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

Thank you for the welcome!

£20 for shopping is astonishing Spew. I can only dream of those dizzy heights ( or lows?!).

I felt smug about my shopping because I spent £10 but only had to pay 50p - combination of the dregs of a gift card and vouchers. I have a long way to go though.

The last few years have been good to us financially and I have grown used to not worrying about spending. But I fear hard times are around the corner and I need to make sure I haven't forgotten how to manage on no money. So I feel like a bit of a fraud really. Hate wastefulness though, and that's also a big part of thriftyness, I feel.

Anyway, so I didn't manage a NSD - 50p on shopping and £2.76 on stamps. The rest of the week will be bad - pet medication, petrol, a trip to the theatre and a school event all in the offing. I'm going to try for at least 2 NSDs per week in March. It will be a big adjustment - I am the world's worst fritterer (of time, money ....)

this thread fell off my Threads Im On!!

Am back..........

jenduck I fell foul of the washing machine maintenance thread and duly bought soda crystals today - the pack says you can use them for drains and the bag only cost me 90p (and that was in waitrose).

Hello again, nearly had a NSD today but had to go and get pull-ups, and then a few things to tempt my daughter as she's poorly, luckily when she's ill she likes squeezy yoghurts and raw pepper (not together) so not too expensive. Managed to resist all chocolate, was very proud of myself, especially as chocolate is a bona fide pregnancy craving surely?
Re freezing milk, you could make it into something else first, like a cheese sauce? I froze some cheese sauce recently and thought it would go funny when defrosted but it was fine, and made a very quick dinner with some macaroni.

Main shop today, and it wasnt pretty!

£62.90 in Lidl
£24.08 in Tesco
£4.80 in corner shop

OOOPS! That did include £12.99 for a set of car seat covers from Lidl, which will protect the interior of the new car.... my kids have a tendency to dirty anythig they come in contact with!

We did buy dog food this week, and pull ups for DS. Otherwise it was all food! We did splash out by spending £5.09 on 2 sirloin steaks for dinner (not had them in years and REALLY fancied it!) and considering they were lidl, they were actually VERY nice!

Also included £1.97 in Tesco on Moshi Monsters for DD1, only because I like to feel the packs and see if I can guess whether she has them or not, and as luck would have it, managed to find an "ultra rare" one that I knew she didnt have!

So the shopping, coupled with the £20 electric and £10 gas top-ups this week, I am going to try and have as many NSDs as possible between now and next Tuesday! (Nearly splashed out £50 on stuff for DS's Mobigo, but as luck would have it, their system wouldnt accept my card, despite it having £££ in the acocunt!)

Dinner was bargainous tonight!

Broccoli - used half of it. 25p from ALDI
Quorn steaks - down to 15p in Waitrose
Frozen Roast potatoes - down to 29p in Waitrose!

Result!

Nipped to Waitrose at 7pm. Got cheese from £4 to 29p, muffins from 80p down to 10p, Baguette down to 18p, sushi down to 60p

Massive bag of green bananas in Waitrose, 29p.
Bag of Heritage potatoes - Shetland Black, a particular favourite - for 59p.

Hi had 2 lovely spending days in London but diodn't do too bad. I only spent about £50, £15 on an opyster card, £15 on drinks and tip at dinner, £4 on 2 bottles of water at the theatre and then 3 snack meals at about £6 each and then £3-5 on souveniours(postcards and a small keychain for dd1)
Our hotel was near a mini waitrose and I was tempted to go in and see if their was any reduced stuff but didn't have time.
Thanks for the travel tips the oyster card saved us quite a bit and we only did 2 bus journeys and 6 tube journeys. I even have some+ the deposit left so what do I do about that?

I will add my Feb spend up tomorrow and then I will jump into no waste March.

Hello, may I join you please? (waves tentatively)

I'm new to mumsnet, living abroad with 2DDs and a self employed OH whose income isn't stable. Trying to have NSDs but failed miserably today. Apart from food shopping I had a moment of weakness, the result of which is a completely un-needed bottle of perfume on the credit card. Said card is now safely stashed in an awkward corner, never to see the light of day again. Only other costs this week should be school books and a slightly outstanding vet bill.

Hello and welcome chileanchica! Can you maybe set yourself a saving goal (eg for a family trip somewhere, or contingency fund of x number of £) that you need to have available as an incentive for not spending?

Not NSD yesterday alas. Had to spend £25 in Boots (mostly on ST) but everything I got was bargainous. Allways sanitary towels are £4 for 2 jumbo packs at the moment (£3.49 each) and with 3 menstruating girls/women in this house, we get through them quickly. Also 2 for 1 offer on Tresemme shampoo and conditioner. So although I spent £25, I saved £19 which I thought was a bargain.

Anticipating a NSD today but will do my accounts later.

Well, assuming NSD day today, I will have spent £825.34 on household this month. DH has also spent a little bit on plumbing things for a bit of tinkering under the kitchen sink, the little car needed a new part last week (£90), but I think that our total spend for the month should be under £1000, which is good. Can't remember whether I mentioned refuelling the MPV (£80) ten days ago. Will have to go and check.

it's 2 for 1 on Tresemme at Tesco too, and Original Source shower gels. Although annoyingly, not the refills. Anyway, yesterday I got a Black Mint and a Black Pepper and Chilli for DH me because he likes them, and a pack of 6 hot cross buns on special (50p) and the thing I actually went in for - a 'Jug-It' milk bag jug thing. The milk bags are often cheaper than the plastic bottles, they're easier to freeze because of their flat-ish shape, and they win for the environment. Sainsbury delivery then came later, they knew I was a new customer so had to do 'the talk' and he said it's best to book 21 days in advance to get a regular delivery slot. I did think about telling him I was not necessarily about to be a regular customer, I would tart around between whichever delivery service was doing the best deals that week. But I didn't.

Don't think I need to spend anything today at all so here are my totals for Feb:

Food: £292
Drinking/eating out and booze at home: £144
Clothes/hair: £93
Fuel and tube (not incl DH's commuting): £158
family outings, gifts: £184.55
Gardening: £112

Now oddly, although I have been watching the spend much more closely, that food and booze total is double what I thought I spent in January, when perhaps I didn't notice what I spent on the little bits here and there. Travel and luxuries down, but car started full and is now nearly empty. Family category much higher because of a couple of birthdays, and the Gardening total is a spend-to-save measure - think of all the soft fruit and salad veg I'll be getting for 'free' in months to come!!

Lexi, interesting thread, thanks.

And, yes, £20 was a cheap weekly shop! It usually comes in at around £25-£30 for two adults and one 10 month old. Bear in mind that I very rarely buy meat (I'm veggie and buy meat from the butchers every couple of months for the boys) and don't buy ready meal-type processed foods/cakes. I just buy bags of flour/sugar, eggs etc to make sweet things and bread. And cook all meals from scratch. We eat a lot of soup!

I find that shopping at somewhere like Aldi does help as they don't have so many products that you end up filling the trolley with stuff that wasn't on your list and you really don't need. Ditto with 3 for 2 offers. I am lucky in that I have an Aldi about half a mile up the road, though.

duchesse

Thanks for the idea, I'll try that and see how restrained I can be. Today I'm doing laundry and baking, so not much spending needed unless I get the school books. They have to come out of this week's budget as school starts on Monday. The vet can wait a few days as he thinks we're still on holiday

Almost a NSD here.... except I forgot DD1 has a birthday party tonight (poor boy in her class with a leap year birthday!) so DH popped to shop for a card, and I have a £5 note in my purse. Will have to do!

Otherwise, I have spent the day cleaning my fridge.... OMG.... I am such a slattern. It was VILE!

Got my monthly spend.
£1,100.39. That is for a family of six but nit counting regular dd's like gas, water, insurance, sky etc.
£455 on food, £100 on meals out
£72 on petrol
£92 on the kids, plus the £130 for dd's prom dress.
£26 on Entertainment, have no idea what, could be kids comics or swimming.
I want to cut down the eating out and try and shave a bit off the food shop. Obviously in March I won't have another prom dress to buy, or 2 even. I forgot I bought one off ebay so that makes another £30. And no travel plans like the london trip.

I know they don't add upto the big total but there were too many sub categories to mention

I don't know what my spending was last month, but I have everything poised and ready for next month, cupboards are stocked, budgets are done and I am ready to make my pennies stretch.

Not an NSD today, but didn't spend much. Went to our usual Edward Bear club (50p fee/donation), then to the Co-op (2.98 on 2 packs of pork chops, originally £3 per pack or 2 for £5) & charity shops (toy car from 10p box for DS1) afterwards.

So my grand totals for February, for myself, DH, DS1 (aged 3.2) & DS2 (aged 10.5 months) are...[drum rolls]...

Total spend (not including mortgage & other bills or DS1 nursery): £254.36 comprising:

Groceries(inc. nappies & formula for DS2) & meds which I wouldn't normally need to buy: £105.94
Clothes for everybody: £6.75
Toys: £0.80
Entertainment (mainly toddler groups, soft play etc, includes drinks while out): £10.06
Takeaways: £5.54
Fuel for my car: £50
Miscellaneous (car wash, batteries, Weightwatchers fees, new car seat for DS1): £75.27

DH has spent about £110 on petrol (has had some paid for by work) & about £40 on groceries.

Quite pleased with this total, really. There are couple of things in there that won't be in next month (car seat, Weightwatchers, medicines). However, I do think that I will inevitably spend more in March, as the freezers & cupboards are getting a bit low - I am planning a £60+ spend in Morrisons tomorrow to get 15p/litre off fuel & will have to get said fuel (probably about £65) next week. We also have 3 family birthdays plus mothers' day, but I think I have presents for those pretty much sorted. It really helps writing everything down, too

Although Ive taken part in this thread, Ive never actually written down exactly what I spend over the month..... maybe March would be more of an eye opener!

On average I spend £220 a week, but that is for EVERYTHING bar bills..... I even pay the gas and electric out of that as we are prepay meters.

So, a 4 week month = £880 Of which £120 is for gas and electric. So spending £760 on fuel/food/clothes/entertainment etc.

That NEEDS cut back!

I have no idea how much we'll spend as a family, so I'll just be adding up my costs going into March. Cannot control the OH's as it's swings and roundabouts, sometimes he has business lunches all week, sometimes he's home to lunch as well dinner. Sometimes he walks to a meeting, or may need a taxi to cross town, or an hour's drive out of town.

We've just done school uniforms for two, plus books, so feb has been a heavy month. I don't want to add it up, much rather start afresh. Cars need taxing in March.

I will start afresh for March too, as I've only started jotting down my daily spends recently. Today I spent £7.30 on bus fares for me and DS, £7.30 in a café for an after-school /pre-swimming lesson snack (not enough time to go home in between) and £9.50 on eyebrow and top lip waxing. £24.10 in total. I know I have a long way to go before I match most of you savvy ladies :).

Waitrose is a bit bonkers!

2 loaves Hovis bread (small) 2 for £1.10

Each loaf was 19p. 2 loaves were 38p. I still got the -38p back for buying 2 loaves so the bread was free!!!!!

2 x innocent pots for £4.

Each pot was £1.29. Got £3.40 back. Pots were free plus extra cash!!!!

All this talk of waitrose bargains is rather annoying. Even when we move, I wont have a waitrose (although there is talk of one opening, so who knows!)

Our tesco reduced stuff isnt that fab, although did get chicken wings for the dog tonight - 12 wings for 98p compared to the £2 odd they were originally.