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

Had a NSD yesterday, went to dsis's and she did lunch. We went to the park with the kids and then for a walk and managed to walk past 5 shops without buying anything. Huge result for us. Need to buy bread and milk today and maybe try and get my hair cut today or tomorrow for Mondays trip, I know I have left it late so might get away with no spend on that. Should I try the Mumsnet haircut?

I would love to try growing things, I have a bramble briar in the back garden which we got a lot of fruit off last year, is all pruned and ready for this summer, Tescos have 3 fruiting bushes/tree for £5 but I'm not sure if supermarket fruit trees are worth it.

I would ideally plant green beans, asparagus, any soft fruit, radish, tomatoes, cucmbers, cougette, peas, runner beans, peppers, carrots. Am happy to start with just a couple and work my way upto a full garden

As for compost I can lay my hands on horse manure really easy.

Joined Quidco then joines weightwatchers online, am now looking to see if I can buy more things online and save money, do they do supermarket shopping? I would give it a go of they did

marking my spot - my whole life is trying to be more frugal :)

Just got us a new (to us) printer/scanner on freecycle (or freegle, as it now insists on being called). Hoping it's better than our current one, which makes me want to smash it when used.

Hopefully minimal spending today. Mini Spew did not fancy sleeping last night, so it's going to be a fun one...

Thanks for the welcome. Felt well enough to walk DS to school today, but too dizzy to walk home (20 minutes), so spent £1. 10 on the bus fare. I will also need to pay my childminder £16 and buy some ketchup and apple juice for tea tonight (already have veggie burgers, baps and oven chips in). So hope today's spend will come in at around £20.

Debs you can't use fresh(ish) horse manure as compost or soil enricher, and gardeners usually use it well-rotted as a soil improver. I don't think even well-rotted would do as compost on its own - might possibly revive old compost though.

I know lots of stuff, but am theoretical rather than practical

Well our soil does need some help so maybe have to store a couple of bags for a while to help it along.

Just been a bit naught and played my lottery online and then played an online scratchcard. I won £3 so bought a bingo one and won £7. Then I logged out pretty quick before I spent that as well

Ok I desperately need some help with travelling in London.
I have been on the tfl website but my brain doesn't work. I can't work out what buses we would need to get from paddington station to leicester square and then back again. Then from paddinton to the london eye and back again.
I would be very gratefull for any help as I just don't get it at all.

Go to the journey planner. Put in your start point (Paddington), make sure it says 'station' in the drop down. Put in Leicester Square as destination. And the relevant time - either start time or time you want to arrive. Don't specify transport type - you might as well find out the tubes at the same time.

Then search. You should get a list of possible journeys which you can click on to get even more detail.

From memory, but I think that's how it works.

similar for Paddington to London Eye, of course .

I think you have to put in the return journey as a separate journey, starting at what was your destination, and with Paddington as your destination.

DH paid for breakfast I coughed up for the cheaper takeaway coffee though. £3

Nipped into boots and stocked up on wipes. 72p a pack for boots own brand - 20% off . They also have a 3 for 2 baby event on including nappies.

Oh, and boots are doing the £5 No 7 vouchers again.

Debs - to go from Paddington to London Eye by tube is the quickest and easiest way - and if you're out of rush hour, your mum will be ok with it I hope. Just hope on bakerloo line all way to Waterloo - at Waterloo, come out and follow signs for London Eye. Once you're above ground and on the southbank you'll see it.

Not sure about buses from Paddington to Leicester Square - most going into town will go via Trafalgar Square though which is all of a 2 minute walk from Leicester Square.

This should bring a money saving smile to everyone's faces, hopefully.

Here

Post which one you like the best.

Ah, caught up with the thread at last...

Massive fail yesterday! I'm blaming it on the sun being out, feeling like the first day of spring going to my head. Spent over £15 just on lunch, coffee, cake whilst swanning round with DD. Shocker.

And annoyed with myself because I had been needing some new tops; found a couple of nice ones on DP and got with 25% discount code, BUT forgot to go via topcashback, which I have just signed up with so missed out on my cashback... I guess it takes a while to get in the habit.

Doing better today, but realised there are absolutely heaps of things that I am thinking about buying at the moment and I need some strategies for doing it all in the best value way. Eg:

• double buggy and cot for imminent arrival of DC2 (DD will still be in her cot so can't pass down unfortunately); I've never done ebay/gumtree for big items but guess I should have a look...
• Washing line/airer (now it is warmer and can dry stuff outdoors)
• toilet seats/potty to have optimistically ready for when DD starts toilet-training (still only 18mo but I'm SO sick of nappies, I'm thinking a lot about trying to get her out of them!)
• new shoes and a fair few clothes required for DD
• shovel and hoe for garden, and something to cut the grass with
• I would also really love some prints for our bare walls and some nicer lightshades, but this is entirely unnecessary...

I'm sure there's more too. hmmm.

Lexi (and any other gardeners) - how hard is it to grow herbs from seed instead of small plants? I was going to splash out on a 'herb box' from Riverford - www.riverford.co.uk/wash/shop/plants/herb_box_to_grow/ - because it seemed a nice easy way to do it, but not sure I'd use dill/tarragon/sorrel, and perhaps I should just choose seeds for ones I want. Would I need to get going ASAP if I want to do this?

Mackrel you could try freecycle as well. As long as you also offer something for free you can post wanted ads. You might get cot/potty etc that way.

mackrel,

• for prints: cheap, charity shop frames then put in off cuts of stylish wall paper; make up photo collages, do prints of DD's hands and feet?
• double buggy/cot: Ebay and freecycle mainly. Do you know anyone who has DC who are growing out of theirs?
• washing lines/airer: I do not have a dryer...I refuse, they are extortionate! I have a whirly-gig (a single post, circular washing dryer to go outside). I also have two airers that enable me to dry additional clothes outside or to dry clothes inside - really good buys, no need for very expensive machines.
• clothes for DD: do you know anyone who wants to 'pass things down'. Also, have a look on Ebay and look on-line for discounts.
• gardening: excellent exercise (and free) - have a look on Freecycle and Ebay for equipment. Alternatively, share equipment with friends. Do you know someone who gardens that would lend you some stuff?
• toilet training. Difficult one...wouldn't try to force the issue really - I was a little too 'pro-active' with DS and it led to lots and lots of accidents. I realise now that if I had slowed it down and let him dictate the pace it would have ben easier .

Sorry, just realised that you really didn't need me to critique your list. I've just got the buzz today and have tons of stuff whizzing around my head ... doesn't often happen

THanks for the travel tips, have had a loo0k at the site and my brain is working better now. Am going to do mum two travel plans so she can see the difference between tube and bus, and hopefully go for tube as dsis is travelsick and wouldn't want her sitting on a hot bus for an hour when she could be in a tube 15mins. Finally taxis for getting back from theatre, can I trust the hotel to make us a booking back or can we hail a black cab?

My bread and milk did not stay bread and milk. £18 later we had soothers and coke for dp, choc lolly for dd, dog food, magazine for me and then £55 on gas payment.
Must try harder tomorrow

someone further up the thread asked about savvycircle ? not sure what it was you wanted to know ? I am a member and also of their VIP section where you can apply to test products.

Find an amateur gardener who grows herbs. Seeds will take ages. You want cuttings or division, the gardener will love to do it for you if it is possible.

Texted DD to ask if the ood date (by one day) chicken and stuffing sandwich in the fridge was hers, and could I eat it So brunch was chicken, ham, stuffing and mayo sandwich for free.

As to the deep pockets, it's more that I have a saddo life where I rarely pass a Cafe Nero - but I always have one at Kings Cross after going down to London to see DF.

I have arranged to go to the museum tomorrow with a friend and her DS(12) who has wanted to visit it for a while - it has a milary theme. Tomorrow is the last day of the annual pass, and will be the second time I've used it, the first when I bought it a year ago.

Am looking forward to going to Monsoon next week with my gift voucher

LadyH - Iceland do frozen Quorn sausages for £2 a bag and have quite a bit of frozen veggie stuff, there's normally an offer on Quorn mince. It's all I buy in there though (apart from peas, oh and salmon, and bin bags...)

Third NSD!! Woohoo! I will gloss over the small matter of DH picking up sushi as a treat on his way home today. And actually I spent some pennies on a stamp but got £18 back by returning some unused drill bits to a tile shop. So, a no spend day by fairly loose definitions.

Thanks rogue! - no need to apologise; v useful to have your thoughts - I'd actually forgotten about freecycle/freegle and we do have a couple of things to get rid of that could go on.

SIL gardens and I think owns a shovel so I should defo get on to her re cuttings and tools.

Ok, I have a bit more of a plan now!

or gumtree (is it?) like e-bay but for local pick up by arrangement between buyer and seller so good for furniture and the like

Epic fail for the last two days

£53 in Waitrose on what turned out to be main shop (I only nipped in for some late night bargains)
£58 in TKMaxx (just typing that makes my eyes hurt) today on various discount kitchen things to replace our clapped out ones (inc sponge tins, dustpan and brush etc) and a VERY expensive nice notebook for DD1 to use as her diary into when she goes to Peru this summer.