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

[needastrongoneagain]

New thread.

All welcome.

So, he hasn’t called DS dad yet happier? WTF. I guess he has your exH number as an emergency contact? He needs to talk to you if the contract is with you though.

I hope your DS is ok, if he is scared of his dad

Hopefully ds keeps his head down on the bus for the next few weeks
But yy no way should they ring ex if the contract is with you

Spendy day yesterday.

£200 booking a camping trip for 2 nights in the summer hols. This is a “turn up and your tent is ready for you” type camping/clamping. I’m not a camper. also we have no camping gear and I’m loathe to buy stuff and find out the kids hate it.

£180 Weeks swim camp for dd in the summer
£200 same for ds seperate week.

and £104 on a pair of raybans. I have been wanting this particular paid for ages and at originally around £180 it was a lot. Although I do love the quality of them. The shop I got them from had a 20% off brand day and I used a voucher for the rest.

Looking after dsis’ ancient I’ll dementia suffering cat this week while she’s away. If that cat pops it I’ll be so cross. This is a lot of responsibility! 😂

Good morning everyone 😊
Time have a lovely half term off and I hope you feel better soon 💐
Em Ray bans are just the best I hope your sisters cat is okay What a wonderful potato haul. Well 👍
life I haven't been posting much either it's too nice to be online in this weather & it's such a welcome relief after the terribly long cold winter 😊
Rum so glad the funeral wasn't as horrible as you feared bless you 😊
Need excellent news re British gas, PIP and the wheelchair YAY! 🤗
Girlylie have a wonderful time 🤗
North your food sounds delicious 😋
Big that Wilton's music hall sounds fabulous . I am tempted to book up for us too 😁
Curls hope you feel better from this cystitis it's horrible 💐Unescorted I agree the housing market is softening it's not moving as fast here in southeast Wales at least 👍
Happier your poor son . l know l don't know him but he doesn't sound like he is capable of being a bully to me bless him 😔
Tayto l'm sure your daughter is just unwinding and will pick things up at home now you have mentioned it to her 😊
Spent a lot out yesterday, took Dd1 shopping with us to Cardiff & spent about £80 on things she wanted as you do 🙄
Costco £58
Shoezone £15
Home bargains £55
Asda £55
Petrol £45
Bought DH a fly zapper yesterday he is loving it
Home bargains £2.99 🤣
Hope everyone is ok and enjoying this great weather 🤗

Must apologise if l missed anyone out and for not editting before posting, l nearly lost this message , got in a panic found it again and thought just get it back on FGS!
Hence why Girly you are Girlylie 🤣

Morning everyone. It's a gorgeous day here and it looks set to last for a few days 🌞. I had words with DD about housework and cleaning up after herself. She knows I mean business, so I expect to see an improvement going forward.

Plans for this weekend are to tackle the back garden. I've a jungle weeds shooting up everywhere so I plan to strim it all. I'm off to a garden festival on Thursday (Bloom - an imitation of the Chelsea Flower Show), so I'll probably pick up a few plants there. I want to have the garden ready for planting my new additions.

Feels like we've gone from winter to summer in the space of a few days, so I want to dig out my summer clothes and shave my legs and paint my toe nails etc.

Just back from the hairdressers. I'm off to do my shopping shortly.

Have a nice weekend everyone. I'll be back to catch up on your news.

Lovely day here too. DH sorted dinner last night (Waitrose's finest chicken tagine), bought me an excellent pair of striped Piglet in Bed linen pyjamas, and a bunch of peonies.

So far today I've run a couple of errands, been yelled at by one of the local crazies, painted some shelves, done some French practice recordings, a pilates routine, and excised a couple of (formerly) lovely box balls which have fallen prey, yet again, to box caterpillar. I did spend one year fighting the blighters off with Xen-Tari, which is effective, but requires spraying about every 10 days. Too. Much. Work. The whole point of box is look simultaneously lush and structural in return for being fed and pruned twice a year. If they can't keep their end of the bargain, off they go to the great council composting centre.

We're going to attempt Blackheath for our dog walk in a bit. Hopefully the traffic will have died down a bit - 'twas mad yesterday afternoon and this morning. I will be roasting a cut-price chicken from Sainsbury's tonight and we'll finish watching Klute. Apple TV has got some great American New Wave films from the 70's and we're working our way through them.

Enjoy your weekend all. I too want to paint my nails and wear dresses! - Washed and ironed my warmer weather stuff this week, which has been gathering dust over the winter and long, cold, wet spring. Only got as far as lightweight trousers and cotton or linen shirts so far.

Happier I hope things work out re the bus and that your son is OK. Spanners do have a way of landing.

Ememem Hope the cat is good company.

Tayto How was the flower show?

BigSkies You’ve been very productive. That never happens to me.

Had an unintentional spend yesterday. Hotel doubled my bill for some unknown reason. I thought it was high but didn’t realise until I checked their email. I have contracted them and am awaiting a reply.

Have moved to the city as I was meant to be meeting a friend but her husband and children decided they wanted to come too so I’ll probably end up not seeing them. Bit miffed as I would rather still be in the mountains and had changed my plans to meet said friend. Trying not to stress too much and am enjoying the sun.

Hi everyone,

Worked till 2 today. So, so busy. Cost of living is clearly not yet affecting our target demographic. Which is great but I am shattered after this week! Came home, ate, pegged another load of washing out and decided that was enough. Clearly it was as I slept on and off on the sofa over the next 2 hours.

Dh and DS1 are out, I’ve had a bath and a lovely bowl of pasta so that’s me done. Have a lovely Saturday evening everybody.

Glorious day.

£45 riding. Super fun.

then afternoon tea with a friend. Her treat. Which I only
found out about later on. Tea itself was £30 a head. Then we had 4 cocktails each. Belinnis for me. Yum. Outside in the sunshine.

Sis’ cat is staying at her house so we have to feed three times a day and give her snuggles.

hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine! I’ve not posted for a while as work has been manic these last couple of weeks. I’m a bit fed up of it really, there isn’t much light at the end of the tunnel.
Finance wise not doing too bad. I went to the company shop today - they’ve done up the one near me so it’s smarter, but doesn’t seem to have so much stock. Went to Costco for giant loo rolls on the way home, emerged from Costco £90 lighter…oops. All stuff we needed though.

otherwise I’ve been fairly sensible with spending - putting money aside for holiday spends now. We’re off to parents tomorrow. Had a Heath scare with DDad, he has been very fatigued sleeping all the time and also vomiting for no reason. He had an MRI and I was really convinced they’d find some kind of cancer. It’s clear which is obviously good - but means the most likely reason for sleeping all the time is that he’s just quite depressed. So I’m hoping he will perk up with a visit from us. My sis is coming too and I think we will take her kids and mine to chatsworth for wild swimming (parents live near there).
I also need to fit in a big run tomorrow - will have to get up early! At least running is a free activity. Have a good evening everyone.

Wow, that was one glorious but busy day. After my earlier post, I did my grocery shopping and also bought a sun dress in my favourite clothes shop. Got home just in time for my sister to call in. I had lunch (she'd already eaten) and she had a cuppa. After she'd gone, I decided to tackle the back garden 'cos it was shady out there. I get sun at the back of my house in the morning and it moves round to the front in the afternoon/evening. I strimmed the whole back garden and my weedy patio. I also cut back the tall grass which was growing around my plant pots, so as to let the sun in at them. I was planning to rake it up all the grass and weeds, but I ran out of energy. I'll get out early in the morning and rake it before it gets too hot.

DD is supposed to be with Ex this weekend but she's heading out with her friends, so she's going to stay here tonight. I met her briefly off the bus after work and took her bag containing her work clothes and handed her a denim jacket for later. It will be nice to see her in the morning. If it's fine, we might have breakfast outside now that I've reclaimed the patio.

Happier sorry to hear about DS and the bus trouble. I'm sure it's really stressful. But there's only a few weeks left of school and hopefully it will all be forgotten about by the time September rolls around again. Do the company have your Ex's phone number?

em that's a good idea re: the camping. Try before you buy. We bought all the gear (tent, sleeping mats, folding table and chairs, a camping stove etc. years ago for a camping trip and reckoned we'd save a fortune on holiday accommodation in the future. We quite enjoyed the experience but for some reason, we never went camping again. A few nights in a hotel room would probably have worked out the same price. Fingers crossed for your sister's cat. We need a photo! Your afternoon tea and cocktails sound fab. - and even better that you got a break from DC for a few hours.

Mrs I hope your DDs know how lucky they are to have a lovely Mum like you who spoils them 💕.

Big you've a good 'un there (your DH). The pjs sound cute.

Rum the garden festival starts on Thursday and runs for the entire June Bank Holiday weekend. We're going on Thursday. Last year there was a stall selling a gorgeous peacock weather vane ornament so I'm hoping to pick it up this year. And definitely maybe a few plants. DD is coming with me although she's not really into gardening. But it will be a nice day out and we'll go for dinner after. Hopefully the good weather will last until then. Hope they sort your hotel bill.

Curls glad you caught up on some sleep.

martha just saw your post now. Sorry to hear about your Dad. Glad the MRI was clear but that doesn't explain the nausea. Anyway, hope the visit perks him up. Enjoy your day at Chatsworth.

He doesn't have ex's phone number but it's a village he could get it or call to him. He hasn't because I asked ds this evening.

€3 on icecream xxl box from Lidl for my friends children when I visited
€15 on a personalised boot bag for ds
€9.50 on lunch
€40 on dinner

Was out all day but did some beautiful scenic drives & had a lovely day

@ememem84 that afternoon tea looks proper yum!

@marthasmum sorry to hear about your dad, hope you get to the bottom of what might be causing it soon. Enjoy Chatsworth, I live not too far from there also. Such a lovely place, so peaceful.

Nothing much doing today. Ironing, shopping list, think that’s it. I’m just going to enjoy some downtime.

Cat. Sometimes she wears a jumper. She is small and skinny and old and feels the cold.

Excellent cat photo, em, and indeed the tea.

Blackheath/Greenwich was very nice indeed yesterday, and we made a mental note to revisit the Argentine grill restaurant at some point this summer for an undiluted red meat experience.

Another lovely day here. DH taking Ddog to sniffer training this afternoon, so lazy day at home on the cards, bit of gardening, more reading, a spot of yoga/ballet. Might work myself up to making a chicken risotto later. Noticed a return of woodworm activity in the garage when I was there yesterday but that, my friends, is a task for next weekend, not this. It's a smelly job, but we can spray and sweep in an hour. Ugh.

Tomorrow we will brave the BH traffic to take Dparents to Standen House for a bit of Arts & Crafts swooning, and a National Trust sandwich and scone. If it's awful, we'll curtail our ambitions and go to Chartwell instead, which is on their doorstep.

£9 car wash. Then food shop - probably a million pounds.

Morning.

I've been reading but not posting. I hope you are all okay, life a tad manic here.

@Happierwithouthim. That's a tough one to balance re your DS. But no one should contact your ex without permission surely. Fingers crossed it settles, you'll probably never get to the truth of what's been happening.

At least a million I'd say @ememem84 🤣

Hate going anywhere on a Bank Holiday @BigSkies2022, hope tomorrow isn't too bad. Boo re the woodworm.

@marthasmum sorry to hear about your Dad. What a worry. DD once competed at Chatsworth, lovely place.

The garden is on the cards for us tomorrow @Taytocrisps. Not looking forward to the weeding...

Hope the dc settle @Timetoswitch and it's just pre half term tiredness.

That's a tricky situation re the house @RumBananaSundae. Hindsight is very easy in hindsight!

We are plodding on here. Spending has been within budget. Noticing the fuel costs going down when I filled the car up, less so the food..... It's been payday, so I've allocated my various pots of budgeted spending.

Finally got DM to realise Power of Attorney is really important. She's lucky in that she's a very fit and healthy and sound of mind nearly 90, but hadn't appreciated what not having this in place means. DB (one of them) is happy to sort it and be the named person. He's a decent honourable guy whose just done it for his MIL, I don't have the mental energy to do it, he'll consult us anyway. He's been at pains to ensure we don't feel he's taking over.

Spends today £12 Amazon, socks for DH.

Menu plan.
Today - BBQ at SIL's
Thai fish pie
Spring veg risotto
Bhaji burgers
Breaded fish and chips (easy meal)
Cape Malay chicken curry. (Didn't make it last time)
Veggie chilli
Spinach and chickpea curry
Coconut fish curry.

We just did POA for each other after seeing how impossible it would be to make decisions and sort things out if the worst happened and one of us was incapacitated. Especially as DH has a very difficult relationship with his adult kids, we wanted it water tight that I decide for him. We also did wills and left documents about what funerals etc we want as deciding all that for FIL was so stressful, on top of grief. He hadn’t left any instructions and we couldn’t get MIL to decide anything, it was dreadful.
I am hungover and not feeling very productive after an absolutely lovely evening at friends last night. Have made two nice salads to take to another set of friends later, hoping pimms will take the edge off my hangover 😂

Yes, that's a lot of the reason we are doing it for ourselves and glad Dmil is coming round to the idea and putting it into practice.

The hangover seems worth it @Gensola. 😁

Yesterday I spent an extra £2.25 (local shop prices) on butter. Not planning on spending anything unless I go to the garden centre. Plan on some gardening and that's about it!

Just heading out to meet a friend for a run. Have a great day all.

Morning all -

TheNewImproved Thank you.

ememem Your afternoon tea looks lovely. Glad it tasted as good as it looked.

Martha Sorry to hear about your dad. It must be a relief for the MRI to be clear. I do hope they get to the bottom of things.

Tayto Hope you enjoyed/enjoy the garden festival. Fingers crossed for the peacock. There is a show near me in July that I used to go to but haven’t for a while. No news on the hotel bill - it’s too much for me to forget about so I will chase them if they don’t reply.

Big Hope you made it to Standen. I love Standen. I used to visit and could see myself living there (if I had a lot more money).

Needs Hindsight indeed. The things I wouldn’t have done if I’d had it. Am liking the sound of your Bhaji burgers.

Last day of my holiday today. Filled with dread at being back already. I wrote to his solicitor before I left so not sure if there will be a letter waiting for me. Will be away for work for two days next week so am trying to distract myself with that when I’m feeling down. It’s in the same town my very first conference was.

No un prepaid spends since Friday.