Safely into a frugal September saving as we go...

[northender]

New thread. Thought I needed to get back on track.

€7.25 on pack of firefighters more milk and a pack of crisps
Plus usual childcare & school bus

Hiya all, absolutely drained today. DC just fell asleep, I’m doing some marking. We made jelly today, I got a mould so it should’ve turned out a lovely shape. It didn’t turn out wel, it tasted brill though!. I feel like I’m in a bit of a slump lately with work, I feel like I’m just getting through until October half term, I need a break.

unescorted I don’t understand how anyone could abandon their child, especially just because they’ve met someone new.

Brilliant going on Christmas presents em

Hope Mr North’s day went well

NSD

£5-ish on coffee.

Evening everyone , so busy today , sorting out Dd2 paperwork to take to her new house, God there was so much , l had a sackful of paper to burn, shopped in Morrisons £30 bought a nice soft raspberry jumper for £5 from £10 for myself , it's lovely and warm l put it on asap
I had a £5 voucher off food boxes at Morrisons so l bought afternoon tea for my Nephew and his partner , they are moving in together on Friday so l thought they could use it to entertain their guests as a house warming pressie Had a bit of a Morrisons day today

Pumpkin Jelly is fab ! Yummy! Soon be half term lovely , don't like to see you downhearted bless you
Em great going with the pressies Yay!
Happier l have never seen it the toy cat, before thank you lovely will have to have a look at it now You are well rid of your Ex , he's not a nice man , he's abandoned his Dc & to take those pictures like that , well words fail me , that is so arrogant
North hope Dh had a great first day
Unescorted l know right , I think l felt sparkier this morning , even after only a day ! So glad Dd is settled and making friends it's a relief for you As for the Christmas pressies they will all be gone btt l get my act together
Tayto

Thanks for all your kind messages for dh on his first day in new job. It went well I think although he was a bit shocked by how young everyone is!!
unescorted glad dd's drop off went well.
Ds had his needs assessment for DSA today & it went really well. I let him do all the talking (where often he has looked to me to talk for him) and he spoke well and confidently. The support he will get sounds fantastic so I feel optimistic for him & he is relieved to have got through it.

Ah, good news on both fronts North.

I don’t really understand how people could walk away from their children either. I could literally eat mine, they are so scrumptious between tantrums

Glad the drop off went well Unescorted . First one out of the nest - did you shed a tear?

Yesterday we had our naice meal out at a lovely fish restaurant WITHOUT THE KIDS. I had champagne and oysters as an amuse bouche, a dressed Cornish crab and then a hot shellfish platter (prawns, lobster, scallops, drowned in lovely garlicky butter). And sides. And a brownie for pudding. And Sancerre. It was lovely but £££. But we never go out together so well worth it.

I’m so tired after a weekend of socialising every day though - and I’ve spent a lot and I am very behind with life, Eg laundry! Enjoyed it while I can do it though.

I’ve just spent £73 on door mats - long story involving fox poo but I had to replace mine so bought two hug rugs to avoid postage, one for the front and I’ll replace the one by the back door while I’m at it. Pricey but good quality. I’ve also bought some Halloween fabric to make stuff for the DCs, £25. I am spending a lot at the moment, I need to get the seasonal spending done and then sit on my hands!

Right, must get to bed.

Sea your dinner out sounds gorgeous! And certainly well deserved.

North that's great that first day went well. The last time I moved jobs, I went from a well established school where many staff had worked their for almost 30 years, to a brand new school with a very young staff - I was the oldest (and only in my mid-30s!) and the only one with children. Things have moved on a bit as the school has grown but I still miss being 'looked after' by the older ladies. They were always so knowledgeable and sympathetic when it came to life challenges - cups of tea at the ready if I'd been kept up all night by the babies etc. Now people at my new school have started having babies, I'm the older, sympathetic one 😂!

Pumpkin I hear you about school-slog 😴. This term always drags on forever!

NSD yesterday, plus did an extra day of supply.

My dds dad has never met her, he decided he didn't want to be a dad so I literally never saw him again!! I find it unbelievable that anyone can be that selfish.

I'm so skint this month, no millage as was off work looking after dd combined with what I've spent doing my living room = potless. Definitely no Christmas shopping option other than a few bits.

Managed a couple of nsds though so that's good.

That meal sounded amazing sea 😋**

Sounds delightful sea.
Well done Mr North

Going to get my Dec shopping mostly done before I have to pay a mortgage again. £16 coffee gift, £12 calendar but got £10 prime Day credit,

mrsmadevans
I've since discovered it is from a ps4 computer game called Bendy and the Dark Revival. Decided to buy dd advent calendar online, and needed to get ds an equally good one too so got him lego city one, he loves the blind bags lego do and has great fun making the items so it'll be worth it. €42.98 with free delivery on my smyths account. I've a refillable advent calendar too, so will fill that with nice things we can do together in lead up to Christmas.

Have to defend ex h in this instance too, he has stepped up to being a dad since he moved out, but it's easy to get confused with the couple of ex's that are around on this thread.

pumpkin that's truly awful of your ex to dip in and out of their lives like this, like they're good enough when he's nothing better to do. They'll see his behaviour for what it is when they're older.

I cancelled my spendy hair appointment as it's in another county and it's really not essential travel. Will also have to cancel trip to my parents too bank holiday I expect.

girlie does he live in the same area or have you been lucky enough not to clap eyes on him again?

I budgeted childrens allowance like this today.

€280 - €200 Christmas €35.00 Heating Oil €45.00 Fun Things with DC

NSD. Yesterday petrol and a small top up shop

Happier oh my god l am so sorry l am a ninny 🙄😂
Glad your ex has stepped up to the mark with your DC , it seems he is sadly in the minority of Exs here on MN 💐 thank for the heads up re the PS4 gam lit us giving me ideas for my Nephew who is 10 😀
Popped to Tesco they have gorgeous Christmas stuff in l did buy a Stollen 😋

North am glad DH had a good first day he will be part of the furniture before long 😸
Sea that sounds yummy 😀
Fox poo hmm can imagine that is very nice 👃
Girlie that is sad for you all lovely 💐

£22 in Tesco 😀

Pub lunch, DH paid.

Me, £4.50 on coffees, £6 in farm shop and £20 on bits for Christmas stockings and few bits to send to DD1. She split with her boyfriend, apparently she’s discovered he’s a C*.

Grocery delivery tomorrow, £90 - ish

And breathe.

thanks for all the cheer re DD. She is on a bit of a roller coaster while she finds her tribe. The people she has met so far are "sooooooooooo posh and a bit dull" - I think she is intimidating them a little with her in yer face Northern Artist persona. They haven't tuned into her sarkyness and humour so are taking things at face value. They improve when they have had a bit to apparently- so I think it nerves.

I have just realised that other than nipping to the foodbank and dropping DD off I have not been out of the house for about 10 days... dh has been tasked with dropping Ds at school and does any shopping on the way home.

Sorry - North & Adora, I hope your babies are enjoying their first week too. I assume recognising he is a c* is a positive in her life Adora.

Apparently 12-15 m sleep regression is a thing. Who knew. Sigh.

Wfh tomorrow. Work have plot us into teams again. 38 cases here now.

Oh Em that age is so exhausting, take care.
unescorted I hope your dd settles quickly. She sounds like she'd be great company!
Ds seems to be doing okay so far and is quite pleased to have made a friend!
I'm working from home this week, waiting for a covid test result. One of my team is positive and although we distanced, I had lunch with her on Wednesday and she talked a lot in a poorly ventilated area so I got a test. We have a walk in test service for asymptomatic people as we are a high covid area.
No spends today

Ds didn’t sleep really until after 10. And I’m awake with her now. In preparation for this I got the air bed out in her room. So she’s on bed with me. She’s dozing off and I’m awake. Sigh.

I’m a little bit 😠 at dh because it was his turn to do the night time get ups. But he did sit up with her until 10 ish. So...

Pilates was good last night. Didn’t hurt my back this time. The instructor thinks maybe I over extended myself so she made sure I took it easy in class. Only 5 people there so lots of one on one attention.

North fingers crossed that it is a -ve.
And that is really good news about your DS having a friend. I am hoping that the radio silence last night means that DD has found one too.

em I don't think we will ever go back to our office. We are getting quite adept at using Teams & it is loads better than 2 meeting rooms joining a call or half the team travelling for hours each day.

I have slept really badly - I have a caught nerve in my shoulder so couldn't get comfy.

Comfy at home here too
I keep thinking might make the effort to go to the office but there is only one person I know there and no guarantee of seating. Maybe nearer Christmas so. I can get my shopping in.

Ooof lack of sleeping sucks.
Fingers crossed for a negative.
Sounds like she is well rid adora.

life I love the way you think, travel to work in order to do Christmas shopping and get value out of the journey

I got called into supervisors office yesterday which is rarely a good thing, but this was a rare occasion. When I started here almost 13 years ago Sat work was a given, over the years and through the recession this ceased to be the case, I avoid it like the plague now for two reasons, the money mainly goes to Revenue Commissioners and because I have gotten used to my Saturdays free. Also I didn't have children when it was a regular thing so it was easier too. I do however, take and make a number of phone calls to work on Saturdays instead of coming here. My boss became more aware of this recently when in conversation I told him about my mother being flabbergasted at the number of calls I took from my bed at her house one Sat. So they want to acknowledge this and are going to pay for my health insurance and for my dc's health insurance. It will cost me approx €800 myself net but it's worth about €2500. I've to review plans and get back to him. I'm going to investigate if I can then get a dental plan for dd using 10% member discount as she's going to need orthodontics in the future. You can't claim for first 24 months of that policy so the first €1k will cost about €500 over 3 years but then the following year that €1k will only cost €170. It was lovely to have my work recognised.

adora that's not a bad thing to realise.

north hope you get a negative result
em my ds almost 7 has been in last two mornings at 4am to me, but last night he slept in bed with me and slept contentedly, sleep regression is just horrid. A work colleague is going through it at the moment and he doesn't function well without sleep.

Yesterday was a NSD, dc both gave me the money they owed me from their spends at the weekend.