Frugal Feb gives way to Money-Saving March. Now featuring austerity health and beauty tips!

[Lexilicious]

Third thread after first and second

Let's get saving and enjoying our frugal wins!

summary of links so far
www.organizedhome.com
www.supersavvyme.co.uk/
womenfreebies.co.uk/
www.lovemoney.com/
www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/discount-voucher-codes/
www.poundland.co.uk/top-tips/gardening-2012/
www.purlbee.com/
www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/halfterm
www.makeupstop.co.uk/
www.approvedfood.co.uk/
www.goodtoknow.co.uk/money/cheap-food-deals
www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/perfect_portions

Janx great idea to take the car off the road - for your health, your wallet & the environment! Just a word of warning by one very nearly bitten, though -don't forget to do a SORN straight away (which could mean a tax refund, too ) Not saying that you would, just that I very nearly did & it would have been a costly omission...

Have done Sorn - very straightforward. Tax due so just did it before it expired
Am trying to be good about lunches to take to work- so hard as I work in west end surrounded by lovely places to eat

Not bad going today- £3.89 in total. £1.70 on local bus fares for DS and me and £2.19 in the Co-op on milk, 2 Creme Eggs (55p for 1 and 85p for 2) and the 20p 'i', which is my new favourite paper :).

My grand total today is £1.29 on milk - walked straight past the choc so very pleased with myself

I had to put some money to my credit card today, which was expected (and not huge), but otherwise had a NSD.

Currently can see no reason why I shouldn't have another NSD tomorrow AND Thursday. There is about £6 in my purse and that should still be there on Friday, so let's see?!?!?!?!?

Way to go, Janx :). I just couldn't resist the creme eggs!

If you need birthday cards go to card factory, there not as polished as hallmark cards but I have always found a nice card, they do multibuys etc so it works out quite cheaply. The staff in our local one are all lovely too.

Also our local farmfoods are doing 8pints of milk for £1.80. I havent seen it cheaper anywhere else. It's fresh not longlife.

Also I go on freestuff junction and free-stuff.co.uk and get freebies such as toothpaste, fabric softner and dishwasher tablets. They usually come with a money off voucher too. This week I got one of those dettoll soaps which automatically dispense soap into your hand free, the voucher was for £5 and it was priced at £5 in asda. Theres a lot of coffee samples at the moment on offer.

Also I have just "upgraded" my phone, so soon I will be paying £16.50 a month for 100 mins, unlimited txt and 500mb which is plenty for what I need and cheaper than the £35.00 I have been paying, I figure I dont need the latest iPhone. My old 3G one is all I need. They let me upgrade a month early so it's all money saved.

I usually lurk but I thought I'd post in case it helps anyone.

NSD hurray and about bloody time. I did spend on bus fares but I had lunch with friends and bypassed the shops and vending machines at the college so a great day for me. DP had his 'bought in' lunch and him and dd3 finsished the trifle so I can't spend ww points on that, still have the cheesecake left so may slip slightly later.

On the food wastage I have only wasted 2 eggs, way out of use by date, a half head of broccoli, going mouldy, about half a loaf of crusts, a yogurt which was hiding at the back of the fridge and some banana milk which we had forgotten about. Not too bad for us as we can waste loads with all the finnicky eaters

Hey all, not posted for a while but managed to have 3 NSD's so far this month and 2 more days spending less than £2!!! But I think I am taking things too far, I'm now getting a bit obsessed about trying to get a NSD, so much that I took money off a colleague today when she asked me to get her a diet coke from the shop (I would usually just buy it for her) as I only had £1 in my pocket. When I was at the shop I felt like such a skinflint so I bought it for her instead and gave her her money back (I had found another 50p in my pocket). I think there is quite a fine line between frugality and skintflintness!

I also spent the whole weekend at home too which was nice, but I am getting a bit cabin fevered and feel like I need to go out and spend! I have the TV licence to get this month so maybe that will satisfy me .

I just need to keep reminding myself that I need to save for mat leave and there is a purpose to this! Apart from the TV licence I don't think we have any huge bills this month so hopfully I can save quite a bit.

Re Waitrose, that's crazy that they give money back on reduced things!!! Unfortunately the nearest Waitrose to me is about 20 miles away, booooo. We have the Coop round the corner but it has crappy bargains.

Hello and welcome to all the newbies too, this is a fab thread! :o

Alibaba, what about a food flask? Thermos do some really nice ones. If you warm the inside with hot water then drain, quickly putting the hot food in it and closing, the food stays hot/warm until lunchtime. Would that be useful for your DH?

Welcome, btw, to all the newbies. We are quite a gathering now, aren't we [grin.

Had a small spend today to pay for Ebay postage (so it's balanced really as postage already paid for my buyers). Also £7.00 in Sainsbury's on non-essentials . However, did save on one bus fare by walking to collect DS - so saving and exercise.

Oh yes, charity shops. Being based in London I only know about a few good ones here. Apparently the ones on West End Lane (Finchley area), Hampstead and Highgate Village and Kings Road are excellent with some brilliant finds and bargains. Obviously, the managers of these shops are fairly savvy so they won't be the bargain basement prices you might expect but the quality is meant to be really good for a lot cheaper than you can get elsewhere.

So tell me about waitrose - what time do you go in? Dp often works late so can drop by

Iam continuing to have a disaterous March. We had hoped to use the 2 months "off" council tax to buy some new furniture for.the children. Weekly food spend is £150 this week. Was managing 70-80 in Dec,Jan and Feb. I also had to get apresent for a party on saturday yesterday £12 ish. Back at work today so hoping for a few NSDs before the weekend. Well done to everyone else.

janx, it would appear that the reductions in Waitrose are quite varied, with regard to time/day. However, after extensive research I would venture that Sunday AM has some reductions with more (and the most significant) reductions being made about 3.30pm/4.00pm (just before closing time when they are trying to shift their excess). However, match days and rainy days also see reductions being made and, I would suggest, most evenings (again just before closing time) would see most stores marking stuff down. If you know anyone in your local store then you could always ask them ... I did .

naughty, some months are better than others. January was great for me, February was a little more expensive and March is a battle so far!! I find the food bill the hardest to reduce - DH and DS are both big eaters and like the 'naice' stuff (not just ham ) so it is a constant battle trying to buy everything we need/want whilst DH seems to think I can do it only spending half the actual amount. Don't stress it and raw a line under every spend. Keep looking at each day as a new page and things will even out.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Thanks for the tip rogue pixie - have just told dp he needs to get to waitrose of an evening
Must try out finchley for charity shops - am in north London
I am finding March is going quite well - but do need to get new glasses which is going to be costly

NSD yesterday and Sunday

Bad start to today though:
At just after midnight I spent:
£33 on 4 school shirts and 2 vests for DD2 from BHS online (she have to have special school shirts with 3/4 sleeves and revere collar and seems difficult to find them cheaply anywhere else). I had to get the 2 vests (for me) with hidden support to take the total over £30 so I'd qualify for free delivery. I also used a code they had at the top of the site for £5 off for spends of over £25. Shirts were £7 each (£28), I added two vests (£6 each), turns out you got £2 off for ordering 2, and then applied the discount code which brought the total down to £33 and no P & P. So for an extra £5 I got two decent vests. I was pleased anyway...
£16.99 on doggy ibuprofen (metacam) from an online site for our elderly lab. This will last 3 months and is less half the price of getting it at the vet's. The vet charges the same amount for a bottle a third the size. I had to pay £12 to him back in December for a repeating prescription but it's still worth it even for 1 bottle!

Used to live near Hampstead - the charity shops there are £££ but cheaper than brand new and there can be some real bargains but you do need to dig (as with all charity shops).

Hello ladies, another lurker here
Janx, I don't know if these are any help to you, but my cousin recently recommended the following 2 places for cheap glasses (the first one has a number at £6!) Apologies if the styles are not for you, but thought it was worth sharing, just in case. I have an eye test this afternoon, so may well need them myself!
cheapest
not quite so cheap

Forgot to say re BHS purchases that I went through TCM, which means that DD3's child trust fund gets £1.24 from that transaction. I urge anybody whose DC have govt trust funds to shop through one of those cashback organisations. I don't know if there are any that just give cash back rather than paying it into the ctf but it seems like a good deal to me. I'm soon going to spend nearly £40 on plants at an online plant nursery that gives 9% cashback!!

rogue we love thermos! :) We have a big one that we use for days outs, and DH has a little thermos which he takes a cuppa or a coffee in for the train. There is a fridge, and a microwave at the office which he can use, so I don't think he is worried about taking hot food with him. I can't see him having the time to heat stuff up in the morning, he is out of the door before 7am most days.

janx I use Waitrose online and find it really good value.

janx, get thee to West End Lane (NW London) - apparently the charity shops there are very good. Also, there is a shop on the Cricklewood Broadway (Glasses 2 Go) - you take your prescription and get your glasses done there, again apparently good range and much cheaper.

Ali, they are good aren't they? DS has a retro Thermos which he used to use to take hot lunch to junior school (prior to moving up to Secondary where it's all school lunches ). I used to cook extra and re-heat portion in the microwave in the morning and then put in Thermos. Still, if your DH has a fridge and micro at work it kind of takes care of that side of hot lunches .

duchesse, I can see your spend and raise you, I think. £62.00 in John Lewis (2 x Mother's Day presents for mine and DH's Mum, 1 x birthday present for DDad plus Liz Earle cleanser for me) then £30.00 in M&S for spinach, reduced steak (big pieces reduced to £4.00 a piece), apples etc). Am home now so can't do much damage from here ... oh, there is t'internet.

I've been ill, my delightful children shared their virus 'cos they're generous. So, you'd think that having spent Mon pm and nearly all of Tue in bed I should have managed 2, at least, NSD's. No. Monday morning £20 supermarket and Tues. on the way back from School, £10 fruit & veg plus £2 snack for the starving munchkins who went to School with only half a packed lunch and no snack. Today, because I'm feeling much much better, I need to get a few bits that were forgotten, Chicken, lemons, tomatoes and bread. Oh, and pls excuse the random capitol letters, iPhone has it's own opinión about it and I don't have the patience to deal with it!

Epic fail from me today. Just had to cough up £555 to get DH's car serviced and the head gasket done...

And £14 in Sainsbury's on a top-up shop.

I am trying to think about everything else that I need to spend this month, apart from the normal food shopping and fuel for the cars.
DS1 has grown like a weed over the winter and so doesn't have a stitch for when the weather gets warmer. I've got some discount codes for Boden and Jojo which I am debating about using.
Also we are having a party for DS2 at the end of the month, a kind of naming/welcome to the family. I've decided to do the food myself so I need to buy that, we have got champagne but no wine yet and I need to get some napkins, a table cover and a few other bits.
Plus a few birthdays.
Eek!

Nightmare garage bill alibaba, poor you!

I keep almost having no spend days then something happens to make it not work out that way. However, weekly shop on Monday was £78 (incl. quite a lot of cleaning products), so £10-15 less than usual and I have only bought bread and milk since - no sneaky extra trips to Tesco Express.

Today was almost a NSD but the tumble dryer blew a fuse and I had to spend £1.25 on a pack of new ones. Hope it fixes it.