Spending October organising our spends - friendly frugaleers this way!

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

I just realised that I can give my parents their Christmas presents in person this year for the first time in more than 10 years. That's quite something isn't it?

Cag, with the money, I think you should get yourself a coat, if you still need one?
You have kitted the kids out, now it's time for you.
I only say this because it took me years to realise that I was important too, the kids had what they needed all the time and I was still in clothes that were years old.
Go treat yourself woman, you deserve it!

Autumn, that will be lovely to share that with them.

Window catch was free - guy said dm could have it for nothing, saved me €10

€25 on wool for jumper dm is knitting for me - got a lovely deep red with flecks on it

€21.99 on takeaway as dc had been promised this by h & we spent 6 hours at my nans catching up with loads of family, I left my phone in car so it was really good quality time

Dcousins are both going to follow Mrs hinch for cleaning - we're all grown ups now talking about stuff like that instead of kissing boys & make up

Wondering now about Autumn’s many nice men Do tell...

I agree with Jam’s sensible post - though not of course taking issue with anyone’s right to vent, I’ve done it myself! (Also no denying that some H’s are just twats). I’ve been out all afternoon and got back about 30 mins ago. The kitchen /diner looks as though we’ve been turned over. Lunch things not washed up, never mind dinner. Serious mess everywhere and food still on the floor round DD’s high chair. Washing not put on as I asked (we’ve a bit of a backlog - Mount Washmore! (Thanks Cag ). And DH rang me while I was out to ask what the kids were having for dinner 🙄 which drives me batty. Especially as I batch cook various things so he only has to choose something and defrost sauce /add pasta or whatever. I could say that it’s a bit shit of him to make a huge mess and leave it all for me to clear up when i get back when I hardly ever go out, he’s had all day, why can’t he think what to feed the kids without me telling him etc. BUT I went out with my mum and sisters for most of the day and had a lovely time. I don’t take much time for just myself but when I ask if it’s convenient he’s always accommodating. And while he did no housework he took the kids out in the garden and played with them all afternoon. I’d have done the tidying and cleaning but probably wouldn’t have played with them outside as much. I’m not sure his way is wrong (at least for just one afternoon, he can’t NEVER clean up unlike his batchelor days ), just different priorities. I’m not excited about the tidy up though

Anyway, no tube costs cos borrowed DH’s travel card. £abittoomuch in yarn shop and £3 on soft drinks for all of us. DMum treated us to afternoon tea (so generous!) which was amazing. And I had champagne too. Then I bought DH a tarte aux framboises from Patisserie Valerie on the way home as he didn’t have lovely afternoon tea, £4. He’s not noticed it in the fridge yet so will be chuffed later.

Getting the kids to bed, tidying the kitchen, putting a wash on and then watching Strictly and doing a bit of knitting. Lovely day.

Sorry yours has sucked a bit though Cag.

I’ll probably have lots of cross posts as I’ve been writing this around DCs’ bedtime!

Just delurking to say try 'Iglu' gel for mouth ulcers Em, it sticks to them and definitely makes a difference.

Aw thanks.

Watching strictly, Danny’s jive has cheered me up a lot. As has paneer pasanda. Cagletini is merrily walking round the living room with a roti. 🙄

Thank you curvy I don’t need a coat (got a cheap one which is perfectly fine but with the proviso that if I see one I love I will get it no matter what) but do need clothes generally. I have maybe 3 pairs of trousers and about 5 tops and most of them are a bit scruffy! I haven’t bothered replacing stuff and it’s getting a bit ridiculous. I totally agree I always sort the kids first.

Also need glasses bigtime but going to ask for them for Christmas from my parents. DH did say they are an essential not a present but we don’t have the money for them on top of everything else that is currently needed!

Back!!!

Busy day. After restraining myself and not pushing dh down the stairs (he chose to say that whilst standing at the top...) we had words. I cried. He admitted he doesn’t get why I’m stressed or anxious and doesn’t get the pnd at all. I’ve told him to go and find out. Speak to someone about it.

We’ve had a nice day. Ds napped then came to the stables with me. He sat in his pushchair while I rode (lesson in the school so sat with the instructor for a bit then one of the other mums played with him) dsis turned up halfway through with her friend too so that was super helpful.

We then went to my friend’s daughters birthday. Ds got over his fear of slides and went down one on his own (with me just holding his hands). Yay! He also had 2 pieces of super lovely cake. Well we shared. But he had all the pink frosting. Haha.

Dh was at new house doing painting. So he missed the party. But we popped into see him after and ds shared his party box with daddy. Haha.

Chinese for dinner we almost never do takeaways £19.

£32 coop for bread milk etc. And antiseptic mouth wash and bonjella. I thought about the iglu stuff but couldn’t find it. So bonjella. It’s partly the aligners for my teeth that are upsetting my mouth. They’re rough this time. Must file them...

Cag Sorry I forgot to reply about the help with health costs. www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/help-with-health-costs/nhs-low-income-scheme-lis/

meadow if dd likes baby rice I’ll be amazed. I know so many babies who hated it. Ds refused to eat it. Loved baby porridge though. And will happily eat rice pudding now. as well as basically everything else

Sea, really glad you had a lovely day with your dm and sisters.

Cag could you put most of the money towards new glasses and maybe get yourself some jumpers in Primark? I got 3 jumpers the other day and they were £5 and £6.

Meadow, glad to hear you had a better day with dd.

em, glad you cleared the air with dh and ds sounds like he is on the mend, the party sounded super fun.

LOL! Christmas. There's very little to tell, I'm afraid. I'm a teetotal, no-sex-before-marriage type, with zero sensational history, but I always enjoyed being friends with boys at school and beyond. I've travelled a lot internationally since my early years so lots of nice friendships that got suddenly zapped as I moved on, and fond memories to go with them.
I definitely have a long fuse for male behaviour though. LOL!

Cagliostro - yes, that's the plan, to cancel both and try to manage via home practice / organised mum method. Forced self to do huge clean yesterday and was quite pleased with the results, even if not as good as the cleaner might manage (she has a gift!). Cleaner plus yoga is £150 a month, which is a whole 10% of income that could go towards paying down this stupid debt so....

SenescentLeaves - interesting about your devices - do you find them that good? I have a robot hoover but I don't find it as effective as a runaround with the Henry. I have a Lakeland heated airer but no tumble dryer, and couldn't live without my dishwasher! I think my problem is also not getting the kids to help enough, then resenting them laying around on their devices when they're beyond capable of putting the laundry away and emptying the dishwasher.

Haven't read the rest of the thread yet so will do so then check back in. Spend yesterday was £38 in Iceland on foodstuffs various. Next challenge is menu planning: 1 week ahead, veggie, for me and both kids. Also contemplating quitting public transport in favour of biking everywhere - I seem to spend a fortune on buses!

I think biking is a good idea if you have all the gear. Lonely is the biking expert. Jam is vegan now and posts great meal plans. We had 5/7 veggie meals last week not so many this week but I try. Dh would never go veggie, I could but I can't be doing with the separate meals.

I think getting rid of yoga and cleaner is sensible. £150 a month is loads £1800 a year! Once you're debt free you could look at it again. Definitely get the dc helping out. Mine are awful. Actually ds will do his best (he's only five) dd (8) is a lazy bigger.

Leather I think children and robots are great for doing housework. The other thing that really helps me is having a rota, even though it's still me that does all the work. I do it like this:

Monday - living room/hall
Tuesday - dining room
Wednesday - bedroom
Thursday - Kitchen
Friday - bathroom

If I stick to that every week then the clutter doesn't build up too badly and the cleaning barely needs done as not much muck has had time to accrue. Also I don't have to feel bad about mess as I know that that room will get done another day, and so it's not meant to be tidy today iyswim.

The two robot hoovers and the floor cleaner do most of the heavy work for me.

The hardest parts I find are scrubbing the kitchen sink and the bathroom basin, but I've got those easier now, because I spray them with a fine spray of white vinegar from a garden sprayer, leave for an hour and then just wash with fairy liquid or johnson's baby shampoo, and they become beautifully clean, and don't stink of bleach.

I've started doing the kitchen in bleach since reading the home hygiene docs online, and that does stink a bit.

DH does the dishwasher in the evening and sometimes hoovers the stairs. Ds empties the dishwasher for £1 a time when he's inclined that way.

I still find it a lot of work tbh, but I think I would find the effort of having a cleaner in the house harder.

I do spend money on myself, but I spend it on clarinet lessons and on taking my people management problems to a psychologist. I think that's a great exchange for doing the cleaning myself.

Sorry, long post, but I hope it might help anyone who is trying to save money on cleaning.

Warm I love my Lakeland heated airer too. No tumble drier here. The airer is on pretty much all the time.
Morning all. Dodgy sleeps here due to dodgy hips. Need to get up to take ds to his activity. Bleurgh. Happy frugal Sunday everyone

Went a bit over what I expected in last supermarket SuperValu €24.45 but have tucs & yogurt drinks for two weeks.

Totally agree cleaners are gifted Warm. A spin dryer off eBay would cut drying time massively if you have room for one.

The kids need to do things though, you could change the WiFi password if you get any dissent in the ranks.

I used to run the robo hoover every morning, until his battery died and he had to go back to Amazon. RIP Sebastian.

We're all still lounging here. Dh is in bed I'm on the sofa with a blanket. The dc have got their own breakfast and taken their plates/bowls out 😱 might we actually have a good day?!

Dd wants to do some baking. I have eggs flour and butter but no jam or icing sugar. Any ideas? All I've come up with is shortbread.

Bread wreck ?

Dc are in good form this morning too here. We had planned to walk to mass but it's been raining during the night & dd wants pancakes for breakfast plus ds needs showering so I think we'll be driving.

Read up on the organised mum method this morning & think I'm ready to get going on it. Every time I'm in the kitchen lately I've been eyeing up stuff to eliminate that h liked or came from his house before us.

Just replaced my Santana cd that ds cracked for £3.55 inc postage on eBay dc love it too

I mentioned a spin dryer to dh but the washing machine he's bought has a spin function. And a rinse and spin. So if we can spin seperately that’s a bonus. Our old one we couldn’t. It was just rinse and spin as a function.

I feel awful today. But must get on. Dh is leaving in a bit to go paint and dparents are back this lunchtime which means cleaning the house and making sure all our washing is done. I’m hoping they will maybe take ds for me for a bit this afternoon so I can have a sleep. They haven’t seen him for a while week so should be dying to spend time with hi. Right?!

I’m heading to the shop at some point this afternoon too. Want to get sweet potatoes for sweet potato black bean burgers for dinner tomorrow. Dm won’t eat veggie food as she doesn’t think of it as a proper meal without meat. But my plan is:

Sweet potato black bean burgers (with red onions and cumin powder in the mix)
Smokey crispy bacon on top
Halloumi in there too.
Brioche bun.
Nice fresh salad.

Wreck what about scones in you have milk or muffins if you have milk and veg oil? Or pancakes

Oooh scones. Le yum. I could go a scone right now. For breakfast. Mmmm.

Rock cakes if you have raisins/sultanas?

Can't do scones as nothing to eat them with (not keen on them really). I was thinking muffins but they would just be plain? I don't have anything to put in them!

Mammy was after something sweet 😁

Maybe biscuits of some sort?

If you have vanilla extract then vanilla muffins. You could sprinkle some caster or granulated sugar over the top for a sweet crunch. I’ve always either done plain or chocolate chip. It’s rare that I get all exciting and shove a spoon of lemon curd in the middle unless of course you happen to have a bag of frozen berries in the freezer or an eating apple hanging around in which case you could put a middle in

Sea your afternoon tea looked beautiful