Frugal fun in February - the one with the Spring spring

[Unescorted]

New thread continued from this one

All are welcome - just dive in.

The heat the person tips are great Life. I definitely second enclosed slippers (I hate wearing them but they've made a huge difference), hoodie blanket and hot water bottle for making a massive difference to needing the heating on

My electric blanket is amazing! So cozy but now the dc want one too, I might get them cheaper ones in the winter. The problem we have is that our house gets damp when it's cold, but our electric is fixed until June and we're £5(!) in credit following our post winter reading (we're all electric) so that's good.

Pay day today and I've paid €200 for DD's college fees for next year and €70 for her debs. I've also booked an eye test for her (for her learner permit) and a hair cut. You know those posts about how babies cost next to nothing..........

Last day at work tomorrow and then I'm off for a whole 10 days . I'll be on my own in the office tomorrow and I need to finish off some stuff before my holiday, so I'm anticipating a busy day.

Right, I'd better put out the bin and head to bed. Night night lovely people.

em sorry to hear the kids are both sick.

They definitely get more expensive as they get older. Dd doesn't stop growing and is in adult sized clothes now ds is 9 with size 5 feet too.

I have work this morning then have to go food shopping and get more fuel so will probably spend around £150. Ds also needs new pants but I saw Tesco have 25% off clothes.

Morning.

Kids do not get cheaper! Uni costs are eye watering. Mine are quite frugal and will make / alter their own clothes, take lunches out with them but it still all adds up. DS is going through the eat everything stage.

DD & DH have spent nearly £500 each on festival tickets this year already. I am not a sit in a muddy field with people who are off their tits type of person so I am happy to stay at home and bimble.

My DM & I were talking about my garden this spring. I mentioned that I was going to buy some garden furniture, storage boxes and a mini greenhouse / layered cold frame. She gave me my birthday present early and made my bro drop off a mini greenhouse. I am soooooo looking forward to having home grown tomatoes. This weekend will be spent assembling all my goodies, re mulching the beds, bit of weeding and planting my seeds up. Why didn't I get a greenhouse before I do not know.

Friday morning read about the health inequality caused by poverty. I pick the cheery ones don't I?

That's a really good article unescorted thanks for sharing. I meet so many people who just don't understand how people can't afford to feed their family healthy foods there's just so much ignorance around it. As an example where I live the nearest Aldi (or any big supermarket) is 20 miles away and we have a bus that leaves the village to a small town 5 miles away once a week. You see it on Mumsnet a lot 'can't you just get an Uber eats? Just go to lidl. Use the Olio app' it really infuriates me.

What a great present Unescorted

Kids definitely get more expensive as they grow up and any sort of hobby or sport or club adds another eye watering dimension

After a week of being quite poorly I am finally on the mend still snuggling abs coughing but much more myself. But have lots of housework abs study to catch up on. Work is a 'mare at the moment

Em and Life hope the poorly smalls feel better soon

Wreck I always think there's an awful lot of ignorance around and it's one of the reasons bad policy and law is made. Those at the top have no connection or understanding to those at the bottom. I think it's why Jack Monroe has done such a good public service casting light on some of the realities. We are lucky we aren't and have never been in poverty but do see it around us. Some never see it

Michael Marmot is great. This is one of the topics I teach on and I feel very strongly about it. It's a disgrace that in a developed country we have this much poverty - well it would be awful anywhere, but the inequality gap makes it feel worse I think.
On a brighter note the sun is shining here and lots of daffodils out. Hopefully seeing my DParents and DSis and family this weekend if we can all manage to test negative 🤞🏻

Dd perked right up after her sick. Ds went to dr and has inflamed ears and infection. So antibiotics for him. Poor thing. It hasn’t stopped him though. He’s just ploughing through and on. Full of beans.

I had my first unbroken sleep for at least a week last night. Feel wrecked for it. But that’s probably because I’ve relaxed.

No rest for the wicked though. Am currently packing up our temporary house to move back to our real house tomorrow. Kids stuff done. My stuff done. DH is doing the kitchen.

Im doing a run to the house later to start clearing things and to take things back.

Booked Monday off work so I can rest/potter/play with new kitchen/laundry.

I get cat face back on Sunday. I’ve missed her little furry face.

£68 Aldi £38 Tesco (including pants and school trousers for ds, the pants were £13!!!). The cheaper fuel station had run out of all fuel (it's only £1.58 there) so now I'm on empty again 🙄 will have to use one of the expensive ones I guess.

Excellent article Unescorted thank you for sharing this with us 🤗
Saw the play Cluedo yesterday , it was very good the costumes and set was fab & very good acting 🤗
No spends today , just 10 in Morrison yesterday .
Em these weeks have sped by !
Hope everyone is much better in your family and you settle back to your home with Catface & your beautiful kitchen in place 🙂
Wolf so glad you are feeling much better. 💐
Martha l saw a lot of poverty in my Community Paeds nurse job, it was very upsetting but they were some if the kindest ppl l have ever known and so grateful for the respite we provided for their children. 🤗
Tayto have a lovely holiday 👏🤗
Great tips thank you Life 🤗
Hope everyone is doing well
Waves to everyone 👏

mrs coincidentally DH and I watched “clue” last night with Tim curry. So 80’s. But so good. But so bad. But so good!

Me and the kids have just had an exhausting 90’s rave/kitchen disco. DH has gone to take more stuff to the house. Kitchen disco done and the kids are watching tv now before bed. I need them to stay in bed later tomorrow so later bedtime tonight. #wishfulthinking.

We’ve done dancing outside on the picnic table and decking and inside too. They are knackered. Fingers crossed.

I took a load of stuff back earlier and put it away. So hopefully this will
Make things easier.

Morning lovely people.

Wreck I don't think a lot of people realise that rural in the North of England and Scotland is a lot more isolated than further South. Wolf you are right it does lead to poor policy making when the people informing and making the policy have had no experience of how those policies impact on people. I very much doubt that many of the advisors in DWP have ever felt the grinding stress of surviving on benefits &/or a low income. UC seems bonkers with its ever changing amounts and unfathomable tapers.

The bit that really resonated with me was the stress of relative poverty - we spent so much of our meagre budget trying to avoid people twigging we were stony broke. It was exhausting. It is why I am a fan of repackaging supermarket flowers - 2 packs of cheap flowers merged to make one that looks £20-40 for many birthdays and Christmas presents. It was all about keeping up appearances.

Martha I am intrigued as to what subject & where you teach if food poverty and social inequality are on the syllabus.

em I am loving the idea of a kitchen disco. Fingers crossed for a smooth and stress free move back home.

Mrs I am going to have to Google Cluedo the play - I can't quite see it translating as a literal thing.

The planned garden fettle is looking a little chilly this morning. Hopefully once the sun comes up over the hill it will be a little less trip to Antarctica.

Unescorted similarly I don't think people understand that here in the south we have a lot of rural areas. People are often moved here from big cities, maybe escaping domestic violence, and plonked in a rural village with no amenities. People assume because you live in the south east you have everything on your doorstep.

I've got a meal out tonight with work. Really excited, it'll be our first as a team as we merged in February 2020. It'll cost a fair bit but never mind. Otherwise today is house park, uni work and a walk with ds.

Moving home day!!!!

Oh just realised dds passport has expired. Not going anywhere but will renew it later so that'll be £49.

First day of my holiday . I dropped DD to the hairdresser early this morning.

I've a lot of things to do today including:-

Get petrol
Hang out washload
Sort out recycling
Trip to bottle bank
Pick up cat supplies
Pick up Easter eggs
Pick up prawns at fishmonger (I'm trying out a prawn satay recipe tomorrow)
Clean fridge

DD made a really good chicken stir fry with noodles yesterday, so we'll have leftovers today.

Going to watch 'Murder on the Orient Express' later.

martha I'd be interested in listening in to your lecture but I suspect you'd be preaching to the converted. When I was growing up, we didn't have a car (my parents never learnt to drive). It would have been cheaper for them to shop at a supermarket but the supermarket was a bit of a distance from our house, so they just shopped daily at the row of shops across from our house. We could have got the bus to the supermarket but then you have to factor in the cost of bus fares. When I hear of cost saving measures which involve driving somewhere, my first thought is always, "But what if you don't have a car".

Unescorted what a lovely birthday present from your DM - that was so thoughtful of her. Have fun arranging it all to your liking. It was a cold, frosty morning here too. But lovely sunshine now.

em hope the move back home goes to plan. Enjoy your new kitchen.

I might take a trip to Avoca tomorrow. It's a lifestyle type store with a garden centre. It's a lovely place for window shopping but it's expensive so MUST NOT BUY ANYTHING!

Tayto MOTOE is excellent imho hope you enjoy it and enjoy your 10 days off
Em hope you have a lovely day putting all the things back in and making your home the way you want it, Good luck
Coincidence indeed re the Clue film , l absolutely love Tim Curry he has a lovely voice and since his stroke in 2012 he is stuck in a damn wheelchair but he still has his voice . I love him singing this and it always makes me cry l am such a sook !

Unescorted it translated very well but it wasn't really like the board game of course , there was a lot of theatrical Choreographing by the actors but it was very well done Funnily enough Dh didn't like it but he stuck it out for me bless him Re the trying to keep from ppl how tight things were , we didn't have that tbh because there were so many of us in the street in the same boat . I can remember it as if it was yesterday being in the dark because the shilling had gone , it was a regular occurrance . Morrisons 20 on salad stuff and a lovely rose bush

Had a frustrating time doing my shopping. They'd hardly any Easter eggs left. So I had to visit three different supermarkets. And the eggs they did have were in small displays here and there, meaning I had to traipse around the whole supermarket to see the entire paltry selection. Guess I should have bought them back in January when they first had them in stock. I left the fishmonger until last, so the prawns would stay fresh. But it was closed. Annoying because I'd bought all the other ingredients for the satay and now I'll have to come up with something else for dinner tomorrow. But sure, in the context of what's happening in Ukraine, I've nothing to complain about.

Home.

Exhausted.

Chaotic.

Evening all sorry I seemed to have dropped off the thread been been a busy few weeks

Looks lovely Em glad your back home

Spends today £82 Morrisons.

Been a nightmare few weeks 3rd day into my new job ddog tore his cruiciate ligament £100 excess on the insurance he was operated on o Monday and is now on crate rest for 8 weeks he’s been a nightmare and has had new all night since I’ve had about 2 hours sleep each night not great when I am trying to learn a new job and I should have been signed off training on Friday but they have extended it arghh it also didn’t help the week before they sent me home as I had a cold so not allowed in the office for 2 days. Dh is off tonight so he can deal with dd who is now snoozing in his crate. The pump for the air bed has also now arrived so he can sleep on that I’ve ended up on the rug on laminate floor all week

Mil is back in hospital again now with swollen wrists she was in the other week with swollen hands

It really is one thing after another with me

Looks great em. It will take time to sort out
The health inequality is so true. I was fortunate in the fact dgod were farmers so fairly self sufficient and i ate well there
No idea about the rest of our area but given I’m a council estate kid all the same

Oh sounds tough Martha. Hopefully your training will be signed off soon.

That is frustrating tayto

Spendy day yesterday as pond has finally run out of water. £75 fleece and liner. It was very choked up and bigger than we thought once stripped back. Waiting for the liner to settle

Yesterday was speedy for me too.

The nearby town was all out of fuel so I was panicking as I had enough to get to the city but not home again. Luckily I got some there and it was cheap (£1.57.9) so I put £50 in. Then got two packs of hot cross buns for 98p. Glass of wine £5.35 and dinner £15 (as I'd already paid a £10 deposit), that was a soft drink, starter and main.

I love your sofa em

Thanks guys.

wreck it’s an m&s one. Although we think it’s not what we ordered. Can’t find the paperwork. I think I ordered a large one and think this is a medium. But seemingly the sofa gods have smiles on us as it seems like the large wouldn’t have looked right.

Need to go to m&s Tuesday and ask the questions and get the money back for the difference.