Spending sparingly in early Spring - frugal friendly folk gather round.

[Justanothermile]

New 'fred

Thanks em I’m sure it’ll be fine TBH I’m just annoyed that they specifically did say gifts were fine. But also annoyed at myself for not thinking to explain it in writing as well. And that mistake means we might get OD charges etc 🤦‍♀️

Cag we are all in different circumstances we accept that. Here is where we can speak freely regardless of what those circumstances are.

Had a productive and reassuring conversation with HMRC earlier after a panic about tax.

£6 in subway

Bank account switched. No overdraft facility on this one. Last summer (so less than a year ago) we had a £700 overdraft.

Yes sneaks the negotiation is a frugal win. The subway but so.
As rubbish cag. Get that frog swallowed and complain. It's fine your are speaking about money like that as it's how your thought process has changed.
£10 Sainsbury's.

That's rubbish @Cagliostro,
I hope you get it sorted out soon.

Spends yesterday:
£3 sandwich for lunch.

Spends today:
£4 lunch (very poor on taking lunch to work this week; I've just been so tired due to a combination of not sleeping well and not feeling well, I have leftovers for tomorrow though.)
£8 Easter egg for DH
£3 coffee capsules
£4 vests for DS
£6 tights for DD

Poor DD has been very out of sorts this evening; I hope she isn't coming down with something. We are lucky though that she copes with illness by sleeping even more than usual bless her.
How is your DD @ChristmasSeacow ?

nsd today. First in ages, also remembered to put some chicken breasts in the freezer that were going out of date today.

Cag hope you get the housing benefit sorted that's crap that a gift can mess it all up. How do they even know about it - do they randomly check peoples bank accounts?

Sea I remember you losing your dad (and your granny). The thing that worries me now is my mum. I feel like she's all I've got left and worry about how she will cope and if something happens to her she's on her own. I know its irrational as lots of people are on their own and cope fine. My own MIL has been on her own for 15 years since FIL died and I don't worry about her (I do like her honest!!) I just feel like its exposed a vulnerability in me that I didn't know existed.

Again, thank you to everyone for the lovely posts x

Born it’s amazing how losing a parent changes your relationship with the other parent. I feel very much more responsible for my mum than I did, and she’s both very capable and relatively young. But it’s not really the practical stuff I worry about, it’s loneliness and isolation. There’s always something to worry about, that’s for sure. It’s a massive adjustment for everyone

I have been a bit tearful for the last couple of days because it was a year on Monday since dad told me he was ill again - and that fired the starting gun on a horrible and unreal few weeks. All the signs of spring (flowers! Sunshine!) are giving me flashbacks, I’m surprised how upsetting it’s been . I know my mum is feeling it too. I need to think about what we do at Easter as that has always been a time that my family has spent together. And last Easter Sunday was the last time dad came to our house and the last time he saw my children. I’m going to be in bits. Sigh.

Thanks for the good wishes for DD, she’s much better. She was pretty snotty, hot and fractious all day yesterday but we’ve managed to ramp down the calpol today and she’s much brighter. Mum’s had them today.

DS’s behaviour is awful at the moment. He's acting up for attention, I think as DD gets more vocal and interactive his jealousy is kicking in. It’s a good sign for his development I think, but bloody hard going for me! 😬😬😬

Tayto that parade sounded really fun (as do the small town parades Girlie).

Cag I hope you get the hb thing sorted, that sounds very stressful

Wreck great progress on the overdraft!

Thanks lovelies. 💐 They knew because they sometimes ask for bank statements. This time it was to check my earnings, hence me asking them if they counted a gift as earnings. I also didn’t even think to include my ISA statements, I’ve given them it now, but it genuinely didn’t occur to me because when I phoned he just said “I need your bank statements” and being me, I took that completely literally. But I wasn’t sure whether to explain that in the email. I am so paranoid about people thinking I use ASD as an excuse, because I appear very high functioning. But in so many ways I’m really not :(

DS got a bit upset at the new fantastic beasts film earlier. He has declared Grindelwald is a smeghead 😳 and asked to watch some red dwarf instead. 😂 #stellarparenting

Back home after funeral. I spent about £11 on drinks yesterday. No idea what DH has spent. Will try to catch up later.

Sending you seacow, the first year after a bereavement is always incredibly hard. It's always 'the first time since' but I hope that it won't be too hard for you, and that next year is easier. My DS2 is behaving appallingly at the moment too, I think both boys are finding it hard not having as much attention from their grandparents (MIL has been having cancer treatment). I'm actually taking them both out of preschool once a week to give them some one on one time.

Oh what a pain cag about your HB - I don't know how these things work but hope they get it sorted soon for you. I really enjoyed the Itch books by the way! Depending on what else your DS likes to read, you could try these:

www.goodreads.com/book/show/21046481-the-phoenix-code

Or these:

www.goodreads.com/book/show/13555073-the-screaming-staircase?from_search=true

(The Lockwood books are great but it depends if your DS might find them a bit scary!)

£71 spent in Asda yesterday - sigh - although my Brexit stockpile is coming on a treat, despite me miscalculating a bit. Still, we won't be running out of tinned tomatoes for a good while!! And despite a big shop I will still have to go tomorrow too as DP has taken loads of milk to work AGAIN

to you seacow and born and adora. Tough times.
Jam I love your dd's dress. Lonely, your creativity never fails to wow me. Can't wait to see your dd's prom dress.
Em glad you had a good time in Devon.
Welcome to Rose
I feel for your dd Girlie. ds is getting closer to having his braces so I have this to come. Have you started your new job yet or do you have a date?
I have been skim reading the thread in an attempt to keep up, so sorry to those I haven't mentioned or commented on.
Things here haven't slowed down, but all is good at the moment. Dh had a cyst removed from his neck at the hospital this morning so is sore & feeling a bit sorry for himself. Dd has a few friendship issues going on at the moment, but seems to be negotiating them reasonably well (there is hope girlie), although we had tears last night.
In frugal news (minor things), I have renewed my library books so as to avoid fines!
Last night I used up 4 manky looking bananas making a banana loaf and some banana buns. Yum!
I didn't meal plan properly before my food shop at the weekend, but managed to shop well & have made meals accordingly.
We have ordered blinds for the loft room & the 2 staircase windows and some thermal film for the conservatory roof designed to reduce the heat and glare in the summer and have nearly enough saved to pay for it so every little extra helps.
Dd goes to Germany on her exchange trip in a week so I need to start checking what needs to be done beforehand.
First college Parents evening with ds tomorrow...eek! I think evrything is likely to be positive except for Maths which he is struggling with. He's a bright lad, but doesn't apply himself particularly well, does what he needs to do (jam I think we have similar offspring).

£24 cleaner, £2.50 hospital parking as mil has an appointment. £3 scouts

No other unplanned spends today.

Didn't know you had a cleaner life.

Yesterday
Amazon - £35

Today
Window cleaner £18

Won £15 in prize money for a race.

north - there's hope.DS is actually and finally working hard at university. He's on for a first in his first year. Actually a reflection of what he's capable of - aaarrgh.

Was up late last night as ds was sobbing with growing pains. Poor thing, it's been a while since he had them. Just had to wake him up and he's really grumpy.

Pay day!!! (And there was some extra in it this month too!)

Have already had to change my outfit as I managed to throw tea all over my lap. Ffs.

Sea . I hope you can take some comfort from the fact that your mum has such a fantastic relationship now with your children. That will help her through the tough times and your dad would be pleased to see how close you all are. I always think bright sunny days are almost mocking the grief- it brings it into a sharp contrast.

Adora hope the funeral was ok.

Ruby I need to work on my Stockpile sharpish!!

Oh and my dual fuel direct debit is going down £12 a month to £128 per month from £140. I think that's decent - large house, teenagers and the fact we are not as energy conscious as we could be (we try). Same provider, just sent in meter readings.

Got £30 cash back when we switched too.

Have just read this page but it was complex so with my terrible short-term memory can't remember everything but for everyone struggling with illnesses, grief, worry about loved ones, etc .

Haven't been out yet today but need to pop to local shops to buy some bits when DD wakes up, and also pop to dry cleaners to get my suit and pay. I was technically supposed to collect it on Monday afternoon but I was at work on a KIT day so was going to ask DM to collect it on her way home from the gym on Tuesday morning, but I completely forgot about it until just before . Woops. That will be about £12 + grocery shop. Is that a normal price for a suit dry clean, I can't remember as I haven't dry-cleaned anything since before I was pregnant ?

DD has a cold but not as bad now as she was a few days ago, not giving medicine regularly anymore just SnuffleBabe and putting menthol crystals in a bowel at night and giving her Calpol or Nurofen before bed if she's fractious. However the last two nights she has woke around 2 or 3am and had a bottle because she's hardly had any milk or dinner before bed as she's been too tired from nursery to eat properly. I really hope this doesn't become a habit!! But the first night she hardly ate anything before bed so I was anticipating she'd be hungry in the night and she drank 6oz of milk so she obviously was. Then last night she didn't have loads before bed but enough that she has slept through the night with, but woke up screaming her head off again so gave her a bottle and she drank 4oz which is still enough for me to think she was hungry. The thing is she wakes up screaming hysterically and she has her milk but that doesn't stop the screaming, she continues to scream hysterically for ages. Both nights it's taken around an hour and a half to settle her back down to sleep again. She goes through phases of this periodically and we have no idea what's the matter or how to help her and the GP has no idea either . Any thoughts? It's really upsetting, DH was in tears the other night and he's not a crier .

Only for the last couple of weeks jam. I love her and Thursdays. possibly more than dh.

Sea

New water rates arrived, bill up by £14 a year. Will have to redo my budget on Friday to account for rate and bill increases

Very spend morning indeed. I went swimming... then I saw an offer on membership. £300 for the whole year swimming gym and classes. Cheaper than their usual monthly rate, and I would spend more than that just by swimming once a week... so a no brainer really. Lovely mum is lending me the money, as it is affordable long term, just not right this second.

I also bought cheap trainers/socks on the way home but will also need to source an enormous sports bra from somewhere

Excited but nervous. Super happy though because I get to do something FOR ME. I have more opportunity to while DH is home.

Stupid question time!

My persil laundry tab things say use two for a 6-8kg washer. However, they're pricey - am I alright to just use one?

I always use less washing powder than it says and my washing is always clean and fresh

Great there's 19 in a pack but if I have to use 2 per wash that's 9 washes - that won't last two weeks!

Feel a bit stupid for asking now but glad I can just use one