Festive Frugaleering

[Unescorted]

[[https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/4340188-Savvy-savers-sashaying-through-September old thread]

Opppppps - we nearly filled the old one

€50 on 3 pairs of verso leggings in the sale. I got a lovely pair a few months ago but they roll down because of my belly so I sized up and got a pair of the biker style & a beige pair also for dressing them up a bit more.

Flying tiger stocking fillers arrived today, will put away for another time. My lovely bench zippy top came from M&M direct too.

€75 on car valet

Car is full for dump/recycling centre €14 it will cost.

Ooo let us know what kingsman is like
Great tidying out there.
Sounds like great bargains happier

Why is it than whenever I look for a specific item in the sale I always love one that isn't in the sale?? Curtains this time for dd's room. The matching lampshade was reduced though so I got that too.

Evening everyone
We are having an Indian takeaway tonight for tea so that will be 40 quid before we start but it is instead of having a takeaway tomorrow because Dd2 is off to Cardiff for NYE , she is staying there until she is negative for Covid after testing on Monday. I have told her straight if she gets it then she is staying in Cardiff until she tests negative. She has tickets with table service, so at least she isn't in with loads of people but l am not holding my breath , l think it will be a miracle if she doesn't get it tbh
NSD again , l haven't even been shopping since last week for ourselves so l am pleased with myself although the Indian tonight will leave a hole lol
Hope everyone is ok , take care and stay safe

£77 Tesco but lots of things like shampoo etc. £29 animals. Have 9 so expensive. Booster this morning. Ok so far. 👍👍👍

Ds has sandwiches for lunch, he puts hardly anything in them because it's foo lazy but is also a food snob. Thought on whether it'd be cheaper to buy ham joints and chicken breasts to cook for him rather than buying (convenient) packs of ham for sandwiches

@Wolfcub

Ds has sandwiches for lunch, he puts hardly anything in them because it's foo lazy but is also a food snob. Thought on whether it'd be cheaper to buy ham joints and chicken breasts to cook for him rather than buying (convenient) packs of ham for sandwiches

Definitely cheaper to buy a Gammon ham and cook it in the slow cooker l think. We do one a week for Mumbob and the joint costs about £3.50 for a kg in Aldi's . It does 2 meals and 2 days sarnies for them and it is delicious Wolf

We do Mashed potato , parsley sauce , peas and Ham, the next day they have Ham Chips and egg and they love it

I think gammon sliced and frozen would
Be cheaper that the equivalent packet. Possibly chicken too

I’ve thought about that too wolf, for some reason repeat buying of plastic packs of ham etc drives me a bit mad! Mine prefer it to ‘real’ meat though.
mrs you deserve a treat, enjoy
-unescorted- well done on the clear out. I had a blitz a while ago and it is very satisfying.
Hope those with the booster are feeling ok.
I feel you on the back to work dread, it always spoils the last few days for me (though I shouldn’t let it). I’m quite busy when I go back and really hoping we don’t get an announcement that we’re online teaching at a moment’s notice
gen— great news about the holiday, you deserve something nice to happen!
£144 today on excess towards new car windscreen and wipers. Good news: I got a free wiper as they only charged me for two and the man doing it said it was their mistake. But this was because, bad news; they booked it late in the day and it was apparently too dark to do part of the job (callibration??) so I have to find a slot when I can spare 4 hours to drive there and back and get it done. Which is not looking good as weekends are all busy. At these kinds of times I do feel frustrated that DP doesn’t drive.

I cook either a small ham joint or a medium chicken and use for lunches for two of us for a week. I do both in Instant Pot as that gives me stock for soup as well as being quicker/less mess

I've spent the day battling nausea after getting my booster yesterday. Would definitely be a DGOD day except I got dressed early this morning to collect DD from her Dad's. DD has gone shopping/ice skating with her friends but when she gets back, I'll ask her to put out the bin and do the cats' litter trays. Still not feeling great.

Oh Tayto sorry you are feeling poorly lovely bless you take it easy 💐
Thank you Martha 😊 it was delicious 😋
Great stuff re the car but another 4 hrs driving is a chore, l would do my best to coincide the visit with something else if possible. Kill 2 birds with one stone ☺️👍
Granny excellent frugality! 😊

Hope the effects pass soon everyone. Lasted about 12 hours here

mrs enjoy your takeaway and fingers crossed your dd doesn't pick up covid
Great de cluttering unescorted
I think the gammon/chicken idea is good wolf. We do similar and it works well. Dd likes being creative and doing things like pasta and couscous with it.
Take care all of you who have just had your boosters.
Dd has now got symptoms and has had a positive lateral flow. Still waiting for ds' PCR result. Dd is booked for one tomorrow so Ds is going to drive her. I've also got one booked as I can work with a negative PCR and daily Lat flows. Sooooo complicated and so annoying. Generally feeling a bit better today but going to try to get a GP appt tomorrow, something isn't right.
I've asked for an extension on my MSc assignment as I've been too tired for study this week.

Felt quite down today but hoicking up my big girl pants and focusing on frugality. Today's focus has been minimising post Christmas food waste.
Used some slightly out of date sausages for a delish toad in the hole (sausages passed the sight & smell test and got well cooked). Used a pack of sausagemeat which had already been frozen to make meatballs (mixed with stuffing) and a tomato sauce to go with them and spaghetti. That's tomorrow's tea sorted and am going to do the self saucing choc orange pudding which we had planned for Christmas Day. Have frozen the last of the turkey which I am planning to use in a Biryani over the weekend

Today realised that our 5 year mortgage fix is ending in April. Will have 8 years left so need to look at how much it would cost to remortgage and reduce term to 6 years. Paying it off would make such a difference to us and the retirement plan. Need to renegotiate Virgin package too.

North it might be worth moving fast on the mortgage and working out any early repayment fees to move it now rather than waiting. There is the potential for further rate rises I think. Worth getting g some independent financial advice

North I would speak to an IFA in the circumstances. It is all so uncertain ATM so I would be tempted by a fix.

The cook at home ham / chicken works out so much cheaper than the plastic packs. Leith's have a good method for the ham... Bring to a simmer for 15 - 20 minutes from cold with peppercorns, bay, clove. Glaze with honey and mustard and bake until cooked.

Kings Men... Rainy Sunday afternoon fodder.

Evening all need to catch up on the thread but thought I would update you all on dd she blocked him yesterday as he was constantly messaging her my sister and her friend as a witness went to pick her stuff up last night and he was a pain in the arse his usual Jekyll and Hyde self he was stoned out of his skull He went from crying to being angry etc refused to give the stuff back insisting dd had to pick it up to be dropped off for 2 hours alone to collect it. That wasn’t going to happen. Dsister called 101 so he gave her some essential university bits she already had her laptop as his mum on Christmas Day told the person taking him home to get her laptop. He then said his nan would get her stuff and take it to his mums he’s obviously fell out with his mum as she told him he was toxic and told dd to leave him etc

He really met his match dealing with my sister she’s a nurse but has worked in drug rehab dementia brain injuries strange ways prison so she handled him brilliantly.

In the end his mum picked up her stuff and we have it back dd didn’t want that as his mum would scream at him a batter him but that’s not our problem

Spoke too soon. Awake since 1am v sore arm and feel awful

Alfie that sounds really positive. I am not giving up on my religion just yet....

Starting have you got someone to fetch the paracetamol/ make cups of tea/ change the channel (I couldn't deal with the remote - too sore and complicated) for the next 24 hours. My kids were very attentive - nothing to do with having my booster just before the Amazon Christmas delivery cut off. In my delirium I apparently forgot how to say no.

North I hope you and yours are feeling OK today.

Today is the corner cupboard of tin doom. I know there are 2 woks, 4 loaf tins, one pizza stone, 1 griddle pan and an unknown number of "useful" cake tins that have been donated to my Kupboard of Kitchen Krap, but never used. After that it is sorting out the utensils - I am thinking one drawer given over to cake making & decorating and the other for the other things. I am going to be ruthless....... one more cup of tea and then I start.

I slept solidly through the night and I'm feeling much better now.

I never got my bin out though - I was planning to ask DD to put it out when she got home, but they were very late getting home. The ice skating was at 6 and then they went for food afterwards and the bus they were planning to get was cancelled so they had to wait an hour for the next bus (rural area so buses only run every hour). Anyway, DD only got back around 10.30 and I was already in bed. I woke up this morning to the sound of the bin lorry. Don't know why I didn't text her before I went to bed - obviously I wasn't thinking straight.

We're downloading Now TV today so DD can watch the the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary special. But we'll only download it for the minimum period. I was reading a thread about 'Shirley Valentine' yesterday and apparently it's on Now TV so I'm looking forward to a re-watch of it.

Unescorted good work clearing out your kitchen.

Mrs hope you enjoyed your take away

martha good news about the free wiper but that's a long drive.

north sorry you're not feeling so good. Hope the GP visit throws up some answers. You did really well with your Christmas leftovers.

Alfie so pleased to hear about DD. I'm glad your sister and his Mum were so helpful.

north re the mortgage my advice would be to fix for as long as you can at as much as you can feasibly afford.

Ordinarily I’d suggest shopping around but the relative short time frame you have left I wouldn’t bother.

Also got my booster yesterday, put down a rough night, hot and cold, waking every 75 mins, trip to loo each time, arm sore, scratchy throat. Took paracetamol before bed and once during the night.

Meeting a friend for a walk at 10am I think it'll be home to the sofa then after that.

Aldi €56 yesterday

£18 yesterday in zoo shop. We’re seeing friends today and this was for a present for their little boy. 7 wooden animals. (£3 each but as a zoo member we get a discount).

Zoo was packed yesterday. And annoyingly only one person on the entrance tills. So we had to wait for ages. Seemingly everyone in front of us had issues with their memberships or had a load of questions. Sigh.

Pay day. Paid myself first. Slight panic when I got up as the bank were having payment issues and hadn't processed the money into my account (should have gone in at midnight) and there were literally pennies in there, all sorted by the time I got back from walking the dog.

Great news Alfie

Hope all the poorly and jabbed folks start to feel better soon

I'm working my way through a washing mountain before I go and pick ds up. I'm dreading it to be honest he's been really hard to live with lately and a couple of days on my own has been a lot less stressful. Never mind, Onwards