To think I am 'careful' and not 'cheap'

[goawaywillya]

Okay a bit of back ground story. My dd1 attends a sn school and recently became good friends with a new girl in the school. This little girl is from a quite well off family and wants for nothing.
Today at a social event I got chatting to this child's mother who told me about how they had recently spent £120 on a new princess bed for dd and how they have a planned holiday to NZ next year to visit family. She also described going to the cinema or local play centres each weekend and how the eldest dd has violin lessons etc
Then she asked about my own circumstances and I described what I do on a frequent basis to save money she looked shocked and said ' oh. We should be cheap too'. I was a bit 🙄 and when she said ' if you can ever afford to eat out as a family you should try Nando's, they're cheap 'I was like

I'm not jealous of this family. They have good jobs and deserve to spend their own money as they see fit, but AIBU to see myself as 'careful ' rather than 'cheap'. Some of what I do is-

. Dress dd2 in ds old trousers as boys clothes are tougher anyway and her dresses are worn again as tops with leggings.
.once a week I raid the fridge/ freezer and dinner is a mix of this ( I hate waste)
. I sew and darn clothes and can replace a zip
. I have made sardine heads into a pizza topping before
.i have invited family to dinner and kept their left over bones to make stock
. Do not eat out because it's not affordable and I would be shocked by the prices anyway.
I make my own laundry liquid/powder
.i make cake out of banana skins and also out of whole oranges and lemons including pips
.instead of paying huge fees for holiday activities I take the kids to chase the pigeons and feed them sausage roll crumbs outside our local Greggs 😳 or just to play at the park
Our local children's centre does nice low cost/ free activities also.
.i have bought cheap products from Asda and placed it into an empty box of 'posh' product.
. I regift unwanted presents for birthdays or Xmas
.i make vinegar from 🍏 cores
.i once made a homemade suncream when I could not afford a bottle of the real stuff
. I love charity shops and bought dds birthday gift there for under £10. Plus we have taken the kids there to spend their pocket money on toys and books.
.if something is over £5 I will struggle to buy it on principle
.. I grate used bars of soap to make new full bars
. I love summer, i don't have to use the heating 😁
. I buy clothes for ages older than the dcs are so they grow into them and I feel I'm getting my money's worth.
. I got rid of my tv licence and now just use Netflix and YouTube.

See, it's nothing extreme, just trying to save money as we go along. I'm sorry this post is so long , it's just hard to stop once started.

.

Is this a serious post?

When she asked you what you do at the weekend it was casual conversation, she wasn't asking for your budget or how to be thrifty! Did you tell her you spend your weekend darning socks?

Is this a serious post?

No, it is goady Friday night post

Yeah unless you’re seriously hard up that’s cheap and weird. Particularly the sardine heads and the bones.

Some things, reusing clothes for example, are fine and normal.

Home made sun cream just sounds dangerous.

£120 on a bed isn’t expensive either mind you.

Take my hat off to you @goawaywillya

We're in an over consumption epidemic that's having an effect on our world. You're not 'cheap' or even 'careful': you're considerate and that's to be commended

Keep going and ignore the comments

That is extreme. Are you serious?

Dont compare to your friend OP. There are some people in this world who have never had to hunt down the side of the settee for loose change for some bread/milk.

Anyone who asked me about my circumstances would get a right funny look though and a swerve from now on. Those types are not fun to be around.

Sardine heads 🥴

“ have invited family to dinner and kept their left over bones to make stock”

That’s not very hospitable, Jeffrey.

I mean, do what you like for the most part but I'm quite concerned about this:

"i have invited family to dinner and kept their left over bones to make stock"

Eff me.

Banana Peel cake is A Thing!

There's thrifty, and then there's sardine head pizza and making you're own suncream.. Not saying you're cheap, but this is a bit mad...

You mean everyone doesn't use sardine heads for pizzas and use banana skins for cake.

I hope you don't waste any money on toilet paper and use shitty rags instead.

You are not meant to eat your family and use their bones for stock!

i have invited family to dinner and kept their left over bones to make stock

Do you use mayonnaise instead of sun cream?

Well done for living within your means and not hankering after what others have. Your children will grow up happy and will have fond memories of the time you spent with them. They're lucky to have you. Btw a lot of what you do is environmentally sound.

However, what do you mean by you feed them crumbs outside Greggs? Your dc? The pigeons?

I don't know if this is a wind up but the crumbs outside Greggs has got me crying here, and the sardine pizza toppings 😂

The things she said they do are not particularly extravagant and yes if you seriously do half the things on your list then you are cheap

i make cake out of banana skins and also out of whole oranges and lemons including pips I have made sardine heads into a pizza topping before

I do a random bunch of similar stuff but this has really piqued my interest.

You are not meant to eat your family and use their bones for stock!

🤣🤣🤣

I hope you don't waste any money on toilet paper and use shitty rags instead.

Did you learn nothing at school, moss is the free option.

I would think that to get this as a response to a question about holidays or birthday treats would be unexpected... she was probably making small talk and then you describe all that??
How bizarre of you.

Mind you, it was an odd thing to enquire about directly on her part, esp to someone she only just met?

I also wouldn't feed your children sausage roll crumbs outside greggs- do they lie on the floor mouth open and hope that people drop them?

@magoria lol 😂 😂😂 I should have written that better.

Bloody hell youre all a miserable bunch of people tonight.