It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

maryb

I remember reading when I was pregnant that you get an urge to clean when you are about to go into labour - if you do all that when you are only 7 months, Sammy, heaven only knows what you'll be doing two months from now
Better steer clear of B&Q!!

slowandsteady_2

Evening all,

welcome to MSE newbies :beer:and collective thanks to everyone for the hugs and words of support, its appreciated to know we are not alone xx

Hugs to Frugalista, hopefully your oh will find something soon, maybe even better than what he has now xx

Sammy-Kaye, my dh did that with hidden red letter bills etc in 2008, i could have killed him. I was already on a DMP and had no idea he owed anything, plunged us into disaster he did, with devastating consequences (i wont bore you with details!) and i found out i was pregnant a couple of weeks later! Can totally understand how you must be feeling but you seem to be facing it heads on and with practicality so i bet you will be sorted very soon. Im afraid i still harbour anger towards my dh about what he did, i live with the consequences every single day (yep it was that bad!) but although i love him i cannot forgive and forget that easily, however i dont throw it back in his face either, life goes on. Thank goodness for MSE! I too now sort all the bills, but then im the only one working so it makes sense to come out of my account. The tax credits and child benefit goes into his account as he is a SAHD. It wouldnt work for everyone but as someone else mentioned, at least i know things are paid!

Oh well i suppose i will have to leave MSE at least for today. I have a pile of washing up from tea waving at me from the kitchen, and im really, really cold so off to put my cosy PJs and dressing gown on and have a glass of wine:)

Good night all, and stay strong!

sammy_kaye18

Morning all

Up with the lark this morning! although I couldn't sleep very well so got up and made OH a packed lunch. Only a couple of discounted rolls with cheese in and 2 small packs of Mr Kipling lemon slice cakes that Ben has decided he didn't like - but all whoopsied so it cost me the grand total of 30p. My boss has a tendency to waste items that haven't sold that are that days date then lets the staff help themselves :shhh: its technique waste I suppose but its all good and would only end up in the skip.:shhh: Fingers crossed I might be getting a second hand fridge freezer too from a work colleagues sister so I will have more space for my bargains! :T
Have decided today besides little odd tasks that I might do some baking today instead and get my airing cupboard cleaned out as I have material in there that i have no idea what it is! then i seem to have a few phone calls to make. Thinking instead of my wages being eaten by my Halifax account that im going to move them back into my nationwide cash card account so that my wages are my wages! and then my maternity can go into that account too.

ginnyknit - sorry to hear your son is having a hard time, you do seem to have a very close knit family though so I'm sure everything will work out for you all in the end. My OH's family is like that - we all live within about 2 miles of each other - I can actually see my SIL house from my flat and its a case of they all rally round each other if things happen and OH is very close with his mummy so we are normally at hers helping her out whilst her hubby works away in the week.

ceridwen - no that is another :mad: issues I have with my OH is that he doesn't eat breakfast before he goes to work - because he leaves at 6.30 he is literally up out of bed, dressed, washed and away. Did buy him some of those quaker oat sachets for him to take to work with him but he never took it with him. Although he is getting back into the habit of working out now and he was drinking a protein powder strawberry milkshake thing so I'm wondering if i should mention this for breakfast and start baking a healthy sort of cereal bar/flapjack for him that he could take to work with him that way he could eat/drink on the way. Plus I agree - he tends to live between Subway/Macdonalds/Greggs and a burger van that he passes so can only imagine what state his insides are in and he's whinging to me if I buy cakes as treat that he wants to eat healthy! :eek: although he is also one of these annoying people that can stuff their face with any amount of cr4p and doesn't gain an ounce, whereas I look at a cream cake and my trousers have tightened!
did open the credit union saving account yesterday as well - granted there's only a £10 in there at the minute but OH has said he'll contribute something towards it each month as well to get savings together with but sure I saw something about a new account called a 'savings gateway' account which is you save money and after 3 months the government will give you 50p for every pound you have in it. Think that needs more investigating.

bellaquidsin and toomuchdebt - I know - everyone is telling me I should be chilling out putting my feet up but just cant seem to at the minute and that's quite an impossibility with a 5 year old running around as well as a Jack Russell. Should point out that I am never usually this active in one day - that's usually spread out throughout the week with a room a day but seemed to have a surge of energy. OH brought me a little white board as I kept forgetting little tasks I had to do and he suggested writing it on there and then crossing it off once I'd done it so now I sit down each night and write out the next days activities or to do list. Although must say it is nice - I've woken up with no dishes and the house is tidy bar a pile of shirts that I didn't get ironed yesterday.

mary b - i already have DIY projects lined up! (some i have roped a mate in for) << that sounds suspicious doesnt it :think: but its more power tools usuage which i cant do to save my life but it will wait until after bump arrives as fingers crossed we should get rehoused soon through the council now we have a pink bump on the way so don't want to spend too much doing the flat up because we can gaurentee we'll probably get moved then! :doh: so instead im putting ideas and any spare pennies in a pot to go into a decorating fund in case we do get a house offer so we can decorate it as we want to.

slow and steady - its surprising how many people seem to have had similar situations with their OH and red letters. I did leave the letters I found on the table yesterday in plain view which I saw him look at so he knows I know about them now but didn't say anything although he was very quiet yesterday and has left me his credit card this morning (which was to get his sister a birthday present with) but he did ask me to put it away for emergencies afterwards so I guess that was his fall back money. Fair play he does pay it off every month and tends to use it for petrol if his wages are low but he's got it kept aside now.

oh another mammoth post for you all to read. right im off to look up breakfast bars and breakfasts on the go in the indexed threads! Then i might have a nose around the green fingers thread and see if i can cheaply grow a few bits in my shade..........i mean garden.

x

ceridwen

Hi Sammy

Was about to suggest further ideas - but see you are off to look at breakfasts on the go anyway:D..

Thinks....ham paninis/french bread type rolls maybe. Muesli bars/fruit flapjacks is certainly a possibility.

I keep thinking I must have a go at vegetable crisps - ie making ones own crisps - but from other vegetables as well as potatoes. I gather its just a case of slicing the veg. VERY thinly, coating with oil and baking basically - but havent quite got my act together to try it yet. Might be one idea for OH's snacks?

I think flatbreads are supposed to be very easy to makie - I have yet to break out from doing my standard wholemeal bread recipe - but its on my to-do list. So - maybe some sorta flatbread with a filling thing. Ummm....houmous can be made very quickly by draining a can of chickpeas and beating them up with a bit of olive oil/lemon juice/tahini/crushed garlic (or a budget version could be some other type of oil and miss out the tahini).

HTH

sammy_kaye18

Morning Ceridwen

OH isn't a major crisp eater to be honest but I was definitely thinking along the lines of cereal bar/ flapjack although cant let on to little one that we are making twinks hobnobs otherwise the mix is lucky to make it to the bowl! let alone survive long after baking!

Tell you what is nice though if you ever fancy something like that. Plain naan breads cut into mouthful size pieces, laid on a baking tray, spray with a tiny bit of oil and add some herbs or mixed spice are very yummy and taste like some of the fancy crisps you get. I have tried them with mixed herbs and they were lovely but a friend of mine uses a little bit of curry powder and you can use things like cinnamon too if you have a more sweet too.

Flat breads sound a good idea but I'd be worried about the filling making them soggy but I guess that will be a case of trial and error. I know in work he does have access to a fridge and a microwave so there's more options for dinner for him - I did buy a few cheap Mr T ready meals - 5 for £1 I think - last month as he was suffering from an upset stomach and I wanted a warm meal in him and he quite liked the spaghetti/lasagne type ones so wondering whether to make a few more of them for him and store them - god knows i have plenty of boxes about. Was thinking I might make some chicken curry too but not sure how well it would freeze. Plus he likes rice with his curry so might mean having to buy some cheap microwave sachets so he can take them with him. Its 78p in tesco for a 250g pouch of microwave rice although he wouldn't have rice/curry everyday. think ill look about though.

lilac_lady

Trying to catch up with the posts (again!). I was in charge of the financial side of things when I was married as ex "couldn't be bothered with all that". I was always aware of the misery debt can bring so was happy to balance the family books no matter what the circumstances were at any particular time.

It must be so hard to keep on track if someone else doesn't follow the rules, so hats off to all you people (seems to be women?) who carry on and keep the family going financially.

Toomuchdebt

I love the frozen rice sachets(I can never seem to cook rice properly) and usually divide one in half for each of us-depends how much he eats of course.

sammy_kaye18

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

I love the frozen rice sachets(I can never seem to cook rice properly) and usually divide one in half for each of us-depends how much he eats of course.

i didn't even know tesco did frozen rice! Off ot have a nosey now.

Really do need to get my backside in gear today i think

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there's this funny yellow shiny thing in the sky - its very scary - apparently its a rare welsh occurrence!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

sammy_kaye18

Thank you toomuchdebt!!!!

Think that has solved my rice issue with boyfriend and his curry.

4 x 200g sachets are £1.25 so that's only 31p per serving. Must make sure to get some of them when I next go to Tesco. Will need to label then with instructions for him though if i take out of the big bag but that's easy enough done.

Toomuchdebt

It's good stuff-I much prefer it to normal rice as I always seem to get it stuck to the bottom of the pan or it goes all thick and gloopy and sticky.I figured it would be less of a waste to buy the frozen stuff LOL.