Frugally Forward To Autumn

[Wolfcub]

New fred

spent £60 on Vinted but got three jumpers, three blouses and two pairs of boots. All for work. Waiting for it all to arrive now.
We are on road again to MIL today so need to get a wiggle on and make a lasagne for us to return to.

need that veg box is incredible. Love the meal plan, I would happily come to yours for dinner every night 😄

£27 on Chinese last night - worth it, we only have it once a month.
Does anyone have suggestions for where J can get shoes for work (black), flat or low heel preferably with a strap as I have narrow feet and shoes fall off?
Under £50?

LSW here. £11 ice-skating lesson, gone up a £1 but that's for one lesson and two hours free skating with her friends. Brought our own drinks and snacks. DD prefers the newsagents afterwards for a treat and he's very cheap!

No plans this weekend after v busy summer. Survived the first week at work (I did work the summer but I'm in education and schools opened Monday 😜) / secondary school / FE college.

Going to use some mince out of the freezer for cottage pie and chilli con carne, home made pizza tonight and two rounds of chocolate brownies, one for the freezer. Listen to free podcasts while in the kitchen.

Pleased I'm following / occasionally posting on here as I think I'm in more control. Only had to dip into savings for the parking fine 😕 and think I'll need it for £30 online installment for scouts trip. Worth it as DD gets a weekend at a theme park for £80 rather than us four trooping down there at around £500, DS did the same a few years ago.

Very tight on the shopping budget (£98 left for 11 days) but if I focus this weekend I may do it.

I've not seen those veg boxes in our local Lidl, brilliant idea!

Hope you all have a great weekend 😊

Spends couple of days buying food for me, mil and stables but will get lots back,

im working on Mary Berry quick cooking at the minute, sorry need Jamie’s new series gets on my pip.

Sorry you’ve had a tricky week too need
great bargains gen
wolf last time I used compare the market and will try it again as I got their meerkat app which gives you 2 for 1 discount off eating out and cinema for a year. Is that of any use to you?
£74 in Tesco. That’s more than planned (as usual!) but I’ve spent less than planned on petrol so it’s ok. treated myself to a latte £3.05
actually had a request to buy fruit (for DD) and veg (for DS1 - sweet potatoes)!
Been looking at uni open days for Leeds and birmingham for DD. Need to get my skates on, they’re all in the next few weeks. It feels very odd she could move out in a year.

@needastrongoneagain That veg box looks amazing. The ones at my local Lidl are pretty awful and generally look like the stuff is ready for the compost bin.

I can't get GS who lives with me to book anything. He is keen on a few places, wants to move to a city away from Devon but he won't actually go and look at them, I'm starting to think he would benefit from a gap year, with all the disruptions in his life over the last few years I think it would give him a bit of time to mature. Mind you I could do with a teenager free house, I'd forgotten how much they eat and how much washing they create.

Gran, Leeds is good! My DS benefited from an extra year, in his case he did a fine arts foundation course, and various part-time jobs, so was kept busy while living at home. And when he was wavering about whether to apply for university, was more susceptible to the fact that university was a good way of leaving home, a step which might otherwise take many more years for him to afford, and of experiencing another city which wasn't London and its mighty gravitational pull.

Low spend day today - FT, and if I CBA, might do some scones to put in the oven with the roasting tomatoes and aubergines.

Poor Ddog is really packing on the weight with the chemical castration. He is due his six-monthly check up, so I might have to ask the vet for a really strict regime to get him slimmed down before it's too difficult to reverse. Just trying to restrict his intake on his normal diet isn't working.

Have put some cheese scones in the airfryer in the hope of awakening my appetite. Did have some toast this morning but it was forced down with no enthusiasm.

gran I think a year out sounds really good in view of what you’ve said. My DS1 was similarly unenthusiastic about planning for 6th form college. I think it’s hard for us to appreciate how strange and difficult the last couple of years in education have been.
Does he live with you full time? My DP was brought up by his grandparents - would probably have been in care otherwise.
spent £25 on keys in Tesco as the DC have all lost them - was congratulating myself on a job well done as I thought I’d have to go searching for a place to do them and then realised there was a timpsons right in Tesco. And now I’ve got them home they don’t bloody work! 4 out of 4 are duff.

NSD for me.

@marthasmum I found that with Timpsons too so I avoid them like the plague now. Every single time I had to go back at least 3 times so I found an independent store which is not far from the local Timpsons and 100% success rate over many years.

I'm planning to cut my hair tomorrow and colour it. Already have the colour and hairdressing scissors.

Wolf do you know why you’ve lost your appetite? Hope the cheese scones do it (they do for me)

I loved Uni, it was amazing. But the financial equation has changed so much, I can understand why it’s not the automatically best option for all bright kids these days.

Bit spendy atm. £20 check up for DD at dentist. We use a private dentist atm as she knocked her top front baby teeth out back in Feb (I cried!) and her regular dentist - a single handed practice - couldn’t fit her in for at least a week. They are now watching that the surrounding teeth don’t drift too much so I like her being seen by the same guy. And they do Saturdays so I don’t have to take her out of school / time off work.

I took her to an independent shoe shop afterwards to be measured and to get some casual shoes (I replaced her school shoes in May but then she wore sandals all summer for casual). She fell for some Startrite metallic trainers but they didn’t have them in the right size, so afterwards I looked online and found they were in the Startrite sale for £13 (were £43 full price in the shop). Woohoo! I bought two pairs, one for now and one bigger - thought it was worth stashing them at that price for good shoes. I am well chuffed with my bargain!

other spends: £26 for birthday presents for a party today (2 kids but one is her BF so we got something extra nice for him), I’m currently in the hairdresser, will be about £80 - i don’t go often but need best hair for a wedding in a couple of weeks.

£156 for food. £8 for a large cake board for DS’s family birthday party next week, and £25 on fondant icing in various colours 😮. It is cheaper to make his themed cake than buying one but it is still quite pricey. He’s not bothered about presents really though, the cake is the main event for him. I’m making a tube train!

£5.50 for a vest top for me, to wear under a wrap dress that’s a bit too booby. £32 on a couple of presents for DS. Still need to get a ‘main’ thing, possibly a scooter.

i think that’s it, phew!

A bank holiday on 19th has just been announced

Yes he is with me fulltime, he doesn't get on with step father and when it got physical mum sided with step father. It is hard as his dad isn't local. I have a really good relationship with him but it doesn't make up for feeling abandoned. It is hard.

That's awful about the keys, I'm sure they will have to do them again for you. It is so frustrating when kids lose keys, particularly in my house as DH is ex police and a bit paranoid about security. I am usually in the middle trying to referee when it happens here.

I was frugal today used up some portions in the freezer for dinner so I had some spag bol, GS had chili and DH had curry. All food I'd made in recent weeks when thinking the other GS might be here for dinner but he didn't and I froze it.

@BigSkies2022 Leeds is one of the universities he's interested in so that's good to hear.

Sounds like you are doing a great job there gran and have a sensitive appreciation of his situation.
Cake sounds fab half. We spent a lot of time in local dental hospital at one point after DS1 lost a front adult tooth. He’s currently got a gap though as the false tooth they gave him kept getting knocked out. I think once he turns 18 in a couple of years we’ll probably have to pay an eye watering sum to get him an implant.

Ooh cake sounds great half, you clever woman

not easy at all gran, good for you for taking him in

hope the scones worked wolf, worried about you

we pay private dentists still and it’s been the best for us

spend day today but I think mil will pay as out for her anniversary

Morning.

busy few days with school etc.

£45 yesterday riding

dh spent something in b&q on a new shed/storage thing.

www.next.co.uk/style/st650490/762928#762928

@Gingerwarthog i got this style in a dove grey suede for around £40. For work on days I need to be a little smarter. Forever Comfort at Next as I can't bear shoes that rub or hurt. Not sure if they'd have a narrow fit or a strap though.

You're welcome to come to and have dinner every night gensola. I'm a huge fan of Vinted. Recently discovered. Just got some unworn Hush boots for a tenner, will post a photo later.

No suggestions re shoes ginger, sorry.

Fingers crossed the budget stretches kessie.

life, haven't seen the Jamie show in truth. I just pick a book or website each week and plan from that, last week was BBC Good Food😁.

I live very close to Leeds, fire any questions my way. It's a great city.

I think you used to be able to buy a days travel insurance for a few quid and still get the Meerkat offer, if that helps folk.

Hope you're okay wolf, worried about you too.

Nice Startrite bargains there Half.

You sound fabulous gran re your GS.

House stuff and cooking this morning. Have not got any planned spends.

£21 yesterday.

Therefore cheap weekend. Boom.

Hey everyone, we've had a very LSD week and are having a NSWeekend

All very dull and blerggh. I felt so unwell yesterday I bought chilled ready to eat melon in M&S food Hall as it always settles my migraines. (Sugar and vitamins. And the coldness helps contract the blood vessels in the brain with eases pain. My neurologist told me this trick and it really does work!) and that was £3.50. But worth it

Shopping click and collect today. £59 in Sainsburys and I bought extra treats as they sent me a £5 voucher.

wolf I love a cheese scone.

I’m currently baking garlic cheese pull apart bread. House smells amazing. We’re going to a bbq today and that’s my contribution (together with a case of fruit shoots for the kids and loads of crisps - probably around 10 kids there).

I will bear the chilled melon trick in mind, Collie. I use Migraleeve (available OTC again after a period of being withdrawn) but the packet comes decorated with loud warnings about codeine being addictive. I also have Sumatriptan on prescription.

Parents are struggling a bit at the moment. My brother is with them at the moment, and I will be heading there on Tuesday, armed with ready meals. They have finally relinquished their car, ahead of the move (not before time) so I can help with errands, admin, take the laptop to the library and do stuff online. Hopefully stop them bickering and snarling at each other - it's at the waiting-to-exchange, most stressful bit.

Quiet day today. FT to read, ironing. Will be abandoning DS, DH and Ddog to their own devices for five days.

Thank you.

Ouch about the tooth. An implant sounds like an ideal 18th birthday present. One of mine had years of orthodontic treatment and orthognathic surgery at 18 (where they break your jaw, put metal bits in or take bone out and pin it) It is brutal. Her orthodontist and surgeon were great, they did the op the Monday after her A levels finished and told her she would probably have to come back from uni in the November to get the braces and everything removed but she had a check up the day before she left for uni. Big surprise as they removed everything that day and she went off to uni with her new smile. They said it was always the plan that they'd try to do it but didn't want to promise and let her down.

When we were allowed to see her after the op her surgeon was sitting on her bed holding her hand as he didn't want to leave her by herself till we got there. Such lovely caring people. I can't say the same for the care she got on the ward but I won't dwell on the negative.

Aw that’s lovely about your DD gran. My DD was actually the one who knocked DS1’s tooth out (accidentally). They have a close relationship and I always think of this incident as proof of that - if DS2 had been the one to do it we’d never have heard the end of it! Funny how many adults have lost front teeth, I heard lots of similar stories from other people when it happened.
just sat waiting for a friend to walk the dog, it’s a lovely day here.
Trying not to feel grumbly that the BH has caused me work rather than giving me time off - it’s times for the first day of my new students’ induction which has been carefully planned for months. Hope it will be bringing others more joy - I know for the nurses amongst us, it won’t mean anything immediate. Will you get it added to your holiday allowance?

@kessiebird
Thanks- they look great. The navy ones are nice too. Will get these!