Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

tumptyteapot

NSD, even though I feel miserable I walked past the cake shop!

rubytuesday

Oh so sorry I forgot to bid welcome to Blondemuppet.

SandraScarlett

Love to Spiral, and all frugalistas who are not feeling so good, or who would just like some lurve!!

xx

slowlyfading

Okay, so what is DTD?

Not a NSD for me either, had to go and get some milk as we'd run out.

never_too_old

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slowlyfading wrote: »

Okay, so what is DTD?

Not a NSD for me either, had to go and get some milk as we'd run out.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3109398

a huge thread currently going on about dtd , its double the difference offer at mr t's.:D

slowlyfading

Aha, thank you!

23rdspiral

thanks everyone for the support. it really does mean something. i havent even told my mum yet about either HR, the tears or not moving this week. nor a good friend who still thinks i'm picking up furniture from her on sunday. i just dont have the oompth to do so.
my boss surprised me - he said he would speak to HR and was really understanding. and he said i could port the missed AL day into the start of April, which is very kind.
i'm really under the weather today, i think i'm getting a cold. todays my day off and i managed to clean enough to feel able to open the door to the renting estate agent which is posative. i do have times of depression, but i really dont think that was the cause - no huge gaping hole in my chest, then or now, so just simply upset and frustration. doing that's really not like me. i havent cried in the toilets since i was a kid! (excpet maybe when drunk!)
so i'm sending huge thanks, big love and hugs back to everyone. thank you, you're all awesome

i had a Minor Spend Day - 1.75 in a CS on Moulin Rouge CD to cheer me up and an unopened large size Boots Cranberry Body Scrub (totally lush & indulgent and 75p not 7quid!). i'm not sure if it means i've broked my 'no toiletries' challenge again, but i dont care at that price!

blondemuppet wrote: »

When I'm feeling overwhelmed I often make a cuppa, sit and read and start to feel that its all manageable again. You are an inspirational lot and it just seemed rude to not say thank you! Best wishes x

welcome blondemuppet... there's another muppet out there on MSE that i know, but i dont think she's blonde. thank you for the nice hello - i have to say i do the same and agree totally that reading this forum also helps me to feel things are manageable. so thank you for pointing that out for me.

Inspire - thank you for explaining about your son. it sounds terrible. i do hope things improve for your familiy's situation, and you've all the best wishes i have for his heath.

~~ sending love and hugs to everyone who wants / needs / doesnt yet know they need. things are tough for so many right now, i can't help but think April just has to be better.

LolaLemon

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

.Please will somebody post the recipe for parsnip soup I missed it last time and now cant find it again.

Fan....bloomin....tastic LoLe you must be over the moon about your good news. Whoopee and such sounds of celebration. :beer:
XX

Thank you, i just couldnt stop smiling, now all ive got to do is watch the bank for the money to arrive and take it out before the credit card does!!!
I cant repost the pear n parsnip one unfortunately, as my mobile broke and is still away for repair and my recipe was stored on there... i might try a search for it tho. or someone else will have their fantastic versions

23rdspiral wrote: »

sorry but this isnt really frugal - quite the opposite - i've had to buy biscuits for the office at work for being lovely to me and understanding, and picking me up when i was in a mess crying in the toilets.:o

HR are being utterly aweful - calling me in today on Annual Leave then not turning up!!:mad: so that, on top of everything else meant i collapsed in a pool of tears in the toilets. how embarassing. i dont even know why i'm telling you here. cathartic perhaps? i dont know. sorry.

and our vendors have asked if they can push back the house move date... if there's anything else coming can we please get it over with before i drive home? i'd appreciate that. thanks.

if u have agreed a date, how can they ask for another one? will u be compensated?
the scottish system is this: view house, put in offer, offer gets accepted, (when offer is accepted their is a clause that if either side pulls out, small compensation has to be paid, as well as relisting fees), sale date agreed, normally for 6 weeks later (altho when i bought my second house, i went for a 3 week date, and a 4 week date for the sale of my 1st house, which brought them to be i got keys to new house on the monday and gave my keys to new owners on the thursday, altho we knew each other so things had been getting moved around before the sales had been completed). if anyone 'officially' couldnt do the agreed dates, then they would be liable for MAJOR compensation, storage, and loads for other charges, but we where family, so the actual dates didnt matter (my aunt stayed in my house for a week after the date of sale as my granda was ill, and i just stayed at my parents)
I hope u get a new date soon.

Work. im sorry, ive missed whats happening at ur work, but can u speak to HR management? no matter what is happening you should not be treated like that
have u contacted ACAS? speak to them and see what they advise.. can u get free legal advice? CAB or similar? make sure u know ur rights, and always, always have someone else in meetings with you, it is ur legal right, even if its only for weekly reviews and keep a copy of everything you are given, letters, requests, who u speak to, what it was about , and if it is relevant...
(i had major problems with my previous employers, and at hr meetings they would ask; are you still breastfeeding? is that not too long? {he was a year old then} is he in his own room yet? you should stop feeding him at night, you should put a gate on his room door and leave him in the room {:eek:}, yet again, i dont know why i was surprised,a s the same people told me to leave my son at home on his own, to make sure i got to work when they wanted me their) My issue was not about breastfeeding, it was about being a single parent trying to find shifts that accommodated local child care!)

Good luck!



had to go to uni today, on my only day off, for a student rep conference, was really good, got a free usb stick and green 'rep' hoodie, wont be wearing it to uni - too many people might actually come to me with problems haha, but will come in handy for going out running or the gym, or... who am i kidding!? :rotfl:
on my way up on the train, i made a baby hat, but its really small looking, so will give it to my cousins girlfriend, as her sister had a preemi baby, really preemi.

Dont u just hate days were u cant. stop. eating! im now on day 2 of it! i had made sandwiches yesterday and took an apple n cinnamon hot cross bun (got 4 for 30p in t's the night before), i hadnt even got as far as the next stop on the train (less than 2 miles!) and it was all gone. and that was my lunch! went to mr s's and got a make ur own salad type thing, £2 and a btl of water,... scoffed on the way home, and i got lots of filling stuff like potatoes, bean salads, pasta etc.. and loads of fruit too. got home and had 2 sandwiches then still hungry i made a jam sandwich.... still hungry i made my way through some filled doughnuts i got on woopsies.. i ate 4! that was a big woopsie :rotfl:took the rest to my gaelic class and told them to keep them as i would eat them all and i really didnt want to do that.
today has not been much better!


big hugs to everyone

miss_empty_piggy

I've been away from the site for a while (with one thing and another) but have just read through about 7 pages or so to try to catch up. I don't like to post unless I have tried to do this as am mega likely to put my foot in it and say something I shouldn't.

It sounds as though some of you are having a tough time and my heart and hugs go out to you all.

With regard to the food and petrol prices, I have to say that I feel that it is killing me softly, but what can we do other than be frugal and make all of the gorgeous sounding dishes that people have posted on here!!! They're making me so hungry that I've just made buns which are now waiting to be iced!! I thought I would take them to work tomorrow (minus the ones for DDs and any that need eating tonight now that they're in bed (DDs that is, not the buns - that would be weird!) We've got parents evening tomorrow night so it will be a long day for me, but we always get a free tea from the canteen which is good.

Am still attempting frugality. Made an alternative SOW (I thought it meant statement of woe - and in my case it definitely feels like that - I'm such a div sometimes!) then found an old pen drive with the SOW on, so I don't know which one to use now! Am keeping up to date with it though, and also have a page a day diary that I write expenditure into so that I don't forget (especially when there is no receipt).

Nothing much in particular to report - I can't remember from all the posts I have read tonight (sorry) but chuckled when I read that someone was reading Eat Pray Love. I have been trying to read this book since Christmas and finding it really difficult. I was inspired to hear that it may actually get better at some point. She has just arrived in India so am hoping for something other than pizza and icecream and every other word explained in Italian (sooooo bored). Was starting to panic as have only just started reading properly again (for fun/entertainment or whatever reason we all read for individually) as used to a) be too tired to read - kids! and b) felt I should be reading text books as was usually on some course or another. Felt that I had actually lost the ability to "enjoy" a book, felt like I was being very uncultured as I really should like this book (it's got Julia Roberts in the film for whatever's sake (don't want to offend anyone).

Anyway, this post is long and ranty enough. I just wanted to say Hi really, and that I've missed you all. Big hugs. Night night. x

rubytuesday

Miss empty piggy it was recommended to me by a friend whose suggestions I have really enjoyed in the past but I wasn't really getting on with it that well until India and now it's moved into Indonesia I'm really starting to enjoy it. I think the author tries to be a bit too clever, a bit like those irritating people who always have to make wise cracks etc but interestingly she has actually described herself as just that person so I'm finding it quite insightful now actually.