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

[needastrongoneagain]

New thread.

All welcome.

I mostly see myself as a problem solver and a glorified PA. I work for a family office so essentially deal with the families lives. The good and the bad and the crazy.

my most fave part was the client who wanted to get a shark for an aquarium in one of the buildings he owned in London. Just said he wanted to make the place noteworthy. And essentially just get it done. It took a while. But we did it. We rented a shark. Had to get legals and planning etc all over the place to do that. I believe the shark has since passed.

Poor shark em! Do you think it's the prophylactic antibiotics making dd ill? Poor girl and yes thank God for grandparents!

That's a decent refund need and glad the PIP payment has covered what was needed.

Works been full on today and Ystd, I'm working through til Friday and am then off for a week thank God! We're off to London Saturday, has anyone got any recommendations for things to do? I was thinking maybe the Tower of London for a touristy activity, will try and fit in a museum as well. We're booked to see Phantom of the Opera Saturday night and the Abba show Sunday which is really exciting!!

Possibly girlie although ds did have strep and apparently it can start with being sick and stomach issues. So who knows. Either way. She bounced right back. DH knew she wasn’t right on Monday when he was working from home and she didn’t bother him once. That is unlike her. 🤣

I’ll admit I had to google what prophylactic meant….. 🤣

back to the office for me today.

i think the tower is a great shout girlie it’s on my list when I go with dsis in October. London dungeon might be fun too although it is a bit scary (I nearly peed my pants the last time I went). Madame Tussaud’s maybe?)

Gosh that’s a tight itinerary @ememem84 , love the shark story! Bet no day is ever the same.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies your weekend sounds amazing, you must be so excited! Tower of London is a great idea, especially with the nice weather we should be getting. Maybe a stroll along the Embankment, there’s always lots going on there.

It is tight. But we need to make the most of the trip! I’m flying with my boss who’s a BA gold card member so this means I can take advantage of the first class lounge at Heathrow! Woooooooo!!!!! 😂😂 Bubbly and crisps!

there’s always the obligatory Burger King for the train back to the airport too. This became a tradition between me and the boss ages ago. We only got Burger King here a few years ago so before that it was a massive excitement and treat! 😂😂

I like that I’m feeling more comfortable travelling again. Now the kiddos are that bit older I’m happy leaving them. Work are understanding and it was suggested if I didn’t want to do the overnight I didn’t have to. But I jumped at it. Nice comfy hotel room (just premiere inn but we all know they’re comfy!) all to myself and the chance of a decent sleep! And getting paid for it?! Yes please!!!!

@needastrongoneagain The funeral wasn’t as bad as I’d been expecting thank you. Haven’t heard from mother since - not surprised as she got what she wanted. Sibling is being arsey so I will have to stop putting off dealing with that. Good news on the PIP backpayment and the wheelchair. Whoo hoo to the British Gas money too.

The potatoes look lovely @ememem84 happy eating. Any idea what you will do with them? Hope the new meds are settling down and your dd is doing better. Enjoy NOPI it’s good. Sounds like you have a busy few days.

The Tower is an excellent shout @Girliefriendlikespuppies . It’s a great location for a boat trip too. If you’re after a museum visit the V&A is good but not the closest to The Tower.

Spend wise I’m on zero since my last post. Glad about that.

Having a bit of a strange holiday so far. Always love the mountains but been getting rather tearful reflecting on my poor life choices and trying to write objective options for when I get back.

With the way property prices and interest rates are going I’m not going to be able to buy him out as I had wanted to do. Not looking forward to more upheaval and uncertainty. Has anyone bought and sold recently? Could they give me an idea of conveyancing costs so I can manage my expectations before I Google.

Ooh, well if you are at the Tower @Girliefriendlikespuppies then it's a half mile walk, past the Royal Mint, to the Jack the Ripper museum, and that in turn is practically next door to Wilton's Music Hall, for the full Victorian London experience. You could check out what's on at Wilton's, and even if you don't fancy the show, you could book a table there for dinner, or just have a drink at the bar. It's a great place to be.

In fact, I might book such a weekend itinerary myself, very soon.

Rum are you in a huge rush to buy him out? The market is softening in many parts of the country which might work in your favour. I guess it depends how much equity you have and how much you can borrow. It is a balance as your equity value will depreciate but as the loan is linked to income the max amount you can borrow will be static. But drop too much and you LTV will get nearer to 100% which will knock out some mortgage products.

I am glad the funeral was less awful than you feared.

Em... Kid free in London. What is there not to like? I was away last week and slept for 11 hours straight through. And mine are voting age....

@RumBananaSundae the first meal we just had them boiled with loads of butter and salt. Jersey royals are best that way.

we’ve roasted some and dipped in Camembert. Yum. Le yum even.

some made their way into a fritata.

the leftover boiled ones were fried and eaten with eggs for breakfast.

they Are so delicious.

@unescorted I might even find the time for some Shopping. Would be rude not to.

I'm heading for a showdown with DD tonight. I had words with her on Sunday night about doing her share of housework now that she's on her holidays from college. She's gone very lazy lately. On more than one occasion, she's ordered a take away and left the pizza box (with leftover pizza slices!) sitting on the dining table. I'm constantly picking up after her - glasses, dirty plates, cutlery etc. Anyway, I put on the dishwasher last night before bed and asked her to empty it today. DD was off today and I was working. I got home and found she never emptied the dishwasher . She's gone shopping with her friends (late night shopping) and won't be home until around 10 o'clock. So I've to sit here fuming until then.

In other news, it's been a week of paying bills. I paid my TV licence on Monday. I've to pay for my waste charges tomorrow. Electricity is due out on the 1st. Not very frugal but essential.

Tayto it must be in the air! I'd a few words with dd yesterday & had to send her out three times to fix clothes on the clothesline, they were dragging on the concrete, she was rather cheeky too.

My tv license has been paid by direct debit for many years, no renewal notice & then I got a letter to occupier of my eircode regarding not having a tv license, I contacted them via email regarding direct debit & they weren't very helpful, the general consensus among peers is they don't pay it

Sorry to hear you have been struggling rum and frustrating to hear you are likely to have to move. It’s important to reflect and learn from the past, but the future awaits and I hope better days are ahead for you. The holiday sounds like a great step 🤗

Nearly half term! Knackered and feel a bit sick today.

The childminder had to speak to me about the DC’s behaviour earlier in the week, which was a bit mortifying.

Low spend this week, apart from food, just had to buy a memory stick £6.

I am here and reading but not posting much

Rum we moved 18 months ago and conveying was about 4k to buy and sell, searches were £200, land register fee about the same
Plus stamp duty and removal fees

Lots of reduced spending but not doing very well at budgeting

Em brilliant potato haul. We missed planting any this year, harvesting is always very satisfying
Unescorted mine are voting age too & yes, escaping them is still bliss!
Need great news on PIP
Girlie given the forecast, there's loads of great parks & sightseeing walks for free
Rum objective setting sounds like a positive move, hindsight is easy.
Tayto DD is 18 & leaves a trail behind her, socks, hair bobbles, college work, hoodies, the list goes on! She is aware and does pick it up when prompted, but generally not spontaneously

£15 spent at the pub quiz last night, but otherwise have had a good week. We've been eating random meals made to use up leftovers from the fridge & random bits from the freezer. Last night's tea was HM veggie samosas made with yellow sticker filo pastry followed by toffee apple crumble using up a half jar of apple sauce & some odd tin of caramel bought for baking from Aldi but wasn't quite what I expected. Satisfying, delicious & frugal

@north that toffee apple crumble sounds delicious.

Im with you all on the messy kids front. DS2 is for the most part a dream, always tidies his stuff away, puts his plate in the dishwasher etc. DS1 on the other hand, prefers his room to be like a hovel. Empty packets and plastic drink bottles. When you can’t even get the door fully open for the amount of dirty clothes he has chucked at the bottom of his bed (his after work routine is go up to his room, get naked and chill!). I’m doing really well at ignoring it but then every few weeks I give in and blitz it for him.

Needing all the coffee this morning, I’ve been up every 1-2 hours overnight with cystitis. I drank loads of water yesterday to try and flush it out, but it didn’t work. So at midnight I was downstairs in the medicine box hunting for those powders you dissolve in water. Feeling much better now but will keep going with the meds and water.

Small top up shop needed after work tonight, looks like it will be about £30 worth, tops.

I’m not sure @Unescorted . Honestly I’m not sure if I’m in a rush. Buying him out seems like the best way to find my feet with the least turbulence. Not knowing how much I’ll leave with hampers the planning so I feel rather stuck.

@ememem84 with Camembert you say? That sounds like my kind of thing.

@Timetoswitch my fingers are crossed for better days ahead.

Thank you for the figures @lifelongfrugaleer . They aren’t as bad as I was expecting. Second you on the reduced spending but not winning on the budgeting.

I thought the objective setting would be a good thing @northender but given my age I’m not sure how realistic they are.

I’m thinking of you @CurlsandCurves . Cystitis is not pleasant. Glad you’re starting to feel better.

Yesterday’s spends were all prepaid so I’m not counting them. The attraction I bought two tickets for by mistake was closed on the day I couldn’t go so they have refunded my ticket price. A small win.

Time I got a phone call about ds's behaviour on the school bus.
But the brat had me lined up to speak to the driver as he alleged that this boy was bullying him turns out it's the other way around, I cried buckets after the phone call & I'm not a crier.

I need to talk to him & dd together & separately about it. There's a very real possibility if he doesn't improve that he won't be allowed on bus in September. This would be an absolute disaster for me.

Had €3 off €30 in Lidl so I spent €60

€20 on a puncture repair from months ago.

€7.32 on dr beckhams detergent sheets on subscribe & save Amazon, I'm in love with the neatness and smell of them, but I'm only after buying a massive box of Persil so I'll be sorted for a while

Oh happier that is a massive worry, and really tricky to deal with.

Fortunately, my DD1 is due to finish at the childminder this summer, so if necessary she could stop now.

Dd is backing us ds's story & I took a good look at the other guy at a match this evening, my boy is petite & young and this boy is a good strong fella at least 12 months older than him. Ds is terrified that his father will be told.

That’s really odd then happier, I’m assuming it was the school that rung you?
I wonder what prompted it? Your poor DS, and it sounds like your exH is a worry too 🙁

Oh happier that's a worry.

Oh no happier that's not good. Really tricky to deal with.

It's pay day for me, not a great month but could be worse money wise.

Spent £56 Ystd on pet food for the cat and dog, should be enough for 6 weeks ish.

Also gave dd £20 to go to the fair with with her friends, she had a fab time and said the rides were great.

Need to pick my dad up a birthday present this morning, I'll get him something from the garden centre, will drive on to his house afterwards. We're leaving the dog with him while we're in London.

Need to pack today and try and tidy the house a bit as well...

Nope private bus so not the school
I rang the bus company owner this morning & he's backing his employee which I understand but they'll allow ds on bus until end of term & review his behaviour in Sept. Finding out after a week in September that he has no place on the bus would be an absolute disaster for me.
I don't know what to do, I asked them to report back to me in a weeks time.

What I really didn't like is they told him they'd ring his mother and father and bus company owner said this was fact this morning. Ds's father didn't book the bus and doesn't pay for it so their contract is with me, I'm very aggrieved about this but on the spot this morning didn't say so.