Join Money-saving May with the fantastic Frugaleers.

[northender]

Lots of support and advice here for frugaleers old and new.

North I am sorry to hear that about your SIL. Very sad for them, I am sure she will appreciate the support you give her.

😥 north, how sad for your DSil and bro. Fertility problems suck but (from experience) there's a real bitter-sweet kick in the ovaries with secondary infertility. There's a big expectation that you should be grateful for the dc you have, which of course - x1billion - you are, but yet the grief for the child you've lost or not conceived is also a grief for a sibling for your existing dc. You sound like an amazing Sil and a care package (or text, or kind word) at the right time will speak a thousand words xx

Thank you, lovely comments. She is 43 so her biological clock is well & truly ticking too.

Oh north I'm so sorry for them.
You are such a great SIL for you all xx

Thanks for all dd2 birthday wishes, she had a great day.

Sorry to hear about your sil.
Defo send ds in. Bollocks to that rule.
Gws North household.

£30 yesterday on an activity centre thing for the DC and some strawberries.

£35 for pony club today.

north I missed the bit about sil. So sad. Xxxx

Ds is going in. I need to do a quick hair comb before we go. But. He’s going in. If they tell me off so be it.

I must stress if he was actually I’ll i wouldn’t be this blasé about it. But nits aren’t Ill even though it’s making me itch and making my skin crawl

popped into see dparents after dropping ds at nursery and dh at work. they've just got back from a week seeing grandma.

had second breakfast with them. croissants and blackcurrant jam and coffee. yay.

dm gave me some of grandmas kitchen stuff (pyrex dishes with the hunt scene on them, and some hunt themed table mats - grandmas had these for years. we used to fight about who would sit with the one with the fox....they must be at least 35 years old as i don't remember her having any different ones. i love them. dh will probably hate them. but they're being kept).

its a shame that grandma can't cook for herself any more now she's in the care home, but she is 91 (and is losing it a bit if im honest), and she needs proper looking after.

have also just nit combed myself. again. eugh. but as far as i can tell i am clean! hoorah. am definetly getting some tea tree shampoo though, and will be persevering with the protection spray for now. dh still thinks its a waste of time and effort. i hope he gets them

sitting on bed now with cat face (she has become my shadow again, supervising my every move...) and am about to start writing my essay again.'if i can get a solid 2/3 hours in today i'll be happy.

then gym at 415. then pick ds up at 5. then home for chicken pho for dinner.

Oh North Imsorry to hear that. Losing a baby is heartbreaking. Hope you are ok.

Nsd.

Checking in after almost a week.
@mrsg, you asked about our extension plans; we are basically hoping to renovate our kitchen by opening it up to the south with lots of glass and a small extension. We will also move some internal walls to create a bigger utility room and a full wetroom to replace the current WC. That's the starting point and we are in the process of choosing an architect right now. We met with one and really liked him, but were slightly freaked out by the figures mentioned. Its a one time job though so we want to do it properly and I think its worth stretching ourselves for it. Serious frugaling needed for the foreseeable though, and that doesn't really come naturally to me

I'm doing well at sticking to my budget this month though, some summer clothes for DD has been the only 'extra' expense really; they were needed, and I took advantage of the Sainsburys 25% off and bought multipacks so did quite well I think.

mrsg great news on tax bill
north your poor SIL, how much heartache does one couple have to go through, it's definitely a man's world though isn't it?
Are you feeling better yourself?
em I'd have done the same as you if it was my child, it's not a illness although he's contagious sure he picked it up there!

I think I posted yesterday about buying my vitamins, I actually bought 3 months supply as I got expenses from work yesterday of €237.42 so spent €78.62 on 3 months vitamins and rest will go towards paying some of balance due on summer holiday I think.

I am ten days into sticking to my budget and currently, it's going well. :) I have another 21 days to be the judge of it though. The biggest test will be from next Tuesday to the 21st.

Got £5 of electric
Ate at a cafe £5.50
and then got some sandwich stuff. £4
I also bought a game out of my fun money which was cheaper at tesco then on xbox.

I'm feeling really glum about money today. Feel I did brilliantly throughout May, despite a huge car bill, and really thought I'd left enough for the rest of the month. Unfortunately the rest of the month is half term (I'm a teacher) and inevitably means costs. Not even exciting days out kind of costs, more like new coats and shoes, haircuts and dentists. Basically all the boring stuff I can't usually spend money on whilst I'm working full time!! Bleurrgh - another month of beans on toast

Picked Ds up from nursery. No telling off re nits. Will comb him again this evening.

Now waiting for dh. Right outside his work. I’ve managed some seriously skilled parallel parking. Mostly through sheer determination as some eeeejit taxi driver said “youll Never get it in there love - want me to do it for you?” I showed him. Parallel parked with probably equal distance between cars.

Ds is enjoying having all the traffic to look at. He’s counting cars. “Toooofeeeee” and that’s all we get. No one. No four. Just two. Three.

I always make it my mission to get into tiny spaces em especially if the idiot in the next space is parked like an idiot. I have a big car too and a camera

Madden half term here too. I buy all my DC's coats on eBay, decent brands for half the cost. Or mountain warehouse are usually good. Ooo or decathlon. Shoes they have to eek out until summer I feel your pain though.

the coat in question was a Mountain Warehouse reduced hooded puffa thing - £19.99 reduced from £49.99!!

Shoes are tomorrow's job... hopefully I can get away with supermarket trainers as DD7 hasn't quite picked up on brands yet (I give it a year 😩)

I would have done the same em. Shown by the little woman eh. Hee hee. I love a satisfying parallel park.

£3 shampoo bar

Sainsbury's 25% off is on clothes.

Also just to add to my smugness our car is a 2009 model. No parking cameras or sensors. Just used my mirrors.

When I turned the engine off ds said “yaaaaay bubbi”

Just eaten chicken pho for dinner. Spicy and gingery as hell. But delicious.

God I am genuinely awful at any type of parking. I’m very impressed em

thatsnotmybaby sounds like a big job! Definitely important to get it right first time. We had bad builders do our kitchen floor & getting them redone was a costly nightmare.

NSD today! Very pleased. 7 for the month. Hoping tomorrow will end the month on a high with another NSD. Second lot of ASOS stuff arrived & Im keeping the jumpsuit. I’ve always wanted one & not been brave enough to wear one. I’ve tried it with my new white trainers just like the model but I’m not sure it’s a look I can pull off. But it’s so comfy I can see me wearing it lots.

I’ve been using my Monzo app to round up all the pennies on my transactions & in 2 months I’ve saved £30! Pretty good considering I didn’t notice them. I think Halifax does something similar? Not sure about other banks

I saw an ad for Monzo the other day. Would you recommend it MrsG?

Eugh ds woke up an hour ago because he fell out of bed and then he was awake for the day. He doesn't usually wake until 7 ish so I'm worried he's going to be exhausted later now. We're going to London today.

@darkriver19886 are you our male poster? Just trying to familiarise myself

Wreck hate when that happens with dc, would he nap while travelling?

Absolutely not! He hasn't napped for about three years plus it's only an hour on the train. He might fall asleep on the way home. The worst thing is that him and dd are already arguing

wreck hope ds doesn't get too tired too soon today.
Thank you for the messages re sil & madden sorry yours was from personal experience.
life what shampoo bar did you get? I've got shower bars at the moment & fancy trying a shampoo.
Early start today as off to Liverpool today with the team for some training.
Frugal meal out last night, dd & I feeling much better & so the 4 of us went out using vouchers we had for a local place after making some negative comments about our experience soon after it opened (privately, not public). I would still say it is overpriced, but fine when you get £75 of food & drink for nothing!

I will dig the box out and tell you which one.
Hope your day improve wreck
Need to get some birthday vouchers and baking stuff in town. Payday tomorrow so will set June's budgets.

Going to pay for private physio is the NHS wait list is long