Frugaleer Festive Fun

[Unescorted]

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

old thread here

Bring the sparkle on....

Thank you for welcoming me :). I spent a bit today as forgot it’s Christmas jumper today tomorrow and DD and DS1 don’t have a jumper!. So DH got them some from the shops. Am hoping to have a weekend with no spends though.

gen I wish you all the good luck in the world!

Dementia is awful love I’m so sorry that you are going through it💐

Brexit is a worry here too, I need to get a bit of a stash going actually

Thank goodness it is Friday.

wolf, sea, lonely just think of you all.

I"ve not really done any stashing/prepping so far, not for Covid or Brexit, (I don't think pigs in blankets in the freezer and Bendicks Bitter Mints in the Christmas bit of the cupboard counts). So far we've not experienced any shortages in my area, apart from a fortnight when tinned tomatoes were scarce, right at the outset.

What do you think will be the affected supply chains? What are you buying in and why?

I have absolutely no idea to be honest 😳 during the first lockdown I just bought extra tinned stuff but I’ve no clue about Brexit implications on specific stuff.

@Tightwad2020 we import over 45% of our food so I’m worried there will be major supply chain problems after Brexit in the event of no deal. What food does make it here will be more expensive. I’ve also stocked up on cleaning supplies and medicines.

We're not reliant on particular foodstuffs or medicines in my household. Also, I look at my regular shopping - meat, dairy, fruit, veg, frozen odds and sods, pasta, rice, pulses, tinned goods - and think there is nothing there that isn't either produced here or which couldn't easily be substituted. (Nuts, lemons and limes might be tricky, though - I'd probably have to pay more for those, since they aren't easily substituted.) And I have a big choice of shops. All of whom rely upon getting food from their shelves into my basket to stay in business, so I think as well that they will have a strong vested interest in solving any supply chain problems on my behalf.

I'm more worried that the paint I want to order in the new year will be slowed down - I feel I cannot look at the previous owners' choices for many months more!

I think Brexit could have implications for us here in Ireland. For example, I got an e-mail from Amazon during the week to say that there could be changes as a result of Brexit. One of the changes relates to VAT i.e. VAT may be due in the country of delivery i.e. Ireland as opposed to the UK. Does this mean that the quoted price will be before VAT and I will have to pay VAT before I can collect the item from the Post Office? This is what currently happens with items coming from countries such as the US or China - not that I order from those countries very often. There's also a reference to import fees. I'll hold off on ordering anything online in the New Year, until I know more.

@Tightwad2020 oooh bendicts mints. Must get some.

Spends today. £158 waitrose. Mostly on booze. And tonic water. And lebkuchen. Abd Christmas snacks (twiglets cheese let’s etc). Lots of the booze is for gifts though (white port for ddad. Gin for Dm. Rum for dsis).

For us here on the island it could get crazy with both brexit and covid. All hotels and restaurants are now shut until the forseeable. So farmers who would usually grow extra for these places have opened up farm shops and honesty boxes. So for fresh veggies wel be ok. The rest - all gets imported so it’s quite possible that nothings been thought about.

In other news Dd has what I hope to be a cold. I’m feeling a bit ropey. Abd someone in my office has tested positive for covid. I found this out yesterday. I’m very low risk to getting it from him j believe as we were in on alternate days. The only way I’ll be a contact is if my assistant (who has been in all the time so has overlapped with covid guy) tests positive. I’m keeping my distance from people just in case.

I’m also sleeping in dds room with her tonight. She’s grouchy. Cold has set in and teething too. So it could be a long night and I didn’t fancy constantly getting up. If I stay in here then dh can get a good sleep and I can also be here when she wakes up.

I hope you got some sleep Em and also that you have avoided cv from work.

I had a rubbish night with dd2. Ds then got up for the day at 5.15. Luckily dh got up with him so I could catch up a bit but it's still going to be a long day with tired dcs...

snuggly movie and pjs afternoon and hopefully some napping for either dc or snuggly?

em fingers crossed for you

dc are a bit sniffly, made up some menthol in hot water for dd last night and some splashed into my eye. Seriously not fun.

They'd to come with me to work this morning, so we did grocery shopping last night and then just went to dump with rubbish this morning before work so I stayed in bed until 8.30am

Myself and dd stayed up watching country music special on late late, I didn't love it. But that would've been ok if I went to bed then but stayed to watch Emmerdale as I hadn't seen it all week. I'm not enjoying the socially distanced acting in it.

€14 two rubbish bags, two recycling bags, last time I was there was 4 weeks ago so I'm quite happy with that.

€2.45 on food to keep me going so I could do grocery shop after work yesterday
€56.78 on 3 greatly reduced christmas decorations in woodies and some sweets for dc. I've spent a bit on Christmas decorations but carefully considered items too. This is our first Christmas out of family home
€136.78 in Dunnes
€14.75 will be reimbursed by work
€93.24 on groceries including some Christmas items. Also got a corn fed stuffed chicken crown, might be an option for Christmas dinner for me. Going to have a roast on Sunday
€23.62 on 3 christmas hats, a couple of tree decorations, a francis brennan ceramic star lit by led lights inside
€4.92 on a hot water bottle and cover as one of ours has disappeared
€15 on a scarf for dd, ds got a set the other day but they didn't have any to fit her. She's in love with the coziness of it

€75 on a gift hamper for dsis, dm will pay some of it

Beautiful day here sunny and bright 🌞😍
Spends 29£ B & M hope everyone is ok, am so busy will catch up ltr 😀

Still feeling a bit ropey but Dd has gone for a nap ds is making biscuits with dh so I’m on bed with a blanket and a cup of lemon ginger and honey tea.

Dd didn’t have a brilliant sleep last night. It was very off and on and she coughed a lot. So I was kept awake. Tonight it’s dhs turn to be in with her. He also got a lie in until 9 this morning so I’m expecting the same tomorrow.

Hope you feel better soon Em!

I took a walk into town today after a piano lesson.
£6 paperchase - diary and a tree for DD1’s room, I had £5 off for birthday and the tree was half price so I am glad I procrastinated
£8ish quiet lunch alone
£11 I think in Poundland, mostly Christmas related
£0 in wilko as couldn’t make decisions or face the queue! Need to make a list.
£7.50 charity shop - puzzle/game to put aside for DD2, and these seven books 😍 couldn’t resist

Ouch, came home from shop shift last night to be told that the downstairs boiler, which has been threatening extinction for several weeks, has finally gone. So, no heat downstairs but, luckily, still heat upstairs and hot water. We got in several quotes when the boiler started playing up so we can plough on quite quickly, but probably won't be looking at a new boiler before Christmas. Just as well we're not entertaining, and keeping everything crossed that the second boiler, equally ancient, doesn't fail too before the new installation sweeps all before it. Husband can finance the work using part of his bonus, but wah! I was hoping he could spend it on something fun, like a holiday. Bless him, he says heating is fun, or at least, more fun than no heating. But if we were in any doubt about a frugal Christmas, this is the clincher.

I'm going to make some scones, so at least we have something nice for tea today.

For some reason I'm seeing top-up ads for Durex!
We have that Little Monkey book Sing, it's lovely.
Quick top up shop in Aldi, might have bought a tin of xmas biscuits and opened them already. Oops!

Dcs watching a film. Trying to psyche myself up to do something useful instead of eating biscuits with my head in a cupboard so they don't notice 😂

Top up for baking stuff £19.
£30 skatepark x2 lesson
+££££ as got a house offer.
£18 super drug for skin stuff

Hope you gws em and get a nap snug.
There were loads of qs in town this morning too

Wet and horrible here so have got ahead on next week's baking. Pie and cookies freezing ready to be baked next week

Life that's brilliant news

Thanks. Fingers x this time

@lifelongfrugaleer great news on the offer!

We spent £35 on cards, stamps and gifts for DH horrible mother who hates me and has yet to acknowledge our wedding

Good luck on house sale @lifelongfrugaleer. Have you seen anything you want to offer on yet?

@Gensola - Christmas certainly throws us some curved balls, doesn't it! Did you grit your teeth? is DH aware of the oddness?

£50 takeaway for just dh and me. Indian from fancy place here. God it was delicious. 6 poppadums, two peshwari naan, lamb korma (my absolute fave) butter chicken x 2 (because I have fat fingers and accidentally ordered 2...Weve kept one for tomorrow) and pilau rice. Aside from the leftover chicken and some poppadums all is gone. I am full as a piggy. But so so yum. Lovely treat.

@Tightwad2020 oh yes he’s well aware - he was very upset when she didn’t acknowledge the wedding (we got married in lockdown so she wasn’t there as she is shielding, but we told all family and friends that we would have a reception for everyone when it is allowed and renew vows etc). She just said she didn’t know what she’d done wrong and cried.

It wasn’t ideal not having any of our family or friends at our wedding but we wanted to be married for legal and financial reasons ASAP especially with IVF etc and not wait. I do think it’s partly that she wasn’t there so has been able to go into denial over it. All very odd!

@ememem84 so jealous of your takeaway, haven’t had a good Indian in ages.

gen I think lockdown has skewed peoples horizons. It may be that she wasn't invited that has caused the issue rather than you per se. If you are unused to living part of your life on line it must seem like a TV show if you are viewing things through a screen.

Life good news on the house.

In a mo I am going to go up to the foodbank.... we are doing Christmas hampers and have been overwhelmed by donations, which have been more generous than normal this year, despite us doing a cut down version - 7 days rather than normal 12/ 25 day versions we do. We pitched it as we know things are tight this year.... meaning can people please use the foodbanks because I am running out of storage room. This has backfired and people have read it as we are running out of stock and up their donations. I know this is a lovely problem to have - in neighbouring areas it is the otherway around.

@Gensola the food was so lovely. We’d never been to this particular Indian here before. They have a proper sit down restaurant too but that’s closed now due to our restrictions. But when it’s open I’m definetly going! With any “new” Indian place we try I test it with a korma. There was so so much flavour in it. It was beautiful.

Same as pizza places - always test with a margarita. If they can’t get the basics right....

Next in the list is a Thai place which a colleagues wife works at at head chef. Heard amazing things. But never eaten there.

Yes we are at exchange point for a new house, hopefully as being messed about.
Tough situation gen. She sounds difficult.
Mm love a good curry.
Good news at the food bank. I some how think you will get through your stock such is the world ATM.
Online catch up with friends last night £ on alcohol free cider and DD food
Nsd planned today as must wrap