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Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

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

725 replies

Lexilicious · 22/02/2012 09:37

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

OP posts:
CremeEggThief · 21/03/2012 22:36

As expected, an expensive day. £50 at the hairdresser, £7.20 on bus fares, £1.50 on tickets for a school event, 60p on crisps for DS and £6.50 or so in Costa. Oh and £15 on a charm for DSister. It's her birthday present. So, £80.80 in total.

BenderBendingRodriguez · 22/03/2012 08:29

yesterday spent £2.50 on entry to toddler group. today should be a NSD as i am knackered after rushing around all week so planning to go nowhere.

jenduck · 22/03/2012 18:27

Spent £6 today at Debenhams on a housewarming gift for my Dsis & DBIL, £1.47 at Tesco on milk & butter and £1.82 on nappies at Boots (which should have been £6.49, so quite pleased with that Smile). Now just bare essentials between now & next Friday as that is when DH gets paid & unexpected vet bill + lovely night out have put us down to pennies now Shock

Debs75 · 22/03/2012 18:49

Forgot that I had a hair appt so £10 there, then took dd3 to playgroup and got drinks so £3.70, then took DD1 to get some super strength hair removal cream which was £7Shock. Oh and I also got some stuff from the bakery to cheer dd2 up and bread so £3 there

janx · 22/03/2012 18:55

Bought some nice waterproof jackets for the Dcs in Lidl - only £6.99 -I love Lidl

Fluffycloudland77 · 22/03/2012 19:06

I got 20 free finish powerball tablets today in the post.

spewgloriousspew · 22/03/2012 19:24

Didn't get the job I went for yesterday, but as luck would have it, it's probably for the best. An old acquaintance was looking for someone to do ad hoc admin work for a client of hers, and I'm in! It might lead onto something bigger, but actually it suits me fine just now.

After my £60 spend at Boots last week, I got a double points voucher in the post yesterday. So, I was that annoying customer who takes it all back and then rebuys it with the voucher. Got me an extra £5 of points, so was worth it.

Off to the Gower for a week on Saturday. It'll be the first time we've been away since our son was born almost 11 months ago. Can't wait! Now just got to plan cheap things to do. I went to uni in Swansea, but I'm sure it'll seem way different now that I have a sprog!

CremeEggThief · 22/03/2012 21:30

Spew, sounds as if things have worked out for the best. Good luck with your new job and have a lovely holiday. The Gower is stunning :).
I had a lovely day out in York. The sunshine really enhanced the day. So, £ 30.50 on return train and bus fares, £8.74 on food and drink (I used my points to get a free muffin at Costa, though), £1.50 on a birthday card for my DSister and £35 on a fabulous pair of ballerina flats from Oasis. So, £75. 74 altogether. Worth it though!

Chilenachica · 23/03/2012 00:25

Well, Spew, what a great outcomeGrin

Playing catch up here, packed lunches went to pot while I was without a fridge, and I've spent loads now that the new one is installed. Almost like I have to spend, spend, spend just because I can now keep the food fresh.

So, groceries probably £150 if I'm completely honest-haven't kept track properlyBlush. Yesterday OH and I had lunch out, around £16, then we all ate out in the evening, £30, plus another lunch out today, with desert too, around £40, and between OH and myself £8 on road tolls. OH is travelling over the next couple of weeks, so I'll be able to keep things more in check.

Glad you enjoyed your day in York CremeEgg.

Tomorrow I'm getting cushions for the lounge and trying to get bed linen.

Lexilicious · 23/03/2012 08:24

Paid 58.50 for two Dress Circle theatre tickets on Monday for last night (Hay Fever at the Noel Coward, v funny!), got there and we had been upgraded to the Royal Circle. result! My mum paid for a light dinner at La Tasca, and extortionately priced water bottles in the interval (could have thought ahead on that one). £5 taxi home from tube station (well it was late at night) and all in all an excellent evening.

Between work and dinner I wandered around some clothes shops but wasn't tempted at all. Rather pleased about that.

congratulations spew - and enjoy your holiday!

OP posts:
duchesse · 23/03/2012 11:30

Emphatically not NSD yesterday:
£106.16 in B&Q on paint etc to begin the mammoth task of making upstairs habitable again.
£85.97 in Waitrose on weekly shop but included a lot of meat including two whole organic chickens marked down £5/6 each (usually over £12 apiece)

Today
£24.75 in Lidl
£2.30 on post-rowing coffee even though I cut rowing short and have come home to paint

roguepixie · 23/03/2012 12:19

Another free listing weekend on Ebay this coming weekend: 24th & 25th March, for all items listed at £1.00 and above.

Get listing .......

roguepixie · 23/03/2012 12:27

spew, glad it worked out for you in the end. And enjoy your holiday. Smile

chile, glad you have a working freezer now. The spend will even out once it is stocked so it seems high now but you are completely re-stocking so ... am I helping justify it ??? Hmm

Spend today:
£8.00 on tube fares today 9getting to and from crossfit and a couple of bus journeys.
£0.90 on bottle of water
£36.00 in butcher (meat for weekend and coming week) - includes shoulder of pork, free range chicken, lamb chops and two goose eggs (I've never seen goose eggs before and, well, let's just say my eyes watered and I feel very sorry for geese Grin.

Have to buy a new pair of trainers so am sourcing the cheapest price on t'internet - Amazon are best so far.

Spent £300 on Wednesday for a crossfit course. It is expensive but it is also my trade so I am hoping to re-coup that in the long term when I am able to teach it myself. Gotta spend it to earn it ... Wink

Fluffycloudland77 · 23/03/2012 14:11

I got my MBT's from Amazon, they were £75 at a time when JL was charging £150!, lasted me years too.

If you go on beforeishop.co.uk there is a voucher for Wrights bread mixes for 80p off, according to frestuff.co.uk the Ciabatta mix is 75p a pack at the moment in Tesco, Sains and Ocado, so I'm going to print a couple offf and bake it in the oven when I do a dinner for free Ciabatta.

Fluffycloudland77 · 23/03/2012 14:12

Bread Mix Link

roguepixie · 23/03/2012 16:08

Just ordered some inov8 trainers - they mimic barefoot movement whilst providing traction. Got them for £89.00 instead of £100.00 so whilst expensive I did get a bit of a reduction. Bonus ... I managed to buy the with my DH's card so ... not my spend GrinGrinGrin. I know, it's not in the spirit of Meagre March but it did make me chuckle as it was a genuine mistake.

Am gearing up for listing on Ebay again this weekend. I have a pair of Reebok Easytone trainers that I have worn twice that I am going to list and some other items that are really new so they should hopefully sell.

I hope we are all enjoying the sunshine today. Apparently the weekend is going to be good too .... yaaaay.

CremeEggThief · 23/03/2012 19:37

Good for you, roguepixie.
Today I spent £8.08 at the Co-op and £20 on paying the childminder, so £28.08. If you add in my Sainsburys online order, it's another £68.11, but that won't come out until next week.

BenderBendingRodriguez · 23/03/2012 20:05

Today I spent a grand total of 50p, on a rocket lolly for DS after he'd finished doing a sponsored bounce Grin

Thanks for the ebay tip off again rogue, I totally failed to list anything last time so will try harder tomorrow.

spewgloriousspew · 23/03/2012 20:48

Might try and list a few things on ebay before we head off tomorrow. Although given that I haven't yet packed my stuff (the boy wonder's is all done though) I doubt it!

Got a few nice tops from a charity shop in Chipping Norton (my home town from when I was a kid, but I'm really not that posh and don't belong to any set!), including a Fat Face one and a Joules one. Three tops and a toy for the boy cost £18. A pre-holiday treat.

Oh, and I've finally earned enough on OpinionBar surveys to withdraw some money - £10.75. Not much, I grant you. But a nice bonus.

Thanks for the job congrats, too Smile.

Chilenachica · 23/03/2012 21:25

Bad day here, had to get some legal bits signed so had to drive to the Capitol. OH had a business meeting to run to so I was abondoned at lunchtime, can you believe the cheek?!
Anyway, that means I spent, as follows, £2.20 road toll,£25 fees for the documents, £9 lunch, £95 having cushions made for the lounge, £10 fruit & veg, £8 knee pads for volley ball etc and £80 on bed linen. OH will have racked up about £6 on tolls by the time he gets home, and he's paid the handy man £75 this week.

I didn't anticipate spending quite that much on the cushions, but the only ones I've found that work are made to order, so that's 7 feather filled shot silk covered cushions. The bed linen was reduced by 25%.

Tomorrow we need to tax the cars, unless OH did his today. We don't do it at the post office here, and everyone has to do it in March. They put up stands and tents at shopping malls and petrol stations, all of them are vying for your business and they give away freebies as incentives. Children are playing in a school match tomorrow, so I'll need to use the expensive road, match starts at 8.30.

At the clinic we use you get the first hour's parking free, then it's about £1 per hour. I can't remember exactly as the only times I've paid has been an emergency, or of course a couple of weeks ago when I lost my ticket and paid £5. The local one is free parking, until they install the barriers of course.

Hope everyone a good weekend.

Lexilicious · 24/03/2012 09:00

Terrible behaviour yesterday... Was in London at a training course and bought not one but two cappuccinos!! Lunch and snacks were provided but the coffee was awful so I had to get my own. Also (consciously) went to shops on Victoria street looking for a black jacket to wear with work clothes and casual clothes like jeans. Success in Zara (good old Zara) but my goodness there is some cheap and nasty stuff out there! I am definitely too old for topshop which makes me a little sad.

Need to see if my compost that I've been making for more than a year is good enough to plant things in pots. I may buy a soil sieve or just enough up buying yet more bags of peat-free...

OP posts:
calzone · 24/03/2012 14:09

I am joining this thread now!

Just marking my place

Chilenachica · 24/03/2012 21:18

Aaarrrrgggghhhhh! ROAD TOLLS!!

I feel a bit better now. So, dashed out without breakfast, me not the DDs, after oversleeping. By the time volley ball was finished I was ravenous and the bananas I packed for the DDs weren't enough. Had to meet OH to get the car tax done, we all had toast and hot drinks, OH had seconds. That little lot was just over £10, then just waaaaay toooooo much on tax, about $2,500, then lunch at £30 followed by boots for both DDs at £70 -for both- and I needed more caffeine before driving home, plus drinks for DDs which made it another £6.

My road tolls were £7 and OH's £4.

I'm too tired to go anywhere tomorrow, and I don't do shopping on t'internet here, so tomorrow will be a NSD.

We had a tremor this morning, 5.2 on the richter scale and the epicentre was 10 miles from us. This meant I was up like a shot a bit before 5am, got back to sleep once I was sure we were safe, but then slept through the alarm. Just got DDs to the match on time.

duchesse · 24/03/2012 21:56

£39.82 in Sainsbos today including all Easter eggs (Green & Blacks and Lindor eggs and bunnies currently half price at £3 people!). Also needed nappies for DD3 and some ready made formula to send to nursery with (they can't take made up formula or make it up themselves- regulations apparently). Both those are reduced at the moment in Sainsb.

I had to get Hipp formula that makes her eczema worse (but at least doesn't seem to burn her on the way out again), so she's waking up scratching again which is a pain as she goes to nursery Tues and Fri and means disrupted nights and constant eczema again as not enough time to recover between nursery days. Ho-hum. Her eczema was really clearing up when she was on the wacky Holle formula I found online and now we're back to square one.

Chilenachica · 25/03/2012 03:09

Duchesse

So sorry to hear that DD is suffering, hope you can get something sorted for her.

I'm jealous of your Green & Black eggs, can't get their stuff here, can get the Lindt bunnies thoGrin. I will now have to spend tomorrow. Having spent weeks chasing the vet he turned up at my door expecting to remind me, but I got in first, ha ha. Anyway, I should finally be able to settle it tomorrow, I'ved pinned him down to midday, fingers crossed.

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