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

Just what we need. Sleet here

Gonna brave Sainsbury's later for fruit and veg

Thank you so much everyone for helping me see the texts from Bob's Dd for what they are l get it now. Her Dad hasn't told her the truth because of a number of reasons. He didn't want to hurt her, he thought she would be cross, he didn't think it was anything to do with her and he's stubborn 🤗.
Mum behaved very badly yesterday, lost her hearing aids, didn't take her tablets and went upstairs with no stair lift or any Bannister. Bob's stairs are totally open plan l lost it with Mum . I went ballistic and so did my Dd1. She wouldn't admit she had done anything wrong. Was raising her eyebrows to the ceiling and closing her eyes and holding her head down she was not listening to me. I really am ashamed of the way l was but she just wouldn't listen or take anything l was saying on board. This is my Mother who staggers from one chair to the next at home. She can't do anything for herself. Har madness came over her l don't know. I felt so worried so upset so betrayed by her actions and the way she was dismissing what l was saying. I had to apologise to Bob for my behaviour in his house. He was an absolute darling. My Mum is so lucky to have him. So this leads me to a position where my Mum thinks nothing of risking her life , thinks nothing of the possibility of taking parmedics and HC staff having to look after her when she is so irresponsible and cavalier with her health.
I really don't know what to do with her . She always has been a law unto herself. Always. I would never have let her go if l had known she would behave like this. If anything ha happened to her l would blame myself for letting her go. Damned from all from all fronts .
Hey ho that is how my life has always been a series of disasters from day 1. Cope cope cope as best you can, walk a tightrope . Sorry to go on, l just need to vent and get it out of my system. Hope everyone is feeling better and taking care ❤️

Mrs I read through the exchange of texts and Bob's DD sounds a bit frustrated with her Dad, but not with you and your Mum. She sounds a bit annoyed that she's been trying to make provisions for him - like getting her daughter to take meals down to him. Maybe she's been worried about him heading out to the shops and putting himself at risk of catching the CV? She could have saved herself that trouble and worry if she'd known you were sorting them for shopping. Sounds like a bit of a communication issue between Bob and her. I don't know why he didn't tell her about your mum moving in. Maybe he's embarrassed? Or maybe he thought she wouldn't approve? Or maybe they're not that close? I'd stay out of it tbh. I agree with Unescorted that a phone call might be better. Apart from anything else, It would probably be quicker than typing all those long texts! Just a quick phone call though - "Hi, I dropped into Bob and mum today and they're fine and I think they've everything they need". I'm sorry your anxiety has flared up so badly. It's definitely a trying time for everyone and Bob's DD might be anxious and frustrated too. She wants her Dad to stay safe and instead of social distancing, he's bringing other people into his home - your mum, you, your DD etc.

Wolf I'm really sorry to hear about your beloved dog. Is it the family pet i.e. your parents' dog? Hope he pulls through.

Hope everyone who is feeling ill gets well soon

I'm planning to do lots of cleaning in the house and maybe mow the lawn. I'll have to rake all the autumn leaves up first . I might take out the rotary clothesline too. We had some beautiful spring days last week. I'll probably tempt fate now and we'll be back to winter weather. I don't have to cook dinner 'cos we're having lasagne leftovers.

I just heard some suspicious noises coming from the kitchen (DD is in bed) so I went in and discovered DCats scavenging in the kitchen bin! It's one of those brabantia bins - when you press on the lid, the lid pops up. I'm guessing one of DCats stood/jumped on it. I'll have to empty the bag and clean/spray the bin. I think something in the bin is attracting them.

Cross-posted with you Mrs. I've no advice re: your mum's behaviour but I hope being able to vent here is helping.

Tayto thank you so much 💐, it has helped so much , l can only vent so much to my family here . Your Dc have very clever cats 😄👍 that has cheered me up thank you 💐😄

So I've edited my ocado order. Despite ordering 2.5 weeks ago a lot of what I wanted is out of stock so have had to try and find alternatives. Hopefully most of what is now ordered will come but things like soap for the 97year old granny have been almost impossible to come by and she is going to be pissy about the brand I've chosen because hers is now out of stock.

Prices are definitely going up too. I've straight swapped what i was short of, the only thing I've gone bigger on is butter spread as 500g packs aren't in stock. But my shop cost has increased by over £20. For people who aren't getting a wage right now I can imagine that the price increases are terrifying.

Morning everyone.

Our pooch was a bit naughty last night as well....

Dd wasn't impressed, it was her favourite hat 😬

Sounds really rough born :(

Wolf you were so lucky to get a slot for delivery agree with you re the prices too
Born that sounds awful l hope you feel much better soon
Girlie just look at her she's gorgeous

Girlie butter wouldn't melt.....
Mrs my dad has insisted on carrying on regardless during corona which puts my high risk mum at more risk. He certainly doesn't listen to me or her. DD is trying to contact him regularly to remind him what he needs to do. It is so upsetting, but I am trying to do what I can but then distance myself from it as it's out of my control.
Snow and sleet?? It was sunny here this morning, but looking much more wintry now. Need to try to mow the lawn while the grass is relatively dry.
Wolf I agree re the cost of groceries. It's a good job we're not spending on other things at the moment.
Going to see if we can get our TV costs down while there is no sport on Sky Sports etc.

Wolf sorry to hear about dog brother. It's shit to lose a pet, any pet.
Mrs, vent away. I agree with whoever said ring the daughter. Open the lines of communication there.

Braved Sainsbury's £97 but swathes of stockouts still. Had to buy branded but food defo on the rise.
Got a c&c slot for Tuesday, mil is emailing list tonight. If not I will cancel.

I’m being held in a queue on boots online. 20,000 people ahead of me.

Happy Sunday all! Really starting to notice our food stocks going down now. We've definitely got enough to last a week from now (now on Day 7 of isolation), but it would mean some odd combos and leave us very short by next Monday. Friends are dropping off some bread/milk but don't feel I can ask for a full shop to be dropped off (although it might come to that!)
Has anyone else found the weekend trickier than the week? I thought it would be better as DH would be around rather than squirrelled away wfh but I think we've made the mistake of trying to make it too much like a weekend iyswim? The week has gone well as we've been structured and timetabled. Without structure, the 3yo twins has major meltdowns yesterday and the 8yo is melting down today. Also, the sun in the week helped so much. Hopefully we've just got this week to get through and then we can at least introduce a walk to the daily routine!

Are any local butchers and greengrocer delivering on madden. Lots of our indi businesses are around here. I forget where you are though?

Madden the shopping slots are coming out in dribs and drabs. This afternoon, after looking on everywhere, in every shop, within a few miles of our house, a slot suddenly came up for Iceland tomorrow evening. I don't know how they are letting the slots out but l grabbed it straight away and am sending it to my Mum's house to put in her freezer for her and Bob . So keep looking they will come up
Life thank you l really need the venting & somehow it isn't the same when no one is listening
North it is so difficult isn't it. You are in the same boat as me really, except it is worse for you trying to protect your Mum l'm so sorry

North, Born, Lane hope all of you, and yours, start to feel better soon. Take it easy I would imagine a virus this tough is going to take some time to recover fully from

Madden Maybe work out a priority list of items that if you had them it would make it easier to get through the next 7 days. Then, if someone says they are going to the shops you could ask them for all of them , or just a few if it's a lot? One of my friends texted to say she was going to aldi & I asked for carrots, chicken, dishwasher tabs & toilet roll! I told her nothing was essential so not to worry if she couldn't get them & she managed to get them all. People are really happy to help, they wouldn't offer otherwise.
Thanks Mrs it is hard, but mum sounds positive today, I'm just taking it a day at a time. We had a big upset last week as I was trying to organise regular deliveries of fresh food (meat, fruit & veg) from her regular local shops. Dad got really angry, insisting that he could go & collect things, then mum was upset as well as scared. Anyway yesterday we got it all sorted & the deliveries are in place, she seems happier and dad seems to have wound his neck in!

Thanks wolf dh is hard work as he feels well in himself now, but as soon as he does anything physical he's tired & more short of breath than he should be, but trying to tell him to take it easy gets a mixed response!

Well. We’re locking down as of 8pm this evening. It’s been leaked over social media. And dsis has had a letter. She’s a teacher so is essential.

Until 30 April at the earliest.

Thanks I feel ok certainly not any worse than I did but can’t wait to feel normal again. Although to be fair I’m sure no one feels “normal” right now.

I was lucky that I had a Tesco slot reserved as we have been stuck in and I got most of the things I needed. I have to get for my dm and elderly aunt as well which isn’t easy when there’s a limit on number of items you can order.

Hope everyone stays well not just physically but mentally too

Yes mentally it is really worrying. I am so scared . I don't want to go anywhere . I don't want to go out for shopping and the being unable to get shopping deliveries is really awful.

Sorry a bit MIA - I was cross and grumpy so decided to take it out on the ranty threads.

Mrs D - I second calling Bob's daughter. It helps to hear the inflection in people's voices. If it was easy to write down everything and everyone to get the nuanced meaning then we would never have the English Lit questions asking us to describe what the author was thinking.

Wolf sorry to hear about dog bro. We had shnow too.... I went out running in it.

em I think we will be doing well if it is end of April - they have started the soft market testing for end June here. Also the more stringent lockdown ( is it only me that hears collective hard ons each time that is trotted out) is being mentioned.

I am going dancing on Saturday - I have been invited to a DJ party via live streaming. It is the cool kids in Manchester's Northern Quarter. DD is very impressed I have such cool contacts. I am not sure what my neighbours in rural Navelgazeshire are going to make of the blaring music & general giddiness. Around here we have a well established Hairshirts group. Apparently you are not allowed any social interaction, even by electronic means, without endangering lives of those that fought in the war (the oldest person in the village was 12 when WW2 ended). I can feel me getting grumpy again. Sorry.

I've subscribed to Disney+. DD really wanted it and offered to pay for it herself - it works out at a little under €6 per month. We watched 'Tinkerbell' earlier (yes, DD is 15) and now she's watching 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

I've made a list of things to do while we're in lockdown. All those jobs I keep meaning to do. I'm loving the bright March sunshine but it's highlighting all the dusty areas in my house . Wish I'd bought a few plants while the garden centres were still open.

I'd a busy day. Cooked a full Irish for breakfast. Dug out the rotary clothes line. Did two washloads. Typed an e-mail to my solicitor answering some of her questions. Played with the cats. Doesn't sound like much but I was kept going all day.

I'm avoiding the news. I mean, I read the news on the RTE website every morning and then have a quick check when they release the death toll latest figures around teatime. But I'm not following the updates constantly. It's a lot better for my mental health.

Take care everyone.

NSD

Oh, we also did a bit of dancing to 'Just Dance'. DD spent most of her time laughing at me and saying, You're hilarious Mam". I'm not sure what she means. Obviously I'm a very cool dancer.