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

We're definitely spending more on food shopping here too. should be saving money overall though, minimal car use, less socialising etc.
Toad in the hole for tea here too wolf
Day off today so finished the jigsaw I'd been doing. It's a wasgij so no picture to work from. Once I got the idea it had me addicted.
I've seen fluffy on other threads too but no one else.
Had roast beef for tea last night followed by pineapple upside down pudding, far too filing, but really comforting.

So are we North. It's lunches. Dd normally gets hers free at school and the dts eat at nursery. Dh usually takes a sandwich and I either take leftovers or sometimes get a school lunch at work. Lunch every day for 5 of us is a lot more food all of a sudden and with limiting shopping storage is an issue in our tiny kitchen too.

This dough is beautiful Unescorted. I feel like I've used every pan and piece of equipment in the kitchen but it's now on its second prove and the texture is great. I messed with it - because I cannot just follow a recipe, and I probably won't ice them as icing sugar is something I've only got one or two spoons of but I think they will be sweet enough

Voila!

Droooools. It is lovely dough. You can use the technique to make really soft dinner rolls and home made white sliced too. If you the savoury loafs go stale blitz them and dry them out in a really low temp oven to make Penko breadcrumbs.

I see Fluffy about on some threads, but not seen the others for eons.

Omg they look amazing! I can’t wait to try making them, I need to get hold of milk powder first though.

I feel very sad... was browsing Facebook earlier and saw the guy who runs my Local hair salon commenting that he’s applied for a job in a local
supermarket. It’s so sad that small business owners have to do this - his salon is very long established and well supported locally but literally everything is at risk

Afternoon
Pidgy been outside this afternoon , had him on the grass , fed and watered and cleaned out twice , will try him up Mum's again tomorrow. He has started to stand on his gammy leg another day of rest might do it , fingers crossed .
Mum & Bob were fine , have done their cleaning, washing, showering, tablets, ironing & shopping all sorted and put away . My house is like a pigsty
Round 2 tomorrow
My like button has stopped working on FB
I feel like my right arm has gone without it lol.
Sea it's awful isn't it , my Mum's lovely hairdresser was firstly flooded out of her home & business in the terrible floods in Crickhowell , she started up again and now this. She is such a darling lady
Wolf O EM GEE THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! WELL DONE TO YOU ! Sorry l got excited
North my fave , pineapple upside down pudding delicious
Lane am scoffing out of boredom , l really need to stop it
Wreck is around, she's on the Christmas thread but busy as heck with the Dc and work, she's a darling
Tayto , DD2 did our hair yesterday, Dd1 had about 10 inches off l am not kidding , she wanted to get it all off before the Summer .
Madden glad you are out of quarrantine , we are spending much more too , or at least it seems like it , think buying for Mum & Bob and Neighbours as well as us, could be making me think it is a lot more of MY money when it isn't. no it is me
Curvy that cake is splendid ! Well done to the DC
Em l hope you are ok , not coming down with anything hence the shiffles and the poor sleeping
Girlie l love Bounties & Crisps, l could live on them , l like your style
Snuggly thank you for sharing the recipe l am going to give it a try it sounds delicious
Unescorted have found an unopened tin of golden syrup in the back of the cupboard, circa Dec 2016
Life did you get all you ordered in Sains? Hope so We can't get flour of any type, eggs, courgettes and vegan mince here. We did get toilet rolls though , saints be praised

Those look amazing!

Looks lush wolf.

Yy to spending far more on food or maybe just not noticing it as mine is dribbs and drabs in the week and DC I throw can at them every few weeks.

Yes white bread flour was sub for seeded - fine and sweet/salt popcorn for just sweet.
Both I can live with.
No shopping for 2 weeks now.

Bread thurs/fri so maybe

Girlie that dinner sounds lovely I haven't made Dahl in ages

Totally understand about grocery spends being higher, I thought I'd have to go again on Wed but I'll see how we are for milk and might hold out until Friday for it.

Tayto it's because every meal is a cooked one now rather than wraps & sandwiches or cheese and crackers for lunch, plus we're outdoors more so more hungry too

I'm not into cinnamon but might make soft rolls with that recipe

Grrrr. Dd1 has just gone to bed. I tucked her in, said goodnight and left her room. She followed me out of the door saying she had wet the bed and lo and behold she actually had! I'm quite cross. She often wets the bed which I can live with if she's asleep but she just lay down and obviously couldn't be bothered to get out of bed and go to the loo. She wasn't asleep or even dozing off. Clean bedding this morning too!

Does anyone know who to unblock the plug of our wash basin? Dh has plunged it and we've tried drain unlocked stuff. It is still blocked. Hope we don't have to get a plumber.

*how not who!

Have you got an overflow vent in the sink - if so block it up and try plunging again. Or if you think it could be hair fashion a hook from a large paperclip. Failing that take the u- bend off (put a bucket under the sink to catch the manky water) - un screwing the cuffs is fairly straightforward. Look on You Tube for a video.

Happier you can put what ever filling takes your fancy. I sometimes do savoury filings or fruit fillings. I then freeze them and people take them to work / school as a quick do not have to think freezer lucky dip lunch.

I am tired from doing nothing all day.

Thanks Unescorted, will give all that a try tomorrow and report back!

Snuggly do you have a wire coat hanger you could carefully poke down?

I was wondering that after Unescorted suggested a hook. I don't think we do unless there is one lurking in a suit that has been to the dry cleaners at some point! I'll see what I can do!

I can't believe Boris is in intensive care! I'm not a fan of Boris or the Conservative party but it's scary to think the PM is so ill.

I actually felt like crying when I saw them showing him standing at his door clapping and cheering the NHS ( I know giving it more money would have been better) when he was clearly not well. I think he’s one of these stiff upper lip people who has refused to lie down to this until it has overwhelmed him. I do hope he recovers.

It makes it even more real doesn’t it. You sort of expect those in charge to be ok.

Yes I agree Born, I think he's actually been doing a good job of creating a collective team spirit, we're all in it together, we'll beat it etc and possibly thought it would be bad for everyone's morale if he took time off ill. I hope he recovers well.

Just put a second load of washing on. Making the most of this nice weather to try and get to the bottom of all the washing baskets although it's like painting the Forth Bridge really!

Hey guys!

I haven't been posting because I've literally done nothing! But I have been keeping up with the thread.

I love reading all the posts, crafts and baking and homeschooling, my children are teenagers and think they are too old for all this, im sure having toddlers to keep entertained at home all day is hard work, but it forces you to get moving and do stuff, giving you a focus - Mine are all still in bed.

Baking all looking great, those cinnamon rolls look amazing.

I've been cooking more and trying to meal plan, dd1 likes baking but seems to enjoy TikTok more, she doesn't post the videos she makes(she's far too shy and self conscious to do anything like that) dd2 is a dancer so they are spending quite a lot of time together creating these, which is good because they are getting on quite well most of the time.

I'm about 90% certain I'll lose my job soon, the company don't want to furlough my team, they'd rather get rid of us and start again once things are moving. I'm a bit worried about it but at the same time I feel like I don't really care, it's odd, because before this lockdown I would have been terrified about redundancy, it's annoying because I've only been here a year and my previous job was solid and I'd done 10 years there, (paid much less though) maybe I'll look for part time work somewhere, we can survive on dh's income, it'll pay the bills anyway.

No plans today lol, it's Taco Tuesday so that's dinner for us! Will probably walk the dog at some point.

Dh is working from home like most of the country, but gets annoyed when he's on a call and the dog barks or someone makes noise, I've told him to sit in his car haha. I'm sure people understand, we're all in the same boat right now.

Wish I had more to contribute, I've just finished a good book called Watching You by Lisa Jewell, so i'd recommend that. 😊

Just come and chat Camden. Sorry to hear about your job. .

Boiled a couple of eggs to paint today. Will make them into lunch after.

My DC are not appreciative of my artistic efforts

Ah cute bunny life! We're going to blow some eggs to decorate - used to do this at Easter when I was a child!

I realised another reason shopping is so expensive atm... as I made guacamole last night to go alongside our Mexican feast. Monday is usually leftovers or tinned soup night whereas now every night is feast-night 😂

I was very good today though. I had to take one of the dds to hospital for an appointment. It was so strange being in the quiet city centre! There were a few coffee shops open for take-away and although tempted, I decided not to in order to give this month of not eating out a real comparison to normal (I did consider that this particular cafe might appreciate the business but on balance, it had a good passing trade and had converted it's seating area into a 'clickncollect' grocery shop so I didn't feel too guilty).

£2.50 on parking though 🙄

I didn't blow the eggs just boiled them as though we could have them for lunch after. Badtards cracked so eggs wasted. Ffs