Friendly frugaleers as the leaves fall our bank balances will rise, hopefully!

[lifelongfrugaleer]

Couldn't see one so took the liberty of starting a new thread.

Welcome lucky
plancina it sounds like you have things well sorted, impressive.
em your dh has a very odd family. I'd be very put out (to say the least) that he'd made that decision without consulting.
life happy baking.
Happy birthday cagletini
Back from a mainly damp week in Whitby. It was good, had dry days in York & Scarborough. Pointed dh in the direction of some beautiful jet earrings as its my birthday coming up.
What was the lady pasta on EWFL? I caught the end of it but didn't see that.
About to drag myself out for a grocery shop, then watch the rugby, then football this afternoon
Thomas cook situation looking better. Opodo are hopeless, but I spoke again to Nationwide yesterday and got more detailed advice. Basically I have to evidence what I have done with opodo to show that I'm not going to get anywhere with them. So I've sent screenshots, dates & times of conversations etc & will now hope for some good news soon.

Waiting for Ex to arrive. We've ordered a skip and we're going to fill it today. I don't really fancy spending the day with him but it needs to be done. Once we've finished, I'm going to ask for his house key. It will be re-assuring to know that my house is secure and he can't pop in whenever he fancies. Not that he's given me any reason to believe that he has been doing that, but it makes me a bit uncomfortable to think that he could.

Hope you're okay wolf

Happy birthday caglatini, she is so cute!! Love those wooden animals, I had similar when I was little.

Hope the day goes okay tayto completely understandable re the key.

I'm enjoying not getting up for work! Weather is dismal, not got much planned today although dd wants to buy some pumpkins so will probably do that at some point.

Dd struggling again with school and lack of friends, I feel helpless really 🙁

north odd is the right word. Over here they’re all money obsessed (because of the aforementioned inheritance debacle) and mil usually makes terrible financial decisions. Although this time it’s not of her doing really. She moved to a prime spot for estate agents and has been doing well. Her house can’t sell because of some issue with the developer, her tenants moved out, she’s far away from her house...work is slow. Anyway. That’s for dh to deal with not me.

I went for my colposcopy apt yesterday. Super fun 😕🙄 but hopefully all good.

Riding today if dh comes back from watching the rugby in time. This is doubtful. But he’s promised he will. I’ll be super upset if he doesn’t because this will be week three I haven’t ridden due to the rugby. If I miss today’s lesson I’ll have to pay double for the lesson so dh will be £60 out of pocket.

Am looking into a new phone. I wanted an Apple Watch but my phone (iphone6) has just entered its planned obscelesence (sp?) phase and is no longer supported with upgrades. It’s 4 years old. Still works fine.

The watch will be compatible with phone for a bit but I think I need to be able to upgrade software on phone to really get the benefits from it. So. New phone maybe when I go back to work. I’ll get the ipbone11 as it seems silly to get an older model which will do the same as mine in a year or so. And will buy it outright as I’m only paying £21 a month for my phone at the moment and don’t want to pay any more. But man they’re pricey.

I know I could get a cheaper model. Or a different brand. But I like Apple products. I like how my phone syncs with my MacBook. I also like how they look.
But it’s a “when I go back to work and start earning money again” shop.

Tayto a great day of purging ahead so we're doing two of the playroom units this morning Dining room table currently filled, have told them whatever's still on it at 11am is going into the bin. They're playing while I'm eating breakfast. First day of midterm I was awake at 6, asleep at 9.15 last night & they got up at 7, I got up at 9.

Spendy day going to get dc clothes for Christmas photos/ds birthday party today

I’m at the stables. Dh came home. Rugby was not the result he wanted. But he did say that if the all blacks didn’t make it to the final he won’t watch any more rugby....

Tayto hopefully binning stuff and getting the key back will be cathartic but I can understand not wanting to spend time with him. I have a hive motion sensor so whilst I don’t have the keys I would know if he was in the house and then there would be hell on. He has respected my request that he doesn’t come here though.
Sea I’ve been working stupid stupid hours for the last 9 weeks and have properly pushed myself over the edge. Had a bit of a breakdown this week. Week off now for half term so hopefully, if I can sleep and try and relax I will stop feeling so pent up and tense.

Lap I love those wooden animals they are beautiful

Girlie big hugs it must be so hard for dd. Have you thought about clubs/activities out of school where she could make friends with similar interests?

Wolf h hadn't entered the house in months but I know he has been recently so I can't wait for my own door that he no longer has a key for.

€20 in centra on not very much, dd will pay me back price of her magazine, my lunch cost €7.20 of it.

Well done for getting that done em not easy!

Aw girlie :( how have the school been about her ASD screening btw?

Seacow all my three have been quite “good” (?!) at playing, to the extent that when we had family support in the past (when I first got ill) they’ve commented on it etc. Weird because I... erm... am not. 🙈 Give me a board game or puzzle, something with RULES and no need to pretend, any day 😳😂 Of course ATM Cagletini is imitating really but she does seem quite spontaneous about it. I don’t know really. I have no clue what “normal” play (or speech or anything really) development is actually supposed to look like 😂

Lady pasta was because they all bought this particular brand of pasta, which has a picture of a lady on it. Quite cute they called it that really. :o

Lap school haven't been that helpful really, I probably need to chase it up again but it feels a bit never ending. Out of school clubs would be good but it's finding one that she would enjoy at a time/place/cost that will work. She enjoyed kayaking but that's stopped now til next Easter.

We've been out, bumped into my mum at Morrison's and she kindly bought dds pumpkins for her as well as a few other bits.

Spent £52 in pets at home, got a small dog crate for the car as well as cat biscuits (which were on offer) and some dog toys.

Did you actually pursue a diagnosis in the end Girlie? last thing I recall you had an informal diagnosis but were not sure whether to press on for a formal one. What did you do in the end? (Apologies if I missed something) . Poor DD, I hope half term will give her a break from it all. And you too Wolf, sometimes we need a break to get some perspective back otherwise work sucks us in far too much. I am definitely guilty of that. I hope you manage to unwind a bit during the break and do some nice things for yourself.

Cake making today, I am just chilling the crumb coat now before splodging it with pink buttercream and sticking sprinkles on top. It’s quite tasty, judging by the offcuts, but I’m not going to town on the decoration as my sisters aren’t too bothered about a theme, they just want tasty sponge and buttercream! Other than that I just have to tidy the house and wrap some stuff up. I am sooooo excited to see one of my sister’s reaction to her gift - I can’t remember whether I said but I found a wonderful artist to paint a portrait of her dog. She’d better cry when she sees it....

Home made burgers and sweet pot wedges tonight, yum. Side salad for my conscience. And strictly, yay!

Oh and Lap, I’m not sure about ‘normal’ development either but I think DD is. She does what I am sure is imaginary play, though mostly through her small world toys or her manky comforter toy which goes by the name of ‘Rescue’ and goes everywhere with her. I’m forever being told what Rescue likes and thinks, and what he wants to do, and she has little conversations where he ‘speaks’ back to her in a funny voice. I live in fear of losing him - she has not accepted the new versions I bought in desperation!

At the moment she is trying to work out gender:

DD: (DS) is a boy and I am a girl. I am not a sausage . And daddy is a man. But you’re not a girl Mummy, you’re just a mummy.

Me: I’m a woman, or you can say a lady

DD: mummy, you’re not a lady!

We've pretty much filled the skip. We took a divide and conquer approach. I went around the house gathering stuff for the skip. Ex cleared out the shed and lifted everything into the skip. For some reason, we had loads of baby/toddler car seats. I actually said to Ex at one stage, "We did only have one child, didn't we?" We were both flagging around 2.30 so we called it a day. There's a small bit of stuff to clear out of the main attic and Ex wants to power wash down the side entrances of the house 'cos some of the junk was piled up there while we were waiting to get the skip and it's left a bit of a mess now - it's all muddy and mossy. We'll finish it off on Monday (it's a bank holiday weekend here). So, I still don't have Ex's keys but I guess I can wait another two days.

I came across some of DD's baby outfits I'd stashed. How adorable are these? (see pics). The pumpkin one was her first Hallowe'en costume.

DD is having a ball. She's off to some theme park in Germany today. She texted me earlier - she was impatient 'cos the teachers were taking forever to get ready. She'll be home tomorrow night - the days are flying by.

It's mid-term break this week so I'm off for the week. I'm not going away or anything but I'm going to do some baking with DD one of the days and spend another day tackling the garden and maybe meet a friend for coffee etc. There's a Hallowe'en festival nearby so I might check out the events there. If previous years are anything to go by, we'll have a *million trick or treaters on Thursday night.

*slight exaggeration

Laputa belated happy birthday to your DD. I can't believe she's two! Looks like she's having fun with her animals.

Seacow hope you enjoyed your lie in.

Girlie sorry to hear DD is going through a rough patch

Happier hope you got on ok with your playroom units

Wolf you need to take care of yourself or you'll be no good to anyone else

€5 10" takeaway pizza centra
€71.80 Dunnes including €20 top for me, 2 joggers, 1 jeans, 1 sweatshirt for ds, Halloween decorations for outdoors & a unicorn pillowcase for dd
€6.50 toy for dd(she's paying me back)
€148.21 in Tesco 20% off clothing including 3 vest tops for me, 2 Christmas jumpers, 2 cap & gloves, top & leggings dd, 4 long sleeved tops ds & an amazing Christmas shirt & dickie bow for ds, party bags, ds birthday cake, cupcake kit, some lunchables, a turnip & €15 toys ds will pay me back for

Tayto well done on the clear out, what's the cost of a skip? Outfits are well cute. I kept one little box of baby toys, was reminiscing too, they'll suit my niece whenever she visits once a year if we're lucky

Love the animal figures lap happy birthday to R & to seacow's twin sisters if they're aware you've got this bunch of friends online

My Top was €25 not €20

Eeek ,£1400 deposit to get my garden done. £2 scouts fundraiser. Forgot pony money so must pay that Tuesday. 1/2 term this week now.
Bakes went down well but not many people due to horrible weather.

Happy birthday R X

Well done on the clear out Tayo. Is it too sell? I forget sorry.
Great you got riding em.
Hope did your clear out go happier?

Aw thanks Happier, I’ll tell them! It should be a fun day tomorrow though it’s at times like this we all wish that dad was still here to see his babies turn 40 .

Just checked on DD as we are going to bed and found her half fallen out of bed again, but still asleep. And her bed full of books - I removed at least 15 that were tangled up in the duvet before I put her back into bed. It’s a miracle she sleeps at all!

Just going through money in my account and things that need paying. Will have £58 for the month and that'll need to do London on Thursday (train paid for). Ideally I need to also do some Christmas shopping but can't see that happening really. I could delay £35 that needs paying for school trips as they're not due until the end of November. Also have my nephews and brothers birthday at the end of November, ds too but have his presents sorted.

Still haven't got my driving licence back either so the earliest I'll have any mileage paid will be December and that's only if I get it back before the end of November they've already had it a month...

Have a good day sea. X
Has H money stopped now wolf? Don't answers if you don't want to. That's very tight for you.

Dunno what we are going to do today.

Neither of my kiddos understand clock changes and/or Sunday lie ins. Ds was up at 530. Dd 615.

No idea what we’re up to today. Might go for a walk.

Just realised the clocks have changed. Gutted

Well done on the clear out tayto, another step forward.
life it's so hard when you make all that effort for a fundraiser & then the weather can effectively make or break it. I feel your pain re the garden. We're in the midst of having ours landscaped, the driveway & front of house done. It's costing ££££ but will be worth it.
wreck one of my staff is being delayed with mileage claims, no idea how it can take so long to sort out.
Happy birthday to your dsisters seacow. Hope you all have a lovely day. Love the picture of your dd!

A day of general sorting here I think. All post holiday washing is done, but there is much ironing still to do. Need to meal plan for the week ahead & try to keep the dd on track with homework & revision.

Life yes it stopped in July. We’re managing ok because I have some tca money for the moment but will be hard when that stops.

Cute pic seacow I remember going to check on dd at that age and finding her curled up in a ball under her little table, like a puppy! They aren't taking any referrals for autism diagnosis in our area at the moment for children over the age of 5yo 😡 Dd has an appointment with speech and language in a couple of weeks so will see what they say. Dyspraxia has been mentioned as a possibility rather than ASD but personally I feel she 'fits' more with ASD. May have to pay for a private diagnosis if all else fails.

It's going to be a long day as no one explained to the puppy about the clocks going back.

Going to go to mums later, will go for a walk and have a roast there.