I have lost my OS ways, help!

Caterina

Good morning,

Cranky I don't think that £5 at your son's Christmas fair counts as a spend in the capitalist sense of the word, unless his fair is run by City traders! Have fun supporting it, I hope you find some nice things to buy!

Villagelife, glad that you are feeling better, I hope the weather is good in your neck of the woods, a bit of outdoors in nice weather is always very healing, I find.

I had a bit of a disturbed night, DH Is a bit poorly, stuffed nose and also a painful shoulder so he woke me up a few times as he could not get comfortable, then coughing, then needed ibuprofen. In the end I got up and made us a very early cup of tea and bowl of porridge. He is asleep again now, bless him. He must be really quite unwell as he is missing his beloved martial arts class today, which is almost unheard of.

The breakfast was very nice, I used whole oat groats, cooked them on the wood stove overnight so they are nice and tender by morning, reheated with (Scots please avert your eyes now!) a shot of soya milk, then dressed with chopped nuts, cinnamon and golden syrup (brown sugar for me).

My friend asked me to walk with her to w8rose but I declined as I really don't want to be tempted to buy stuff. I have reached my budget limit last night and don't want to go over on a whim, even if it is just a cake to share. Better stay clear of cakes in any case after last night Tiramisu I had for dinner.

Later on I shall go to the Bring and fix event but will take a packed lunch. As I am volunteering I am sure they will let me have hot drinks so I won't bother with a flask. In any case if I spend 20 pence on a community stall for a drink, a bit like Cranky's son's fair, I don't think it will register on the stock market!

I had been invited by a lovely friend to go to her Swishing party, but I decided to cancel as I have decluttered all the clothes I did not want anymore, and I don't want to add to my wardrobe in any case.

I wonder if DH will be well enough tonight to go to friends pot luck dinner. Will reappraise the situation later on after he's had a good sleep and a restful day.

Have a good OS Day.

CRANKY40

Thank you for my official pardon for the school fair money

Glad your back is better villagelife and sorry that your DH seems to have found the aches and pains instead Caterina.

The house elf does karate twice a week and is currently disgusted that school play rehearsals are scheduled for the week night that he usually attends so he only has his Sunday lesson. It has made such a difference to him. He has gone from a shy child to a confident boy who is happy and sociable.

That porridge sounds delicious. My gran was raised in the Highlands and was disgusted by us sugar loving softies. She took her porridge with just a pinch of salt.

moments_of_sanity

Villagelife, glad you are feeling more positive today.

Cranky40, I am sure a £5 spend won't count really.

Caterina, sorry to hear DH is unwell and you both had a sleepless night. Hopefully you will be able to grab a nap later and your DH will start to feel better soon.

DH and I are off out this evening, tickets were bought in October and hoping the only think I need to buy is maybe a warm drink as it's an outdoor event.

DD is still in bed and not sure I will see her much before sunset as not sure what time she came in last night....oh to be young again! :rotfl:

I stayed away from Black Friday and the week long event on Amaz0n as there was nothing I needed and have actually managed 4 nsd's this week so very pleased with that. All of my Christmas presents have been purchased and only eldest DD's Converse trainers to buy now but will wait a couple of weeks before buying as they are always available and I need to replenish the savings fund first.

I seem to have a load of washing to catch up with, DD coming back and doing 4 loads last weekend (meaning I didn't do any) has really put me behind for some reason. I have a tumble dryer but am really trying not to use it so I will put the washing in my shower cubicle and hope it dries quickly.

Wishing you all a lovely day x

villagelife

Had lovely day in garden yesterday.
Today I am cooking a ham as I type so will be ready when we eat later as I have salad stuff already.
We may go to London as Regent Street is closed to traffic and have some tesc0 clubcard vouchers to use so may go to Tower of London aswell. We get free train travel and we will buy very little so is a cheap day out.

Caterina

Good morning,

Cranky my first husband was a Scot and he taught me to eat porridge the "proper" way, but then I got soft once I married my Englishman, and it was sugar or golden syrup all the way!

Villagelife I hope you have a lovely day in London, I shall be in central London with DS today but am on a mystery shopping assignment (lunch) otherwise we could have met!

MOS I hope you had a good time at your outdoor event and that the weather treated you well. Don't mention laundry catchup! *runs away screaming* My bugbear!

I am relieved that DS is happy to step in for the mystery lunch, as DH is still not well, feverish, coughing and spluttering and it would have been impossible to do the assignment with him in this state.

After lunch, the rest of my day will be filled with completing the job, long detailed questionnaire, as well as taking care of DH (hot drinks and snacks when he is not asleep).

I hope that apart from the job today I can make it my last NSD, if I manage I shall have completed my 10/10 challenge.

Tomorrow I would like to start a sealed pot challenge, but I have to find a pot to seal first. If I cannot find it I shall have to wait and just put the change in a jar.

Have a good OS day.

CRANKY40

Caterina I have my "running away" money in one of those sealed tins from the pound shop. My sister and I are are saving for a holiday together when all the children are grown up and able to be left. As that will be some time, I stick a pound or two in most weeks and hopefully it will be enough in 8 or 9 years

The school fair wasn't great but I spent £4.50 in the interests of supporting the school. That included 50p to get in and £1 on a candy floss for the boy.

The boy wanted to squander his pocket money on something plastic from T*sco today, so I stocked up on cat food while we were there. I am moving them over to something available elsewhere as I am fed up of having to go to one supermarket just to feed the moggies (all the major SM's used to sell it, but I have a feeling that it will be going out of production soon as even the range in T*sco is reduced compared to what they used to stock).

I had a relaxing bath last night...well it was relaxing up to the point our younger cat fell in it with me. Luckily the boy is young and fast and caught her to dry her before she dried herself using my bed covers.

Going to hoover upstairs now - this was my tea break after doing downstairs. I'm lots better but still need a little rest between jobs. Hope Mr Caterina is feeling better soon.

Caterina

Good evening,

Cranky thank you for good wishes re Mr Caterina, I hope too he gets well soon, I get tetchy when men have Man Flu! Your time at the fair sounds ok and you really made me laugh with details of your cat falling in the bath, poor moggy! Re. cat food, if you have a few cats to feed, have you considered ordering online, you can get some real bargains. I use Zooplus and if you order via Quidco you get some cashback. First order attracts a discount voucher and also if you order more than a certain sum (I think it is around £70 but cannot remember) you also get another discount. I find it really useful and cheap - probably not as cheap as the supermarkets. Also, someone here in the forum I think was raving about Aldi cat food being very cheap and very good. All worth checking, hope it helps.

Well, the restaurant outing was a nice adventure, I went with DS and we absolutely LOVED it, apart from me having to fill a 3 hour (!!!) questionnaire with about a gazillion details, from the quality and appearance of the food to the facial hair (neat?) of the staff. But it was well worth it, as it has been a really good experience.

Anyway, apart from paying for the restaurant (refunded in full) and the transport (prepaid on Oyster card), I have another NSD, which I am very pleased with. I know that the transport could potentially count as a spend, but it was pretty much out of my control, as DS really wanted to go by train rather than bus and tube, as it would have cost him a lot more, and I had to go anyway as it was work, so I am not counting it as a spend and that's that. :rotfl:

Therefore I have completed my double challenge, budget ok and 10/10 NSDs in the month.

Well pleased. Well stuffed too so not planning a very elaborate dinner tonight, just a light salad or even just yogurt and fruit, depending how DH feels and what he wants.

Have a good OS evening all, waiting for the next month in a few hours.

CRANKY40

I used to get the cat fud on subscribe and save from Amazon which was a double bonus as it was cheaper and they brought it straight to the front door, but then the regular supplier stopped doing it. It was Felix Marinades. I can get it in T*sco now, but the range has just been reduced there too. Ideally I need them on something that they will eat, is fairly cheap and in an emergency can be purchased from Sainsburys which is a 10 minute walk from our house (but is too expensive unless in an emergency). I will have to look at what is available on subscribe and save again.

Caterina

If you get 5 items on the subscribe and save you get 15% discount.

ginnyknit

and go through Quidco and get cash back - I just checked Amazon is on there! I never knew that tut tut bad ginny!