Managing Money Mindfully in March with the Friendly Frugaleers

[Happierwithouthim]

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All welcome on this thread, we're a friendly bunch who like to get bang for our buck, and manage our money as well as we can.

Pet pics very welcome too

The tesco NHS worker hour offer here went wrong as it caused massive tailbacks onto the motorway. Britain does truly seem to have gone mad!

Going for a walk is fine, it's just that the popular places have been rammed with no chance of proper distancing. A waterfall walk about 40 mins from us had it's busiest ever day yesterday & there is no way they would've been able to maintain 2 metre gaps. It makes me cross!

It’s crazy isn’t it and shows how little people are making the most of these places normally! Luckily we have a decent size park very near our house, I walked round it the other day (40mins out in total) and it was virtually empty but no idea if it’ll be the same now. I’ve not managed to stand up much the last couple of days anyway just keep drifting in and out of sleep.

We have just been walking around our local neighbourhood. The only problem is that loads of people say hello to us. I noticed that yesterday people would stop and chat but today they are just waving across the street which I'm relieved about.

I am back from my walk - on a route that even on a sunny BH is normally empty. We saw about 30 people. Lots of them obviously not overly experienced hill walkers. We went off the main path along an unmarked trod and 2 groups of people followed along behind. Both groups looked a little surprised when we turned around and started heading back.

The honey pot villages of the peak are absolutely rammed with visitors. Sitting on peoples walls having picnics, walking the same routes in trains. They are most definitely not maintaining 2m gaps. Also loads of groups of people meeting up with friends...... Worst is that their cars blocked the road so the ambulance & mountain rescue couldn't get through resulting in the death of a runner (local to the village). It is so sad.

Hi happy Mother's Day you lovely lot ☺️

Wolf you can def go for a walk, you're just meant to stay 2 meters away from other people. We went on a long walk, about 4 miles and it was really lovely, felt warm in the sun ☀️ Quite a few people out and about but everyone kept their distance.

Mum came over (your friend would combust at that I expect wolf 😉) She is under 70 with no health concerns and tbf we didn't hug or get too close to each other!!

We had a lovely lunch/dinner, I cooked one of Aldi's salmon wellington with roast spuds and lots of veg. Mum made sticky toffee pudding for afters, we were so stuffed!!

Not looking forward to work tomorrow 😕

Just spent some time in the sun working on the garden. I made sure the DC came out and got them cleaning the patio. We had fun and they really enjoyed doing it & I've got a lovely clean patio now! This was all after a lovely brunch this morning

Are those potato farls North? I luffs them

unescorted that's so sad re the runner, people are bastards and all the poorly parked cars that caused the obstruction should be prosecuted.

I saw so many 60+ male cyclists out today puffing along. A few were very lucky not to come a cropper from the dick head car drivers flying around our narrow roads

Not irresponsible wolf. We all need fresh air and exercise. Going to a crowded place or being near non family is irresponsible

That's really bad about everyone cramming to tourist spots and parking like twats. Sorry to hear about the runner.

Pleased you are feeling a bit better lane.

Another vote for send mam to Bob's.

£23 topping the car up. ££££ flowers for me and DM X 2.
£8 weight clips, £15 scooter wheels,

Unescorted that's so sad for the runner & his family and community l am so sorry [flowers} people really need to stop this insane behaviour !
Thank you for the vote of confidence re Mum going to live at Bob's.
I have decided to try to get her to do just that but she is refusing to do it

I have tried to get Mum to get Bob to move in with her or vice versa but they are both being really stubborn. I can't make them do anything and l just feel like they are writing their own death certificates. Although Bob would be really happy to have Mum live there tbf to him .I hope l am wrong what a complete mess this is .
On a brighter note Dh made us a lovely roast Chicken dinner and l didn't have to move a finger bless him

Unescorted, that’s awful.
The beaches here have been rammed today apparently.

can i plz join im unemployed so on bare minimum and struggle wiv money as it is. i will save sum wiv this virus bcuz i dont have 2 pay 4 toddler club but am trying to keep some aside just incase anyfing happens i also need to get sum resources 2 entertain my boys at home cuz we have 2 self isolate now

Welcome sunshine. Have you been through all of your bills to make sure you are not paying more than you should.
There are loads of Facebook ideas for keeping kids entertained for little money. Have you seen them?

Hi sunshine.

Also have a look at your direct debits and standing orders. Is there anything you can ditch?

Dh found out today that he gets free music streaming with amazon prime. He’s been paying for Spotify. Guess what’s going....?

@lifelongfrugaleer hiya ive been through my bills the only thing i can reduce is my energy bill. i dont have fb but i will have a google 4 sum ideas.

@ememem84 i have netflix and prime which i could get rid of but i only have freeview tv so i’d rather not. i know you can pay for amazon im one go and its cheaper than paying monthly so i will do that.

We have the same. Both Netflix and prime. Should probably ditch one. But when we’ve done that in the past i find something on one I want to watch...!

We’ve struggled with choosing. Netflix is cheaper I think but amazon has more.
I don’t really use either!

Morning all. Day 5 /14 of isolation here. Dh has improved a lot but is nowhere near 100%. He just feels so tired and if he does anything (just walking to the bathroom) he is wiped out.
Ds is waiting for a maths lesson to come online, dd has been set tasks for the week, but doesn't appear to be in any rush at the moment!
Today's outdoor task is to clean off the garden table & chairs, possibly mow the lawn and plant some seeds if my friend is able to get me some compost.

We have 3 companies locally who are the main suppliers of fruit & veg to restaurants etc. They are all now offering box delivery schemes, so I am going to sign up for a weekly delivery for as long as they are able to do it for. Then it is really only fresh dairy type things we need as we are well stocked with other provisions for a while.

Last night I made a fish soup (chowder), lentil soup & a big batch of bolognese. We had a curry delivered as a mothers day treat, but there is plenty left for another meal. So that's a lot of meals sorted, some for this week and some for the freezer.

My 0% credit card deal runs out in April so I am going to look for a new deal to move to today.

Our gym have linked in to an online personal training site and I've got a month's subscription for free (still paying my gym membership) as well as some live and recorded sessions that the gym trainers are going to broadcast online

Dd and my mum are going to do a quilt project "together" through video chats etc. Mum is in the very high risk group so will be out of circulation for at least 3 months, so she is crafting at a ridiculous pace!! Quilting, knitting socks for anyone who wants them, knitting squares for Linus blankets and more I'm sure.

It's officially a day off for me today, but I am checking in to keep in touch with my team and to keep up with what's happening. Christmas and Girlie good luck with your changing roles. Take care of yourself Christmas it sounds like your job will be very stressful.

Wfh has started.

It’s very strange. I haven’t done this properly for a very long time.

Sun is out. My coworkers are behaving themselves so far.

Have had to order a mouse for my Mac as the track pad is doing my head in £60.

But. Sun is out. Windows are open. It is a beaut day.

Less than 20 children in. At one point we had more adults than children. I’m going on a rota so should only do two days, which also reduces the days my children need to go to their school. Phew!

@ememem84 same here i use prime more but netflix still has sum gud 1s

self isolating here 2. luvly day but we’re on a 2nd floor flat so we cant go into a garden. i put the joe wicks excercise on and my ds aged 3 asked me if hed been naughty bcuz it felt like punishment😂

@northender I love the quilting idea! I want to get back into crochet.

I’m day 8/14 and feeling back to normal apart from a bit of dizziness when I stand up.

I’ve decided to blitz the house. I’ve stripped everything out of the bathroom and DH is painting it today. I’m concentrating on the front room. Everything is coming out and being deep cleaned.

I'm clearing out/washing down some kitchen presses.

I was rooting in my kitchen press for something earlier and knocked over a jar of salsa which promptly spilt everywhere and I ended up with saucy slivers of glass all over the kitchen floor and beyond. So I had to wipe up the mess as best I could, hoover and then mop.

I phoned the vet re: DCat1. I explained that he's due to get an add-on to his vaccination and is also due to get some dental work done and some teeth out. I don't know if this can wait until after the CV passes (which may be months down the line). I wouldn't like to think DCat1 might be in pain for months with the dental issues. My own dentist has closed but their sister practice can access the records. The vet got back to me and gave me an appointment for Saturday. They'll do the vaccination and assess the dental problem and decide how urgent it is.

I'm expecting the volume of CV cases here to rise to over 1,000 when they release the updated figures later today. Might sound low but our population is under 5 million whereas the population of the UK is many multiples of that. Lots of rumours about a full lockdown.

north hope your DH feels better/stronger soon and that nobody else in the household catches it. That's lovely that your mum and DD are doing a project together - well, from a distance.

Yoga I must have missed a post - I didn't realize you're a victim too. Get well soon

Stay safe and healthy everyone.