Managing Money Mindfully in March with the Friendly Frugaleers

[Happierwithouthim]

Last Thread

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

Ooh that's a good idea, I have some lanisoh lurking somewhere!

I got really confused thinking you meant ex boyfriends using the nipple cream

Me too lane. I had to read it a couple of times.

Gone into overdraft this month for the first time in ages. Not good but some unexpected spends

Evening everyone
Unbeknowns to me , Mum stayed the night at Bob's last night dirty stop out
Thank God. They weren't going to tell me but Mum confessed this morning to me. I told her to stay there and we would take her everything up to his. So it was such a stroke of luck they did that. Bob was worried about Mum staying on her own last night so he bought her home and persuded her to go back up with him. They weren't going to tell me but l was going on to her this morning and saying they wouldn't be able to stay together now because of the lockdown and she told me. I think someone was looking down on the both of them last night. My God they were lucky
Have been busy all day trying to sort out PPE for Mum. Apparrently unless you have Covid19 symptoms, Powys Council don't issue any PPE to anyone receiving care hmm . It's too late when they've got it ! Seems to me a lot of ppl have been caught unawares, Councils included. Been chasing clarification about carers and if they need a pass to travel, No one seems to have the foggiest idea. Will get Mum sorted with at least a weeks supplies in advance, then if we get it she is sorted at Bob's until we can get back to see her.
Is it just me or is anyone else off their food? I am afraid it is the start of the CV but know it is just my stress and anxiety making me feel awful
Morrisons was totally stocked even hand wash and toilet rolls only thing l couldn't get was hand gel and that is like liquid gold methinks. I didn't need them and l left them for others like the angelic thing l am
Dd2 tonsils are still bad, l am worried about her but she says she is ok, she had another weeks Penicillin from the Dr yesterday. l feel so relieved re Mum and Bob it's a weight off my mind.
My money frugelling has gone completely l have bought Dh a new incinerator bin and a stack of compost and bird seed from Wilko. Then l think it is good to plan ahead for better times , we will all get through this .

I can't believe how lucky we were to get Mum there and my sibs can't say much about it because it is a fait accompli 😁. There would have been ructions but it's a done deed now. Thing is, they couldn't have travelled to each others homes anymore due to the lockdown . Thank God. Also if they want to get married then this is a great trial run for them both to see if they do then want to marry
Well done Bob!
Isn't it funny how things turn out, like really odd, l know it's coincidence but it's like it was meant to be

Hope everyone is doing okay today.

Glad things worked out for your mum and Bob Mrs!

My day today has been fairly normal really, I had to go and see a couple of patients for the community nurse team. I stripped in the hallway and got straight in the shower when I got home but it all felt quite low risk.

Dd and I took the dog for a long walk after work which was actually really nice. Not many people about and a lovely sunny evening.

Day off tomorrow and I'm going to brave Aldi 😬

Lane! I’ve only just worked it out! I thought ex boyfriend too!

Yay Mrs!

😍 mrs glad that has worked out for your mum.

My mum has been emailing me all day. She has a hospital appointment tomorrow which I need to take her to. Dad will go too otherwise she won’t go and it doesn’t sound pleasant. I told her I wouldn’t go in with them as I’ll have been to work earlier, fortunately only one person can go in anyway. If I told her to get a taxi I suspect she won’t go and I don’t want her to wait for another appointment.

We had a fairly successful day at home. DC did Joe Wicks, a few school tasks and washed my car. Morning snack had to be fruit like at school, I was starving by lunchtime I’m a terrible snack eater

NSD. Online shopping isn’t appealing at the moment either.

Yeah mam and Bob.

Wahooo Mrs mum and bob!!

I also thought ex boyfriends....haha!

Nsd today. My credit card payment cleared. Yay. So a nice nil balance. Now if the new card would show up we’d be all good....

Ahh thank you for all the Bob n Mum love
Just phoned them , she seems fine , he seems fine , l am much happier with her being there with him , espech if we go down with it ,so it is all good

Pay day tomorrow and all expenses done! Every penny has it’s job and I’ve made sure that I have a ‘buffer’ in my account. My hope is to build a couple of hundred pound buffer and to use that as an overdraft.
For the first time in well over a year I didn’t go into my overdraft! Go me.

It helps that there is nothing to spend it on.

NSD yesterday. First in ages. As yoga said helps of can't go out. I usually spend loads on petrol so that's gone at the moment.

Well done on no overdraft yoga.

I will need to brave a shop as mil has sent me her shopping list. She won't get some of it as she wants multiple of 6. Not today though

Glad to hear your mum & Bob news Mrs
Hope your mum gets her appointment sorted love.
Girlie glad your day was ok & low risk.
Christmas hope you're ok.
I had a wobbly day yesterday. One of my team is having a bad time. Her Dh is a plasterer and had been laid off so they have major money worries. My mum has 4 pages of instructions from the NHS on how to "shield" herself for 12 weeks, which is a bit overwhelming really and dad doesn't help (understatement!). I. Would usually be there for her in person but can't be which is hard. My aunty had a bad day at work (nhs) and needed to vent, so all in all, with wfh as well and worrying about whether I've caught corona from dh or not, it was just too much. I got real anxiety symptoms which is unlike me. Anyway I ended the day doing some cooking and baking with dd which calmed me down.
I've slept well and am going to get started on work early to try to get stuff done while wifi is quieter hopefully. Need to exercise too. Neighbour has given me bucket of compost so I'm going to repot house plants and get some seeds started today as well.

Take care everyone

Just reread back a bit.
madden hope your dt is feeling better
Welcome sunshine
yoga that's great about your overdraft, well done.
Hope you're improving Lane and managed to get out yesterday. The good weather is a blessing at the moment.

Morning everyone. Hope everyone who has sick family members or is sick themselves starts to see an improvement soon.

Life is so stressful at the moment. I swing between utter terror at the enormity of what might be coming and thinking maybe it won’t get as bad as everyone is fearing. When I heard them casually say on the news about that new hospital with 4000 beds I felt sick.

I’ve been trying to watch lighthearted tv to switch off from it for a while and Mrs your Bob stories are lovely ❤️ I am so glad that it’s worked out for them and will help you to relax a bit too.

Payday for me tomorrow and it can’t come soon enough. I seem to be spending a fortune on food as we are all stuck at home. I spend my day trying to stop my DSs from eating us out of house and home.

My brother managed to set my dm up with Facetime yesterday (she is a complete technophobe) cue lots of shots of her ear, the ceiling, her chin... 😀

Thanks north didn’t get out yesterday, throat sooo much better thank goodness - I can actually eat yay! - but the fatigue/dizziness is unreal. I said to DH last night, what this actually feels like now is “coming down with CFS/ME all over again”.

The cough hasn’t got bad though which is still making me wonder if it’s actually just some other random virus, or flu maybe. DS is coughing more than the rest of us.

Glad you're feeling a bit better lane Are you able to taste and smell normally? That's been a major thing for dh and it seems it's a very common symptom of covid-19
Born it's terrifying when you stop to think about it, I'm a definite advocate of avoiding the news apart from maybe one bulletin a day.

I've had a better day working from home and have been much more productive. Being hands on and treating patients is what I like to do the most and I can't do that at the moment which is frustrating. However I have talked myself into doing online training for physios who haven't worked in respiratory for a while but who are going to likely be redeployed soon. I will also mentor/support /advise them on clinical stuff so that is a challenge in a good way and makes me feel that I'm being useful clinically. There will also be quite a lot of prep for that which is the sort of thing I enjoy so it will make the time pass more quickly.

I'm booked on for a live streamed workout in an hour so looking forward to that. Tea is going to be lasagne that I prepped last night. Dh will be out of isolation tomorrow so at least then he'll be able to go to the shops now & again. Going to try and just do one shop a week & am arranging delivery of a fruit & veg box each week.

It’s coming back now, but in the worst bit I couldn’t smell, or taste anything other than what can only be described as UGGGGH. Just a vile taste all the time. Now I just feel sick 🙄

Hope your DH is ok. ❤️💐 The training you’re doing sounds amazing!

Feeling very lucky I must say - a couple of friends have dropped off groceries at our door.

DD chose her GCSE options today! History as her compulsory one (would be that, geography or French), then art, dance, sports science (the latter is a vocational equivalent)

Sorry for confusing everyone

Yesterdays spends €3.85 on a carton of milk & sweets at very local shop, walking distance in the country, we walked dog and got our bits, novelty for us, usually we have to get into car to buy anything.

€3.80 on stamps for dd to post letters to her classmates.

lane how very exciting for your dd
mrsevans that's wonderful for your mum and Bob

Tomorrow I expect that proceeds of sale of house to hit my account, yesterday I officially became a separated woman. 25 months from when I decided my marriage was over, thanks for all who've shared the ups and downs with me.

Hopping back on.
Spends day, maintainance and ground rent £450. Also ordered a box set of DVDs for Mum’s birthday next month. It’s an old series called “By the Sword Divided” from the same writers of “Upstairs Downstairs” set in the Civil War. Just about spent up.
@Mrsmadevans, I’m loving the saga of your Mum and Bob. Good for them!