The Friendly Frugaleers: Saving and chatting as the heatwave rolls on.

[BestFootForwardAndThenSome]

Now that I've put that in the title, we will almost certainly get snow. LOL!

Welcome to nearly-August.

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

I've always thought your dh sounds like a thoroughly decent chap sunny supportive, sensible and earns a good salary - the perfect man really 😉

We have had a nice day, dd went river jumping! ! It took all of my willpower to not let my anxiety stop her jumping in (it was jumping of a bridge into quite deep water) but I bit my tongue and she had a fab time with her friends.

Spent £4 on drinks and an ice cream.

Unfortunately my car failed it's mot 😭 due to a chip on the windscreen, so annoying as when I noticed it ages ago I took it to Halfords who glued it and told me it was fine and wouldn't be an mot problem. Turns out it is.

Have got autoglass coming out tomos but will cost £75 excess.

Mot will be around £100 as they fixed my radio as well (I asked them to!)

My car savings will cover this but it's just more messing about i could have done without.

Not sure if I told you lot but I have a trapped nerve in my shoulder which is causing arm pain, has been getting worse and driving seems to really aggravate it 😟 going to be a problem at work, will try and see my dr but pretty sure they can't do much for trapped nerves.

I really want chocolate now thanks to you lot!!

[ChristmasSeacow]

Just was an earlier post Em - is that diary milk choc with peanut butter Oreos in? I’ve onky seen the chocolate with ‘notmal’ Oreos but the pb ones are the mutt’s nuts - if they’ve put that in chocolate then I. Am. There.

And yyyyy to Malteser buttons. What a time to be alive!

My DH defo does his share of hands on parenting but doesn’t do the mental load stuff at all. I don’t mind too much while I’m not working full time too but when I am back at work I expect we’ll have the occasional spat about it, like we used to 🙄

It’s much fresher up north than London. A few degrees cooler but also much less humid. Actually quite pleasant! I don’t feel as though my entire face is melting off constantly.

Now today I’ve had a revelation - my first ever trip to Aldi! There’s one not far from me at home but it’s past a very congested roundabout that usually takes 15 mins to get past so I never go that way if at all avoidable. Today I happened upon one and needed nappy bags, deodorant and soap (all the stuff I forgot) so I popped in. It was so cheap! And quick and easy due to lack of choice... quite refreshing. We didn’t need fresh stuff though so I didn’t get to try that out. I did a mad dash as kids were in the car with DH so I didn’t get to nosey at the merchandise to my satisfaction. I’ll have to go back . What’s worth checking out next time? I spent about £8 as I loaded up
On wipes and maple syrup too. DH bought ice creams, not sure how much but no other spends today.

[ChristmasSeacow]

Oops, sorry for typos, I am typing with one thumb over DD’s head while she watches Peppa Pig on my lap.

Sorry to hear about your shoulder Girlie that sounds inconvenient as well as annoying.

[BestFootForwardAndThenSome]

Thanks Girlie. I will tell him that and he'll appreciate it. He is very very good and doesn't get a lot of appreciation for it.

I think that that trapped nerve thing can be fixed, but if it gets really problematic and can't be fixed by an osteopath or similar then it might need an operation. My FIL is a conductor and he got something called a frozen shoulder once, which I kind of suspected was because he spent all his time waving his arms around. He had a general anaesthetic to fix it, be he says that all they did was knock him out, grab him by the arms and legs and then pull really really hard until the nerve came out from wherever it was trapped, and then they woke him up again. #weird.

Maybe the osteopath is the gentler option? Good luck with the GP. I hope he can help.

[BestFootForwardAndThenSome]

I just bought the middle section of a bass clarinet off ebay in the US. I tried playing one before and it was like a horse tranquiliser, but the cheapest ones cost about £1700.

I managed to get the middle bit for a little under £200 and now need to save up for the other bits. Still cheaper than therapy though, and fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals, unless I knock my teeth out from the vibration. Exciting.

[Cagliostro]

Agree to disagree on the PB oreos. Love oreos and love (proper :o) PB though. Tell you what Cadburys I really miss - the one with Ritz crackers in! I need to increase my salt intake so it's basically medicinal.

DH has got me some crunchy caramel m&ms to try. I saw on FB that they are very popular. I shall report back. I'm nice like that.

My DH is similar to mrseacow in that he is totally hands on and practical, he was a SAHD for a bit too. But the mental load stuff is definitely my domain. Wouldn't be such a problem (after all I don't WOH so it should be mostly mine) if I didn't have ASD and the attendant issues with executive function!

Really can't stop going on about describe how much the move will help with that stuff though. I am definitely still giddy happy but can I admit I felt a bit sad earlier at the old house seeing the tiny horrible space we lived in for so long. Cleaning the horrible heaters that didn't heat. Avoiding the same old broken step that was broken before we even moved in. Etc. But. Onwards!

I am using our new fancy oven for chicken wings and garlic roast spuds/veg. I even set the time on it #smug I looked it up on youtube however I am only using one of the ovens as I can't figure out the other one!

[Loveabaconsandwich]

I do most of the mental load stuff here although I seem to have dropped the ball with it since I've been working closer to home. Maybe because I'm more relaxed but that makes me less organised. I expect DP and I will be having words when I'm back at work/college basically full time in September. He will have to remember more of the 'stuff' too.

My new job is near an Aldi. I'm thinking I'll go there and buy the non-fridge/freezer stuff on my lunch break there is also a subway nearby

I am so happy we are now all on holiday. Tomorrow will be a mad day of packing/laundry/food shopping, getting ready to go away for a long weekend

[Wolfcub]

Sunny thank you for the thread

Cag I loved the ritz cracker dairy milk too. I’m not a massive chocolate fan and that was just about savoury enough for me

Em h was a great dad in many ways and I hope he will get to be again (in his own place not mine) but he was chronically disorganised and it did my bleeding nut in. Every single morning pretty much he had lost eiTher his work pass or his door keys and had to go back to look for them Making us late for work. He was also rubbish at organising ds’s stuff. “Have you done ds’s school bag?” “Yes of course don’t nag me” cue school bag missing all the essentials and containing a load of letters that would need signing. Ds is the same. I am obsessively organised and it did my tree in. There is no solution except diy

Holiday spends €5.50 chocolate y churros. €5 tea and lemonade because I will kill people if I don’t get decent tea and the hotel tea is predictably awful

Ds is an ungrateful so and so. He is currently stropping teenage style because the hotel WiFi is down and he has nothing to do. I have reminded him he could talk to me which he has not done for three days but that resulted in a full on kevin

[QuiteCleanBandit]

Sea
Cheese and chocolate

Im afraid I expect anyone who is over the age of 6 to just crack on with clearing up their own mess and to do usual "adulting"once teens and adults without any fuss or thanks.
Also firmly in the "go and do it" camp with DC.
No one needs thanks for normal life stuff .
Obviously if a meal is placed in front of me I would thank the cook but no "arent you marvellous" nonsense here.Just thanks
Picked up Boots order and prescription £33
Flipping boiling cycling home.

[ChristmasSeacow]

Cag your attitude to pb Oreos saddens and disappoints me. I am not sure we’ll get past this

I do fancy the sound of your dinner though . Salmon and tomato curry here. I’ve even decanted small amounts of various spices from home. This would make me sound super organised... if only I hadn’t forgotten deodorant. Priorities priorities

Bandit my DH doesn’t eat cheese so it’s All. For. Me.

Wolf at ‘full on Kevin’ turn of phrase, although I appreciate it’s probably not very funny, especially as it’s your hard-earned holiday. Hope you’ve got a good book.

DD is asleep in bed already, she was knackered after a day in a local park meeting up with some lovely old friends of ours who have a baby her exact age. They eyed each other up a lot and stole each other’s snacks. I think it might be Lurve.

As soon as DH finishes DS’s stories we’re onto the wine. Yay for holidays!

[WreckTangled]

We had butternut squash curry for dinner. We're all melting but dh, despite working outside all day in 30 degrees, has come home and started replacing bricks in the shed 🤷‍♀️

I'm annoyed because:

• I've double booked myself in August at two separate theatres going to try and change one but it'll cost me
• my friend is being wishy washy about going to the cinema tomorrow (it was planned and she's asked to change it but I can't really)
• I bought dd a rash vest in the sale at Tesco (self scan) and left the security tag on.

I had had a really good day too.

[Cagliostro]

:o

Dinner was quite nice but I over-fluffed the potatoes and put a bit too much oil on I think. I've never had a fish curry I don't think. Love that you took spices! I don't think I actually have any ATM. I was that disheartened about cooking! Want to build up a collection now and start cooking more interesting stuff but need to take it slowly! Or I'll get overwhelmed and disheartened if it goes wrong. Especially as the new hob is gas, which I've not cooked on for years

[WreckTangled]

Ooo cag to me, my essential basic dried herbs and spices would be:

Oregano
Mixed herbs
Bay leaves
Rosemary
Thyme
Mint (although frozen is better)
Cinnamon
Chilli
Cumin
Ginger
Coriander

[QuiteCleanBandit]

LOLing at full on Kevin.

Occasionally if mine Kevined I would mutter "its sooooo unfair" and they soon stopped !

[Wolfcub]

Cag a gas hob is the holy grail - so much more control and you can see the heat.
Sea he hates being referred to as Kevin or “doing a Kevin” but he is the absolute epitome of the character at times. I am trying to ignore and enjoy my wine. I have threatened him with an early night and the removal of my kindle which he is using. He had a panic attack earlier - not sure what over so I am trying not to come down too hard but it does make me think it was far easier to deal with him as a couple

Sea I’m glad our Yorkshire weather is being kind to you, I am slightly worried about what it will be doing to my plants

Wreck annoying of your friend to flip flop like that, can you go alone

[BestFootForwardAndThenSome]

That's interesting that people have such different attitudes to training folks in life skills. My undergraduate supervisor once said to me "A polite letter costs nothing." and since then I've always tried to say when I see someone doing good stuff, especially if they are getting nothing for it. I realise that there are all different kind of approaches though.

I've noticed that the terribly posh public school folks around here constantly pepper their conversation with casual praise for the person that they're talking to, to the point where it can sound hopelessly insincere if they're having an off-day. It makes me wonder about where exactly the correct bar is for appropriate back-slapping. I'm still pondering that.

[lifelongfrugaleer]

£27 primark, £32 Matalan, £2 in Aldi,.

Oreos no thanks.
Mmm biscuits but in so on calories and health eating before my holidays.

Throwing full on a Kevin made me chuckle.
Hi on about the house as much as you want cag. Did you Google the oven type and manual?

I do all the thinking here but I am a bit of a control freak. Dh does forget stuff but as long as it's not important I try not to care. The rest he had to put it right if he fucktons up.

[lifelongfrugaleer]

pleased you are enjoying the North sea. Where are you again?

I need to do more to make my kids fully functioning adults. Have been staying these holidays.

Flakey friends bug me.

[lifelongfrugaleer]

There is not allot that is bag in Aldi imo. The fruit and veg can be a bit hit/ miss

[WreckTangled]

Wolf nah I don't want to go to the cinema that much it was more to do with seeing my friend. It's just tricky because we're both busy but she is childless so doesn't need to plan things like I do

My dad always used to call me Kevin, I can remember how frustrating it was and now I do it to dd

[SnugglySnerd]

Bother. Just lost long post. Too tired to retype, might try again tomorrow.

Thanks for new thread Sunny

[Cagliostro]

Rowan seems to have sprouted an attitude along with her toof

I've been writing a list of things we need for the new house. It's a lot! But then I have also added such fripperies as a garlic pot :o #grownup

I would like to install dimmer switches, is that easy? And can you still use LED? I'd like to go low light when getting the baby to bed but a lamp just seems like another thing to clean (says she who wants a garlic pot)

[QuiteCleanBandit]

Sunny Im all for politeness - just not praising men for doing stuff that women do on a daily basis with no fuss.

I agree -too much praise can either sound insincere or patronising.
I wil be dead one day -my DC need to know that no one is going to thank them for washing their own pants 😂

[Fluffycloudland77]

Some LED bulbs are dimmable but they cost more. Light switches are very easy to change.

[Wolfcub]

Cag if you have Hive or similar you don’t need dimmer switches you can have dimmer bulbs controlled from your phone or with your voice. This is not frugal but it’s a god-send on days when I am sore and less mobile also it means ds doesn’t need help to go upstairs (the light switch is in a hard to access cupboard) as he can just ask Alexa