August Always Adds Pocket Pressure, Frugal Friends Thrive Thriftily

[Wolfcub]

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Thanks Mrs. Unfortunately had I no sooner typed that I was going to have an easy day when it all turned to shit. Ds2 has lost his school jacket that he has worn exactly twice. Frantic search this morning proved futile so he must have left it in school. He's just phoned there to say school don't have it 😫 oh and also he's forgot his shorts for PE so can I drop them to him at lunch time. He is 15 and I am so sick of his careless ways.

Total spending for today: £4.43 on getting notes for school printed & £2.08 on food shopping.

Hoping I will get sent a payment tomorrow.

I have to go into school to work the rest of my summer hours next week snuggly. I’m dreading it.

I think I’ve trapped a nerve in my neck or something. But it seems to be giving my pain in my fingers and sometimes my feet. Really odd and making me grumpy.

My mum gave me some money towards our curtains for our wedding and a bit extra. So I purchased something off our wedding list that got reduced to £3. It’ll be hilarious if that’s the only thing that gets bought and delivered with great fanfare . Also bought the champagne glasses from the list which were cheaper on amazon. I’m so tight frugal

Spent a bit of time with my parents this afternoon. My dad asked who my youngest DC was , fortunately she didn’t hear. Letters coming in the post seem to be causing issues for him too, he thinks he’s being watched.

Your description of “mum’s made ups” made me chuckle the other day unescorted. I love having you guys to chat to.

Has anyone here not changed their name on getting married? I decided I would, now I’m not so sure as I don’t like the look of my new name... as it is not my name.

I always thought I wanted the same name as my DC before they started school. But now they’ve started school and the world never ended with us having different names so now I’m a bit meh about it.

Love, I never wanted to change my name. I was pressured into it and now I really wish I hadn't. After 10 years of marriage (yes I know it's 8 plus two separated) it still doesn't feel like my name

Frugal wins, washing out on the line for the first time since the rain started last weekend. Leftover pasta bake for lunch.

Veg box has nice things in although I am planning to cancel it but the possibility of another Covid lack of food deliveries makes me a bit reluctant

wolf one of my work colleagues changed back to her maiden name recently, and for her it finally felt like the end even though the divorce was years ago. But when I first met her, she definitely wasn’t ready to change back iykwim. She’s like a new woman now. And totally rocks her old/new name.

I've been married 19 years and for all I'm not massively keen on my married name I am totally used to it now. It's also easier to say when I'm answering the phone at work than my maiden name.

Spends today £55 Tesco delivery. Got £1.50 back as my garlic bread had a short date they hadn't told me about. Bizarrely they had 3 things listed as having short dates that actually didn't.

Made Lonely's flapjacks, banana bread and raspberry buns as had bananas to use up. I'm shattered now. Think I'll have an early night.

Bloody crammer course DH booked 2 days ago had £60 off today. £45 admin fee to change booking.
Got flight voucher for KLM today. Phew

Ooh enjoy your time off em!

Thank you life I will send him with a pencil :). I think we do still have to book with national trust, will book up tonight.

I’m glad to hear you’re feeling a bit better lonely!

Great going with the tidying born!

Thank you snuggly I’ll re-read the email and see if I’ve missed anything. I’m sorry to hear you’re feeling stressed.

That’s great news mrs!!

I’m sorry about your neck love it’s bloody awful when that happens. I changed my name but if I’d liked my last name I’d have kept it. I do like us all having one name though.

NSD. I packed for holidays (pic attached) I think I’ve managed to pack really light. The DC don’t want to go to bed, I don’t have any fight in me and it’s been quite sunny today so we’re enjoying the last of it and playing cafes. I also have fully planned out our Christmas spends for presents, just need to work out food spends and our meal plan as we have family over for Christmas Eve-boxing day.

I asked if I could have no surname.... unfortunately I can't change it to nothing under English law. I dislike how it is a label to denote your Father and then your husband. Either or....I can't get worked up about which it is.

I have just made an apple and chilli pie. It is a Pie Town recipe. This time last year they were riding through New Mexico so I made it to remind them of the lovely trip they had.
I will report back on the loveliness of the pie. It looks good.

We have just had a letter from DS's school outlining what the procedures are for the new school year. It looks as if they have put a lot of thought into it.

Bloody hell that's light packing

Ffs. Just lost a long post.

Spends £49 lashes and £42 impromptu beach dinner - Thai curry with garlic chicken special on the beach. And a couple of beers. And some chips for the kids. High tide around 8pm. But we left around 7.

Work is done for 2 weeks. Emails off the phone. Out of office on. Handovers done.

Hi all quick sign in, things are very tense here as dd has her Camhs appointment today. She's not happy as they've told her no exercise and she's got to eat three meals a day plus snacks...

Can see me getting signed off from work unless things get a bit easier as I feel ill with it all.

Your lashes look lovely Em.

I'm sorry your daughter is struggling with her mental health. I can't imagine how hard that is. Sending you love and positive vibes. Do you also have other friends you can lean on?

I opened a stocks and shares ISA with moneybox. I know there are others out there but they let you start with a £1 investment. I'm okay with starting off with just £10 and you can make withdrawals.

No exercise at all seems counter intuitive. Was she training to excess? No need to reply if too much. Maybe some time off for you will help girlie. No shame in something having to give.

(((Hugs))) to you girls

Nice lashes and enjoy your time off em.

Lsd yesterday after all £5 fruit. Returned some clothes as now have outfit for dbro wedding £46

Girlie that must be so hard for you. Did they explore the causes of the disordered eating as well? The plan doesn't sound very realistic? Please keep posting here, we're all here for you
Fantastic news for your dd Adora
Snuggly sorry the approach of term time is making you feel so stressed, you do a fantastic job that I certainly couldn't do.
mummy welcome back, it's good that you're getting help
born sorry your lazy day didn't work out, teens are hard work, I feel your pain. Great baking effort though.
howl great news on the hand me downs. Both dc had lots when they were little, it made such a difference. Dd at 15 still wears ds' old clothes! Great forward planning for Christmas too.
orange hope you get the payment you're waiting for
love sorry to hear that about your dad, so hard to see. You should get your neck/back checked out
wolf we got washing out yesterday too, back to rain this morning.
Em enjoy your 2 weeks, beach dinner sounds lovely

unescorted my dc laugh about my "virtual friends" too. I love my virtual friends. I've *known" some of you for 5 years plus now. I haven't told ds your background yet, I'm having to be very careful with him at the moment, but it's good to have your story and a couple of others from friends up my sleeve for encouragement.

Busy day at work yesterday, but off until Tuesday now. Just need to have a quick Teams update with my team at 9 then I'm done. Dd has been brought back in to work at the rugby club (waitressing). She worked last night & is booked for tomorrow and 5 days next week. She'll be shattered by the end of it, but decided the money was too good to turn down as she won't be able to do so much once she's back at school. We had our tea there last night as we were both shattered & couldn't be bothered to cook (frugal fail).
Today Dd & I are taking mum to a garden centre at her request which is good that she's feeling more confident & wanting to go out. We're having HM croissants for breakfast. Dd made them yesterday simultaneously with my mum via several video calls.

North wow homemade croissants sound amazing

Girlie I'm sorry that sounds incredibly tough for you and dd. Did Camhs explain their approach to you (I haven't found them to be very good at this personally)? Does she have another session soon? Big hugs to both of you, it sounds incredibly tough

Em lovely lashes, enjoy your two weeks off

Howl hand me downs are great, I think ds existed almost entirely in hand me downs for the first four years

Day off today and a haircut booked but weirded out by it but my hair is like wool and needs some attention. Also meeting new social worker this morning so that'll be interesting

Girlie Don't beat yourself up. It is difficult to deal with our children's pain - whatever the cause or manifestation. I know everyone would willingly swap their pain for ours. You can support her, hold her hand and help her fight her demons but the only person who can make her pain go is her. My Dh suffers from bad bouts of depression (he gets hospitalised at times) and it was only when I realised I can't fix him that I was able to cope.

North it is difficult for people to hear success despite setback narratives. We are bombarded with people telling us from a very young age that if we don't put the work in and fail the sky will fall in and it is all irredeemable. I have lost count of the times I have told my kids "If you don't do your homework you will fall behind and then you will fail your exams, which will impact on your future chances".

My DM is having a pacemaker fitted today. I will call her in a bit...

We are about to go into a all hands to deck period at work... I will be buried in reams of paper as people submit word soup for me to read through. "Longer does not equal better" and "answer the question asked not the one you have the answer to" should be plastered across the top of every page of the templates. Wish me luck.

Morning started well. Dh threatened time throw the cat out over the fence. Because she hasn’t learned to use her cat flap in one day since the decking was finished and he isn’t going to be her doorman all day today whilst also doing the bulk of the childcare.

I’ve asked how he’ll be doing the bulk when also working and me and the kids will be out from around 930. No response to that.

Howl we didn't buy anything for DD. Everything was a hand-me-down or gifted. We were lucky - I was working for part of the Next Group at the time and the staff shop was in the office next to mine. The shop staff put aside anything they thought I might like & refused to take payment. Also her cousin is 11 months older than her - she wore a lot of casts off until she grew taller than him.

Morning. Grey and miserable here so will need to dry washing inside. Where does it all even come from anyway? That's 3 loads yesterday and there will be 3 today

Girlie it's hard to concentrate when there's a big worry like that hanging over you and being signed off sounds sensible so you can supervise her eating. I'm sorry you have this worry and hope it rectifies soon. I think more than ever social media actively encourages disordered eating under the guise of some "healthy eating plan" I know both my ds think everything they read/watch online is so much more accurate than anything I have to say.

Snuggly sorry you are feeling stressed about work. I hope once you are back its not as bad as you are probably fearing.

Unescorted good luck to your mum today. As a student nurse I watched a few insertion of pacemakers and it was a really straightforward procedure. Hopefully she will feel much better once it's in.

Enjoy you days off north

em love your lashes. I don't have a cat flap as my cats would bring in mice and birds so I am their doorman. Sometimes they go out the kitchen door only to go sit at the dining room doors eyeballing me as I sit on the sofa. Is he maybe jealous that you're off and he's not? Could he not get the same holidays as you?

Dh is laying the vinyl in the kitchen today so no doubt I'll be the laborer. Should be nsd.

born I think you’ve nailed it right there. Dh is jealous.

Jealous that I only work 4 days a week
Jealous that I actually enjoy my job (more on this later)
Jealous that I have the next 2 weeks off - he took annual leave two weeks ago to do the garden.
Jealous that I have my family here (mil is in nz as are his brothers)
Jealous that my family help us (Fil refuses to help with anything when we need it)

He’s jealous of my job because a) I enjoy what I do and am good at it, b) I’m organised and efficient - he says workaholic but because I do 4 days and want to make sure things get done I get my head down and do it, c) that I’m back in the office seeing peoole - he doesn’t understand how a company as small as mine (25 people) can get everyone back and one like his (400 cant). Quite simply, weve rejigged some desks where his has blocked off two between each one. So they can only have 40% of staff in. Dh isn’t deemed important key staff anymore since his move to internal systems projects. (Which at the time I thought was a mistake and the way I see him work now has just compounded it). He is disorganised and inefficient.

He moaned on Monday when I went back into the office that “the pencil case and headphones had gone so he couldn’t do anything all day” this being my pencil case and my headphones. Dh didn’t think when we knew lockdown was coming to bring home stationary that he uses at work. I did.