Frugaleer Festive Fun

[Unescorted]

I went to post and realised we had nearly run out of room.

old thread here

Bring the sparkle on....

Lovely cooking North
Em that would be it then you are right to hunker down , we will all be in lockdown for Christmas the way this is going!
Tayto l totally agree with you and l would feel the same way , honestly what are we like but it's no good we can't be something that we are not . I had a delivery of 6 bespoke hand creams here last week and l told the driver l wasn't the person they were for but he wanted to rush off & because it had my number on it he just took my name! l opened the invoice that came with it and it was for the lady 3 doors up so l did my good Samaritan for the day & took it to her

I would get in touch about the candle too. Maybe they will say keep it but conscious will be clear.
Mm looks good North. There is a caramel sauce that goes with the pudding. Did I send you that too?

Planning on spending £50k today as signing contracts for new house. Eek

There will definitely be a January lock down imo

Apparently we are due “crisis news” today. Speculations from the Facebook masses so far are:

Our nightingale hospital will be used finally although we have no staff for it

We’re all getting the vaccine today

Schools will close immediately

Lockdown for Christmas

Of all of the above I’m thinking the last 2 are most likely.

unescorted great news on dd's return. I'm going to call dm this evening to tell them I've made decision not to travel to them at all this Christmas, and to see if they'd like to meet in a restaurant half way for dinner perhaps instead. I know she'll be upset and hurt but I'm doing it for the right reasons.

life are you feeling any better? Don't think any of us will compete with that spend of yours
love how's your dh feeling?
All the mulled wine talk reminds me I've two bottles that were gifted to me when I was moving house by the people who took away some of the furniture we gave them.

Just got called up to the cfo's office, they've tallied what they owe me from when I was working during first lockdown and we were being supplemented by covid subsidy. Bonus money!

Found the item I returned in Dunnes on Amazon Prime for €14.50. A status cube with 3 sockets and 3 usb sockets. I need this in my life

Tayto dreading when those days come to us, defrosting windscreens, I live beside the sea, well I have for years but I'm extremely close now so might escape somewhat. They will say keep the candle but it's the right thing to do to let them know.

north great batch cooking there
em So important to keep your circle small.
I drove through shopping centre carpark and out the other side because of how busy it was, and the same with Dunnes carpark on Sat eve(went to the smaller outlet of it instead) We will definitely have spike in numbers again. Where we went to eat Sat night was extremely well managed and comfortable. I'm quite cautious, single mother, what happens if I get it, doubt their father is going to take time off to look after his dc.

I'm here to confess all my spends from Saturday, my card was used multiple times but it was my second last sat childfree before Christmas & i've 4 appointments booked in for the next one.

€55 on dinner/drinks with bf Sat night, worth so much more, it did us good to get out
€4.10 on Double Sausage & Egg McMuffin
€26.50 posting things to my sis in Australia. She's getting one box of underwear/socks etc and then a package with random Christmas gifts and chocolate, she's very witty with a quirky sense of humour so there's some tacky stuff in there, plus a woolly Santa hat(summer there!)
€3 Parking
€2 Newspaper
€29.70 The Works
€11 Dealz
€78.62 Dunnes (€24.58 will be refunded and I'll get €5 back in a few days from my GoRewards- have you that tayto with ptsb?)
€99 balance due on dd's tablet, reminds me I must order cover
€28.00 flying tiger, added some lovely Christmas decorations to our collection
€16.51 Christmas jumper remainder was paid for using my Dunnes vouchers €13 I had which equates to €1300 spending in 4 months in there, my work colleague had €45 but she's always spent twice as much as me on groceries even when I'd an extra adult in the house compared to her
€10.37 Tesco
€78.48 Primark/Penneys
€8.91 Aldi
Sunday was a NSD, balance you know
Today I'm spending €150 on 10 PT sessions that I got for half price

€24.99 smyths
€55.97 Homestore & more outdoor lights and an illuminated santa stop here sign
€1 on kindle book

Almost €700 in one post

Hotel myself and dc stayed at last August has a 20% off sale tomorrow and Wed, I am going to buy some vouchers, debating a night away with them over the holidays, but will see.

Thanks for new thread Unescorted. So glad your dd is home with you ❤️

I put my decorations up on Friday/Saturday and my house is now lit up like Blackpool 🤩 Huge amount of work and dreading taking them down but felt this year deserved a special effort.

Almost finished my Christmas shopping just a few things I'd forgotten to get the ds that they'd asked for and then it's just the wrapping 😬

We don't come out of lockdown until Friday and to be honest I'm going to a avoid the shops that were shut like the plague. It's going to be heaving. I'm not sure what they could be doing differently but I really feel the shops are going to be a major problem for transmission, I don't envy the poor staff.

Good luck Gen 🤞

€9.60 on cover for dd's tablet, using 20% amazon voucher code. Is there a way of finding products that these apply to?

Prime has definitely paid for itself in last few months. Wonder should I sign up for it annually

born sounds like your house is very festive, I was hoping to only put up tree and some mantlepiece ornaments but I'm starting to get into the spirit. Located solar lights I bought in summer and they're outside charging at the moment. There's a wall alongside the house that I think I'll put them on. Just need to figure out what I'll use to do this, tempted to just cable tie them to ddog's gate

Making a little bit of progress with the separation/transfer of mortgage. I've engaged a second solicitor to draw up a Deed of Transfer. She hopes to get this done in the new year. Also, Ex gave me the go ahead to transfer the electricity bill into my name. Baby steps.......

Spends today

€7.67 breakfast stuff (coffee, milk, sausage rolls, bread)
€61.89 on grocery shop in SuperValu
€4.10 on mince in butchers
€1.10 on throat lozenges for DD

I'm spending way too much on groceries atm but I've a lot going on with legal stuff so my head is wrecked and meal planning has gone out the window. Also, it's very hard to get delivery slots with Tesco. I'll take steps to address all of this in the new year. Right now I don't have the head space to think about it.

I've ordered a full tank of home heating oil for Wednesday. I'm not sure how much oil is in the tank but I don't want to risk running out in December or January. The house was unbelievably cold the past two days even when the heating was on! Last night I slept with a duvet, fleece blanket and a dressing gown over my pyjamas. I think it's due to get milder later in the week.

Happier if you live by the sea, you probably won't have to worry about frost. What are GoRewards?

em any news yet? Hope whatever measures they bring in aren't too harsh.

Happier and Happier with a bonus pay out.

DD has settled into her DD sized sofa hollow. However someone has inserted an Oxf chip in her and she is writing essays, reading and taking virtual exhibition tours. I felt I had to work twice as hard to make it look like I wasn't slacking. She still hasn't worked out the difference between in and on wrt the dishwasher.

em it will be really difficult for them to enforce compliance over Crimbo if they announce a festive lockdown. Weird isn't it if you said we were getting a Christmas Lock In it would be received very differently. Sort of like in and on I guess.

gen agree with the others - plan what you are going to eat, write a list and stick to it. Bimbling around supermarkets costs a fortune and popping in for the random thing you forgot last time costs even more.

North can I come to yours for dinner please? That looks so good.

So blah blah blah protect the vulnerable and the nhs (or jersey equivalent). Stop partying and being naughty or stricter restrictions will happen. You have been warned.

The measures they are bringing in are:

Care homes to lock down from this evening. No visitors. Care home residents will be getting the vaccine starting next week. Then again in January. Care home staff after all residents. Then if there’s any left healthcare workers. So must protect care home residents.

No visitors to loved ones except if they are end of life care and obviousky on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. (The latter seems a bit crazy in my mind. Stop visiting but all crowd round your granny on Christmas and be in huge care home groups....)

Anyway. Keeping my little bubble as small as I can. The dc are staying at nursery (although this is most likely a germ fest...). I’m wfh. Dh is in the office. His work has given him an essential employee letter so if childcare closes to anyone but essential I won’t have to juggle work with childcare as will still be able to send kids.

So is it care homes where the infection spikes are? I know the elderly are vulnerable not saying they shouldn't be protected but how is that stopping the spread?

Obviously the virus can tell the time so stops for Christmas. Tbf any kind of restrictions on Christmas would be flaunted

Told you jersians about running around snogging each other.

What are jerseys residents actually called

Don't answer that em just googled it

@lifelongfrugaleer

Don't answer that em just googled it

That is not a nice name for the people of Jersey!!

Went to Ikea spent 85£ , all the decs and Christmas stuff is reduced , some gorgeous things there. Then went to Lidl spent 35£, 3£ in Aldi on pizzas & £10 IN TESCO. Have sorted meals for the next 3 days at least
Hope everyone is ok fine here just so tired so much to do

life traditionally we are called crapauds. Which is a toad. 😂😂

Or beans. Jersey beans. Much nicer.

Infection spikes are or were in the hospitality sector. And also schools. Although kids aren’t apparently getting it in schools. It’s their parents fault for partying and snogging. 😂

And yeah It is a clever virus. I mean it knows about curfews. And holiday season. Amazing.

I have a feeling that the vaccine is being used on the elderly as a test. See what happens like. Cynical? Me? Ha!

@ememem84 that’s a really worrying thought re the vaccine. I wouldn’t be surprised tbh.

Had a hectic day at work today so NSD, hurrah. We have made a meal plan. I am so ashamed of how much we have been spending, when we have debt and no money. So stupid!

We will find out tomorrow how many embryos made it - really hope we get at least 1 to transfer.

I meant to have an early night but accidentally binge watched greys anatomy which I haven’t seen before. DH likes it too so we watched a ... certain number of episodes together

@Taytocrisps my divorce was a bit like that, one step forwards then ExH would go hide in a cave in Outer Mongolia to avoid paperwork. Got there in the end, and miraculously without murdering him.

I’m pretty much ready for Christmas now, looking forward to a really chilled time at home, lots of nice food and wine before the Brexit shortages kick in and we have to live on parsnips

This is what I love about this thread..... Jersey Beans, who knew (other than em obviously).

Gen fingers crossed for today.

Tayto - under blankets and hot water bottles are the way forward. My newest nesh nest is a hot water bottle in the bottom of a sleeping bag to keep me warm while I work from home. Office wear on top bed down below. Everyone else has to put up with the heating being turned off durning the day.

Because I’m now wfh I need to keep a check in the heating. I set things on timers but Dd keeps pressing the buttons on the rads and turning them off and on.

It was cold last night so it was dressing gown duvet and blanket (and catface) on bed for me.

tayto I trick i kearned from dm was to put a duvet under the sheet on top of the matress if you have a spare. Adds a layer of toastie ness.

I thought the toad translation was a little funny and mean.

Stressful day ahead today writing a report

In guernsey they’re known as donkeys.

tayto I believe if you've a delivery pass it's possible to get slots. You've enough going on, groceries climbing isn't the end of the world, it's not impulse buying stuff you won't use. Don't forget to link your esb account with your real rewards card if you've with electric ireland. You get points for paying your electricity bill and can then convert your vouchers to money off your electricity bill. Tesco do this for bord gais. Dunnes have an offer with airtricity with €200 voucher if you sign up but the rate is a little more expensive than my current plan with electric ireland so I'm staying put.

That's true about living by the sea but the journey to work albeit short is more inland so I need to be mindful of that as I travel.

GoRewards is a cashback system on your debit/credit cards with PTSB, it costs nothing to sign up, sometimes I get cashback from Lidl and I wouldn't even have known the offer was valid link

Why did you need to hire a second solicitor?

I got €150 home heating oil ages ago but then the boiler wasn't working so I've only been using it minimally since about sept. I'm watching it like a hawk, because I'll be moving next month and don't want to get a minimum fill at rented house.

House is an old house which was renovated about 10 years ago but I doubt much insulation was added. We moved in last Feb and there were two duvets and a bedspread on every bed, so far I've resisted the second duvet but I think I might add them this week.
I do have the bedspread on top of my bed alright for past few weeks. I bring a hot water bottle to bed some nights. There are new long slim hot water bottles out, discussed them with my cuz, we both want one, they're not that expensive but it's €10 unnecessarily really! So we're resisting so far. Once the stove and open fire have been on the house doesn't feel too cold. And when we go to bed the bedrooms are chilly but once you're in bed you warm up and don't notice it. The heating is on each morning for about 30 mins and the evening it depends on if we're there or not. Annoyingly I can hear it switching on.

ive got heating on at present, but am also sat right in front of the big window and am hopefully getting some warmth from the sun. cat face is on her cushion next to me on the bench.

been out for a run this morning it was chilly but i feel good for doing it - especially as i'm chained to the laptop today.

need bread for soup for dinner and also milk so will take a walk to the shop shortly. am thinking about stopping in M&S and getting some christmas treats (pigs in blankets, stuffing etc) in case we end up in a lockdown. at least we will be able to throw something together!

just had dh's christmas beer delivery arrive. a small keg of locally brewed christmas porter which the guy reliably informs me tastes like a dessert. £30 for a 5l keg. it is pricey but local.

am on cup of tea number a million already.

Tentatively I've spent €31.50 on a site I haven't heard of before, but did it through paypal so at least I'll have recourse if item doesn't arrive.

It's hyper-ket.com/ have any of you heard of it? I love the revolving bookcases on it but if I order them I'll be ordering 2/3 so more money. I ordered a compost maker thing.

Not heard of it happier sorry. They’re not listed on companies house and Google seems to suggest they’re either located in Canada or Dubai.

I'm now the account holder for my electricity account! I had to set up a new account. But it means that I can avail of the new customer discounts . It was well worth the 15 minute phone call and 20 minutes spent hunting for my IBAN prior to the call.

I bank with PTSB so I'll check out that GoRewards thing.

I need a second solicitor because I need to draw up and sign a legal document called a Deed of Transfer. My solicitor doesn't do these -she specializes in separation and divorce agreements. But she recommended another solicitor who will do this (for a fee obviously).

Thanks for the keeping warm tips everyone. It's due to get warmer today anyway - around 6 degrees today I think. Compared to -3 degrees on Sunday morning it will feel positively tropical.