Decedantly damcing towards December - frugaleering Christmas ahoy!

[ememem84]

New thread

Love have you seen the end of "The Sound of Music" where the Nuns take bits out of the car so it can't be driven any more?

Not sure if I said. Good news about the money sneaky.

£9 coop Inc £2.50 for a card. £1 church, that's it today. Although my cc has been declined on eBay so better ring them

Oh dear love.

That's good news Sneaky, congrats!

I rather like Autumn's idea re: Love's mother's car.

I really hope ds has a good sleep tonight -- i sympathise with those suffering with the frequent wake-ups!

Meal plan for this week:
Stir fry with rice
Leftover curry with rice
Veggie tofu tomato pasta (but need to buy more pasta first)
Ratatouille lentil pasta
Veggie sausage and veg rice casserole
Refried beans soft tacos
DH's chilli

I was thinking that about the car because I recently was reading someone's account of caring for a relative through dementia. He said that one of the harder parts was selling his parent's car by stealth, because the parent was still driving and could not remember that he had dementia and so should not be driving.

It made me wonder if it might be easiest just to quietly nobble the car rather than start a fight about it. Though tbh, I would definitely just phone the DVLA in a heartbeat in this situation, having lost a friend in car crash before.

Sorry for sticking my oar in. I'm sure it's not that simple when you're right there in the situation.

I have a new nephew!!! Sil in nz had her csection at 8 last night (8am her time). Yay

Great news

Yay!

I had a cracking good sleep. Zzzzz..

Gosh you lot can talk. I’ve been away for the weekend and lost about 12 pages!
Congrats em on the nephew and the baby!
Well done on the money sneaky
I’m sorry there’s absolutely loads to catch up on so I feel like I’m taking the easy way out by giving up and jumping back in here! I have already spent £14.99 on a new comforter from amazon for DD as we seem to have left hers behind this weekend - I expect it was tangled in the sheets - but could be an issue this morning as she usually takes it to nursery. Amazon should deliver the replacement by tonight (fingers crossed).

Congrats em!

No sleep yet.

And now I'm in bed I'm not tired. Ugh

Drs this morning for me. To start the booking in process and so dr can make a referral for a scan. I’m hoping I can get in this week. As would really like to know how far along I am asap.

Feeling so sick this morning. I’d forgotten about this bit...! Haha. Hopefully it’ll pass quickly though I’ve vague memories of it going away at around 14 weeks. So fingers crossed I haven’t got long to go.

Dr was £42 on Friday so will likely be the same again today. But I can claim this all back from my insurance.

I have a half day today to watch ds' nativity. I don't have time to go home, so will knit a camel in the car while waiting. It looks like someone has been in and stolen half our stuff in the night, then I remembered I took it to the tip.

Good luck today em I had a different time range of morning sickness with all of mine. How smug was I when I wasn't sick at all with dd2...turns out I had 16w-full term sickness. On balance 5-12w with dd1 was preferrable.

Right, better have a coffee and start to get my house up. Ds came in at 4, and snored and squiggled relentlessly, hence why I'm up a bit early. Even at 6yo they can be night-time pests! At least he's cuddly.

Morning all. Happy frugal Monday

Ds looked a bit grim yesterday so I’m hoping he’s well enough to go to school

Hi all, sorry I’ve not been around, just well, Christmas really. I’ve no other excuses.

Had a nice little bonus this week. Like me, mum saves for the Christmas food shop all year round. But because they are going to my brothers, she’s got no shopping to do. So she’s split what she’s saved between me and my brother, bless her. I have begun the Master List of food, so will make a start on that this week.

em belated congratulations! Hope you get your scan very soon. And that you feel better (best not mention I was still throwing up at 30 weeks with my second and lost 2 stone). Oops 🤣.

Em Just to balance that, I was fine right through with my one.

Back from dr. £42.50 lighter. Forms completed. Midwife appointment booked. Bloods taken. Flu jab given. Anti depressant dosage lowered with an idea of weaning off.

Was in with dr for almost an hour. Which was nice. She is very supportive. Dh came as well as ds. And he had questions about supporting me. Ie me coming off the meds, and the pnd I suffered last time etc. It will be flagged and managed this time. So more support during the pregnancy during the birth and after.

Feel much calmer and happier. The shocks gone and reality has set in. Still can’t quite believe we’re doing this again! But yay!!!

Everything is fine. Lowish blood pressure but mines usually quite low anyway. I may have to tell work early in case i go all wobbly. So that’s a Wednesday job.

Practically we need to think about:

• saving money for maternity leave
• getting hold of new born stuff
• do we need a bigger car
• second car seat
• work - will they let me drop my hours to 4 days a week. Or will I have to change my role. Or do I leave and find something else where I can dictate my hours. This one concerns me. I don’t want to leave. I hope they wouldn’t want to lose me. But that’s something that needs to be sorted.

Been off the thread for most of Sat & Sun and thought I'd have loads more to catch up than I had, obviously you've all been busy too

Joint account is looking particularly deflated but friend forgot her transfer for au pair last week so I'll remind her to double up this week and h hasn't done his transfer yet either, no direct debits due so I'm not concerned at the moment.
Spends
Groceries €79.03 (used €30 vouchers to reduce it to this)
Clothing: PJs & Slippers for me (€25 reduced by €5 voucher, might wrap from dc yet)
Christmas Placemats €10
Smyths - birthday present €16.99, €142.90 only books left to get for dd now, went to attic for decorations and discovered lego I purchased (according to ynab on 15.02.18) and forgotten about for ds so they're done now.

Yogoland €19.50 outrageous for 3 frozen yogurts and toppings never again major treat alert! and ds left most of his after him They were delighted with the place but still we could've had an entire meal at that cost.

Amazon €26.56 on a schoolbag for ds, the saga continues, hopefully he'll like this one.

Dunnes Stores €20 giftcard for a birthday dc are attending next Sunday
Got a refund on another school bag in Argos €12.99
€130 aupair + €20 on babysitting for night out Sat night(h changed his night)
€26.56 on drinks
€10 dc pocket money, two weeks worth
€30 school bus.

I need diesel and left fuel card at home so will put in €10 today and fill tomorrow with fuel card.
€849 on gym membership(family Christmas present)

Lots to think about Em, but glad to hear you sounding happier/calmer. Hope the sickness passes quickly.
I had quite a productive day yesterday, got some study done, got a Christmas tree (managed to all 6 foot+ of it in my teeny tiny car). The tree is up but just needs decorating which will be tonights job. Feeling quite festive now. Prepared the Delia mincemeat which will be cooked through tonight, it smells divine. Gave the kitchen a good clean.
Today I've been into work to finish a couple of tasks as I had to dash off on Friday, I went from there to a circuits class, am going to do another small chunk of study, then go to town to hopefully finish Christmas shopping & grocery shop on the way home.
Busy but feeling reasonably organised.....

north yes much happier. I had porridge for breakfast and so far am feeling ok. Maybe it was a hunger thing too! I remember that from last time. Felt sick because I was hungry but too sick to eat so felt sick. Vicious circle. I said to dh the thing that gets me now is the “I have to eat” even maybe when I don’t want too.

Am going back to speak to dr in a couple of weeks - when I see the midwife the dr will be there too which is nice. And I want to speak about an exercise plan. I’ve been hitting the gym hard. And obviously can’t go as hard as I was. But want to go through what I want to do and make sure it’s safe and ok.

Practical frugal thinking hat on.

I won’t need to buy many maternity clothes. I don’t think. I got away with 2 pairs of jeans, a couple of skirts and a couple of tops last time. Just mixed and matched for work. I don’t think i even wore them until 5/6 months. So don’t need anything fancy.

I won’t need anything spendy like a new coat. Phew.

We will buy new bottles. And a new steriliser (or get one second hand). I checked and kept some of ds’ newborn stuff. And know people who are due in March so am sure they could pass on stuff.

The thing that concerns me is work. And nursery. Can we afford two lots of fees? Is it feasible to pay two lots and work? All lots of questions.

em I was like you with first pregnancy hardly wore the maternity clothes at all and had very very little but with ds I was in them by about 10 weeks

There's normally some discount on creche fees for second child approx 10% I think.

Work thing will sort itself out - you'll figure it out in time

Em That's great that this morning went so well. Your GP sounds a real . Great that your dh and ds came too. That's a good sign.

I really think you're right to think about the work situation. It may be that perhaps you come up with a new solution, that is unique to you and your family. I really hear how important your work and you independence are to you, and I can imagine that that might be the thing that really matters. Good luck there

My lovely dGP also threw me a rope this week and has explained that I really need to put the breaks on in order to get out of the cycle of working too hard and then crashing, so I'm being very well behaved, resisting temptation on all sides and moving slowly.

I've came under heavy pressure to host Christmas for the extended family, since that they're all now living nearby. I have however, dug my heels in and refused. New rule: relatives to visit in groups of two only, and only easy-going ones to visit after the 15th Dec.

"come", not "came"