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 .

@drspouseyou must be a brilliant cook ,! l have not even heard of half of the things you have mentioned 😋.
Exactly right @DeepFriedCreamEgg
they will be the death of us 🤣
Not used Polenta either @Frugal25 but sounds delicious the way @drspouse described it 😋 .

@Lockin26That’s a lot to be carrying at once, especially alongside everything else going on with you and your family bless you 💐

@Lockin26
You have such a busy day on today, it is very full on with training, meetings, webinar, gym and finances. No wonder you need the bereavement leave coming up , hopefully it gives you a bit of space to breathe. Hope you managed to get it all done phew!
Glad your DS has managed to go back to work today bless him 👏.
Thank you for asking , my Mum was ok there today 😁
@Rainbow1961l hate that happening it's such a blooming nuisance, glad you have sorted it now 💐.
Spends today Amazon £7 on long gardening gloves for DH and that's it 😁. Hope everyone is ok and has better weather than me! 😁

No builders! We are told they are coming tomorrow.
Spend: £4.44 with own cup, decaf latte. I'm not supposed to have caffeine but keep craving it after lunch, but I know if I do I won't be able to sleep. I should really have it at 11.00!

@RumBananaSundae ah sorry to hear that. I think the threat of redundancy is up there with stressful situations. I always find that these things have a way of working out however it's no fun at all when you're in the eye of the storm. Take it easy - I seem to remember you have a Tuesday off sometimes so I hope you do sometime nice for you tomorrow if that's the case.

Thanks @DirtyGertiefromno30 my gym called to say the classes were cancelled tonight but I did get almost everything else done. The weather here is cold still - let's hope it cheers up soon. DS back to work today 👍

@DeepFriedCreamEgg Oh yes I remember 'big hill' in the park where we used to live. DS excelled in climbing it then getting stuck and I would need to rescue him. The other children listened to their parents who said don't go up there, there was only me scaling tree roots in an ungainly fashion, although I'm sure I rescued a few other miscreants from up there.

Keep getting an upset stomach - everyone else is fine after eating tea tonight, so it's probably stress. Along with the UTI I feel like I'm dropping to bits 😂

So far NSD - DD school has tightened up their PE kit policy so I need to buy her shorts and leggings shortly.

Afternoon everyone 😊
Been to Asda £49 , they had a clothing sale on and l picked up 4 sweatshirts reduced to £7 each from £15 for the Dds .
Lidl £29 for odds & ends
Home Bargains for laundry cleaning liquid l think it's called Whizz , £1.49 for 1.5lts , Magnums , you get 8 for £4.99 which is a hellova saving.
Hope everyone is ok will read the posts now 😁

@Lockin26annoying about the gym classes being cancelled, well done on getting everything done though 👏.
It really is far too cold for May, hopefully it cheers up soon. Glad DS is back at work today too.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the upset stomach is stress related, especially with the UTI as well. It’s horrible when everything hits at once, but hopefully it settles soon 💐.
Typical about the PE kit policy too!
Omg l hope the builders came today @drspouse fingers crossed 🤞
Busy here today but caught up on everything .
Picked up prescriptionsfrom Waitrose and bought their Cheese essentials £5 it's lovely and strong😋 and 4 x tins John West mackeral in olive oil they are on special offer £1.70 a can , which is really good and my lot love them here .
£11.80 .
Hope everyone is ok and having a good day 😁

Afternoon all!
Thank you so much for the recipes @drspouse I have put stew and polenta on my meal plan as that sounds delicious. You know so much about polenta, I need to up my game with it I think.
Ready made polenta sounds delicious too. Did the builders turn up?

@RumBananaSundaeoh my darling I'm so sorry. I hope you're having a nice chilled day today. You Def have a lot on your plate. Good for you for sussing out the market, good or bad, means you know what you're dealing with. I'm hoping being sick, arsehole and legal issues are things in the past so that you can concentrate on work.

I agree with @DirtyGertiefromno30that it sounds like worry or stress for your upset tummy @Lockin26. Stress does funny things to our bodies I've found over the years. How are you today?

Ah @DirtyGertiefromno30
Thank you for reminding me to add magnums to the shopping list. Id have a very upset DD otherwise. It's the only way I'm training her not to run off at the mo. I've tried shouting. Pleading. Telling her that a bad man will take her away. Nothing works. Only "if you hold my hand all the way there and back you get an ice cream". So ice cream daily if she is good....

£21 for a trampoline park today as Laura on gmtv promised me grey skies so decided against picnic in the park..... Came out of trampoline park to beautiful weather..... But we did have a brilliant time. £3.50(!) on a single cake whilst there. And £6ish on sarnies from marks for lunch before coming home.
My next door neighbour has decluttered and asked for my help giving it to charity shops as she can't drive anymore. I went through bags (with her permission) and there were some brand new bags, books and beauty stuff in there with tags on so I've kept for gifts as I have so many birthdays coming up, it all helps. Cheap skate I know.
£10 for yoga later. Haven't been in a month and I'm so excited to go back

@Frugal25Sounds like the ice cream bribery scheme is worth every penny at the moment 😂 Whatever works when they’re little and determined to leg it! 🤣 Glad you all had such a lovely day . And you are not a cheapskate !
Your neighbour is probably made up that you can use the new with tags things for gifts .

No spend day for me today.

Thank you @Lockin26. I didn’t do much. Took a walk along the river and saw some baby moorhens. How is your stomach today? A second agreer with @DirtyGertiefromno30 stress does all kinds of things. I’m a tooth grinder and non-sleeper amongst other things.

You’re always good at sniffing out bargains @DirtyGertiefromno30.

Thank you @Frugal25. Am most definitely still in the mist of legal things. Very slow paced unfortunately. Good save with your neighbour. Enjoy yoga.

Had a few admin type things to do but did none of them. It was rather chilly this morning, I could see my breath, then it was much warmer. I’m never sure which jacket to wear these days.

£4 on coffee, £5 for choir that I haven't been to for ages. Also £126 for a train ticket to London for the weekend when DH is going to Scout camp with the DCs!

£4 on coffee, £5 for choir that I haven't been to for ages. Also £126 for a train ticket to London for the weekend when DH is going to Scout camp with the DCs!

£10.21 Aldi
£6.58 coop
£6.49 Amazon (PE kit)
£28.50 uniform supply shop (PE Kit)

DD does wear her school PE top but they've tightened up on the bottom half no more Nike Pros or whatever she wears!

Hope the builders rocked up @drspouse

Good idea on the repurposed presents @Frugal25 and enjoy yoga

Thanks @DirtyGertiefromno30 and @RumBananaSundae and everyone for asking, I feel a bit better today.

They did eventually @Lockin26! Very quick actually but we still can't eat in the dining room as tomorrow it's the plasterer. Didn't fancy ceiling dust in our tea.

Really annoys me when schools change uniform conditions especially this late in the year.

I've decided to have a mental health day today - rang into work I just couldn't today.

After the early 2021 lockdown, my DD school decided on a Friday that for return on the Monday all children would be in PE kit all the time.
Which of course EVERYONE could afford to do and ALL the shops were open to get completely new clothes.
I emailed the head saying "shurely shome mishtake" and she backtracked immediately.
I feel an Amazon purchase coming on...I have a lot in my basket including one present for DD whose birthday is coming up.

How absolutely rediculous.

Especially back then furlough if your lucky and expecting people to just buy new uniform in a weekend or way to highlight the haves and nots.

I'm afraid I did succumb to Amazon. Two kitchen gadgets, some soap saver things for the bathroom (hoping to stop DS from buying his favourite Lush watermelon soap and then chopping it up into tiny bits so he uses it all in one day), an art book present for DD birthday and a shoe tree that someone on another thread recommended to make my shoes the right shape, they are lovely shoes and very soft leather apart from where they rub me! So that was £101.

Also £4 coffee. WFH tomorrow so will be less likely to succumb...

Ceiling dust doesn't taste nice. Not even cheese can fix the taste of it. Can confirm.
How are you feeling @DeepFriedCreamEgg?

I went on a first aid course paid for by work today. Got me out of work for a day and I actually really enjoyed it and found it very useful.
£15 on lip balm, make up remover and face sun cream mist.
£3 on sandwich for lunch. I took picky bits in but my head was pounding and I knew only food would fix.

Afternoon all - haven't posted for almost a week but have caught up on your news.

@Frugal25 when do you get your kittens?

@Lockin26 compassionate leave is never long enough. I'm surprised companies haven't revised their policies. I hope it helps you feel less stressed, not having to do stuff around work hours. Your trip to Dublin with your DCs sounds great, and is something to look forward to.

Oh @RumBananaSundae redundancy can be terrifying, I know, having been there myself. As people have said, it's not definite at the moment, try and focus on what you can control. Can you start updating your CV/looking for temp jobs etc to get prepared in case you need to? Are you a member of a union? They can be helpful in times like these. Sending a hug.

@DeepFriedCreamEgg hope you feel a little better after your MH day today. Sometimes we all need a little time to ourselves, or to hunker down away from the world.

I spent a few hours at the weekend starting to sort my finances out. I am just about balanced with my upcoming holiday cost to what I've earned doing some temp work. My claim with the Financial Ombudsman is going very slowly as the other side haven't even started to gather the information they need to calculate how much they need to pay me. Can't say it's unexpected but it's still a PITA.

Good news today is my car (which I dropped off yesterday morning) is ready to be delivered back to me tomorrow afternoon, with the accident damage repaired (new door). The hire car company have said they'll give me a lift home when I drop that car back so hopefully I'll be back in my own car tomorrow evening - I've decided to splash out on a fancy valet to get it thoroughly cleaned - there's some dubious looking stains on the seats, and a big coffee stain on one of the mats from an emergency stop on the way home from Starbucks one time....

Today I've also splashed out on a Boots beauty box - they have a skincare/sun protection one which has lots of decent products in, it's 49.99 (products worth £261.79) but if you put in the code BEAUTY22 you get another 22% off. I'm using my £50 premium bonds win - I almost never buy stuff like this so I'm excited to get my hands on it!

I've also had a bit of a Vinted win - I found a Zara jumpsuit in the perfect colour for me, ordered it on Sunday and it arrived today. It's almost perfect, just needs a belt so I've ordered a couple from Amazon to try out (it's for a party I'm going to on Friday).

And I need to return some earbuds to Amazon - bought them as they had amazing reviews, but they've stopped working after using them twice. The amazing reviews are because they give you an Amazon voucher if you post a positive review - I hate that. I'm going to be more suspicious of 100% positive multiple reviews now!

@RumBananaSundae redundancy sucks. The uncertainty is really difficult to manage. Being ex civil service we went through it every couple of years... It never got easier. If you do manage to find a job before it is all finalised do not tell your current employer and do not sign a new contract because they can not pay the redundancy due if you have something else lined up. Also join a union if you aren't a member already.

@chimichangaz I agree... Reviews should be taken with a large pinch of salt. Yesterday we booked a Airbnb for 2 nights based on the 9.5 rating. We got there and it was giving off serial killer vibes... Behind a tarot card reading shop, with only one small window. 3 random stairs leading to a boarded up doorway (scratching was heard.... best case is it was due to rats). The kitchen did not have a sharp knife or chopping board and the pans didn't work on the induction hob so I had to unpack all the camping stuff we bought along in case the weather was nice. The lights were nowhere near the switches so we had to use head torches to get to bed. All the work had been done by someone who was very bad at diy. The worst bit was the toilet was not fixed to the floor which made going to the dunny a challenge. The worst review was that it didn't have a TV.... We are staying elsewhere tonight. Not at all frugal.

Also not frugal... It has pushed us to looking at campervans again.

studio Saphyr, Souillac (updated prices 2026) https://share.google/Ib1jylSYg5fQ3FrDk

Do not stay here...

Agree @drspouse and @DeepFriedCreamEgg re the PE kit. I did say to DD well I hope there is a grace period. Her next PE lesson is in a week so we had 10 days but some parents may need to wait until pay day or later! The Amazon purchase is for non regulation navy shorts as the uniform shorts have been deemed gross, so I may return those ones and hope for the best!

Hope you feel better after the MH day @DeepFriedCreamEgg

Been to meet the IFA for the pension planning presentation today. He says its all good. Must admit I'm just putting faith in him as I trust him more than I trust myself 😂

Boo to the fake reviews @chimichangaz and @MyAgileHedgehog, hope tonights stop over is much better.

£6.79 KFC
£7.98 Amazon
Off to look at Boots beauty boxes so this may increase! Also some perfume for DD on the 22% off code for her birthday in 2 weeks.

Hate bad reviews and have been burnt myself with them. @MyAgileHedgehogi have made a note not to stay there!
Yay to getting cars back!! @chimichangaz
Hope the ifa went well @Lockin26

Update on kittens, they are ours on the 30th. I asked for the bank holiday weekend so that we then had a long weekend and half term to get the settled in and all get used to each other but she asked for the 30th to give them time to get over "the snip". Means we get a day with them before all going back to school and work but there we go.
We did get a cat tree for them today in Lidl. £24 instead of £124 from pets at home... Bargain.

£115 in Lidl today.
£6 toddler playgroup that DD wanted to go to instead of swimming.

Now making school cake (despite having cake in the house and freezer already) to enjoy at the weekend.
Gymnastics later.

Def going to have a look at the boots beauty box..... And yay for Zara outfit!!!

Forgot to admit that used credit card again this month for bits and it's above £4k again. Very disappointed with myself so next month I really need to just hide it and throw all the pennies at it. Still determined to have it gone by November. But rar.
Maybe I should cut it up....