Festive frugaleers saving through to the new year!

[SnugglySnerd]

New thread! Tried to post on the old one and it was full. Newcomers welcome!

😂

He’s got a lovely singing voice though. We saw him in panto as Captain Hook a couple of years ago, he was really quite incredible. 😳😱

Home from Christmas party.

Hair was £25.

Christmas party was free. And I was given a £200 M&S voucher as my Christmas gift from work. So unbelievably generous.

I drove there and back and managed to have a glass of champagne and sip at a glass of white wine. Dh gulped it down for me and left a bit in The glass which I topped up with sparkling water.

My skirt looked ace. But has left glitter everywhere.

We left just as the dancing was getting started. Sad but had to let Dm go home.

£200 would buy a lot of baby clothes in M&S Em!
Ds just took a piece from dd2's puzzle and won't give it back so she's taken a piece from his. He couldn't think what to do about this so he picked up the whole puzzle and walked off with it. Really funny watching them interact.

Love she was, she couldn't understand his agenda either

Made it through without any ordeal feeling good now so dc arriving home in two hours will be ok

That it would snuggly although dh has said to keep it for me. We shall see.

I’d ordinarily use it for a complete underwear, gym gear, pyjama overhaul. But will hold back!

Christmas party Santa breakfast now. Dh’s work have put this on for the kids. Sigh. I say now. But it’s at 9. I’m not sure if I’m going. I may take advantage of it being dh’s work and let him take ds. His suggestion. To let me rest quietly.

I have a meltdown the other day and told him how exhausted I felt. And that I needed to rest up when I had the opportunity. He seems to have listened to this part.

em I was so suprised by how exhausted I was newly pg with dd2. It's like my body was like "ok, second time round and we're going to pace this a bit better...shut down and sleeep" not easy with a toddler I know. Cbeebies helped me a lot! I was also in maternity clothes at about 10 weeks, after barely showing until about 24wks with dd1.

Up early as the cat woke me for food (2 hours ago). I must write a list for later, as I need odd things and will forget.

Have just ordered dp a new phone. Last night he let slip that he has bought me something. We agreed not to (as he is barely solvent atm), but he has anyway. I hope it isn't anything expensive. His phone is knackered, so I have gone for a mid range upgrade, a 2018 sony, but not the £600 ones just out. He bought me one that I didn't want but admit to loving now so if he doesn't want this then we are equal.

I’ve had an attack of guilt. And am now going to see ds see Santa at the Santa breakfast there better be foodfor the grown ups

lonely I’d heard that I’d more than likely be more tired this time. I’ve been putting it down to it being Christmas too. The build up etc and finally relaxing after the house move.

I said to dh I feel as though I need to sleep all the time. But also want to get on and “do” don’t want to miss out on anything with ds because my time alone with him is now precious.

www.hotukdeals.com/deals/free-organic-black-cloud-coffee-sample-verified-gourmet-coffee-3140639

Free ground coffee sample.

£200 always comes in handy Em.

Lonely did you post a waffle recipe a few weeks ago? I know I’m a pain but I can’t find it - would you mind sharing it again? I’ve got some kids coming over for a waffle party later but have never actually used my waffle maker before!

What you need to do Em is enjoy all the fun aspects of Xmas with ds but make sure dh does all the hard parts like wrapping/cooking/washing up etc. That way you can have special time with just ds without exhausting yourself. I remember being pregnant at Christmas and sitting at the kitchen table peeling and chopping veg while dh did all the rushing around. I quite enjoyed it!

Being tired was my only real pregnancy indicator. I remember that dh was really shocked because I stopped fighting him for the screwdriver when we were doing fix-it jobs and instead sat down and watched. That was definitely never the way before. Tbh, I'm still sitting watching. My screwdriver lust never really returned in full force.

Sorry I've been MIA again. December is always a hectic month. And I've forgotten my password for MN so I can't log in from my phone. So I've been reading but not posting.

em tentative congrats. on your baby news. I can understand your reservations. Hopefully you'll adjust to the idea over the next few months and I'm sure you'll be besotted with the new baby when it arrives. That was a very generous gift from your employer.

Unescorted yaay to pay rise, bonus and holidays.

Seacow glad you finally managed to open your business account

Autumn the raccoon hat sounds hilarious - I was amused at DS's friend's re-action to it .

Lonely that was a pain re: Robin Hood series but at least you discovered now and not last thing on Christmas Eve. I love the owl pjs. When are you off to Center Parcs?

Q very exciting about the wedding. Not long to go now!

north hope your open house goes well tomorrow. I love mulled wine and mince pies so it sounds like you're onto a winner.

Curls sounds like you're having fun planning your NY party. I'm sure your guests will bring some offerings too.

Curvy your nails are lovely and even nicer knowing you didn't have to pay for them.

So, I've only 2 days left in work. It's been really busy as everyone is looking for end of year reports for various things.

I did some shopping in Dublin city yesterday. It wasn't as busy as I expected. I think the weather forecast put people off. I was all done by about 12 and then I went for coffee and a panini (approx. €7). I have most of my presents done now. I still have a few gift cards and books to buy but I'll hold off until pay day on Thursday for those. It's been a spendy month but I I've been budgeting carefully and haven't put anything on the credit card. I'm playing chicken with Debenhams. I've my eye on a pair of pjs for DH but they're €50 and I'm not spending €50 on a pair of pjs. So I've been checking their website every day to see if they've reduced them. If they don't reduce them, I'll just buy a cheaper pair somewhere else. I was very tempted by a pair of flamingo pjs for DD but I dragged myself away. She's already picked out new pjs for Christmas and she doesn't need a second pair. She's not especially into flamingos (flamingoes?) or anything.

I didn't bother going to my work night out as I'd rather spend my disposable money on Christmas presents rather than alcohol. I should add that I'd be quite happy to stick to one or two drinks for the night, but you always get sucked into rounds and having to buy drinks for six or seven people. Then you have to drink at their pace to keep up. It's too much hassle. Do you have rounds in the UK? We had a work lunch/secret Santa which I enjoyed. We just paid €6 for that and ordered in pizzas, sausage rolls, chips etc.

DH has finally realized that Christmas is getting close now and he's in a panic trying to figure out who he has to buy for and when he'll get to the shops to buy those presents . He can't remember who he picked out in the family kriskindle draw .

I need to do up a list for the big grocery shop. I've left it too late to book a slot with Tesco. Unless I get a delivery of non-perishable items on Tuesday (18th) and pick up the veggies and bread etc. closer to the time. Hmmm..... will chat with DH in a while. We also need to decide if we're going to bother with a turkey for three of us.

I wondered where you’d gone to Tayto.

Won £1.56 on free slots 😎 it tops up my balance.

£93 in Aldi. Though some of that will come off my shop next week. I don't plan on going back until 29 December though.
£22 Iceland: ditto

Dh is cooking Christmas dinner. I’ve done all the shopping and will do the wrapping.

I’m absolutely going to enjoy Christmas with ds. We just took him to the Santa breakfast thing. He loved it. Met santa ate party food got a balloon model done.

He wasn’t fussed about face painting.

Just got home and he’s crashed out in the car. I’ve popped him in bed for a nap. Dh is making sausage sandwiches. Le yummmm.

I’ve thrown a load of laundry on and will have my Sammie then head off for a lie down I think. Beds need changing but can do that later on.

I’ve clearly spelled out to dh that I am tired and need to rest when I can so he needs to step up. And this means getting organised for work. Making sure he has shirts ironed and bags ready. Because with 3 of us getting ready in the morning it’s tough enough. God help us when it’s 4. Organisation will be key.

Thanks Tayto, I've been out gardening in my raccoon hat again this morning.

Please skip if you are not interested.

I measured with my light meter gadget which I designed and built myself and the direct sun is just as bright now as in summer, but it is harder to come by as it only shines on my garden for a tiny bit of the day.

Also when I go out I only have a small amount of skin exposed to the light because it is cold, and direct skin exposure to sunshine is what's needed to get the vitamin D.

It's possible to get 25000 units a day from sun exposure versus 200 or 400 from a supplement, but the sunlight has to hit the largest possible amount of exposed skin to get that kind of result.

I have been being careful to get out and spend my hour in the garden this week, so I can get my vitamin D and cheerfulness photons.

I've also being doing a bit of actual gardening, but not heavy gardening to see if that is good for the general physical goodness. It's been good so far.

You can tell me this is all garbage when I fall right over later in the week.

Citizen science project cost = £0. (Yay!)

I didn’t think there was enough uvb radiation in the uk at this time of year to make vitamin d. The earths tilted on its axis away from the sun right now.

That sounds likely Fluffy I read that we couldn't between November and February. The sun is still there though, which is nice and definitely seems to help with something.

Tayto would you get a turkey crown all the nice white meat, that's what I've done last few years. €10.99 for frozen one in Aldi. It serves 6-7 so I'll be slicing & freezing leftovers or else give some to h to take home with him.

Someone take this £300 away, I need to wait for the sales but I want my switch nowwwww.

I really admire you lot and your self control

Self control? I left mine somewhere.

Em early pregnancy tiredness is insane. This time round was literally the most tired I have ever been. And I don’t say that lightly given the illnesses I have. I just couldn’t stay awake. Rest up. How are you feeling about the news now?

I have had a fine morning shopping like I used to all the time! Except this is a once off pre-chrimo blow out and I appreciated being able to spend. Cannot believe I used to shop like this all the time. No wonder I was in so much debt. (Still am, but you know I'm under control now).

£41 pets at home, frozen mice, litter tray, new collars for the dogs.
£28 Tescos, lunch for dd1, dressing gown for ds and diet coke.
£30ish in Morrissons, whole salmon (on offer at £5/kg), food for today, few goodies to stash.
£129 Asda, um. Yeah, lots of stuff!
£2.60 take away latte, was yummy.

So, no need to shop again ever until next friday. Then just a huge turkey crown on the 23rd. Next friday should be just about free c/o Morrisons, and turkey free c/o asda cashback for the year.

Got home to about 8 amazon boxes! All stuff that has arrived I am happy with. Few more boxes to come yet.

I had uvb treatment for guttate psoriasis in 2009. I went from feeling very low and sorry for myself to feeling amazing! Guess it was all the uvb. I had to sign a lot of forms to go into the machine. It was controlled to the second. Lucikly as it's viral, it should never reoccur.

I bet you did, it’s a known carcinogen.

Sneaky Self control is something you can’t buy.

lonely that's interesting to know about the uvb treatment. Your shopping trip sounds lovely.

The thing that gets me about winter sunshine is that even now, my machine is measuring 56000+ lux outside, and only 30 lux inside at my computer. But because my eyes adjust I don't really notice the difference between being out and in. I'm sure this is why dog owners are so perky. Just getting outside in winter, or at any time of the year must make a big difference.