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Abstemious April ... the trials continue

232 replies

roguepixie · 02/04/2012 08:26

Righty-ho, here's the April thread.

After a disastrous March I am more than ready to get to grips again with all things frugal. Grin

OP posts:
janek · 29/04/2012 12:13

spew you pay for children once they are 4 on trains in most of europe (including the eurostar) (i think it's 6 in germany though). obviously your DS would not have a seat, although if the train isn't full there is no reason why you shouldn't spread out. we've had 4 of us on two seats in the past, before dd1 was over 4 (including a holiday a fortnight before she turned 4, so she was pretty big. it wasn't much fun, but loads better than paying more seats!)

nb this morning i was booking some eurostar tickets, something went wrong with the booking (i accidently pressed return and it messed it up) then when i went to book it again the website told me that i couldn't book my return leg till 8 may (12 weeks away). this was not true. you definitely have 4 months. this was confirmed when i rang and booked them over the phone (used the international number from my mobile so i didn't have to pay for the call...).

also, if you book with eurostar.com they have a loyalty scheme which gives you £20 off once you have enough points (although this takes longer to achieve if you always manage to get hold of the cheapest tickets iyswim).

and if you are travelling around by train in the UK a lot (sometimes one full-price trip to london is enough to make it worth it) you should get a family railcard - you buy a ticket for your child, even if they are actually too young to pay, but they get 66% off their ticket price and adults get 33% off theirs (if you have a 5 year old too, then there is no need to buy a younger child a ticket, but you must always have a fee-paying child with you).

i am hoping that the daily mail will do their offer again this year where you get a free 2 month family railcard and then a code to get a year-long railcard half price. i missed it last year and i was furious, i've been looking out for it since january this year, i think it will come up in the next few weeks, if it's going to happen. i'll post on here if it does - the free one is definitely worth having, the half price one is only worth if you were planning a long journey by train (although since we always have one, we use it for shorter local journeys too, it just wouldn't be worth buying just for that type of journey).

long post, but i am evangelical about trains, ask me anything!

Fishpond · 29/04/2012 21:30

Ended up spending way more this weekend than planned and must abstain lots next month. Only 2 more months to save up for the baby yikes!!

Went to a consignment sale and spent $35 on clothes for the baby - although were bigger sizes so he should be pretty well stocked now until approx age 6 months. Also spent $30 on loads of half price vests and sleepsuits and nice baby blankets from a shop having a clearing (again no newborn stuff as he has plenty). I'm a huge lover of nearly new sales - there is a MASSIVE one next weekend and I will have a look there but really hoping not to spend more than $20.

Also spent $25 today on a beauty and the beast blu ray / DVD combo pack. I want to amass a Disney classics collection for myself and baby, and decided to start with the one going back into the "vault" as of tomorrow. Have done some research and these diamond editions are not going to come out again for 10 years once back out of production, so worth it to me. Also need to get The Lion King and Sleeping Beauty soon as think this are the next 2 going back in the vault.

CremeEggThief · 30/04/2012 16:25

Wow, feels like I haven't been on here for ages. I will have to read through and catch up with everyone's news.
I have had a cheap weekend and I spent £ 3.82 today, on salad, tomatoes, two envelopes and two 2nd class stamps.

Who would have thought the day it cost £1 to post two letters 2nd class would have come this soon!

Fishpond · 30/04/2012 16:35

Spent $15 today on a load of poly mailers for eBay. I've made small profits on the side by buying used name brand (gap, etc) children's clothes at car boot sales for less than $1 apiece, then selling on eBay for $5+ each. Not much in one go but all adds up and then I stick profits back in the bank to cover any little outgoings.

roguepixie · 01/05/2012 06:45

New thread for Meagre May:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1462563-Meagre-May-watching-our-bank-balances-go-up-instead-of-down

OP posts:
duchesse · 01/05/2012 09:21

Monday spent 20 exactly on a pub lunch for DH, DD3 and me.

Now off to tot up April.

Chilenachica · 02/05/2012 01:17

Grrrr, I was keeping my tally on my phone, but Friday's storm seems to have wiped it out. Anyway, it's been a non spendy long weekend for me. DDs are back to school tomorrow. I'll catch up with Meagre March then.

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