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Route up the Mountain not so clear. Dealing with the Crevasses
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Topher
Posts: 647 Forumite


Does anyone else keep attempting a virtuous life of money saving, frugality and “getting a grip” only to have things disintegrate?
If it was just left to me sitting comfortably having lots of ideas, and finding it easy to stick to my brilliant plans, I could sit here and pontificate on my wonderful journey to financial freedom. However, the first bit is true, (that sitting comfortably having the wonderful ideas thing), but the journey, once I get out of my comfortable seat, has many pitfalls. Some of these are external, you know - like how far a Dremel can actually spray egg white across my kitchen, then again, some are internal like motivation in the face of backward steps.
Today’s plot: it’s a no spend February. I had some spare time this afternoon and had acquired some very white eggs which I need to use fairly soon. Last time my grand-children came to visit they saw the eggs on the eggskelter and couldn’t resist playing with them. When I insisted they weren’t toys, they settled for sitting at the kitchen table drawing faces on them.

I hadn’t any cress seeds available but thought it would be nice if next time they came, I sliced the tops of some eggs and let them draw the faces, then plant the cress seeds inside and let them grow as hair …. I’m sure you’ve come across the activity before. I decided to blow the white eggs and slice the tops off a couple of brown ones. The dremel was used to drill the holes top and bottom for the blowing, (I know you can use pins but drilling is less chancy), then I changed the dremel head for the circular saw for the slicing of the remaining eggs. Does anyone know how to a) make it spray the egg foam away from you? b) clean a fine film of dried egg white off a tiled kitchen floor. (It wiped off the walls very easily but I didn’t notice it across 5ft of kitchen floor until it had dried)
Today I’d read on a forum something about clutter - specifically hobby clutter, and I’d done my dead easy pontificating from the comfort of my chair, about it being fine if it’s properly organised and you have a plan for it. HAH! My conscience was stung, (as in I know I’m such a hypocrite) Christmas card making clutter, gathered for maybe the past 13 years was still sitting in a drawer, and from my card planner, I knew I was going to be at least twelve cards short this year. So I dragged the clutter out, and have managed to make five reasonable cards, two that need to be made to look more Christmassy, and one that may be a dud. I’d forgotten how long it takes to get virtually nowhere. Also can anybody find something in the bible that would justify the apparent notion that a shepherd brought a cow along, as I thought it was a sheep until it was stuck down ( could dremel its horns off, but I smell failure in that course of action). Ideas for making the pink and green sparkly cats more Christmassy would be welcome. The nativity cut outs are wooden laser cut ones from The Works, the cards and envelopes were from a set of 50 I bought in a charity shop which were designed for wedding invitation printing.
If it was just left to me sitting comfortably having lots of ideas, and finding it easy to stick to my brilliant plans, I could sit here and pontificate on my wonderful journey to financial freedom. However, the first bit is true, (that sitting comfortably having the wonderful ideas thing), but the journey, once I get out of my comfortable seat, has many pitfalls. Some of these are external, you know - like how far a Dremel can actually spray egg white across my kitchen, then again, some are internal like motivation in the face of backward steps.
Today’s plot: it’s a no spend February. I had some spare time this afternoon and had acquired some very white eggs which I need to use fairly soon. Last time my grand-children came to visit they saw the eggs on the eggskelter and couldn’t resist playing with them. When I insisted they weren’t toys, they settled for sitting at the kitchen table drawing faces on them.

I hadn’t any cress seeds available but thought it would be nice if next time they came, I sliced the tops of some eggs and let them draw the faces, then plant the cress seeds inside and let them grow as hair …. I’m sure you’ve come across the activity before. I decided to blow the white eggs and slice the tops off a couple of brown ones. The dremel was used to drill the holes top and bottom for the blowing, (I know you can use pins but drilling is less chancy), then I changed the dremel head for the circular saw for the slicing of the remaining eggs. Does anyone know how to a) make it spray the egg foam away from you? b) clean a fine film of dried egg white off a tiled kitchen floor. (It wiped off the walls very easily but I didn’t notice it across 5ft of kitchen floor until it had dried)
Today I’d read on a forum something about clutter - specifically hobby clutter, and I’d done my dead easy pontificating from the comfort of my chair, about it being fine if it’s properly organised and you have a plan for it. HAH! My conscience was stung, (as in I know I’m such a hypocrite) Christmas card making clutter, gathered for maybe the past 13 years was still sitting in a drawer, and from my card planner, I knew I was going to be at least twelve cards short this year. So I dragged the clutter out, and have managed to make five reasonable cards, two that need to be made to look more Christmassy, and one that may be a dud. I’d forgotten how long it takes to get virtually nowhere. Also can anybody find something in the bible that would justify the apparent notion that a shepherd brought a cow along, as I thought it was a sheep until it was stuck down ( could dremel its horns off, but I smell failure in that course of action). Ideas for making the pink and green sparkly cats more Christmassy would be welcome. The nativity cut outs are wooden laser cut ones from The Works, the cards and envelopes were from a set of 50 I bought in a charity shop which were designed for wedding invitation printing.


9
Comments
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Your post made me laugh as I can relate to many failures on the frugal/simple living path 🤣 and a lot more time spent planning than actually doing…
re your sparkly cat cards, can you not make them birthday cards instead if you don’t think they are Christmassy enough??Part time working mum | Married in 2014 | DS born 2015 & DD born 2018
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6542225/stopping-the-backsliding-a-family-of-four-no-longer-living-beyond-their-means/p1?new=1
Consumer debt free!
Mortgage: -£128,033
Savings: £6,050
- Emergency fund £1,515
- New kitchen £556
- December £420
- Holiday £3,427
- Bills £132
Total joint pension savings: £55,4254 -
re your sparkly cat cards, can you not make them birthday cards instead if you don’t think they are Christmassy enough??3
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Topher - your post made me laugh! Can't help with the egg white removal but have good experience of how far a mixed red berry smoothie can spread when the lid on the liquidiser wasn't on properly ... the kitchen looked like a grisly crime scene including purple smoothie nestled into the folds of a very expensive pale grey Roman blind.Re the shepherd and the cow - we live in a far more inclusive society now so I would let the cow keep its horns and join the nativity. The card's recipient either won't notice or will find it amusing.5
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I'm nodding my head while laughing with you rather than at you here. If I could simply sit here having ideas and wave a magic wand to have them carried out my home would be a sparkling clean and perfectly organised sanctuary. We can only dream of perfection and just keep on plodding on.
Your cards are lovely and if I were you I would lean heavily on the idea of there being lots of ancient and rare breeds of sheep that have horns and leave it at that. The sparkly cats could have sashes or speech bubbles that had a message on them too.
Re. the egg white, it's a protein so now that the stuff has dried on it might be worth trying a lukewarm solution of a biological washing or dishwashing powder to see if that works.5 -
I wonder if the egg white would rehydrate if you left some wet kitchen paper on top of it? Wet it good and leave it for a while. Salt is apparently good for removing the liquidy stuff.5
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"The cattle are lowing" a line from Away In a Manger, might be the solution to explain your card, if anyone notices. Mumtoomany.
Frugal Living Challenge 2025.5 -
If you can manage to rehydrate the egg white onto some wet paper towel as LadOnTheHill says,
it could then be repurposed as a full impr-egg-nated paper face mask to relax with and take the stress of the card making away.
Instant home spa experience!
Not dim.....just living in soft focus
4 -
Topher,
Do not stress about the cows.
In the days when I ran a school that included a Nursery class, I always let the under-fives do the Nativity play at the school Christmas concert.
One year, after giving out the main parts, I told the others that they could choose what animal in the srable they would like to be.
We had a donkey, couple of oxen, (cows?) several sheep and a gorilla.I believe that friends are quiet angels
Who lift us to our feet when our wings
Have trouble remembering how to fly.3 -
monnagran said:Topher,
Do not stress about the cows.
In the days when I ran a school that included a Nursery class, I always let the under-fives do the Nativity play at the school Christmas concert.
One year, after giving out the main parts, I told the others that they could choose what animal in the srable they would like to be.
We had a donkey, couple of oxen, (cows?) several sheep and a gorilla.1 -
One day I will write a book about Nativity plays. I've had a camel, containing 2 small boys who had a fight inside their costume, an innkeeper who was the son of the landlord of the local pub, and whose dressing gown was made out of beer mats, so he was advertising Watneys, Stella Artois etc, one in the church where the good church ladies had erected a huge flower arrangement in front of the pulpit where the shepherds were sitting and one shepherd got his crook hooked into it. Every time he fidgetted, which was more often than was good for my frayed nerves, the whole edifice swayed dangerously. The audience was transfixed, waiting for the inevitable crash.
But I've never had the fun of projectile vomiting.
Would you like to return to the subject of this thread? Which I am fully in agreement with. You can tell that I've been retired for a long time. Shall we try that last sentence again?
With which I am in full agreement.
Put your red brio away.I believe that friends are quiet angels
Who lift us to our feet when our wings
Have trouble remembering how to fly.2
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