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 .

Afternoon all,
I shall Def be posting photos of kittens @Happierwithouthimas soon as I get them :) I keep checking phone to see if the centre has contacted me but I think it will be a couple of weeks yet frustratingly.
Oh wow @needastrongone, you Def inspire me to move more.
@BigSkies2022 has also made me do foot exercises every day too. Determined not to be like my poor mum who can hardly walk. And it has helped, the painful toes have stopped completely.
£3 bus today to take DD to the library. £4 on a ceramic lunchbox for me. £4 on a toy for DD both from a charity shop. £3 on a skirt.
Went through wardrobe earlier and have chucked a couple of bits which need to go on vinted.
@RumBananaSundaeso sorry about work. I completely get it and feel the same regarding mine. Try and not think about it, I try and do the same. It's hard but I do try and snap back to happier thoughts when it crops up in my head.

Reading up on that rspb advice regarding birds this morning so gave all the feeders a hot wash and shall be stopping the feeding from seed to move over to fat balls.

Have a great holiday Rum. Sod work!

The most effective exercise is the one you'll do, need. I could never get on with running, even at my fittest (rowing in my twenties), although I have tried many times - never found that magical 'rhythm' that others described, and the runners' high certainly eluded me! So although over the years I've done road cycling, spin classes and swimming, these days I stick to walking for cardio health, bodyweight/resistance training for muscle and mobility (Pilates, ballet, yoga type things) for joint and tendon health, strength and balance. I feel better and can do more than 10 or even 20 years ago, and I can carry on doing these routines at home, rain or shine, pandemic or no!

Spends today:
£18 at Sainsbury's - I seem to be stuck in a daily shopping pattern at present, but aside from a visit to the butcher tomorrow, I'm stocked up.
£67 at hairdresser - I now have a fringe again, after 10 years. I have pulled my hair back into a low ponytail because the bouncier layered style I now have is unaccustomed and slightly annoying until I get used to it.
£10 in Superdrug on a hairbrush so I can do my own blowdrying (FYI: I will not be able to do my own blowdrying)
£10 in photo booth on new passport photo
£102 on passport application online, hurrah! Just have to get the old passport in the post and we'll be set! Have been looking on the Head for Points website and dreaming of a Milan/Trieste combo.

£74 will be spent on Ddog's haircut, but he's there right now.

DH working late tonight and DS off to watch the Liverpool/PSG match. Chorizo frittata and roast cauliflower for a flexible dinner in shifts this evening. Trying to resist buying ice cream until the weekend and eat frozen berries with Greek yoghurt instead.

Oh, and I am very happy that foot exercises are being adopted! I cured my plantar fascitis and painful Achilles with feet and ankle routines, and I have greatly improved mobility and strength in my toes and feet. They are not exciting exercises, but you can do them watching the telly or while brushing your teeth. It also helps to wear shoes that don't torture your feet as well - I put on a pair of trainers this morning that pinch the corner of my long second toe on my right foot, so they're going to have to go. Pain is a message! heed it. (Are you listening, Mum?)

@Frugal25 we feed the birds religiously here , have done for many years and l am so worried about changing their feed . Our visitors are Pigeons , Sparrows, Crows , Blackbirds, Jackdaws and Magpies . I can't forget the RSPB telling us to stop feeding the wildfowl bread years ago and the poor things were starving 😭
We haven't got feeders though we use aluminium oven trays and throw them out every day .
We don't have Finches of any sort here either .
I really don't know what to do tbh 😭

Great achievement getting rid of Plantar Faciitis @BigSkies2022 it's so damn painful. I can remember walking in the side of my foot to try and avoid the pain from it .
Have a great time @RumBananaSundae and l am another vote for 'sod em ' they can do one and yours too @Frugal25💐

There was an article in The Guardian last week apparently the RSPB are saying not to feed birds this year at all because it is spreading bird flu. Sad but necessary I guess.

My running speed for the 5k is around the 32ish mark too @Happierwithouthim. I don't get a runners high either @BigSkies2022 . I just grind it out and feel better for not having that nagging voice of obligation for the rest of the day.

I may have been very unfrugal and enrolled in 2x art courses. Both start next Feb but that will give me time to finish all the DIY stuff and get some walking in before I start.

What are these foot exercises that people are doing? I have had periodic pain in my tooters for years.... If there are exercises that improves that I would be very grateful

Bit of a Spendy day today. Bought a blanket (£180), £3.85 in Sainsbury’s, £4.60 in Asda and £11.45 in Waitrose. Have a few things for the freezer (Asda) and came across yellow stickered tins of fruit in Waitrose so bought lots. My bag wasn’t big enough so £1 of Waitrose is a carrier bag. Now I just have to find somewhere to put it all.

I bought a fire tablet when I was waiting for a new iPad to come out. It was fine but I only used it for the internet @Alwaysgrowing.

I love chilli with black beans @needastrongone.

Hope you had a good day with your sister @DirtyGertiefromno30.

I’m looking forward to seeing you new kittens when they arrive @Frugal25.

Thank you all. I had a nice day today. Thought a little about work this morning but it was banished. Spent most of today relaxing. Am ruefully looking at my lovely freshly vacuumed carpets as I never want to walk on them after I’ve vacuumed but want to do a few things on the floor. Just trying to decide if I should take a waterproof or not and which jacket to wear. TK Maxx had some lovely sunglasses but they didn’t have matching cases so I didn’t buy any.

No finches here either. Wildfowl, those parakeets and a few others. I hear a woodpecker but I’ve never seen it.

Can I join in the frugality? I'm on a clothes no-buy this year and have been keeping track of any non-essential expenditure and omg, I buy so many things?!?!! Where does it all go? I'm trying to use up my yarn stash before buying more but you always end up having to buy some more to use some up. Besides that I'm switching from Sainsbury's to Tesco for our weekly shopping delivery as I read somewhere it's cheaper. We shall see...

People are talking about not feeding the birds - i also read the rspb article and have cleaned all my feeders and put them away. Fat balls and mealworm only this summer. How long do we think a fat ball will last outside? I don't have a huge number of birds and I'm worried the massive fat ball will go off before they eat it all
(Speaking of fat balls always reminds me of the classics thread on here where the dh eats one out of the fridge, it make me laugh so much!)

@RumBananaSundae an £180 blanket? I need more information!

Took my own lunch and snack and made my own tea but I go straight to see my counsellor on a Tues and she has an office right next to a cafe which is fatal. Herbal tea and a maple pecan slice, £6.
I won't see my counsellor next week but remembered to pay for the following week, today, as I have a bad habit of forgetting till just before I see her.
I also put £35 in my savings (I use Plum which is excellent, if anyone wants a referral just PM me). I have to open a new ISA now it's the new tax year, we are saving like mad to pay off a lump sum of the mortgage. Can't log on to the Nationwide app though.

Just been looking at the RSPB shop online . They are still selling bird feeders, sunflowers seeds and suet pellets. Mealworms etc surely they should stop selling these .
I don't know what to think . I am not sure l trust the RSPB . I only wish l did

I don’t know what to think about the birds. Grandma spends a fortune feeding them and won’t be happy when I share the article with her.

the thread where the DH eats the fatball cracks me up every time I remember it!

Hello frugal newcomers and returners!

Re feet my DM had terrible pain and bunions and used to warn me. My job and general lifestyle allow me to wear trainers and casual shoes 99% of the time, when I do have to wear dress shoes for certain settings, I have a pair of converse in the car boot. I'm quite short but I can't walk in heels!

The bird thing was not on my radar - will research as DB feeds the birds at DM house (although his current state I doubt it). DH keeps wildlife at his allotment and is generally clued up - will ask him.

Running (more of a jog) I can manage 4k in approx 30 mins - trying to up this to 5k as I'm doing The Race for Life in the summer. I did it in 28 mins in 2004 and not since 😂 I'm not really runners build. Honestly the times on here are amazing 😍

Spends were £12.46 Lidl. £35 Dunelm.
Busy week off work with projects in the attic and the garden, not really going to plan! Watching The Remainder on Netflix as it's my holidays - love a good disaster movie!

Am I allowed to post YouTube links? I get my feet exercises from there, mostly ballet YouTubers.

@drspouse doing pack ups some of the time is better than never... And you will get into the swing of it and it will seem odd to buy out.

The bird feeder article
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/10/rspb-bird-feeders-nuts-seeds-summer-parasitic-avian-disease

I live in the hills.. so we get a huge variety of birds turning up. This week we have had loads of them turning up in the garden to collect nesting materials... Including a juvenile goldcrest. The first time I have seen one in our very bijou garden.

Please let us know everyone if anything is found out about the birds , thank you in advance 🤗
Re the YT links yes put them on please do @BigSkies2022 😊

We don't feed our birds because we have a cat (and rats when the cat isn't on top of them - though in the alley not the yard!) but I have heard a great tit several times recently (used the Merlin app). It sounds lovely.

starlings nest in the roof of my shed & despite having a chimney cover manage to come down my chimney quite frequently. I’ve got a fire door like a stove but just a front to normal grate so they can’t get out, I got a fright on Sunday when I went to light a fire and saw one inside. On Sat I’d found a bird in bf’s stove. Only once in five years has one been dead in the fireplace.

in recent weeks there’s been a little robin hanging around.

thanks for offer need I’m sure advice will be needed. I’ve done a few

We don’t feed the birds as the food eats it. 🤦‍♀️ but have a few nesters
I miss doing barre work and fitness. Inspire to be need but without the running. Gave that up along time ago.
welcome new & returns frugaleers

haven’t spent much I don’t think. Not really tracking so best get better at that

All bird feeders washed and the flat feeders out away. Have put out 6 fat balls only and they have gone in 12 hours.
It's going to be an expensive few months feeding fat balls only!
We have a few birds nesting in the bushes this year which is lovely. They much prefer the bushes to all of the boxes I put out. Which is fine tbh.
Ooohhhh details on the blanket please!! @RumBananaSundae
Id say YouTube is fine @BigSkies2022 but I'm not an expert on the rules :)
Ooohhhh maple pecan slice .... @drspousedelicious.

Welcome @bedfrog I haven't heard of the fat ball eating.....oh my goodness!!!

Should be a NSD for me

Hello all! Typed out a big long message and then lost it! I will reply again later.

Have a good day everyone 😊

Thanks for sharing the rspb article @drspouse

I think I need to investigate these foot exercises too.

Have an amazing holiday @RumBananaSundae

Yesterday was a NSD other than £30 for my counsellor which I classify as an ongoing expense rather than a daily spend.

Today I’ll need to buy milk, bread and fruit - but going to try and keep the total under £10. I also need to pay £15 for Ddogs walk.

OK, here goes, hope it works.

This is one I follow most often - I turn the sound off and just follow along while listening to a podcast/radio because foot exercises are not exciting.

This one adds balance drills to the strength exercises and is good too

This one you can do in front of the telly sitting down - uses a theraband.

I'm sorry if this imports a bunch of ads into your feed.

Spends today:
2 chickens, jointed, in the butcher, £21. Will roast one tonight, the other is in the freezer.
Settling library fees for the year to date £10.

DH has gone into town where he promises he will get a free cake from M&S (offer with his credit card). I am not sure what else he will get. Paid DD Maths tutor and the music centre I go to (DD also goes when she isn't cycling but they clash).