Advancing into April - Frugal Friends still being, er, Frugal.

[needastrongoneagain]

New thread.

All welcome.

Another bank holiday for us. 4 day weekend wooo

todag is liberation day. The anniversary of the day the island was liberated from the occupying forces during ww2.

im off to the gym for 9 to do a quick run on the treadmill and then have a shower.

Love the boots @Girliefriendlikespuppies. DD has about 8 pairs of DM's and I don't recall her complaining too bitterly re breaking them in.

NSD again yesterday, so far May going well!

Probably NSD today, I do need a fruit top up but might not get the chance to get to the shops.

Leftover aubergine pasta bake for lunch at work.

Have a lovely day folk.

I hate apple

lost phone, can’t access Apple ID without phone,

Afternoon everyone
Have fallen off the threads big time, been busy with Mum getting her ready for the Coronation celebrations. She has had a fabulous 4 days, Friday to the local bistro for afternoon tea, Saturday Coronation afternoon tea and watching the Coronation all day & night! Sunday they had a special trip to the local village hall for another afternoon tea and Monday a huge Afternoon tea for all the fogies in the town hosted by the Mayor ! Her cup runneth over lol
Will post some pics if l can find some not outing anyone else
Spends today £315 for house & contents insurance & Dh car insurance
Hope everyone is fine & had a great Corrie!

Hi @TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans. That sounds like a lovely celebratory weekend for your mum! And a lot of afternoon tea!!!

Boo re the phone @lifelongfrugaleer

NSD

In good news, I put a PIP claim in for DH at the end of February and the assessor called today, asked a few more questions but said he'd qualify for the higher rate of mobility and daily living aspects. That's £170 a week, and a huge help for care costs etc.

Need l am so pleased for you both, wonderful news 😊👏👏
Mum had a lovely time , here she is done up like the Queen of Sheba 🤗 she was the belle of the ball 😊

She looks fabulous!!

In other good news, our close friends have suggested they come with us on a cruise to the fiords next year. They've just returned from their first with elderly relatives and it was totally accessible on every level. Deeply touched and we've accepted, it'll be so much easier for me and they are super company in any event.

Not frugal though! I'll start saving now. 😊

AHH thank you Need l was very proud of her ❤️
That will be a wonderful holiday for you all l am sure the crew and the ship will be brilliant & you will all be able to enjoy the Fjords together 👏🤗

Unescorted the tape on the seams of my tent is old, it's not letting in water yet but I think replacing it before that happens is the way to go, where will I get some?

Need that's a fabulous idea for cruise, you've got some lovely friends there.

I went to see Bruce Springsteen Sunday night & had a fantastic time. I also visited Howth for the first time. I spent a total of €20.40 & was away for two days! I had bought the tickets & tickets to another event while we were there, and we stayed with family. He paid for food & tolls & fuel probably a total of €150 so not a huge burden on either of us.

Half teacups & saucers are amazing

Em & Tayto I hope ye feel better soon

€495 on dds extractions today, dm gave me the money for this last month.

€7.32 on lunch & replacing dds snax I had eaten

Sorry for not catching up with everyone.

Wonderful news on the PIP Need.

Bit of a spend day today. Took cash out (am a cash shopper not a plastic person) that will hopefully last until the end of the month. Spent just under £9 in Marks and Spencer on groceries. Am now missing cottage cheese.

Fallen off the thread again. We had a Chinese takeaway for dinner as DH was late home tonight 😋

Good news on the pip need. We went on a fjords cruise last summer. It was great! Saving up for our next one at the moment, as it was a good family holiday too. So lovely that your friends will go with you too.

Glad your mum had a great time mrs, we watched a bit on the telly. And ate chocolate cake and Pringles in honour of the frugaleer birthdays.

@TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans aw doesn’t your mum look lovely!

@ememem84 I remember liberation day from watching the Real Housewives 🙈😆

@Happierwithouthim omg I have such a crush on The Boss! He’s just gorgeous, even if he just a couple of years younger than my dad. I still would! Very jealous you got to see him, hope it was an awesome night.

No big spends today, £7.50 on deodorant. The boys both like their Lynx but it’s so expensive I’ve told them they have to use the cheaper stuff from Aldi then Lynx over the top just to smell nice. It seems to be working.

Ah, I also lurve The Boss, that was our family car music in my childhood. I’m well jel, Happier

Great news about the PIP Need, such a relief to have help with costs. And I am sure the cruise will be wonderful, but even better to have amazing friends who care so much.

Mrs that’s a lot of teas, I hope your DM scored and ranked them all 😂

NSD today, still just workin’ and packin’

Well done on PIP, need - slightly different, but my parents qualified for attendance allowance a few years ago, and it has made a huge difference to their lives, creating much more security and flexibility. Lovely news on fjiord holiday as well!

Not much news here - just did my pay day routines today, putting money in various pots and paying stuff off. Reupholstered sofa is being delivered tomorrow, so this is exciting. Should also get some information on fixing the damp patch on the chimney breast this week - bracing myself!

Am letting Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries be my guide for cooking at the moment - chickpea/tomatoes/aubergine harissa stew thingy tonight; lemon and parmesan linguine last night.

Oh i wanted boss tickets , joining the well jel bench happier

great news on the pip need and the cruise, yy to fab friends

sounds like a great weekend mrs and ah your mum looks great,

hope the damp quote is not too bad

Another in the jealous bunch! happier I hope you had the best time!

curls oh the real housewives! Haha! We were obsessed!

off to the gym. Hot water still broken….hopefully Bil will be able to get a new element today

Thanks for the welcome and the camping advice! Sounds like there’s both lots of fun stuff happening for everyone.

Inevitably we all caught my DS (7)’s sickness bug which was utterly horrendous! Feeling better today though. DS can go back to school today. DD (4) is well but needs to stay off nursery today as she’s thrown up within 48 hours - luckily DH is taking today off as well so can look after her as I need to work.

Made my own version of a budget planner printable I saw online and filled it in for May yesterday. It has weekly check ins, and I learned that I have spent a truly huge amount in the first week of May 😂 we had a lot on, we’d planned to buy lots of plants for the garden, plus going out on the BH Monday, plus had a wedding to attend, plus camping.

We are away on holiday (a U.K. break) at the end of the month so I’m determined to keep spending low until then 🤞🏼

Afternoon.

Thanks all, for the kind wishes re the cruise and PIP. We've pulled a couple of good orders at work to start our new financial year, so positive news too. I'm knackered, but positive 🤣

That Nigel Slater stew thingy sounds fab @BigSkies2022. Right up my street. Hope the quote ain't too high.

Remember the Lynx era for DS @CurlsandCurves!

Wow. Well gel re seeing The Boss @Happierwithouthim!

£9 on fruit, milk, bread, juice etc. low spend week so far.

This was my third time seeing him which I thought was pretty good, my friend went last night & she's been 4/5 time's previously

Not had chance to catch up with thread, today was a nsd, Ystd was £35 on fuel.

I had a go at making enchiladas for the first time tonight, they were quite tasty, dds boyfriend is here and ate loads - I love teenage boys for making you feel like a good cook 🤣

Mmm...new (well, reupholstered) sofa delivered today. Sorry, can't work out how to get a photo from my phone to Mumsnet, but it's nice. Now just have to spend the next year saving to replace collapsing IKEA one. Still no sign of roofer/chimney man, so my little bubble of sofa-joy is not yet burst by unlovely realities.

Managed a couple of hours in the library first thing this morning. Without doubt, getting your own stuff done first is absolutely the best way to feel on top of your day. I must do this as often as possible. Tomorrow, am going with DSIL to a massive shopping centre (Bluewater) to help DMum find what she needs in John Lewis. I'd rather be in the library, but needs must.

Nigel Slater directing me to lamb chops with lemon, rosemary and crushed new potatoes tonight. He also encouraged me to buy a couple of Alphonso mangoes, which cost almost as much as the chops. So £14 spent between butcher and posh greengrocer.

Glad you’re feeling better Bluegreen.

Love Alphonso mangoes BigSkies. Hope the chops are great.

Spend about £80 putting money on my travel card. Had a wasted train fare as well. Looked round John Lewis for holiday bits but nothing caught my eye.

Mother called yesterday evening (funeral is next week) but I’m ignoring her. No doubt she wants me to do something for her. Starting to feel anxious about it though I’ve not even decided if I will go or not. Trying to decide if the fall out will be worse if I go or not go.

Oo difficult decision rum, Will you get the closure of saying goodbye if you don’t?
could you sneak in at the back and sneak out?
the fall out isn’t easy either way I guess but how often do you see the people who will be there?

ns couple of days as lost phone so lots of time blocking things and changing password, using an old broken one now

Hope everyone's well, I think about you all but just don't have the time to dip in much these days, everything's just manic!

Need Does your DD have any DM sandals by any chance? Some of the girls at work were talking about them and I like the look of them. I need some plain, smarter sandals for work. But they're expensive (for me anyway). Aubergine pasta bake sounds absolutely delish too, do you have a recipe? I haven't done anything aubergine in ages tbh. The kids don't eat it sadly. Glad you got the PIP sorted too. Cruise also sounds a lovely idea, your friends sound fab too. I feel like I'd love to go on a cruise, BUT I get boat sick so probably never be a realistic option sadly. Travel sickness is rubbish and very limiting.

Time I am going through a phase where Chinese food has become my fave takeaway usually! Yum.

BigSkies That stew sounds delicious too!

Girlie We all love enchiladas and do them fairly frequently, yum.

Spends for me today: £2 bus fare to work, £2 bus fare home, then just gave DH £30 cash. Some of which will go on the takeaway he's just gone out to get us (just cheapy burgers and chips) and the rest I told him to keep in his wallet as he didn't have any and I've got some more knocking about at home anyway.

Tomorrow should be an LSD, got blood tests so will have to pay my bus fare there and back, but we are missing playgroup as it clashes with the appointment, so probably just stay home with the kids. Weather looking crap again or I would take them to the park. Weather has been so rubbish here for many weeks considering the time of year, it's quite depressing tbh, and boring for the kids. As I can't afford to take them to paid-for places all the time and we can't do the parks with the rubbish weather.

bigskies years ago I had a student whose dad was a fruitmonger and he used to bring me alphonso mangoes and other specialist fruit every Monday. I miss those days!
mrs glad your DM had a nice time, I love an afternoon tea!
need great news 💜
weight I would love DM sandals too - but I can’t justify the price. I also worry as the boots don’t suit my feet - the size 36 is too small and the 37 is massive so probably the same would be true of sandals.