Spring shenanigans, frugal mischief, Maypole antics, garden faffing, bargain binges, picnic pandemonium, Spaniel loving and Bank Holiday mayhem 😁

[DirtyGertiefromno30]

Welcome everyone, new and old to our lovely supportive frugal thread .

£4 on some air fryer cleaner from Dunelm. Who even thought that this existed?!
£13 Starbucks met a friend for early doors coffee.

Yesterday used £1.40 of my Tesco gift card on some chocolate milk. Today has been just under £24 in Waitrose and Marks and Spencer on two teeny bottles of cider, a packet of bagels, cheese, mustard and eggs. I have no idea how that reached £24.

A rather wet evening here and hope rain hasn’t affected your cricket @needastrongone.

Glad your mum is ok @DirtyGertiefromno30. I’m eying up the 20% John Lewis event too. I have my eyes on a jacket but am not sure about the sleeves.

Yeah on things being in the way up @Frugal25. Glad you’re feeling a bit better. Great news on the kittens but nit so great on having to wait. Have my fingers crossed for you ( and a call from Alexander).

Happy anniversary for yesterday @drspouse. I hope you had a splendid lunch. Great for the holiday discount code.

Am easing myself into my few days off. Have a feeling my well laid plans will be falling by the wayside but I’ll not worry about it. Tried on a jacket I liked in Marks and Spencer but it had no pockets so I didn’t buy it. Am considering a trip to IKEA.

Oh noo l just lost a big post 😱😁
Spends today Asda £29
Lidl £29
Home Bargains £43
Thank you re my Mum @RumBananaSundae🤗
Hope you have a wonderful time off and yes the JL 20% off is well worth looking into 😁
AHH @Frugal25 that's so lovely to hear you took your DD to see the kittens bless you ❤️
Good luck with the competition 🤞🤗
So glad you are feeling better too 💐🤗
@drspousewell done on having a lovely pamper session you deserve it .
Fabulous holiday plans too that's a good price for Feb half term imho well done on being so organised!
I had no idea such a thing existed either @DeepFriedCreamEgg but now l know l find l need some too 🤣.

DD just started her period, feel a bit excited and a bit sad.
So I've added in £54 for some period pants from M&S and two tops and a pair of trousers for DS who keeps growing. Would have been more like £80 but I discovered a voucher on my account (nice surprise - from Quidco I think!)

@Frugal25 lovely kitty news 😺

Nails also done here today @drspouse a bit of pampering is good

@DirtyGertiefromno30 pleased your DM is good.

@DeepFriedCreamEgg air fryer cleaner - what next!

£25 for nails.
£71 for meal out. There was four of us for two courses and drinks so not bad. The gastro pub up the road would have been double that.
£86 Go Kart racing session for DD at half term - birthday treat for her and a friend who both turn 15 that week. My friend sent me half for her DS, gone are the days it's £2.50 to pay them into soft play 😲

I fell asleep on the sofa before 9pm, now wide awake but I will drift back off.

Good morning everyone ☺️
Hoping for a NSD today , going to see Mum then getting the blinds finished .
They are very good blackout blinds TBF we are really pleased with them can't see a really powerful torch through it
JL were not undersold 🤣.
Aw bless your Dd@drspouse , l know what you mean it's bittersweet 🤗
The period pants from Marks are brilliant and well worth the money.
@Lockin26I hope you went back to sleep afterwards. That meal for the 4 of you was really excellent value and yes, much less money than the gastropub !
It's expensive for Go Karting these days!
Hope everyone has a lovely day 🤗

Morning.

I hate losing long posts, I feel the pain.

I hadn’t known air fryer cleaner was a thing either!

Mixed feelings re daughters and periods I can completely understand @drspouse. Happy Anniversary.

Thanks @RumBananaSundae - it didn’t reach us until about 8pm but it’s still throwing it done now and the early morning dog walk wasn’t particularly pleasant for me or Hectordog - although yesterday was very lovely in the woods with the bluebells and wild garlic!

@Frugal25 I forgot to thank you for the fatball recipe - much appreciated.

I don’t think I’ve got any major spends to report that I didn’t budget for (other than the phone from Dad’s money - I forgot what a pain logging back into all my apps was…).

£500 deposit for a holiday cottage in September that I have been budgeting for, I’ve nearly got the whole amount in truth already so I can redirect spends from this pot. I wasn’t sure if we were going to go in June, hence I’m over budget.
£10 phone case
£8 drain unblocker - bloody DS and his tropical fish - he’s been banned from further water changes being tipped anywhere else but outside….
£22 veg box
£3 Amazon video rental for DH.

Today will be a NSD.

Happy Bank Holiday weekend 🌧

@DirtyGertiefromno30 how annoying losing a long post! I hope your mum is doing ok.

@Frugal Good to hear you're feeling better, how exciting about the kittens 🐾

I treated myself to a few items of clothing from the charity shop this week £19 spent. Not much else spent this week, I'm trying to get away without doing a 'big shop' this week so £35 spent on 'top ups' over the week.

Meal Plan for this week coming:
Spaghetti Bolognese
Honey Garlic Chicken
Chicken Gyros
Sausage tray bake
Jacket Potatoes
Creamy Pasta
Nut Roast dinner

I've been for a 4 mile walk this morning. I plan to spend the rest of the day pottering at home, not something I've been able to do for a while as my mind wanders too much so we'll see how it goes.

I hope everyone enjoys the bank holiday weekend

Happy bank holiday weekend everyone!

Have caught up on all your news but can't remember everything except the exciting news about @Frugal25 new kitties!! Looking forward to photos!

Sorry for offloading the other day about the smell from my next door neighbour - but I have positive news to report. I happened to see his mum when I was out sweeping my drive the other day - she said she hoped they hadn't been too noisy and I said no but........ she was surprised and said he smokes outside....no he doesn't.... anyway she said she'd have a word which she obviously did as there hasn't been a smell since then. Fingers crossed it continues!

On the money front, I had some real bargains from the charity shop the other day - they are sadly closing down and everything was 50% off. I got a dress, two pairs of jeans, a skirt, cotton trousers, a t-shirt and 5 books for £11!! Everything except the dress fits so I've added that to my Vinted pile (which is now enormous! I need to start listing...)

Yesterday I had a trip to B & M as I needed storage baskets and spent £37 on two baskets and bits and pieces (as you do). I bought some bluetooth earbuds from TK Maxx that I need to return and bought a cheaper pair from Amazon with my voucher (they are only for the gym so I don't need high quality - and I keep losing/misplacing my others!).

I've got grocery shopping to do today and I have a voucher for £5.50 off a £55 spend at Morrisons - hopefully I'll hit that (think I'll take a calculator to add up as I go along!).

I also need a new spray mop as mine has stopped spraying. I won £50 on premium bonds so will use part of it for that (how exciting......).

Chimi - laughing at the 'have a word with his mum' tactic for your resident weed smoker. Has always worked, everywhere and all time. At least in well-functioning families.

Great spaniel shot, need. DH has just taken ours out. He (DDog, I mean) is massively clingy at the moment, and sleeps in our bed now, all night.

Dirty - I have missed out on theatre tickets too often because of hesitation 'until I get paid.' It is a good reason to use a credit card, in my book (while making sure you pay it off! - a note to self for May 11)

DS in Manny, gave him an extra £50 to get through the BH weekend, as he won't get paid for his most recent gig until next week. Grocery shopping minimal after the big supermarket shop and a trip to the butcher last week. I'm trying to eat the pantry and produce more meat-free meals with what we have in May. This month I also will be batch cooking for the freezer as I go.

Spends:
£166 on 2 X return train tickets from Milan to Trieste (another one for May 11). First class seats and a fully-flexible ticket in case our plans change. (I'm thinking here about the world running out of jet fuel and the whole trip having to be cancelled - also checked that our travel insurance is valid for the trip - it is!)

DH booked our Milan nights, I'm covering off the Trieste leg of the trip. I've taken out a subscription for BFI Player (£6.99 per month, but 14 days free) so that we can watch some of the classic Italian movies set in Milan as per an FT article! Getting in the mood..

£120 in garden centre yesterday, a haul of plants (all of which have risen in price very heftily since last year) for our pots and a big bag of ericaceous compost. Very nice few hours working in the garden, sweeping, pruning and getting the pots done. It is a lovely time of year and our garden is enjoying the dry spell. I try and avert my gaze from the windows that need renovating and the paintwork needed on the gates, and just focus on the plants...

Going to try a Meera Sodha recipe for spring rice tonight, grab a workout, and do a home mani to cover up the garden trapped under my nails while I watch a movie with DH. Maybe we'll take another urban walk tomorrow, or just potter here. Have a great BH everyone.

@chimichangaz offload away, annoying neighbours and also siblings are my speciality! Pleased the word with mum has made a difference.

Lovely photo of the woods and your dog @needastrongone

@DirtyGertiefromno30 I slept in three blocks for 12 hours last night, must've needed it. The last block though was plagued by odd dreams so I was pleased to wake up!

Sounds a very productive and interesting BH @BigSkies2022 hope you enjoy the new recipe.

£144 online order from Next. Five x pairs of black trousers. One will hopefully fit and four to be returned!

£79.19 Lidl. 10% off coupon so saved around £9

£15.98 and £16.48 Amazon. All essentials off the list.

DS is on his way back from London, he took off on a train from Newcastle on Friday to explore. I'm looking forward to hearing about some of the places he's visited - reminds me of some of you on here!

Evening all!
Went off to the cinema this morning to watch "the sheep detectives" with DD and OH. She has only been to the cinema once before and considering it is a PG and quite long for her, she managed 1.5hr before I asked if she wanted chips and she said yes. I shall have to wait until it's on TV to finish it but I thought it was a very nice harmless film. £3.50 on ice cream and £6 on chips and apple slices from maccy D's. She has never had maccy D's before so this blew her mind.
Back home and pottered in the garden before cooking dinner and getting excited about another trip to see the kittens tomorrow.

Hello hector!! Gorgeous boy!!
Oohhh I don't know Meera sodha, shall Google.
Yay regarding your neighbour news @chimichangaz I'm so glad the chat to mum helped!!
Love the meal plan @NursieBernardi may steal some of these....

Grand total of £1 today as DS had a seizure this morning and didn't feel well so I only took DD to church. DH and DS went to town and got some paper and fruit.
I fell asleep this afternoon for an hour while I was just closing my eyes (as you do) listening to an audio book. It was a very complicated mystery involving alternate realities so I have no hope of working out what was going on.

@BigSkies2022 yes it was funny how it worked out! It had crossed my mind to speak to his mum, as I could see she visited a few times a week but then decided I'd try and catch him to speak directly. Just pure luck I was outside when she pulled up across my drive! I'd gone out to sweep the drive of the moss and leaves that collect, but thought school pickup time was a good time to do it (I'm absolutely fed up of parents parking over my dropped kerb and blocking me in and knew if I was out there they wouldn't do it!). Someone had parked over next door's drive and so she couldn't pull onto it. I'm really hoping it has worked!

Spent about £65 on a combination of groceries, the exhibition I went to and its aftermath. Much more than expected but I managed a hopper fare to and from the gallery so it wasn’t all bad.

That’s a lovely picture of Hectordog @needastrongone.

How has your day been @NursieBernard?

Hope the power of mother holds @chimichangaz.

I’m always pleasantly surprised with train ticket prices in Europe @BigSkies2022. They always seem much better value than those in the UK and you generally end up somewhere nice.

Blimey @drspouse that does sound like a book that needs concentrating on. Hope your son is OK.

Went to Zurbarán this morning. It was incredibly busy and did feel like exhibition space had been filled with fillers. I was a tad later than planned as I got to Birdcage Walk just as the guards were coming out but that made it feel more like an excursion day so that was nice. The exhibition shop saw me coming so I spent a bit at the gallery then when I got back I bought two boxes of bombones de higo. And some Spanish cheese.

Good morning everyone 🤗
Tickets for the rugby yesterday £205
🙄 DH and the Dds off to see Wales v Nez Zealand in the Autumn series .
I don't mind them going at all but the tickets are expensive.l suppose tickets for everything are really expensive these days let's face it 🙄.

@needastrongone ah gorgeous Hectordog ❤️ the cottage in September sounds lovely 🤗
I hear you re the logging back into the apps 😱
Lovely meal plans @NursieBernard
Yes so annoying with the lost posts 🙄
Thank you re my Mum, bless you re your mind wandering, it's not easy l know 🤗.
@chimichangazyou sound off about whatever you want to sweetheart we are all here for each other 🤗
So glad your NDN has stopped the smoking indoors , such a relief for you.
It's such a horrible smell 😱
You have really done well with your bargains , vouchers and premium bonds Yay!👍👏
Great advice re buying the tickets earlier rather than later , l have been in the same boat @BigSkies2022🙄
Your bank holiday and Milan holiday sound wonderful 😊
So glad you slept better @Lockin26 a bad night and everything goes out of whack so it seems . Fingers crossed for you re the trousers 🤞🤗
What a lovely day you had with your DH and Dd2 @Frugal25. Have a lovely visit to your gorgeous kittens today your DD will be thrilled to bits bless her.
@drspousel hope your DS is ok today bless him , seizures are so scary for the parents and the child.
l am not at all surprised you had a nap it's so stressful.
Oh @RumBananaSundae that sounds like such a wonderful day 😊.
I am living vicariously through you 😁.
l will Google everything you have mentioned especially the bon bons 🤣
Have a lovely bank holiday Monday
everyone🤗

Morning.

There are a few green shoots of recovery in the Welsh game @DirtyGertiefromno30 so fingers crossed the rugby tickets mean your DH and DD’s see some more evidence of improvement .

Had to Google Zurbaran @RumBananaSundae but his paintings look wonderful. I can give you Sebastian Sawe’s splits for sub 2 hour marathon in London last Sunday (that was a Roger Bannister moment, by the way - a generational moment, if you will) but I’m a heathen re art. Enjoy the cheese.

Hope you’re DS is okay @drspouse.

Spaniels are prone to excess amounts of neediness aren’t they, @BigSkies2022 , ours sleeps with DS. I’m going to go against the grain re Meera Sodha and say that I find her recipes a bit bland, but I’m happy to concede I’m in the minority, so I hope the rice met with expectation. I slow roasted some good quality tomatoes (not the Tesco-type bland ones) with 5 cloves of garlic, a red and white onion, seasoning and a ton of EVOO and wizzed up in the blender to make a pasta sauce which was delicious, but primarily because of the quality of the tomatoes rather than culinary expertise. Stirred a few capers though for a touch of salty flavour.

Spends
£80 Ocado delivery later and I need some more mealworm for the birds.

@RumBananaSundae thank you for asking, I managed a couple of hours before I took myself out for another walk.

Had to buy beef/pork mince from the Co-op this morning, I thought I had some in the freezer but I had obviously used it and not remembered. So £4 spent but that should be it for today.

I hope everyone is enjoying their bonus day off (unless of course you have to work, like my DH!)

Glad you took yourself out @NursieBernard , it's best to keep busy l find 🤗💐
@needastrongone you are right it's very early days but the team are showing promise at last. It's very cyclical l think . England were not good last season either and France were in the doldrums for years . It all takes time building a new team onwards and upwards 🤗. Spaniels are the most gorgeous dogs but ours needed attention from us all the time . She was on the go from morning till night , couldn't be left or would howl like a wolf , slept with us since day 1 and was the most beautiful dog we have ever had ❤️
Awful weather here hey ho it's a bank holiday 😊

Afternoon all
We have been back to see the kittens and got our first choice. Two little boys. Took my mum to see them. She is now worried I'll find it too much /she will find it too much when I'm at work but as I pointed out "you have begged me to get another cat. Now I am you're making a fuss". Sigh. But they are very cute. A bit shy but I'm sure that will stop once here and settled in.
I'll try and attach the only photo I got of Riley. Should be ours at the end of May.

£51 on Amazon this morning for two birthday presents for friends. And then another £9 on nail fungal treatment. I think it's gone and then a few weeks later it's back. I'll keep going.

Just made some more bird food, welcome @needastrongone :)
So glad you're able to go out and distract yourself @NursieBernard and as the weather is dry, it's lovely to enjoy it. Keep going my darling xx
How is your lovely DS @drspouse?

I've just looked at my calendar and seen that I've booked up friend at least 3 times each week for thr next month. And may is my expensive month too (most of my birthdays land this month). I'll have to manage carefully and invite people round for tea rather than going out.
J
OH has taken himself back to bed so I'm trying to decide whether to take DD out now or wait until he is up (and probably grumpy)
I could take her out round the block on her scooter.... Something fun and free. The fresh air will do me good to

Riley 😍

Omg @Frugal25 Riley is adorable 😍
Gorgeous little boy 🤗
Hope your DH is ok bless him 🤗
They will keep each other company don't worry about it 👏😊
Fungal nail is seemingly impossible to get rid of unfortunately. I don't know what the answer is tbh 🙄

Oh tell me about it. I've had one on my toe for years. Had it professionally looked at for 2 years, nothing worked. I just do my own nails and make sure to sterilise everything between so I don't pass it on in salons/at home. The one on my finger I got on maternity leave when I treated myself to get my nails done.... Got it from there. Never mind.
They will definitely keep each other company. And DD. She gets a bit lonely I think sometimes.

What a gorgeous cat @Frugal25 ! The DCs are always on at us to get another cat. But DD wants a hamster instead.
DS is fine and going around showing everyone his shiner. DD has complained about her revision - if it was up to her she'd do no revision and get no marks on her maths test and would just say "the test was impossible" .
I took her for a short bike ride and to Starbucks as a break (£19.90 for lunch and drinks for two, seems outrageous but not surprising) though and we are going out for our traditional BH Monday Gallico Lounge (other Lounges are available) deal. Also more families have RSVPd for my birthday so we put down a deposit on a second cottage at £329. I am going to hint that contributions would be very welcome. We did similar for a birthday several years ago but I was much more upfront about contributions!
DH and I had a savings check and we think we can work towards paying off our rental flat mortgage in 2 years time which is excellent news as we can't get another one reasonably we suspect due to his age and my retirement within the lifespan of the mortgage (he's already retired).

£2.85 on a lemon drizzle loaf in Marks and Spencer.

Keeping busy is a good distraction @NursieBernard. Hope you’re doing as OK as you can. Good weather helped me too.

Inviting people for tea is a win @Frugal25 You don’t have to drag yourself up and out once you’re comfortably full. Riley looks like a very welcome addition for you.

Enjoy dinner out @drspouse.

Returned two of the gym tops I bought so have a £32 refund. Did some housework this morning and visited a friend this afternoon with the lemon drizzle loaf. It feels nice knowing I don’t have to work tomorrow. I’m not sure what I’ll do. I should do some sort if freezer audit as it’s surprisingly full again.