February faffing, wig mischieving, pancake stuffing, bargain gymnastics and looking forward to Spring Shenanigans ❤️

[DirtyGertiefromno30]

Welcome to our new thread everyone 🤗. All are welcome to our supportive, kind , frugal thread .

Don't know why that post just posted without being finished!

Sorry missed lots out. Your group sounds helpful @lifelongfrugaleer
The dishwasher situation sounds frustrating @BigSkies2022

I'm feeling a bit meh - I'm on a sleep, work, cook, eat repeat kind of week. But not tempted to spend too much. Completely forgot it was pancake day!
Today has been £7.35 at Lidl - got three free bakery items. Also £3.99 Amazon. Hairdressers was £29.50 but I had £24 sitting in a Monzo pot to cover most of it.

Need to lose a few lbs too. It is much harder these days. I've signed up for a Race for Life in four months so I will be training for that. That might help!

What a hard day it must have been Nursie. I hope you are alright, It’s very difficult going back to ‘normal life’ after a funeral when it’s not normal at all. You take care.

Dirty it never occurred to me that you might use AI, that might say more about me and AI though 😆. I did think you must either write notes though or have two phones - reading on one, typing on the other, lol. It’s lovely that you enjoyed your nursing career so much, I am sure you were great with patients.

I am astonished to hear there are people who don’t like pancakes! I have made a LOT of crepes today but not eaten any myself as i really have to shift some serious timber. I am much more motivated right now by my health than anything. Migraines, heartburn, probably IBS… some of it stress related but all of it noticeably better when I am
eating carefully and avoiding refined sugar. The weight is quite slow to drop though, it’s certainly harder after 50!

On the exact-opposite-of-that-note, and not frugal either, I have ordered a pizza oven and I am very excited! I have wanted one since lockdown, kids love pizza and they will love getting involved but because DH doesn’t eat the stuff I have dithered. Anyway, I got some money last year for a Big Birthday and couldn’t use it for the intended purpose (a trip away - but can’t leave DS with anyone) and so I finally repurposed it with the gifter’s blessing and bought the pizza oven. Not sure when I will get it as it is on back order with Lakeland (but I bought it from there as I had 20% off voucher, which made quite a difference).

You can throw me off the thread now.

Also been a slightly less frugal couple of days - took DS into town for a mooch on Monday, so tube fares, lunch in Costa (his favourite) and some fruit too-ups. Today I took DD to a specialist orthodontist, which involved driving quite a way round the North Circular, a road I detest. I was very brave and so was DD. She is still little but her adult teeth are not descending normally. I am really hoping they crack on in the next 6m or she will need surgery and all kinds of hardware in her mouth and she will freak about that. £100 for orthodontist consult, £24 in Waterstones on books for her as she was brave (and it’s a treat to buy books in person) and about £10 on lunch.

Off work this week juggling the DC and trying to get various things done, including LPA documents. Getting DH to face up to difficult stuff is rather an uphill struggle 🙄.

im teasing girtie in case that wasn’t obvious

we love our pizza oven arm - though pancakes 🤮

I stock up on the mufti topping when it’s on offer and it freezes really well. Also the pre made dough balls from Sainsbury’s for ease. But home made dough works. Ps yoy dont need pizza oven kindling just normal
in small
bits and natural fire lighters

@ArmDimples my DH is the same over the POA, more an aversion to admin in general though. I made him an account on Gov.uk and asked him to authorize the email and he agreed on his attorneys etc. It's me that does the leg work, obviously would be both of us affected if he doesn't put it in place. POA work to be continued this weekend!

Onto more exciting news, great news on the pizza oven. I bought a one on offer in November - very dubious time of year to buy one but we did have fun with the teenage DC making them before it got too cold and wet. Think I'll ask DS to help me check it over tonight as we put it in the shed which has been damp 😕

So far a NSD but need some sandwich fillings and kindling later on today. I'm not religious but thinking good time of year (Ash Wednesday) to give up snacks and desserts after 6pm for Lent! 🙏

Will update later

Afternoon all,
A NSD here. Finally. Its been 2 weeks since the last one! A guy came to fix broken window and got it mostly done free of charge but it needs a part fitting so I'll pay for that when it arrives (£110) I've put the money on savings ready so it's not a surprise later on.
So cold. We went to see the ducks but lasted two minutes. Posted two Vinted parcels and took DD on her scooter. Been to see brothers cats and stayed there for a bit playing with them.
Put more bits on vinted and sold another 6 bits. Quite excited. Shall post tomorrow afternoon.
Pay day Friday and I'm looking forward to seeing how much I have left this month to pay towards credit card.

I am now wanting a pizza oven. Been eyeing them up for years. And I eat pizza a lot..... See I'm justifying it now!!

Onto AI. OH did his PhD in coding and now has a career in it so is obviously all over AI and very excited about it. He has built his own and made it a right sarcastic wotsit. I don't use it at all and we do clash on the subject. I think it could be dangerous if in the wrong hands. He thinks it's the best thing ever. Sigh. I'm just glad I can use the radio.

Just having a sit. To watch e.t. again. Last year we watched minions 3 every day. This has now been replaced by e.t.
Unsure when the crying (me) will stop. You would think a film being watched every day would mean you were desensitized.... But here we are.....

I got my pizza oven second hand.

Couple of spends for next week. Forgotten already what it was. Sainsbury’s tomorrow is currently £80 ish
going to Dunhelm Tomorrow for bathroom bits as it’s finished except one panel

@Frugal25 l am just the same, always crying at things . I cried my eyes out at the skating The other day because they used Vincent ,the song about Vincent Van Gogh and it reminded me of what a terrible life he had 😭, God l am off again . I am hopeless .
We bought my DH a new computer for his 70th last week and he's been upstairs today talking to something called CoPilot and he's called his AI Frank 😁.
He's just told me about it now 🤣. It seems to be keeping him happy anyway 🙄.
Oh well done for signing up for the Race for life @Lockin26👏
I can't get over ppl not eating pancakes either @ArmDimples 😂. What is wrong with them 🤣🥞.
Pancake mad me 😂.
Omg l hope your Dd teeth are ok aw bless her heart. It's horrible going through all that .
Especially you driving on the N Circular how the hell did you do that ?! Well done you l am so impressed 👍 😁.
Getting the Dh's to face up to stuff is hard going , l can only empathise 💐.
We love our air fryer pizza oven , it's not a proper pizza oven by no means but it fabulous and l would buy one straight away if it went kaput 😁. Hope it comes very quickly 😋

Get a pizza oven @Frugal25 and anyone else who wants one they really are fantastic.
I haven't got the real thing just an air fryer one but the pizzas are gorgeous it makes such a difference 😋
NSD for me today , been to see Mum and washed her hair with that Nilaqua stuff again . She seemed to like the pampering she fell fast asleep while l was doing it bless her ❤️
We are expecting snow here soon it won't stick but the skies look full of it !
Hope everyone has had a lovely day 🤗

That's marvellous your bathroom is nearly finished you must be over the moon @lifelongfrugaleer.
l knew you were only joking 🤗
Macaroni cheese for tea my favourite 😋🤤

I've been down to the slightly damp shed, which needs replacing this year and rescued the pizza oven. It's a Ninja outdoor oven so compact enough to keep indoors. Checked it's still working (phew!) and found a place for it in the back cupboard. The box was all damp so I'm pleased I was reminded it was still in the shed!

LSD
Took lunch to work - homemade soup.

£6.96 Kindling from Asda - enough to last until it warms up at the weekend 🙏
£7 odd in Lidl. Got a free deodorant and free cinnamon buns which I gave to DC.

I am going to try not to snack this evening!

£3.15 on a birthday card for my friend and £1.75 on some spicy hula hoops.

You’ve been very busy @ArmDimples. I hope your daughter is ok. Dentistry/ortho can be brutal.

You’re doing well on Vinted @Frugal25l. I need to pull my finger out and get some things up. It’s the taking photographs that is leading me to drag my feet.

Ohh @DirtyGertiefromno30 are you a Vincent fan too? Enjoy your macaroni cheese.

Failed on the no snack front today. I discovered a new convenience store so took a look around and came out with the hula hoops. They are rather tasty. The trousers I ordered yesterday from Marks and Spencer haven’t been dispatched yet and their website is doing odd things so am hoping they’re not bad signs. Feels like it should be Friday.

I use AI quite a bit - it’s helpful in some ways but it makes mistakes often (eg getting dates wrong). I can see why people don’t like it, and I do think it’s potentially dangerous for us long term but I think the genie is out of the bottle?

Anyway @Frugal25 ET. Love that film. Makes me weep every time. And @DirtyGertiefromno30 like you I cry easily!! Was crying at the medal ceremony the other day. Also cried at the beauty of one of the skating routines last night!! Think it was the USA female skater?

I STILL haven’t had any pancakes 🤣🤣

@Lockin26 pleased you rescued your pizza oven!! I went into my shed for the ladders yesterday and found out it’s been leaking. Will have to sort out when I’m back from my cruise. My list of house jobs keeps getting bigger 😭

Talking of snacks, I got some pretzel thins from Poundland the other day. They are addictive!!

Would have been a NSD today but I put a deposit down on a cruise later this year with my sister! Good job I’ve logged a few work hours this week as I need to start building that pot up!!

I agree with you re the AI stuff @chimichangaz. l never thought the day would come when my DH talked to an AI thingy he's called Frank 🙄
he's shocked me today tbh.
I am sure it can't be good for ppl especially when they get older , they will get reliant on it and become unable to think for themselves. Doesn't bear thinking about 🙄.
Anyway that's my rant over .
Haven't seen the ladies skating yet , l caught up on the pairs short programme today. Some fabulous performances my favourite of them all has been the French skaters who did Vogue . It was fantastic 😍.
Sorry to hear about your shed leaking 🙄 blinking thing .
Oh l am so pleased you have put a deposit on that cruise with your sister 👏😁.
Omg birthday cards are so expensive @RumBananaSundae £3.15 is daylight robbery . I bought my DH one last week and because it was his 70th l paid £3.50 🤔.
Yes I am a Vincent fan , l am just so glad he had such supportive siblings, poor man .
Doesn't bear thinking about what he went through.
Anyway that's enough sadness. I haven't seen the spicy Hula hoops but l love the beef ones they are delicious 😋. Hope your trousers come soon and you are happy with them 🤗

Well done on rescuing your pizza oven @Lockin26
Good luck with no snacking g l am afraid l am a big fat failure here , 2 not 1 but 2 pkts of cheese and onion Walkers crisps here . I should never have bought a box of Walkers from Costco yesterday 🤣

Good morning everyone 😊Snow on the mountain this morning, nothing here though
thankfully. Hope everyone can get out and about .l am off to Aldi this morning. Have a great day everyone 😊.

@chimichangaz that's a pity we found it pretty easy you do have to top up in the UK though we found.

I did something very grown up at the weekend and stocked up on basic cards from card warehouse the amount of times I've had to pop to the shop and spend inflated amounts for a birthday card etc.

I've got a chest infection of some sort so this week is mainly heated blanket and trash TV.

I use copilot through work. There are better ones. It’s good for inspiration imo but I still have to do my work

£67 Sainsbury. Apparently they have no chicken or bread flour 🤔

£8 epilepsy lanyard card for work. And apparently I can get a bus pass. Just need a photo. Whoop And one for Dh to accompany me.

Rest up chips & GWS

I am not remotely a tech person but even I use AI a bit - I devised a French syllabus tailored to my interests that gathered together resources and advised on techniques like using online recording. I have built a (very basic) spreadsheet in Google docs with it. I sometimes chat about things with my mate Claude! I used a roboadvisor from the team at Making Money to find the right products for my son to invest and draft emails to the different institutions. I have even subscribed to a Substack newsletter on using Claude and one of these days I might get round to following the workflow for beginners suggested.

It is a bit daunting as the stuff I was always good at - research, writing- can be done very much more quickly. But being able to learn something from an LLM that doesn’t weary of my dumb questions is excellent. I err on the side of optimism- your job won’t be taken by AI, but by someone who can use AI. Is that even optimistic??!! Anyway, it’s here and arguing with it is like shouting at the weather really.

Anyway, big win on food prep chez nous: I told DS and DH they had to come up with 7 high protein, nutrient dense dinners each, as I was tired of doing all the thinking as well as shopping and cooking. They duly did and now I have a good shopping list and plan.

today however we’re managing on what we have as I am waiting for dishwasher man. Although I will be leaving before 5 as I am meeting DH for quick bite before Arcadia at the Old Vic tonight. I must plan another outing for March/April- we’ve never been to Wigmore Hall and it’s round the corner from his workplace, so that would be a good start.

spends- oh dear. Replaced disappointing trousers with ones I want to keep. £200. £16 on socks (multiple pairs!) from M&S. I am already 65% of the way through my clothes budget for the year and it’s only February.

Otherwise £12 in Sainsbury’s. But there will be a big shop tomorrow.

Morning.

We were starting to use AI for parts of work and it can be very helpful. Sounds awful, but one or two of our employees just needed a bit of extra assistance formatting correspondence and communication professionally and it can do that pretty well. Folk don’t realise but you can change the settings to however you like to be communicated with, it doesn’t need to massage the ego in the way the default does. I don’t need to be told Well Done for asking a question or how fabulous I am for basic functionality 😊

Having a low spend week. The budget pots look healthy and it’s ‘payday’ next week, so I have treated us to some fresh cod for supper tonight. Going to do it with a sweet potato and cauliflower turmeric traybake from Ella Mills. DS is doing his usual ‘no crap food’ for lent and he sticks to it with extraordinary ease so I’ve also bought some nice cheeses for him to have with crackers, rather than the bog standard cheddar we usually stick to. Plus some fresh pineapple, which I very rarely buy.

@Frugal25 ET has me in bits - Every Single Time.

I also stuck my recent set of blood work tests into AI, together with my current marathon training schedule and it gave me a very detailed and balanced explanation, especially given the amount of endurance training I do, which can skew certain markers.

My running mate, who has the paid version for work, asked it to analyse his whole training log for the last few years, shoe rotation, injury history, HR data and about a million other things and the results were amazing, it took it about 2 hours to do it though and he’s way more anal about recording training than I would ever be.

I use copilot at work and have trained it to be a sarcastic wotsit when answering me which always amuses me. Whatever makes my day easier I say.
Does make my emails more professional I have to say. Which makes me feel very uneducated but it works.

Get well soon @ChipshopPickledEgg. Sofa and TV sounds ideal.

£95 in Lidl today. Massive shop for us. Did throw in four tins on butter beans in tomato sauce. I think I am a little addicted...
£6 on a new toddler session for DD. Better value for money than the last place and she ran off and I didn't see her for 2 hours. Plus i bumped into four old friends and organised a coffee with them. So winning today.

Now sat with a cuppa watching e.t again.
Love that your family helped the meal plan @BigSkies2022 that sounds amazing.

Gymnastics later but that's already paid for. So no other spends today.
Oh. Sold two more items on vinted. Must post them all today.
@RumBananaSundae it does take a while to load all through items doesn't it. Puts me off too. Maybe do one at a time? I've done it that way in the past.

Just noticed the man in Lidl (who is quite rude tbh, the other staff are adorable) has overcharged me for hummus. I got quite a bit in the yellow sticker section though and a free deodorant which I put in the food bank on the way out so I'll forgive him.

Spends were £94 Aldi 🙄
£12 Tesco
£1.79 for Langley Cottage cheese from Morrisons can't get it anywhere else.
Can't get everything we need in Aldi it's impossible. I got the
Fruit and veg from Tesco it's so expensive.