No-spend January/Frugal February - the no-spend challenge continues

[roguepixie]

OK - am attempting to start the second thread ... hope this works.

I am feeling all hearted now.

help! I have just seen a groupon offer for a 4d pregnancy scan but it's £99 (reduced from £230 though). would blow the budget but would be an amazing experience. I'm 18 weeks pg just now.

what to do?!!!! any advice?

TBH they all look the same as far as I can tell ... but if you feel like it, go for it, as it's not like you're pregnant all the time and can put it off

I haven't bought the scan & going to bed now before I change my mind! got my 20 week scan next week so figure a good old fashioned 3d scan will be enough! and free!

I haven't bought the scan & going to bed now before I change my mind! got my 20 week scan next week so figure a good old fashioned 3d scan will be enough! and free!

Well £643.08 on food shopping, a bit of clothes in with that as well
£83.89 on petrol
£158.41 on phones That's 3 contracts and my house phone(every 3 months) and internet
£40 on new shoes for DD2 and DD3, hopefully won't need some for a while
£47 DD1's cello
£200 on eating out/takeaways, will seriously need to cut that down
£12.50 on train tickets

INCOME £47 EBAY

I haven't included most of the DD's as they can't be cut down any more.
I've signed upto Approved Food so will be checking for bargains on that. Have also started selling some books on Greenmetropolis, there are 25 on now which should see me make £25 after P&P. Nappies are up on the Cloth Nappy Tree but no takers as yet, I think because I can't add pictures so if you work out how to Lexi let me know

Hello, can I join you for feb? Have just faced the scary task of going through our bills/paperwork which I've stupidly been ignoring! Now as had forgotten how poor we really are!

So now I need to take a hold of our debts/bills due out, and stop spending unless really needed. Going to get some bits on eBay too, will do a car boot sale when it gets a bit warmer.

I gave up work oct 11 due to struggling with ds2's severe eczema, allergies and the stress going to nursery caused. So since then we've been surviving on dh's wage alone which is not a great deal...we have 3dc under 4 and I have already made lots of cut backs, but I'm sure there's a bit more we could do.

I know we are trying for no spends but if you were planning on buying something anyway be it for your DD's friends birthday pressies or starting early on Xmas stocking fillers - courtesy of MSE Claire's Accessories are doing 5 items for £5 at present. DD bought something similar last year when they were doing 3 items for £10. Some of it was tat but some items were good and we used for DD's friends birthday pressies. I shall let you know if we purchase any.
Also courtesy of MSE get a token in store(Waitrose weekend magazine) at Waitrose before Wednesday(hopefully thats before close of play today) for free milk, only available before Thursday.

Go to Walkers page on Facebook for the chance to win a free packet of Walkers crisps. Like their page for the chance to win a free bag or other prizes. It states guaranteed to win one of three prizes. I won a packet of Ready Salted, the things I get up to when I cannot sleep They send you a voucher for the free bag of crisps.

that entry re Claires Accessories should have read 10 items for £3

Welcome mama, always good to have another member on board. It's quite horrifying isn't it, when you realise how rough things are. However, he tips and support on this thread are great and if anyone can get you saving those pennies these are the girls to do it . So, hello and welcome aboard .

Can I just ask moomoo ... what is MSE? Brain is refusing to turn over and tell me so thought I'd better ask .

Thanks for all the info ion Approved Foods. I am going to have a look.

roguepixie sorry Money Saving Expert - Martin Lewis's website

Well first day of a new month and a new start. Last month was horrible.

Today's expenses are a ?75 online grocery shop.

I am ready for Frugal Feb. Bring it on!
My birthday is this month. Normally it's a big fanfare and a big expense. I already got a big present for combined Christmas & birthday so all we will do is maybe go to the cinema or DH might take me out for a lunch. A local Italian café serves lovely food with huge portions and is really cheap. If we go to the cinema, I would like to go see The Muppets nice and nostalgic! I love baking so will do my own cake. Oh I am looking forward to it already :)
Today should be a no spend day.

Can I join too? All bills came out today and not much left! have a freezer full of food though and not too much to spend money on so this should be doable as three weeks until pay day. Goodness, I am crap at budgeting! I need support! Bought a book from Amazon today for birthday present and will get through rest of today and tomorrow with no spending. I will. I will.

Thanks for the welcome.

I am not doing too badly in reorganising again - although I had forgotten that my car insurance was due this month. The creche was supposed to refund me the afterschool fees from school (they ask that DD stay on so they offered to pay the fees), but that doesn't seem to have come through this month (I was expecting to not have any creche fees to pay, as I was due all of last year's afterschool fees) - I'm sure it will get sorted after another phonecall.

We're pretty frugal in general - although I see lots of others who put me to shame. But I do things like make 2 nights' worth of a dinner on Sundays for Monday and freezer, while I am making the Sunday roast in the kitchen anyway. And load most Monday type diners with veg (this weeks' lasagne had 3 carrots, half a courgette, 2 peppers and a handful of mushrooms chopped into the sauce - I don't mind washing the food processor if I have chopped loads of onions and garlic, followed by a packet of lardons (to add to the mince), a load of other veggies and then the whole tomatoes from tins). The middles from brocolli stalks work surprisingly well once chopped too - and the supermarket I use usually lets you take those free "for the rabbits". Always watch for whoopsies - and try to keep some freezer space for those.

I buy a lot of my herbs and spices from the Asian supermarket - they're a LOT cheaper. I don't get the huge bulk packs (except when I am making up mulled wine spices as Christmas gifts), just enough for us to use while still fresh. I go to the local butcher and fruit and veg shops too a lot, and vary between the local supermarkets for the best offers. Use every loyalty scheme going. I grow a fair bit of our veg - last year wasn't great as the plot is 6 miles from the house and DH was working away so I didn't get there enough, but I am doing more in the garden this year and being more careful planning the plot.

I mend a lot, and we are pretty good at keeping clothes and shoes in good nick. I had to get new everyday boots this winter (nice enough for the office), but the last pair had been 5 years old and worn to death (unfortuately plastic soled so couldn't resole them - learned that lesson this time). Most of my other shoes are similarly elderly and mostly - even though good brands - picked up on deep discounts in sales.

Sorry, this wasn't meant to be an essay. But that's a few of the things I do to keep the pennies in my purse.

Welcome to mama & Stokey! Good luck with your budgeting, you have come to the right place!

To add to the discussions about Poundland - I love it! Some things are admittedly overpriced, but you can get some great bargains, too. For DS1's birthday just before Xmas, I got a pack of (I think) 8 invitations & party bags, as well as sheets of stickers which come in packs of 5 & sets of 8 mini colouring books. They also have multipacks of pencils, erasers etc if you need other ideas. This meant that party bags were very cheap, but perfectly adequate for 3-year olds (who, IME, love stickers & colouring)!

Also, yesterday I signed up to Graze, to get a free snackbox (should arrive on Friday) I did it through Topcashback, so will get paid £1.51 for doing so! Not sure if that cashback offer is still on, but if not a free snackbox is still good & you can cancel your order at any time, so you don't have to pay for any at all

Following my good luck Monday & yesterday, I have decided to splurge on a lottery ticket, just in case! I also need to buy a white woolly hat as I already have gloves & a scarf, but only pink or orange hats which do not go with my new red coat! Have set myself limit of £5 for that, though.

Biddy - if you haven't already done your car insurance, see if you can go through confused.com as they are offering I think 1000 nectar points (could be 10,000?) for getting your car insurance through them. But obviously only do this if it nets you the best deal, as there are lots of other comparison websites out there, too. HTH!

By the way, does anyone have a tried & trusted recipe for veg lasagne, please? Been meaning to try it out for a while, but not sure on recipes! Only stipulation is we're not mad keen on beans & lentils. Thanks!

jenduck, I make it with Quorn mince. Veg like peppers, mushrooms, aubergine and carrot all work well. Onions are great for filling out too. I buy frozen onion (was 15p a bag in Sainsburys a while ago as they changed the packaging and sold off the old design) so no tears or onion smell on my hands.

I just watched Superscrimpers on 4od. Some good tips on there. Some do make me frown though.

Right - Frugal Feb is underway. I have my cupasoups and banana chips from home for lunch, out for dinner tonight with a friend and DH so that will be coming out of the eating out kitty - but will save money by walking to meet them there rather than taking tube to restaurant and tonight is our night of free babysitting. Have had to buy a cake tin from Robert Dyas this morning to make DS2's birthday cake for next week in and a hand held blender thing (half price) for making soups to bring to work this month but otherwise embracing the no needless spends mantra. Its my dad's birthday today too so am baking him a cake for this weekend when we see him. Happy birthday in advance Reckoner - I'd love to go see the muppets movie too.

thanks dinky and enjoy your meal out tonight :)

Thanks for the welcome

Well my frugal Feb has started well, I opened some more of my mail this morning that's been waiting on the side...I had a cheque for 64pounds refunded to me for last car insurance So have just paid that into the bank!

Also great tip re the Approved Food website, I went on this morning and spent just under 20pounds on tuna, soup mix, olives, rice noodles etc...very pleased!

I'm going to have a day in the kitchen cooking soup in bulk etc. I've experimented over the months with shopping on market stalls/butchers/aldi's etc. I've now found that the cheapest way I can do our shopping is to do a menu planner and shop on-line with Sainsburys. I buy a lot of their basic products and compare the prices as I shop. I manage to keep the weekly shop below 100pounds a week, sometimes as low as 70. This is for 2 adults, 3 dc under 4, includes all toiletries, cleaning products, nappies etc, oh and ds2 have various allergies to wheat/dairy and nuts so lots of specialised foods.

Thanks Jenduck, but Confused don't do car insurance here (in Ireland) - I'd love the nectar points though (I have a car for the occasional forays to NI and odd reasons to be in the UK).

My budget challenge for February is, ironically, a free trip away. Dh has a 2-night work trip to a city about 200 miles away next weekend, and his employer is paying for a family hotel room - as we're going in the car, it means that travel and transport are all paid for.

BUT, I had to seriously consider whether we can even afford our free trip, after considering the cost of food and entertainment . Trouble is, we've been to this city before, and my girls know what they like, and it's all the pricey stuff .

We're already down for a family meal out at the place that we always go to, and according to their website they have an Early Bird offer before 7pm so if we go early that'll cover some of it. Instead of taxis I'm investigating the bus service - complicated by the fact that I'm hopeless at navigating and dh will be working. Was hoping to do free museums, etc., but the girls won't go for it, so will try to find something that is paid entry but would take up all of the day. For the extras, they can use their own money from Granny. They have loads more disposable than I do just now!