Friendship and Falling Leaves, Frugal Autumn Continued

[Wolfcub]

New fred

@northender sorry you’re still feeling rubbish. Try not to worry too much re parents, covid has taken it out of your hands for now. Concentrate on getting well.

Still on my busy week off. Tons of ironing done. Wardrobe reorganisation done with summer stuff all vacuum packed and put away, I can actually see what I’ve got now.

Got DS1 on an intensive driving course!!! He starts end of January for 2 weeks. Hoping work will allow him to carry over his annual leave for this so he doesn’t have to waste it doing nothing this year.

And I’ve also got our rental properties remortgage going. Not due for renewal till Jan but rates are changing daily. Our broker got us an awesome deal with our current provider which is only 1.2% higher than the rate we’re on at the moment. Such a relief.

Got the keys back to the empty rental. House has been cleared of contents but still waiting on a deep clean and a garden clearance.

And tomorrow I have decided I am doing absolutely nothing.

Spendy 2 days on the end of a very busy week, it's literally been survival... spends on food just because I am working and studying every chance iget. Then there is all the life stuff. Hopefully some nsd thid weekend....

North Hope you are soon better💐

Curls We need to put our summer stuff away too but we feel like we are permanently fire-fighting atm to even keep the basics done so haven't even had a chance. Also it's tricky to sort stuff like this still because DS still is in our room, so our bedroom is a no-go area from about 7.30pm every day, and he naps in our bedroom in the daytime if we are home too so same then. Need to kick him out but we can't until we sort the spare bedroom out to move the kids rooms around etc and then that gets us back to square one of having no time to sort them...also good news on the mortage rate.

Spends today was £5 for me, DD and DS at playgroup. Had a nice time with the kids. Frugally blagged a free lunch at my DPs after too

Hope you feel better soon north
you are doing amazing weight

It's not essential though weight, to change the clothes over, so don't stress.

Sounds busy fear.

Hooray re the course for DS curls.

North, I caved on the books, and bought two from my extensive list!! India Express by Rukmini Iyer and East by Meera Sodha. Hardly going out these days unless it's to meet someone for a walk or run so I'm justifying it that way!

Books £27
Batteries £3.50

Today should be a NSD.

Have a great day folks.

And hope you start to feel better soon north, try not to worry too much re the parents. X

I bought Indian Express last week @needastrongoneagain . We made the masala tortilla yester and it was really good .
Lots of fab recipes in it, I think that its a winner.

Today am at the dentist. I ordered new Invisalign retainers two weeks ago and gave to pay for these today (£250). Plus dental exam fee on top. 😩

but straight teeth. Smiles are priceless.

I spent 60 on wetsuit gloves and boots ( essential if I am going to be able to continue to swim this autumn) .
Apart from that, it'll be a small top up shop , We have DGS here this week and do I need to buy a few of the things he likes.

Ouch at those dental fees Em but worth it after putting in all that initial effort. Will this be a regular thing?
need I'm trying to go through the books I already have before deciding but they sound interesting. One of my favourites is Hugh F-W Love Your Leftovers. It's a great book altogether , not just recipes and championing frugal cooking.

Dh has tested Positive this morning [sigh]. Ds arrived back last night but were not going to be able to do much with him apart from give him covid too. Low spend week continues....

@WeightoftheWorld ive never done the whole swapping your wardrobe thing before, always just jammed it all in and made the best of it! It’s not an essential, you guys sound like you’re so busy anyway, grab the rest whenever you can.

@Laska2Meryls do you do wild swimming? Brrrr!!

Lazy one here today. I’ve been productive enough with my week off. Going to spend the weekend going through my 2 new slow cooker books. I got Dean Edwards ‘Cook Slow’ and his sequel ‘Cook Slow: Light and Healthy’ my sil highly recommended them. Want to get using the Instant Pot more now the weather is turning.

I say that you posted a recipe laska, glad to hear you think the book is worth it. There's a thread on the food section that has some amazing book recommendations. It's worth a read.

I have HFW, Much More Veg North, I used it pretty much exclusively for months when I first bought it. So useful if you get a veg box. I still refer to it now.

I'm actually cold today, so I've put the downstairs heating on just for an hour. I got some stuff line dried rather than tumbled by leaving it to get darked on (🤣) anyways.

I hope you get your quiet day curls

I’m having a let’s do loads of jobs day, but I was very behind.

-took DC to school
-done laundry and hung out to dry
-collected package which couldn’t be delivered
-spent £20 on wilko on bits needed for the house (needed this stuff for a while but always out of stock)
-Took stuff to the tip, including the broken stuff that I replaced from wilko
-had two cups of tea and caught up on tv (not a job but a nice break)

Arrived at DDads care home 30 minutes early as I misjudged how long the tip trip would take so having a catch up before my visiting slot.

Nearly the weekend!

I had Invisalign to straighten my teeth up in 2018. Finished in 2019. Have to wear the retainer at night. I was initially given 3 as part of the treatment but it’s recommended I switch out for new ones every year. I’m at the end of my 3. So this will be new ones coming to me.

total £360. Included X-rays. And I have to go back next week for a filling sigh

Fairly quiet day, I’m rubbish at sitting still but I’ve been pottering around doing very little.

However I had to nip out for a couple of food bits. Yes I know I went on Weds, but like @ems DH, my husband let me know of his new weekend plans last night. Sunday is new to him also, but Saturday night has apparently been known about for months. He just didn’t tell me. So in a huff I’ve treated myself to a bottle of cava and some king prawns and chorizo to make myself a paella if he’s going out.

@CurlsandCurves
Thars the plan! I swim in the sea all summer but this year I am challenging myself to keep going as long as possible.. Have never swum beyond end October before so it will be a real challenge !🥶

need I've got Veg everyday by HFW & Everyday. I like his writing & always trust his bread recipes.
laska it has to be a sunny day for me to swim in the sea, but dh is more daring!

Just catching up or trying!
North get well soon
Curls that sounds such a productive week and then a day doing nothing is great too.
Em but a total investment.
Time a good jobs day done.

I've had the day off work. Clivk and collect at Aldi £57. Thanks to whoever mentioned that - I've started that fortnightly while also clocking up £150 at Lidl. Total time saver!

£11 Primark. Jeans for DD. She's gone off on a Scouts trip feeling stylish so worth it. Went out for lunch with a friend for a belated 50th present. Her treat so no spend there.£30 to DD for food / spends on Scouts trip. £40 fuel. Mostly budgeted for but it's v tight again this mont

Sorry my keyboard is playing up. Should have said em the dental treatment is pricey but sure must be worth it.

I also bought a fair isle jumper from Superdry with some birthday money. £49 in the sale with a 10% discount on top.

I managed to seriously break one of the fridge drawers this evening... Luckily found a replacement, but £45 (sigh )....

Spend day today as driving to Birmingham to see the horses
need to fill the car up too

yesterday £28 boyes, £17 Asda, £1.30 tesco, £60 Sainsbury’s

Morning all. Still on my full time course so struggling to update on here. But I'm reading.

Have had a low spend week with us both at work and will be a low spend weekend, needed as for us it's the last weekend before payday. Plus DH and I are both full of cold anyway. Need to do a food shop to last us the next few days at Aldi today, haven't managed my usual click and collect due to being at work which is annoying. Should be it for the weekend really.

Oh, we did have our lounge ceiling plastered yesterday. £260. But it's been planned for months, it's been full of holes since we had a leak during bathroom renovations. Technically we got £200 back from the bathroom builders for it so I guess only cost us £60.

Morning everyone. Busy day planned for today. I'm going to get my shopping, do some laundry, go to the library, drop some books off at the charity shop, clean the fridge, put up the Hallowe'en decorations (yes, I know it's too early but I have a big kid who loves Hallowe'en!), cook an early dinner and then have a movie night with DD. My sister is popping in at some stage also.

Tomorrow DD is meeting a friend and I'm going to do some baking. I found a nice recipe for spiced toffee apple cake on the BBC good food website.

Awful news here in Ireland this weekend. There was an explosion at a garage/shop/post office/hairdressers in a village in Donegal yesterday. An apartment building close to the garage was also damaged. So far there are seven people confirmed dead and they're still searching the rubble. As it's a small village, there's a good chance that the people who died will be from the village or the local area. Just devastating.

Tayto it has had quite a bit of coverage here too, it sounds horrific.
Enjoy the horses life
Socathe hats off to you studying. I've got to decide whether to continue with mine or not when I go back to work, it's not easy.