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Friendship and Falling Leaves, Frugal Autumn Continued

1000 replies

Wolfcub · 15/09/2022 08:11

New fred

OP posts:
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18
kessiebird · 20/09/2022 19:15

Socathe think it will be worth it, some months I end up doing an online delivery from Asda and its much cheaper at Alldi.

Hope the builders remained quiet collie and you feel better soon.

68p Lidl (had the £2 voucher)
£3 poundstretcher. deodorant which I couldnt wait for and Candy Canes (Christmas bargain)

marthasmum · 20/09/2022 20:06

weight that is rubbish about the nursery fees I’m not surprised you’re annoyed
collie also annoying about the cheeky builders!
gen constipation is really horrible. I second lactulose, you need to take it a few times (obviously follow packet instructions) to get on top of it. Hope you are feeling more yourself soon
thank you for words of wisdom re uni life (sorry I think it was life, it’s back on the other page!)
Just found out today she can’t have a remark, something about adjustments already made to the process. I think it’s for the best in a way, learning to live with disappointment and all that and she can still apply to Manchester and see what happens. Plus she has the grades for Leeds and that’s near to us too

marthasmum · 20/09/2022 20:08

Sorry meant to say spends £2.75 for a latte (I know I could take from home but this is my work treat).
also need to find £30 for DS1 for first instalment for an A level trip

mustbefunny · 20/09/2022 20:31

Also fibogel sachets gen.

Today I logged all of our spends and we are now at the end of our money... a long way from the end of the month! We have little savings pots for various things but we're in such a habit of dipping into these and then that defeats the point of saving. It's very reassuring to know we can do this but we're on the same page and determined to make it through... only one weekend to get through!

£11.01 on diesel. I haven't filled up such a small amount since I was a student 😂

Fearofawelshplanet · 20/09/2022 21:50

Just caught up with thread. Busy but quiet weekend, watched funeral and bakes pinwheel and pineapple upside down cake. Lsd this week, all work and studying....

lifelongfrugaleer · 21/09/2022 06:39

£30 Amazon on hair wraps and a Christmas present. bought milk and potatoes yesterday and a note book and face wash

need a meal plan and baking plan for this weekend onwards and a smallish shop

ememem84 · 21/09/2022 06:48

Payday!!! Thrown a chunk at my credit card because that’s crept up again.

jobs today

call ns&i and sort my log in out. It won’t accept my mobile for the verification thing. This has happened with jersey mobiles previously with Hmrc (for work). So need to fix it. I have a couple of hundred jn premium bonds there so want to add more. But if I can’t log in….

book ds’ party for Saturday

do ds’ bus pass. £20 for unlimited travel for the year. We have to pay for him when he’s 5 (on Saturday) so although he doesn’t get the bus often (maybe a couple of times a month with either me or DH) it makes sense to get him the pass.

I helped a friend set up a company over the weekend. Did the forms etc for him. I’ve said I’ll be his company secretary and do the regulatory stuff (becaus that’s my job) and he’s threatening to pay me (good thing because it’ll take time) but he’s asked how much I want. Thing is I feel funny taking his money. Even though I’m doing something for him which will take time. Does that make sense?

Gensola · 21/09/2022 07:31

em this does make sense but please take his money! I ended up tutoring the kid of a friend for 3 years for free because I was embarrassed to take their money - at tutoring rates I cost myself £3000ish. Even if I charged them half price that would have been better than what ended up happening. Your time is precious and your skills are worth his £££.

needastrongoneagain · 21/09/2022 07:46

gen. DH is having similar problems in hospital. They've given him many of the things mentioned already. His daily cappuccino and some chocolate (flaky, all he's allowed at present) have had the most successful results 😁.

Had a super walk with a friend last night (small pleasures) watched Bake Off and have had two really good nights sleep. I've added an extra duvet to the bed and thick warm pyjamas as I think I've woken up cold recently quite a lot. The restorative powers of Kip!

Need to use my £2 off Lidl voucher today, we don't need anything so I'll buy a carton of oat milk, so at least it won't go to waste.

Otherwise, nothing planned re spends.

Either chunky veg brother for tea or courgette and carrot type fritters with corn on the cob, whichever I fancy.

ThisisCollie2022 · 21/09/2022 07:59

NSD here.
I'm going to go out for a walk today if I can.

And change all the bedding and hang to dry outside while it's sunny.

mornings here are cold, sunny and hazy. It's beautiful!! But chilly.

It's awkward working with people you know but definitely take some money for it em, Your skills and time are worth it! X

Socathe · 21/09/2022 08:09

Morning all. Should be a lsd today, going to meet my ddad to get ddog back after holiday, we're meeting for brunch but it's at a chef and brewer and I have Tesco boost vouchers so should just be drinks to buy. Can't wait to see ddog! He's usually like a shadow so strange not having him around.

Other than that DS is back at nursery while I'm still on leave so I'm going to sort out my wardrobe! Need to swap out summer stuff for winter. All jumpers piled on the top shelf and can't see what I've got. Hope to rediscover old clothes I'd forgotten so I'm not tempted to buy more. Did try a lovely jacket on in M&S yesterday though which I might save up for, it's a style I've had my eye on for a few years and it felt so cosy.

Tomorrow need to finish painting our garden gate before winter weather properly sets in. Also DH's birthday next week so presents to wrap for that. Also he's a triplet so his brother and sister's presents to sort too (he's sorting brother I'm sorting sister). A to do list as long as my arm whilst I'm still on leave.

Hopefully a low spend rest of the month now we're back from holiday. It needs to be! We were meant to be having the lounge ceiling plastered today (has huge holes from various leaks) but the plasterer has covid so still holding that money aside.

BigSkies2022 · 21/09/2022 08:14

Gen - coffee and linseeds never fail for me.

Em - you must take the money! Would you ask a friend to work for you for free?
Collie - crap about the roofers. And the neighbour sounds like they could improve their manners. Hope you feel better today.

£17 in Aldi yesterday. Have ingredients for an apple and honey cake DH wants me to make, and I can also make some scones. Since neither of these things are on my food plan, I will put half of whatever baking I do in the freezer (slice the cake first) so DH can have it. We begin our fiscal event/financial summit this weekend, so a carby treat to sustain the talks will be useful!

Window cleaner coming today for the first time in ages. Inside and out, £60. When we first came here, 10 years ago, it was £40.

CurlsandCurves · 21/09/2022 08:19

It’s good drying weather here too @ThisisCollie2022 . I’ve got one load ready to go out already, towels are currently washing and the boys stripped their beds last night ready for today. I’ve got loads to do around the house this morning.

Excited but nervous today. I’m having my first tattoo removal appointment. It’s something I’ve wanted for a very long time.

ThisisCollie2022 · 21/09/2022 08:21

Actually we need to spend £20 on a coat for DS. He grew out of his last one but it lasted 2 school years! And they still sell it in Mountain Warehouse.

Decided to get exactly the same one because its quite smart and cool colours and if he loses it then the whole school already recognises it as his coat 🤣 its light enough that I can write his name all over the inside!!

ThisisCollie2022 · 21/09/2022 08:23

Oooh @CurlsandCurves let us know how it goes. DH is keen on doing that!

northender · 21/09/2022 09:28

Good luck with the appointment Curls
Impressed with your Christmas prep life. I've got a couple of bits, but want to try & step it up while I'm on sick leave.
Definitely charge for your time Em, dh does accounts/tax returns for my parents who take us all out for a meal & for my cousins wife who pays him a fixed, agreed amount.
Gen I hope you can get things moving, constipation is the worst. I had such a bad experience with codeine previously that I refused it this time. Are you up & walking? That makes a difference too.

I've now settled down after our week away. I think we've all had a bit of a strange few days after the good news and 2 months of such an emotional roller coaster, but onwards and upwards. The only spends yesterday were on some tins of soup & antihistamines as dd is suffering with her allergy at the moment. Also £30 on a one to one pilates session with a physio colleague who is trained. It was absolutely worth it as im not back to the gym yet. Today I'm going for a walk with a friend & then meeting my book group so minimal spends

BigSkies2022 · 21/09/2022 10:16

Window cleaner tomorrow! So £60 stays in the joint account for another day...

BTW - £1.99 for butter in Aldi! That's a leap of 14p since I last bought it there.

AdoraBell · 21/09/2022 11:55

em you’re not taking his money you are being paid for working.

CollieWobble22 · 21/09/2022 12:27

Eeep. Had a little bit of a security scare with my emails (not MN related)!

All sorted now, I reregistered to be extra safe so I have had to name change too!

Just had a lovely walk in the village. Went down a path at the top of my road and ended up somewhere completely new 🤣 I've lived here for 2 years!! But I guess I haven't had time to investigate as I've been working up until recently.

Talking of working, had an email from an architect I used to work with asking if I'd be interested in working with her at her new place! I'm keen 😁 it would be very part time. But I could do that and freelance stuff.

Not sure yet. I find that industry very intense!!

TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans · 21/09/2022 17:10

Hope everyone is ok l haven't read the thread so please forgive me .
It's been hellish here tbh, just coming out of the quagmire hopefully,
Suffice to say Mum has been through the mill, she had a clot on the lung, Pnuemonia, Pleural Effusions, Heart Arythmias and heart failure, followed up by a nasty dose of HAI Covid Hmm which we all caught , we are just getting over it now. Bob had a sort of mental breakdown/episode when Mum went into hospital, we were staying with him 24/7 while Mum was in hospital. One night while my Dd2 was staying with him, he started gathering rubbish on the patio and threatened to set fire to the house with her in it . Prior to this he had not seen his daughter or son for nearly 2 years . My daughter phoned my Mum up really scared because he had all the keys to the house , My Mum told her to tell him she had told her to go home . He ran away from her , she was searching the streets for him in her car this was 10.30 at night, he ended up at his daughters , she rang her brother , l was threatened with the police , you name it l was mud in their eyes. I have nothing to hide so l reported what had happened to the police myself. They were amazing tbf. They took over care of him for 1 day , just 1 day and they left him because they couldn't look after him any more they couldn't cope with him . Bob realised what he had done and came back to us but we do not stay with him all the time now , we go there to give him breakfast and lunch and supper and he is on his own overnight. His mental health has deteriorated since Mum has been in hospital though. He is seeing people in the garden and there is no one there . So to add to this the whole lot of us have contacted Covid after 2 and a half years of being negative.
We are all ok but it's been like a dose of the flu tbh .
Anyway , with all this stress l ended up having atrial flutter and had to go into hospital on the 4th Sept , it was our 40th wedding anniversary . They gave me one propanolol and it stopped after 30 mins and hasn't raised it's ugly head again thankfully , however l am wearing a 24 hr ecg monitor atm so we shall see what this says , have to go for an ECHO too . The cardiologist told me it was possible that this episode was a one off because of the enormous stress but he wanted to do all the tests to make sure. I went for a BP check and an ECG in my surgery yesterday which was normal thankfully.
Just waiting for Mum to be discharged home in a few days , she has made a remarkable recovery but she is weak and needs building back up again.
I don't know how l am going to manage her and Bob at home tbh but l will have to try my best and see how we get on .
I hope everyone is fine and taking care of yourselves , frugally speaking since Mum has been in hospital , we have been living off Mcdonalds and ready meals, not me but the rest of the family and using enormous amounts of fuel in running around from hospital to hospital , Bobs etc etc so this has been a really spendy month but it is what it is Hmm

northender · 21/09/2022 17:57

Gosh Mrs sounds like you've properly been through the mill.
Work news sounds promising Collie
Went for a walk with a friend this morning.
Mum had entered the county WI show so dd & I went with her (mum paid for us to get in).
Good day, but tired now. No spends.

mustbefunny · 21/09/2022 17:58

It's good to see you posting again @TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans despite what sounds like a truly horrendous couple of months. Hope you've got a good support network for you Flowers

AdoraBell · 21/09/2022 18:23

Blimmey Mrs , as funny said, hope you have a some support.

cathe hope your holiday, and reunion with 🐕, were good.

curls hope that goes well.

Collie fab news on the job front.

I woke up freezing yesterday so I’ve put a fleece blanket under the duvet. DH never feels the cold, he’d be happy sleeping outside, so I’m not putting the bedspread on yet.
NSD, I was going to out but DH’s Amazon orders are due for delivery, and he’s not here Hmm
One of my pooches is suffering, he’s eaten something that’s upset his digestive system.

Gensola · 21/09/2022 18:37

So amazing to have you back mrs lots of love xx x

Timetoswitch · 21/09/2022 19:46

Awww, mrs what a tough time all round. We’ve missed you, and I really hope things settle down for you and everyone feels better soon Flowers

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