NST: May the NST force be with you

thriftylass

Calling14 wrote: »

Frugal tip
share a shower/bath :rotfl:

Sticking the kids in together is my limit, they are 5 and 2. What will always put me off is the way my mum grew up. They had a weekly bath, ONE. Father went in first, then mother, then oldest etc. My mum was 5th in line, Eeewwww.

Calling14

eeeww indeed. I had a lodger who only had a sunday shower eek! She didn't last long.

Bobarella

Hi All

Just been to Iceland to pick up my bargainacious beef mince. Got 4 which was the max per customer so I now have 2000g to get batch cooking with for just £4.
Woo hoo!

Bob

crazy_cat_lady

Evening turtles :wave:
Sorry I didn’t check in yesterday – but I’ve been so very busy. It’s the worst time of the year running into the GCSE’s. I’m trying a more positive perspective to life at the moment though and saying I’m so busy enjoying my life that I can’t find spare time rather than being too busy to do everything I want to. It’s amazing what a difference a shift in perspective means though.
Today’s happiness – my boys in their matching football shirts; frugalities – fry up of leftovers from the fridge; kindness – being a very patient driver today indeed.
Bob – I quite like shopping at Icyland since we got the chest freezer. Really handy…
Mothernerd – hope that the Vitamin D helps…
Dizzyblnd – my dh takes vitamin D supplements to try and help his depression. I’m sure that I have read that you only need about 20 minutes a day of sunshine to generate enough vitamin D. No harm in a supplement though.
Thrifty – really hope that your bank switch is sorted very soon.
It is getting a little quiet on here. I’m going to have a think about a mid month extra challenge to kick things into action again.

Bobarella

I want to go back for another look Cat as I spotted a lot of interesting looking things but I only had my backpack and the baby in the sling so no room for too much more today. Looked like they had kilo blocks of cheddar for £4....

I was just thinking that I feel a bit flat at the moment. I am such an adrenaline junkie and things are just ticking along so I feel there should be more to it. But I have achieved a lot this year really. And it's largely due to participating in these challenges.
The positives I have achieved in the last month:
- saved £800 on my insurance renewal
- switched both OH and I to cheaper tarrifs and upgraded our handsets. Saving £30 a month.
- Gone from £114 gas/electricity bill to £54 for the coming month through turning off the heating and ditching the tumble drier
- Been for a health check that I was over due on.
- Earned £10 by trading in DVDs
- Switched my son's badly performing CTF to the top rate junior ISA

Things I still want to work on.
- keep kicking the debt down. Halfway there a month ahead of my self imposed DFD but can I do better?
- have signed up to a company that looks for focus group participants to aid debt slaying
-Can I tighten our budget any further or are we already done? I think we may look to streamline our banking again. At present we have 3 accounts with the bank we are with. Mine/His/Ours. Really, we don't need the mine and his anymore as the money all flows from ours. So I may look to move to a better bank and just opt for one account.

Blimey this is a bit of a brain dump post so apols if a bit z Zzz

Bob

apple_muncher

Bob - I have seen that cheese - think it was a time-limited offer, so don't wait too long before going back!

I have been one of the quiet ones. Mon-Thurs is usually mad hectic busy for me anyway. Couple that with getting some sort of bug on Sun where my skin just hurt. All over. And my tum was grumpy too. I have managed work and then just wanted/needed to sleep. Except stressy stuff at work got into my dreams - grrrr - and woke me up. And I have been very off my food since Sun which is most unlike me! And my exam board deluge of marking has arrived and has needed some attention.

But anyhow, I have still been fine with drinking coffee and am now up to 9 NSDs. All will settle back down in apple world soon and normal service may be resumed soon...

The_Only_Girl

Hugs to all who need them. Sorry you've been feeling a bit flat Bob, apple, calling. sorry if I missed anyone.

Some of the vitamin D rich food that I can think of are tofu, mushroom, milk, eggs, tuna, salmon, etc.

Thanks for the tip re minced beef in Icyland Bob. I will try and get some for my freezer stock too.

Just came back from a day trip to Dundee for DS1's uni tour/visit. What a long day it has been. 4hrs one way plus the tour then another 4hr journey back, made it a 12-HR journey. It was an interesting visit although my gut feeling as a mum tells me I prefer Leeds. Won't know for sure where he'll end up going but I hope he'll make the right decision for HIM. just the thought of my son going into debt (student loan and maintenance allowance/loan) fills me with dread. I wish I have learned how to manage my finances well years ago and I wish I have started saving up for his uni fees when he was a baby so he wouldn't have to incur some debts. Hindsights eh?

I thought I have planned our trip well by packing food and all our needs for the trip EXCEPT some coins for the parking fee. I ended up spending £3.20 just so we could have £4 coin. I was a bit annoyed actually because I thought I was being clever. I gave the cashier £10 for DS1's soft drink and crisps (£2.20) but she refused to give me 4 £1 coins. Allegedly she's not allowed to (what a load of rubbish). I had to buy another drink for £1 and gave her £5 note and voila I had enough coins for the pay and display. Grrr.

Frugal tip of the day: when going to a place you've never been before and you don't know anything about the parking situation, make sure you have enough coins with you to avoid unnecessary expense just to have coins for the pay and display.

Because we've already lost our nsd we decided to do a bit of top up shopping in Morris when we stopped for fuel. We were lucky they were just putting their final reduction stickers on when we stopped by so we ended up paying only £13.01 for what would have been £43 worth of shopping and also earned 20 points in my match and more card. I had a 1p roadkill in the University of Dundee.

Spending time with hubby and ds1 in Dundee and my good womble made me happy today.

misstara

Sorry have also been quiet - not much going on to report. A couple more NSDs takes me to 6 so far for the month.

Blood tests today - they're testing for vit D deficiency as well as low iron levels. Will get the results next week.

Loan payment went out today so now at 85.4% paid

Bobarella

Apple ooo thanks i will scuttle by tommorow. The rate my family goes through cheese that will probably last a week lol sorry you've not been feeling good.

TOG you've had a long old day! On student debt I have seen both sides argued. Is it better for parents to secure their own position financially so they can help out their offspring by not being a worry in later life? And should over 18s who are now adults in their own right not be paying for their own education? Not an easy decision nor one I look forward to making.

MissTara we'll done on your % paid off

mothernerd

Feeling a little better after only two days. A SFD - hard work as I have been craving certain things and wondered about going out for sandwich fillings, but resisted (just eating a rolled up wrap).

What made me happy - bins emptied and so was the charity bin in the library - took a wooden storage unit, originally for dvds but tried lots of things in there over the years. Currently empty so it has to go. Wanted to spray two walls in DS3's room with anti mould spray (were behind the bed before) but still slightly dizzy so reluctant to go up the ladders. I have done 90% from ground level so may try the rest tomorrow if it's only stepping onto the bottom step.

Good deed - donated items to charity and to the food bank.

Frugal tip - always cook in a big pan. Doesn't take much longer to chop loads of onions etc and definitely use less fuel making a big batch and dividing rather than cooking small lots each week. When I was still married but he was working 300 miles away the Sunday joint was always sliced and divided into small portions and the gravy made from the juices went into small plastic beakers. easy to do meat, chips and gravy with veg for the boys mid week.