back to work now and am very pleased that I will be earning again!

I like this week’s EWFL family. They really do want to get healthier, not just save money. One thing I’m never convinced by though... why do they always seem surprised when Greg and John pop up in the supermarket? They’ve got microphones on and are being filmed... can’t be much of a shock!

sea I have an ewfl theory. I reckon they’re told that they’ll be filmed each time they go for x amount of weeks. So they don’t know which trip they’ll pop up at. Although I suspect they’re just filmed the once.

Yeah it’s always Tesco too, just to remind me of the daisy dw powder they discontinued.

Nsd.

Hi everyone no work for me today, as I was up in the night vomiting, everyone else is ok, probably caught something from work. Have been sleeping on and off and luckily dp is not working today so he is doing the school run.

em, we use tapestry and we have mixed views over it, they have used a paper version to track the children for years (I still have my dd2s for when she went there) and it is lovely to look back on. But it is the future, so for now we are trialling a half and half approach and will get the parents feedback in a few months. Hope ds is better soon.

cag, I'm glad the links are useful to you.

Girlie sorry to hear you are poorly again, hope you feel better soon.

Curls sounds like a good meet up, a few of my colleagues follow the curly girl method, I wonder if there are meet-ups in our area.

Seacow, sounds like a very productive day and seems that you are enjoying the work.

meadow lovely to see you, the baby stage can be relentless, it does get easier. You are doing a brilliant job, don't you forget that.

seacow me and DH have the same argument each week about ewfl and the shock of seeing Greg and the other one at the till. I do really like the programme though and have been known to binge watch previously watched episodes on nights when DH is out.

NSD today so far, just need to make DS1 a snack dinner for when I pick him up between school and football. I am heading to the gym rather than costa while he trains. Hopefully Dmother will have put DS2 to bed by the time I get home.

Afternoon.

Meadow, lovely to hear from you. I think seacow has provided a great post. I think your first child is the one you are the most anxious about, they are your prototype, the one you figure it out with. So there's probably some anxiety that we are new parents feel that maybe our babies sometimes feel. I've no idea how to change that, but I know Dd was massively more chilled out than DS, but probably so was I by that stage. Agree, days are extremely long and boring but busy at the same time!

Hope you feel better soon curvy

I keep meaning to learn about the curly girl method too, but then chicken out and use the GHD's.

Are you a vicar in RL quite

NSD.

I've a £10 voucher for Boden to offer, I don't need or want anything. Regulars feel free to pm, even if it's the same person as last time, that's cool.

Voucher expires 21/10 btw.

Or a patisssiere? (Although if you are and you’re eating someone’s wedding cake then you’re probably a bad one eating the profits)

Or are you wedding cake testing?

Not even close ! em and Sea

A wedding cake tester would be bliss .

Sorry Jam not Sea

49 minutes to go. So close....

21 mins.

Em If that's you counting down to the time when you can go to see your ds, then I think you should definitely print that and put it in his baby record for when he's 18. I think he would love that. I find it very touching.

We are having a nice day here. Grandparents came over for tea.