Friendship and Falling Leaves, Frugal Autumn Continued

[Wolfcub]

New fred

Aw bless you all, it's so kind of you , thank you all so much ❤️
Hope everyone is ok and looking after yourselves 🤗

Me and DH had a huuuuuge fight. Awful. It's so unusual for us to disagree so it's quite shocking when we do. It's about me working with architects - its highly stressful and he says I should put my mental health first.

He's right but I just want a steady income :( very difficult to know which is the best path to take for everyone. Not just me.

Mrs hope you're OK. Xxx

Lovely to see you back Mrs. Sounds like a very stressful time you've had. Hope things get better soon

Hello Mrs have been hanging around here as a newbie since last payday in the hope of saving some money! It's working so far.

Sorry to hear that Collie. Sounds like you both mean well. Hope tomorrow brings a better day.

Payday tomorrow and I only took £120 from holiday / Christmas savings this month (£30 Scouts trip, £30 scientific calculator, £60 parking fine ouch). That's so much better than previous months when I save it and then move the whole lot back!

£73 Aldi click and collect ordered. Such a time saver! Bit of a change from Lidl, after the coupon plus change, am only aiming for £150 there now. £7 coop for quick tea as too tired to cook.

Oh @TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans you e really been through it, lots of love x

Tattoo removal was amazing! I didn’t realise but today was just a consultation followed by a patch test but I’m so pleased with the results of that! The guy I’m seeing for it is amazing, so passionate about what he does. And @ThisisCollie2022 that’s what I’d recommend for your DH. Find someone who removal is all they do, not a sideline to anything else. He does tattoo and hair removal and that’s it.

Back next week for my first proper session. And then it’ll be a good 6-8 weeks till the next session, letting the body heal and work on things itself is important.

Not read the whole thread sorry
great news north
hope you are ok Mrs
Spendy and stressful week as had the lounge damp proofed and plastered of course more damp than originally quoted so more expensive typical the mess is horrendous plus as they took the lights down we ended up buying new ones £225 as we are doing up the lounge so we’re going to replace them soon anyway
finally my front door is being fitted on Monday then we can get the porch plastered and they are going to do up the stairs and landing. It’s such a messy job
currently have no radiators in the lounge and I need a plumber to put them back on? No idea why the plasterer can take them off but not put them back tempted to buy new ones as we have been here 20 years and never replaced them
famous last words I am never getting plastered again lol

Oh mrs that really sounds awful. I am glad your mum is on the mend but also hope you can look after yourself too. I know your DH is pretty good usually, hope he is taking care of you.
collie hopefully you will sort it out, it’s a tricky one income v stress isn’t it? Being without money is also stressful.
Work is so full on, I will be glad in a couple of weeks when it will hopefully settle down. On the plus side I’m spending no money!

Collie thank you so much and l am so sorry you have had a disagreement with your Dh. He is only looking out for you like you said l'm so sorry 😔
Marta thank you so much it's so kind of you 🤗
Hope you work calms down for you 😊
Thank you so much Alfie 🤗
So sorry to hear the stress and money you have had to spend this week, it's so expensive to do anything now , even if you can get the workmen to do an ok job 😔
Thank you Curls so good of you to think of me 🤗
Am so happy for you that you are feeling confident about your tattoo removal , wishing you the best of luck with it 💐
Thank you Kessie and welcome to the thread it's lovely here everyone is so kind . Well done on your lower spends too great work 👏👏
Born thank you so much it's so kind of you and everyone here to be so caring but it's what everyone is like here . Such kind hearted people here ❤️

Hey welcome back Mrs. Sorry you have had and are having such a horrible time,
hope you have carers and such like going in too and all the other support

collie can you freelance with the architect then if it’s bad walk away? It’s very difficult for you

I’ve read and noted but feel quite behind so will try and start from here

Morning.

Mrs, I'm so sorry that you have and are going through all you are doing. What an awful and exhausting time for you. Huge sympathy xx

Tricky one colllie. Agree with life, could you freelance for flexibility. I'm sure your DH is only concerned for you.

Alfie, having had the new extension plastered this year, I hugely sympathise! It gets everywhere doesn't it?

Anyway - yesterday I spent 17p in Lidl, which made the cashier giggle. I had my £2 voucher so bought crusty bread for last nights broth, and two packs of wipes!

£40 Vinted on a new with tags Sea Salt coat for dog walking.

Payday tomorrow, I think I've made it on my wages alone, but will tot up tonight to confirm.

Aubergine parmigiana for tea, to use up the ones I have left.

Thank you everyone you're all so lovely :) yeah he's being very cautious and just looking out for me.

That's a great idea life - why didn't I think of that? In (some) Architecture practises you have to fight to prove you're 100% billable - otherwise you get sacked. Even at 75% - you get sacked. Extremely flipping stressful when you're juggling 85 needy clients.

Not all practises are like that, I often dream of finding one with a good balance. But they don't like part timers either. Because you don't make them as much money as a full timer.

And breeeeeeeeathe.

NSD because I am stranded at home waiting for a delivery 😆

Mrs lovely to see you back although sorry to hear why you've been away, hope things start to look up for you soon.

Car MOT today so just really hoping it's a first time pass with no spending although it's starting to get old now so we'll see. I do have some money squirrelled away in our car account so here's hoping it at least won't exceed that. About to drop the car off and walk back through the woods with ddog, lovely.

Still on leave and DS at nursery, DH at work so house to myself which is nice after a week all together. The plan is to finish painting our gate and get the house a bit tidier. So hopefully a nsd apart from the already budgeted for MOT.

Haven’t really caught up but holy crap @TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans yhats a tough time. I hope you are on the mend now xxxx sending love and light xxx

£92 paid this morning for ds’ birthday. Trampoline park for 5 kids and 2 adults plus trampoline socks.

booked a hire car for the Christmas trip yesterday £2500. To explain the cost. It’s for 6 weeks. Two cars (one in nz and one in Aussie) additional driver and car seats for both. A necessary cost sadly. And I got the best price I could for the size of car needed. DH suggested getting a small car but we will be travelling round a bit so need space for luggage. If we were staying put in nz then a small ish car would have been fine. But we’re not. Luckily I get points on my Amex and booked it through the airline so should be able to use these to get us into a lounge while we’re hanging about. (I love an airport lounge….)

Payday yesterday and I was surprised to find that we had £1600 left in the joint account. That’s down to No nursery fees. So I’ve squirrelled some away.

didn’t get chance to ring ns&i yesterday will have to Try again today.

Morning all!
so sorry to hear that you’ve had such a tough time @TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans

low spend rest of the week here. My Bother order (used the MSE discount) arrived with a split oat milk so they are sending another crate of 6 as a replacement- should see us through till the end of the month.
made soda bread yesterday to have with carrot and cumin soup, wondering if it would work in an air fryer?

@CollieWobble22 correct me if I’m wrong but they have approached you? Well in that case you now self employed and freelance, those are your terms. And sometimes it needs someone outside the circle to think of things, if it’s shit make sure you have a good break clause. Of it’s ok think about permanent

Thank you, I just spoke with her. And I think it's best if I stay clear of it all.

Thankfully I have another skillset which I'm enjoying focusing on for now.

Life is full of crossroads and decision making, the older I get the worse I am at being decisive 🤣

I did the online shop just now and it came to £49 but that's only because I've been stocking up the freezer and cupboard recently so it wasn't a full shop.

At least you know now collie.

Hi all just having a catch up with the thread apologies for those I miss out....

mrs great to see you back but sorry to hear of all the stress and your heart trouble

collie mental health is so important. I've been trying to say no to things as I don't want to make myself too busy.

gen how's your throat

north how are you recovering now?

Start of a new month for us today, already £200 down and will be going forward now each month due to extra nursery fees. God the guilt is awful. We've never paid extra for previous DC they've always just down the 15 free hours. Toddler so excited to do more days and we still have "mummy days" in the week it's not like they are there every day, but I've got to get physically and mentally prepared for this operation and then recover afterwards and I need child free time.in which to do that.

Cold and rainy here today. Got the oil filled radiator on in the room I'm working in with all doors shut. It's not the best tbh but it's low energy use and saves heating the whole house just for me, not that we would have it on this early in the year anyway. DH says we need to try to hold off until November this year if we can we usually aim for October. 12 foot high ceilings and a draughty damp house means it's chilly!!

Anyway that's enough rambling for me!

decaff my throat is healing finally but my tongue is still nerve damaged and numb, speech is still difficult. I think you have to secure that child free time and not beat yourself up about it x

Slightly Spendy day due to cabin fever. £7.80 bus fair to nearest big town, about £7 ish on coffees and cake, £5.20 in M&S and £2.60 in Boots.

DH is back from a conference late tonight so we’ll go to the gym later than usual then Sainsbury’s for bread as it’s on the way home. Pooch is still not better so it might be a trip to the vet.

Hello all, and best wishes to everyone, especially those recovering from and preparing for big health challenges. There was a news item this morning about progress in treating motor neurone disease, and I thought of one of my son's friends, whose mum died last year of MND, and what he must think when he hears such things.

More cheerfully, we are still getting temperatures of 20/21 here during the day, and sunshine to boot. Noticeably colder at night. I won't put on the heating until I can't keep my hands and feet warm no matter how many layers, but the lights are going on earlier, and reminds me I need to buy some more wire-free, rechargeable lamps to light awkward spots. On the list to do by Christmas.

£6 on a chicken to roast and feed us for the next few days. £60 on window cleaner, house feels much cleaner and brighter as a result. Have cleared and cleaned scabby coat cupboard, about to start painting it. Using up leftover paint, so a free renovation. .

Successful day here. NSD and 3 interviews lined up with a 4th coming my way at some point. One of those is full time but says WFH on 3 days!

I haven't worked full time since 2012 and having a disability means I need to take it easy some days. I hope WFH helps.

We'll just have to see how the interviews go. Until then, I'm going to enjoy every day off I have left!

Evening.

£278 in various supermarkets today. Iceland was around £80 ( huge bag of pasta 5kg, same amount of rice, a load of party food for ds’ birthday tea on Saturday, wraps for the freezer*, naan breads (Iceland do the absolute best ones two for £1). Waitrose came in at around £160 but a lot of that was fruit and veg and things we use a lot which are getting spendy (oil being one). Also stocked up on baking stuff as am making ds’ cake. So butter (christ that’s shot up in price) flour sugar icing sugar (two packs of each and bread flour) 24 eggs (for cake and DH is now eating eggs like they’re going out of fashion) and two bottles of sip smith non alcoholic gin. It’s so so good. If you didn’t know you wouldn’t know.

home and made cake. Made two dinners. DH forgot that we have to feed the kids now in the evenings (we never used to have to do dinner for them as they’d always eat at nursery but routine has changed with school) and he’s bought two nice pieces of yummy salmon. To have with noodles. But the kids don’t like salmon. So dd wanted sausages. And chips. Ds wanted sausages and noodles. So that’s what we had. A mish mash of dinner.

One of those days!

Frugal fail. Carefully planned Aldi click and collect not due until tomorrow morning. DS texted to say he'd circled a few offers on the Farmfoods leaflet that came through the door. He was on a day off college. An awful day at work, late finish, coupled with guilt that there wasn't much food in, I spent £11 on freezer food from Lidl on way home. Whole lot given to DS, his mates and DD, I just can't not feed people!

Frugal win. DH got 47 bags of coal and logs at work for £25. All damaged packaging. We had to lug it in at 10.30pm in the dark but such a money saver.

All just a bit manic today, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Not enough hours in the day kind of feeling. Classic PMT to be honest. Must remind self in two days I'll be back to normal whatever that is...

Thanks Mrs it's a great thread
Gen hope you continue to improve
Collie good news on the interviews
Em nothing like a home made cake. I'm being v careful with butter to save it to bake!
Bigskies perfect tempertatues I think. I set the washer off at 6am then checked the weather here, rain all day!

Better day tomorrow I hope. Meeting some lovely work friends at a nice cafe tomorrow evening. Might do me good!

Today will be better Kessie we all have days like that

i spend £75 in Aldi and didn’t think I wanted much

good luck collies with the interviews,

eeee birthday time em. And mish mash tea are grand now and again