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Friendly Frugaleers Festive Preparations and Financial Accountability

999 replies

Wolfcub · 20/11/2019 21:23

New Fred

OP posts:
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ememem84 · 29/12/2019 21:03

We were at dparents earlier but dad in a foul foul mood. Ds has an accident. Dad shouted at him. Then at me for not potty training him properly and for not taking him to the potty every hour. I am. But it was between hourly visits.

We left fairly quickly after dinner. Dsis also spilled water on the carpet and ddad yelled at me when I said “it’s ok it’s only water” (meaning it wouldn’t stain. Not that I’d just leave it. I cleaned it up as dsis was wrestling both ds and Dd...)

Dm wants us to go round tomorrow. I think I’m swerving it. Dads mood can last for days. So will avoid.

ememem84 · 29/12/2019 21:04

On the plus side. Nsd today.

Dsis gave me a bag for life full of toiletries she’s been gifted from the kids at school. So I’m quidsin in now for bath bombs soaps moisturiser etc. Probably have enough to last me until next Christmas!

lifelongfrugaleer · 29/12/2019 21:11

Yy some kind of tray bake. What about some kind of pavlova/Eton Mess thing? Mary berry chocolate mousse cake is nice but needs setting time.

lifelongfrugaleer · 29/12/2019 21:12

Doesn't make you want to rush back does it em. My dsd has epic grumps too

northender · 29/12/2019 21:23

Sounds stressful Em. Good freebie from your sister though.
Had a lovely day today. £5 on bus fares £25 on food & drink for dd & me. Had tapas with dfriend & dd overlooking the sea, it was great.

northender · 29/12/2019 21:29

sea I'd consider pavlova or something like a spiced apple traybake which would be nice cold or warm with cream/ice cream
wolf sorry you're so stressed with work. Good luck with your application. I did a meal list a couple of years ago & used it when I was meal planning. Need to go back to it I think, and look at some new ideas.

Lovemaltesers · 29/12/2019 21:38

Fell off the thread again as came down with being very cold/sore throat at family’s house on Boxing Day, then ended up feeling awful until today. DD2 also had a cough so started getting up at 3am which hasn’t helped.

Welcome back nocuts

Urrrgh to grumpy Dad em . Might be easier to stay home to potty train anyway Wink

Our garage roof is leaking, where a gutter has been overflowing onto it for ages. DP got shitty when I suggested our NY resolution should be to keep on top of DIY to stop it becoming bigger jobs. He said that meant he needed to do jobs more often. I said no, I just needed to know if he wasn’t going to do a job, so for in this example, I could organise someone to look at the gutter. Urgh. Now I need a builder to look at the roof instead which no doubt will be ££££s.

DD2 turns 5 tomorrow Shock . I suspect she may wake us very early as she is very excited.

ememem84 · 29/12/2019 21:43

He’s grumpy because he’s hurt his knee. Despite having a cortisone injection and being told to bloody rest it he isn’t. He went for a long walk and mowed the lawn today. Ffs.

Methenyouplus4 · 29/12/2019 23:33

Wolf- will ask my mum for 'proper' recipe, as I just 'eyeball' the measurements. Also, what about something that could be cooked in advance but eaten hot or cold (veg saus rolls, flan made with premade pastry, puff pastry pizza with premade pastry, tuna pasta etc) , then you could have for lunch, eaten at various times and heated (or not) depending what time you have? Not sure if you have heard of The Organised Mum Method (TOMM), she has a free cleaning thing and is very active on insta (she seems like a proper good egg), but really rate her slow cooker meals, in particular the takeaway korma is spectacular and I double ingredients and freeze one lot.

Lifelong- thank you for local tips, hadn't even heard of there before so that is a great find.

Christmas- your food with friends (esp menu choices) sound right up my street.

Emem- urgh, that sounds tough. Can you share an eye roll with your sis? Think having a sibling (assuming they have similar-ish outlook/view on parents) can be helpful. Your dad sounds like mine in the sense he doesn't know when to stop, I have to be careful though as have a tendency to be the same myself (tore my c-sec stitches while dragging out a full wheelie bin less than a week after opHmm. Freaking idiot that I was, especially as my mum and hubby were home but I was too proud to ask for help. Again, I am an idiot.

Ended up spending £8 in local coop, popped in to get cash out for savings envelopes and checked out yellow sticker section where I got (drum roll please...):

X4 large bags of carrots (18p a bag)
X4 chicken breasts
X4 pack of 12 outdoor bred sausages
X4 packs of their fancy mince (from £5 to £1.10!)
X4 chicken thighs

All gone straight in freezer (except carrots) but was buzzing with my bargains.

Methenyouplus4 · 29/12/2019 23:34

Love- hope your daughter has a lovely day.

LivingInLaputa · 30/12/2019 00:41

Our go to big gluten free dessert is Eton mess. But if I could bake maybe I’d try something else!

Argh potty training. I really want to train Cagletini, she can go hours without a nappy (she loves being naked 🙄) and will ask for one when she needs to go. So we got a potty months back but she completely freaked out at “letting go”. So frustrating - the older two were only ready around their third birthdays, and she’s clearly physically ready, but not mentally I guess and I don’t have the energy for the battle!

Dad put some very unexpected Christmas money in my account. This means I can see my therapist earlier than planned. I’ve also booked tickets to a comedian for old times sake - it’s not till May but it’s at our local town theatre so no worries about getting back etc. DSD said she will babysit. We don’t really get time together without the toddler (the last time was so we could go to the job centre. Hot date :o) so very excited!

I’m totally peopled out. Realised I’ve not left the house in a week 😳😳😳 off swimming tomorrow morning though and then a wander in the shops after if I’m brave enough (at the very least I need to get the 2020 diary! I always get a nice fancy one as I enjoy using it more 😳)

Sorry I’ve missed newbies etc, hello!

Happy birthday love’s DD

nocutsnobuttsnococonuts · 30/12/2019 00:53

methen I'd love the shepherd pie recipe please. anything potato based is a winner here!!

im gluten/dairy free. I make a great rocky road and easy enough to replace regular digestives with gluten free. it's this one www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12412/rocky-road at Christmas we crushed strawberry candy canes in there too but regular would work well too i think.

today's spends £40 for a Sainsbury's shop coming tomorrow (had a £12 off £50 spend) needed toilet rolls, cat food and fresh stuff. meal plan written and will stick to it (hopefully!)

SnugglySnerd · 30/12/2019 07:17

Happy birthday Loves dd.

Sea I thought pavlova too. Or trifle/tiramisu.

Dh back at work today. Not sure what I'm going to to do with the dcs.

ememem84 · 30/12/2019 07:34

Eugh. Sore throats got worse. So I’m going to try and make an apt with the dr. I’ve cancelled my gym session too (which I was super looking forward to 😭)

Wolfcub · 30/12/2019 08:07

Happy birthday mini Love

Urgh sort of working today. Very much don't want to. Hoping it's quiet

Em hope
You feel better soon and can get a gp appt

OP posts:
ememem84 · 30/12/2019 08:27

Gp apt at 240. Not as early as I’d have liked but it’s with my preferred gp. So that’s good. That’ll be £42 spent today.

Dh is dithering. I said I’d drop him to work in the hopes that I could get an appointment early morning. He was adamant that we had to leave by 8. So I’ve rushed to get ds Dd and myself ready to drop him in.

Still not left. And dh apparently needs to be in work for 830. Ffs.

He hasn’t got shoes coat lunch bag ready yet.

Girliefriendlikespuppies · 30/12/2019 09:00

Morning all

Happy bday loves dd.

Hope poorly peeps feels better soon.

I'm a bit stressed here, don't really want to say why but involves dd and her phone. All of you with young tweens/teens please check your child's phones and remember they can be sneaky buggers 😩

SnugglySnerd · 30/12/2019 09:04

Oh no Girlie. I hope dd is ok and you can get the issue resolved quickly.

ememem84 · 30/12/2019 11:47

Hope everything’s ok girlie

I’ve just tried to teach catface to use her cat flap. She’s afraid of it.

In other news I’ve submitted claims on Quidco for missing cashback from amazon. I worked out I’ve essentially got a whole years worth which hasn’t tracked. Sigh. But I’ve submitted claims for the last 4 orders so far.

Plancina · 30/12/2019 13:52

Hope everything is okay girlie - I taught for 8 years in senior schools before moving to Higher Education and the incidents involving phones were very much on the rise with lots of sexting and cyber bullying. It is a real
Issue and one which schools are definitely struggling with massively. Sending hugs!
I made some red lentil and white bean burgers from scratch last night and they were hands down the best veggie burgers I have ever made, they stayed firm in burger form and didn’t just turn to mush or crumble apart and they tasted delish! I also worked out the cals as I’m on team RH trying to lose 10 pounds and they’re 188 cals for two large burgers, 12g protein. Well pleased!

lifelongfrugaleer · 30/12/2019 14:23

Oo plan. I'm on team rh (allegedly but that's a whole other post, part woman part after 8 at the minute) pass on the recipie.

Gws people.

Oh dear girlie phones are a nightmare. We got a run of it in the last 18 months. Here on the end of a pm if you need.

ememem84 · 30/12/2019 14:31

Waiting for my appointment. Dropped Dd at dparents. I decided I couldn’t give them a swerve.

Ddad seems to have calmed down a bit.

They took ds to the zoo earlier today. Just left theirs and ds chased me to the door “mummy mummy oh no Bolly” (translation “mother you’ve forgotten my sister take her with you I want to be spoiled on my own!” (Bolly is how he says Florence)

Lovemaltesers · 30/12/2019 14:45

Oh no girlie. Big hug to you

Your DS is so sweet em

Christmas was quite restrained with toys and useful stuff for the DDs. Now her birthday has arrived, our lounge now resembles a small toy shop Grin

I’ve decided my frugal aim for the next decade is to pay off the mortgage, with lots of overpayments. We currently have 23 years to go, so a lot to do here!

We’ve been amazon prime free for a month now. The struggle is still real, but hopefully can stay away from it for a frugal January.

maddenlightfoot · 30/12/2019 15:33

Love that's a great aim for the decade! We have the same amount of years left coincidentally. Our childcare bill is about to reduce by 50% with 30 free hours and it would be great if that money wasn't just frittered. I'm off to do some research and present my plan to dh!

Happierwithouthim · 30/12/2019 15:43

€7.10 on food at cinema even though I was adamant that they weren't getting anything because we've so much junk food at home.
€16.50 on tickets
€6.65 on lunch for myself & dd, ds ate nothing

Great plans for being mortgage free guys

Girlie hopes all ok with dd

Plancina I'm also team rh, today's first day tracking since Christmas really Blush

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