That is a brilliant idea, that should become a 'thing', a blanket that grows with you and you could incorporate things that she likes at different stages as she grows so it ends up telling the story of her childhood

I’m up and at ‘em this morning as I have an early meeting so need to be out shortly. Just a smallish list today:

Check banking, been paid, will do big money shuffle tonight
Lamb shanks in slow cooker,
Didn’t use pizza dough last night, smalls can have that
Check for surveys
A little more washing to keep on top of it
Tie hair back so no need to wash
Use some bits of veg in fridge to go in with lamb shanks
Check fridge for anything else on the turn

Think that’s about all, have a great day folks. Hope your hubby is back up and about soon Dawn

Morning all
Looks quite nice outside today after a damp murky start
Today's list for me:
Walk dog x 2 (1 done) Done, small dog dislikes leaves (they get on his fur) it was windy today, and to his dismay there were FLYING LEAVES. He had to lay down and refuse to walk at least twice
Pack and post 2 ebay parcels and a few RM surveys items (all packed and ready to go) Done
Also sold another, and then listed 3 more items... including one that sold almost immediately. Wonder if someone pushed a button by mistake -have to see if they pay up!
Need to go shopping Done, Lidls and then Sainsburys and I STILL managed to forget 2 items
And go to my sales unit while out and about, must label up a couple of things to take with me to fill any (hopeful) gaps Done, no gaps sadly, but I managed to shoehorn the new items in
Clean bathroom, landing and stairs Not done, exhausted after shopping etc (not getting much sleep atm, stuck in the spare room and having to run around after OH who is still in a lot of pain with his bad back)
Found surprise chilli in freezer that will do for dinner Very nice too
Start off some more sprouting seeds Not done (yet), but not ruling it out!
Check bank and surveys Banks still to do, but I have done surveys for Ipsos, which might result in a month's worth of free dishwasher detergent, a few for onepoll and one for Prolific - will check again shortly as I am obviously on a roll!

Hope everyone has a good day

Hello Frugal Friends,
Back from holiday & getting back into routines. Quite a bit of useful MSE activity so far today:
*Did next week's meal plans.
*Wrote shopping list.
*mr f volunteered for grocery shopping which came in at £31. Good old Aldi......it was actually quite a long list, although we do still need Fruit & veg from the market tomorrow & a few other bits & pieces. Good start though.
*Did my mid-month/post-holiday budget check-in. Looking ok, as long as we stick to my main budget & keep all the different pots of money straight. Writing any swaps down is key here, as it is so easy to forget that a particular pot of money needs repaying. I have a particular corner of my desk where I keep notes detailing any swaps required.
*Paid a big chunk off our credit cards, which were only used for points..........
*.....talking of which, received £15 of M&S vouchers in the post. These will be very useful.
*Tipped out our annual sealed pots. We don't do the official challenge on here, but still have a pot each ourselves & open them in November. I only save 50ps so was pleased to count up £70 for me.......will I be able to resist that gorgeous Monsoon dress at £69, I wonder? And mr f (who saves £2 coins) had £160 in his pot. I've squirrelled a few of the scarcer 50p designs away in case the prices rise (thanks ziggy for flagging that info up earlier in the year when I mentioned I was saving 50ps in my tin x)
*YS farm shop bacon for tonight's meal with eggs & home made jacket wedges. Use-it-up time, as shall soon need a bit of festive space in the freezer.
*Ordered a Christmas gift from a charity catalogue. The p&p wasn't free, but was about half what I was expecting, especially as it's quite a chunky wooden item.
*Read library book, knit, catch up on any TV we missed while we were on holiday - all free leisure activities, anyway.
*Entered 5 competitions & 2 prize draws.
*Investigated energy bill which landed while we were away. Looks fine. Still £381 in credit, which will be useful if we get a cold snap at some point.
*Picked up nice free mag from local Co-op & cut out several vouchers for extra dividend points which we will be able to use.
OK, that's it. My next money saving thing is very dull - to go & see if the laundry has dried so that I can switch the heated airer off before it eats any more pennies.
Hope everyone has had a good week.
F x

Afternoon all

Todays small list from me
* ys bagels for breakfast
* filled water bottle at the gym
* checked banking
* all meals from stores, looking forward to the curry I made yesterday for tonights tea
* spent time in the garden clearing leaves etc.
* cooked ys chicken in the sc
* two loads of washing done on the quick wash

Still to do
* rent a film on amzon to watch with the kids tonight, its a film we all fancied and had planned on seeing it at the kids club cinema a few weeks ago (would have cost £10 for the 4 of us) instead using a £1 of no rush credit I have on there & £2.50ish from survey gift cards
* show ds1 how to cook the mixed berry crumble that he made in school today, so that's dessert sorted
* radiator shuffle the washing, its been very mild today so no heating on probably til tomorrow morning.

After a crappy long weekend with dh's mood swings, I'm hopeful for a much nicer weekend, and after looking at tomorrows weather forecast it might end up being a chill day in the house which I would quite like as its been one of those weeks.

Hope Ziggy & ccl are doing ok too

Morning peeps up ridiculously early as per have done a little knitting and think this time I have worked it out!

Had a quick tidy round, not looking too shabby here at the moment although madam had a playdate yesterday so her room is

have listed something for sale

Must return or renew library books today - think this is the 2nd time I've managed not to get fines maybe I've turned over a new leaf??!

check banking. Make cc payment

B/D from stores - am meeting a friend for lunch

washing/put away last 3 loads just off of the dryer

do meal plan - hope minimal shopping as have overspent this month as bought steak pack for oh....

a jumper I want is ending this evening on fleabay. No bids currently so hopefully will get it for a song

think that's it. Might log on to work system and do case notes from yesterday as I slacked off an hour early - honestly though my boss. Constantly wants me to do extra time gratis but if I want to take any hours back/get off slightly early it's a completely different ball game. Just means I'm not as honest with her as I was with my old boss.... And she asked me to come in to a meeting with HR on my day off. I was very tempted to say "no I can't make that day but am free Saturday?" decided passive aggression not the best way to with her....

anyway! Have a great day

Morning all,
Off to see friends later so not as much time today. A few useful things on the list though:
*Park on outskirts of town & walk in, which saves £2.60 in car park fees.
*Pay sealed pot money into bank.
*Take large bag of stuff to charity shop.
*Visit market for our fruit & veg.
*See if cat's best meat is still on offer at Wilko's (he says he hopes it is!)
*Look at Thorntons Christmas offers as I need 4 items.
*Update grocery budget.
*Knit
That's all I'll get done today, with having to drive to the opposite side of the county. Have a good day all,
F x

My bit..paid an extra £3.62 off one of my debts....not a great deal but a little victory is still a victory

Deleted - duplicate post made in error - sorry lol

Every little helps as they say!

Its a day at home for me today so have done a few little bits
More ys bagels for breakfasts
Washed a load on the quick 30 degree wash and have put them on the radiators ready to dry at some point!
Had a quick look at my freezer inventory for some inspiration for lunch, I'd already taken a pack of beef burgers out of the freezer yesterday so kids had these in ys burger thins with the last couple of carrots and the last 2 inches of cucumber. For me and dh I cooked a couple of pieces of breaded fish and I had mine in a ys bread roll from the freezer, not quite the same as a fishfinger sandwich somehow! Dh didn't have his so I might end up with that tomrrow again. I've updated freezer inventory and written a rough meal plan for Mon-Fri based on that.
Booked Mr T delivery based on that meal plan

Thats about it from me as I am now planning an afternoon of watching the rugby.
Dinner tonight will be the end of the chicken curry I made on Thursday.

Hope everyone is doing ok.

Afternoon all
Not spent anything today, and that is probably about the limit of my achievements - had a dreadful night's sleep and up at 6 again to get OH breakfast so he could take his painkillers

Morning dog walk done
Sold a few ebay items (got one packed up already )
Need to find a couple of boxes suitable for 2 more ebay parcels (will check in the garage)
Check to see if other buyer has paid - a bit suspicious of this one as the item sold on Buy it Now almost as soon as I listed it....
Sort printer out as it is playing up
Dinner to cook - salmon from freezer
Second dog walk which I will do when I have finished my coffee
Check for surveys later

Hope everyone is having a good day, not great weather here today

That's a fab idea. I will have to think of a pattern. I did think maybe I could square it out once she gets to her "big girl bed". At the moment it's kinda star shaped.


I can't see anything similar and I love the idea. I wonder what I could put into such a blanket. Any ideas from the parents here? I'm thinking maybe do newborn, toddler (cot-bed size), child (single bed size), teen (mid-size), 18th bday (double size)?

Morning all

A busy "weekend" for me. The Killers were FABULOUS. But oh my days were they LOUD! I've seen Queen, Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper and this nearly blew my eardrums out

Also had a good truck at the Christmas shopping and kept general lunch/dinner spends at a reasonable amount. Treated my friend her lunch as she only had soup and she's not got much money. Her company folded while she was on mat leave, then she broke up with her partner so it's tricky for her being a single mum.

Friday, I had a lovely long gym session, and had the gym to myself. Then OH and I snuggled up and binge-watched Poirot all day and I crocheted. It was lovely and relaxing.

Yesterday I did my batch cook. I am going to Leeds with my mum next weekend so I won't be able to cook, so I had to do 2 week's worth! It was REALLY tiring! I made:
2 x pizza dough
12 x bolognase sauce
4 x bacon and corn chowder
4 x sausage and tomato pasta
4 x cauliflower cheese bake
4 x meatloaf
8 x mash potatoes
2 x tuna and egg pies (can recommend this as a cheap filling tea. much nicer than it sounds)
1 x roast chicken, all portioned up
2 x potato wedges

Today's mission:

• Meals from plan
• Nip to Asda at lunch time to buy bread flour - done
• Make a loaf
• OH is going to whizz the hoover round apparently
• Reconcile budget sheet
• Print off bus tickets for next week - done
• Order yarn for blanket extension - done
• No drinking
• Little bit of work on the sunshine and showers CAL if time.

Erm... that's it??

Have a good one folks

clf x

First off I was thinking you could crochet, say, a pic of a train and a number one (or however old they are) but you could maybe incorporate 'stuff'. Could you sew in a patch of fabric from their first baby grow? A bit of fur from a stuffed toy when they outgrow it?

Happy Sunday everyone!

Today is the start of my four days off and I went to sleep at 8pm, woke for a bit about 3 am and then went back to sleep again until 11am!

The house is a tip because I can barely walk after a day at work so haven't been doing anything in the evening. I brought a bin liner up with my morning cup of tea so the first job is to empty the waste baskets upstairs!

DS has cleared out a huge pile of plates and cutlery from his room so the dishwasher is going to be busy today.

I need to do a quick whizz round in the sitting room to collect up all the balls of cat hair but that room at least is quite low maintainence.

There is a package of new products waiting for me at the local UPS shop (I have just broken the £100 barrier on profits from Amazon so that means sales of roughly double that!)

I've resisted a behind the scenes half price sale of ex display electrical goods at work, there is a Kenw00d food mixer (though not the beautiful stripey one) and a Nutribu11et but I've lived without them thus far and apparently the prices may drop even further.

I need to buy fish food as were down to just pellets which I think are too big for the babies, they need a clean too.

I will do a shop at Mr T, the fridge is pretty bare and I've not been going down for the reductions when my feet ache, I can't bring myself to go out again once I'm sitting down!

Have a good day all!

Hey everyone

Hope you're all having a good weekend.

I'm still here in the background cheering you all on, doing my "small things" and just trying to stay afloat. I think my body is giving up on me - had a shocking back, my bloods are still no better despite all extra meds (back again in Dec for more bloods and hoping that they start to improve but my mind keeps telling me its myeloma ) I could sleep for England given the chance but unfortunately don't have the luxury although DH has been great at getting up with DS), have had 3 days off from visiting mum but then have been still doing things for her - shopping, making appointments, and answering the 15+ phone calls a day. The rest of my time has been spent cooking various meals, washing, ironing and trying to keep two homes in order. DB has done his share - visited twice and bought her tea (fish n chips). Off shortly to cook Sunday lunch at mums . Today I will also try to

Check Banks and make PAD -
Washing -
Clean Bathroom -
Cook at mums -

Am sure that there is more to do but will update later.

Take care and love to all

C

PS Dawn wishing your DH a speedy recovery (I've been on painkillers, heat pads, voltarol etc

It's a good idea. There are lots of nice baby quilts. Sewing isn't my forte so I'd have to have a practice first!

Big hugs to you ziggy. Surely if it was something like that, they would have picked up on it? Or did I misunderstand? Could you just be really exhausted with stress and worry? It sounds like you have a lot going on.

Hi Ziggy - Sending lots of positive vibes. What a worry for you, with everything that's going on. I do sympathise, as my year has been quite similar in many repsects. Love from me, anyway & the furred beasticle sends a special purr xx)

Hi Sunday Savers,
Just a short one from me today. We'd planned to have a day out, but decided instead to have a day kicking around at home getting a few bits & pieces sorted:
*Re-listed 3 ebay items, then felt motivated to photograph, weigh & list another 19 new ones. Go me! Hope I sell a few.
*The Ziffit box sent off just before our holiday was all fine. They paid up speedily & I have left the money in our account as it has nicely offset a Christmas present I bought for sis-in-law.
*Washer loaded for overnight laundry on cheap tariff.
*Tomorrow's packed lunch easy-peasy as mr f spotted a box of leftovers in the freezer & says he's taking those.
*Still knitting up my stash instead of being tempted to buy new yarn......just about to stagger downstairs with stash box to see if I can find the necessary colours to knit some little decorations for a charity stall I'm involved with.
That's all I intend doing on the money-saving front. I'm not out spending it, so that's good, but I did succumb quite significantly in the shops yesterday, so it's probably best I've stayed in today!
Talk to you all next week,
F xx
P.S Started writing next week's job list earlier & almost had to go for a lie-down! Expect some impressive lists. I need to have an impressive week! x