MeandO's money-shuffling

foxgloves

I also have the large sort of square tower heated airer from the watery-sounding shop. I usually put our laundry on it (bearing in mind it has thicker things like jeans, hoodies, etc) early in the morning as soon as it comes out of the washer, switch on the dehumidifier, then try to remember to move the clothes around every so often to assist with drying. Like @debtfreewannabe321, I also find draping a sheet or duvet cover over the top helps with drying. I leave the airer (but not the dehumidifier) running at night, then the next morning, I can start taking dry items off & spreading out any larger, thicker ones, which need more time. If I've got a lot of thicker things, I often do an extra spin too. I think for me it was about experimenting & seeing what worked best. I have never owned a tumble drier, so it may have helped that I wasn't used to quick-drying clothes….except from pegging out on a warm breezy day, of course.

Hope you start to feel less tired soon.

F x

bizzie

I find laying out heavier clothes (jeans/track bottoms/hoodies) flat across the grids and making legs/sleeves drape over the outside edges to form a "curtain" helps with drying them.

The version I have can also work with only one half raised - looks like a capital E from the side - so I stagger/ drape jeans down the vertical side with waistbands close to the heated bits and then tops on the flat

MeandO

Big thanks for the heated airer tips and tricks @debtfreewannabe321, @foxgloves and @bizzie.
The one I bought is a big’un and came with a cover, so I’ve popped that over and it definitely helps to keep the heat in. I’m a bit reluctant to leave it on overnight, I was brought up with the ‘turn everything off or the house will burn down’ mentality drummed into me (to the point where even the kettle and TV was unplugged at night!). I’m not that bad now, but I think I’ll just use it in the daytime as I’m home all day most days anyway. It’s definitely toasty under the cover so it must be speeding up the drying process.

After picking DS up from his school event, we went to the local out of town shopping place where he bought himself some joggers to replace the ones that were bleached. He went off to ‘his’ shop and came back with those. To be fair, he did say earlier that he didn’t want me to spend my money on replacing them and he would buy himself some more. Hopefully these last longer…

Whilst he was shopping, I popped to a shop to look for something for my Sister for Christmas. She does so much for us all that I wanted to buy her something nice. I found a lovely fleece lined hooded jacket which I know she’d like. She suffers from problem with the cold so it will be lovely and warm for her. It was £30, which is at the higher end of what I’d normally spend, but as I said, I wanted to get her something lovely. I asked for a gift receipt so she can return it if it’s not suitable after all. So that is her Christmas gift sorted, I need to find something for her other half now. He is difficult to buy for! Then it’s my brother, niece and something else small for my Parents and that is my family done, except for DS.
DS had a bit of a ‘I have no clothes’ moment earlier, 🙄 so Christmas will be a fabric based one for him! I found some good deals on b00h00 man earlier, so have ordered him several T shirts, joggers and a hoody. He does like branded (expensive!) clothing, but this site had lots of items I knew he’d wear which can be used as a base for wearing with other ‘branded’ items etc, so he can mix and match. £14 cashback is also already showing on TCB for that purchase. :)
I will also order a couple of higher end brands he likes, but I have £37 on ‘points’ with one store that will go towards that and a £54 credit note in another. They will cover those purchases. :)

So, it’ll just be OH’s family to buy for then. The family member I texted responded and I may be over thinking it, but the reply was a little short and ‘don’t bother at all’ ish, but I can’t help that. They are a two (very high) income household with no mortgage and are not the most generous at the best of times, so we live in very different worlds. There is one other family member with smaller children, again, whom we rarely see. I have not seen them this year despite living in the same town. I was going to continue to buy for them for a few more years as they are younger, but I may just say the same thing to them tbh. I have already picked up a few things for the children already, but I could save those for their birthdays… I’ll speak to OH about it tomorrow, although I know he’ll agree! Their children get such a lot of presents from everyone else anyway, they are lovely kids but are spoilt with whatever they want.
If that’s the case, it’ll just be OH’s parents to buy for then and we don’t go mad for them either. Like my parents, they don’t expect nor would want us to.

Right, off to sleep for me now. Sleep well all x

ArtyJ931

Have you ever used M&M direct for branded stuff for your son? Get some fantastic bargains on there.

MeandO

Good suggestion @ArtyJ931, thank you. I haven't used them for a few years now so will have a look and see what is on offer!

MeandO

Morning Moneysavers,

It's bloomin' cold out, but there's blue skies and it's sunny, so I've transferred the slightly damp washing out onto the line and turned the airer off for now. I'll fold it up and see how much space it takes when flat when it's cooled down. There's another load in the washing machine, heavy stuff like a duvet cover and two of DS's hoodies, so I'm hoping to give them a good few hours out on the line too.

I'm planning a NSD today as we still have plenty of food in, even yogurts would you believe! It seems giving DS a quota for the week has worked! I really would like to try and get to Monday without buying any more groceries and then it's just over a week until I get paid and with £100 left in the grocery budget I'm really hoping I can sweep as much of that as possible to the debt.

I chased up my 8p off per litre fuel voucher yesterday as it hadn't been credited in my &sda app. A quick message got it sorted and so I'm now waiting to run the fuel in the car down to empty so that I can fill up and save the most money I can with it. I have about 12 days left to use it and the car will definitely need filling before then.

I've thrown out two large frying pans this week as the coating had started to go on them, so that's a bit more room in the pan cupboard and two items decluttered. DS has sorted a few things for charity too and there's a bag full in the car so I will drop it all off when passing a CS - WITHOUT stopping to browse and buy anything!
I don't need anything.

Have a good day all x

Skint_yet_Again

So, it’ll just be OH’s family to buy for then.

Is your OH not paying for their family? Sorry please feel free to ignore but why is it you having to do all the buying and messaging?

8p a litre off is good and the price of petrol has dropped around here just lately too.

Freezing here too 🥶 but there is a breeze and it is sunny so washing is going out!

debtfreewannabe321

Well done on setting boundaries with Christmas it can get so expensive. I did this a few years back too and I only buy for my kids now. Even DH mum and dad said - no presents!! This year so that's another off the list. I always buy for two friends as they're on their own and don't get a lot from their kids, but I don't have a big list of people I buy for 😊 and I like it this way 😁. Much cheaper!

MeandO

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82200433#Comment_82200433

@Skint_yet_Again No, it's a very valid comment lovely. :) Yes, he does pay me for all of the gifts for his family or sometimes I offer to go halves for his Mum and Dad etc as they spoil DS, but if I left it to OH to buy things and organise, nothing would get done! Typical man and present buying… 🙄

Good luck with the washing! Both mine are out and I'm willing the sun to shine on that spot in the garden! x

@debtfreewannabe321 that's amazing to whittle it down to just the kids! I do lie to spoil people but I came to realise there's no point literally just passing money back and forth. I'd rather everyone just had a good time without the stress!

MeandO

Just paid the latest gifts off the CC. The gifts pot is looking a bit sad for itself now compared to the start of the week but I've used it for what it was intended for and the Christmas shopping is almost done now.
I used some of the online 'points' earlier and ordered £70 worth of items at a cost of £43. :) The spending CC is now cleared again. The 'debt' is down to £985 now but will be down to £855 shortly once a cheque clears.