We're over halfway there - saving our way through July 2012

[Leilandri]

We've done over 6 months of penny-pinching, practical, prudent, scrimping money-saving. Well done to us

June didn't end too badly for me overall, not going to total it up tho
I hope the weather in July is better than it has been - plenty of NSD's at the allotment would be lovely.

Welcome mum2Fergus and lizardqueenie

I have 2 DS's, also 3yo and (nearly) 1yo like Jenduck. We have luckily just got an allotment so we spend as much time as possible down there, weather permitting. Do you have a garden? Maybe you could section off a bit for DD to grow her own things/play in mud? DS1 loves his little patch of our garden and is very proud of his sunflowers, pumpkins and courgettes that he has grown.

We do lots of sticking/glueing and painting here, lots of hand and footprints for DS2. I leave their creations to dry, and once they're forgotten about I cut out the best bits and recycle them into gifttags for presents - the grandparents love this more than the actual pressy I think I stock up on craft things in The Works, Poundland, This is It, or on Amazon.

A good website is www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/ - we love the "I can cook" recipes :)

I also take food with me, my changing bag is usually stocked with boxes of raisins, dried apricots, mini cheddars, bottled water (and a little packet of haribo for DS1 is he is good) all food that can stay in there from day to day, and just refill as needed and stuff I can pick at too if peckish
I have also moved all my beneficial store cards - boots advantage,nectar etc - into a separate card wallet inside the change bag, so I can go out with debit cards, but still collect my points and things.

A friend of mine set up a group on Facebook "Mums of xx" 6 months ago, and it now has 500+ members, all mummies from the local area. We now have regular meet ups/outings etc and I've met some great friends. We help each other out with babysitting and things aswell - maybe something you could look into in your area or set one up?

*that's supposed to be go out WITHOUT debit cards

Hi, I'm marking my place for some inspiration and support.
Recently bought a house and am seriously overdrawn so thrift is required. My plan is:
meal plan and do an online supermarket shop.
Prepare and then sell stuff on eBay.
Stop buying Stuff.

welcome FlyMe

Have you tried Facebook for some buy/seel sites in your area? I've found it much easier than ebay - no fees, and no trips to the post office!

And yes, I would say "Stop buying Stuff" is a good mantra for thriftiness

Thanks Leilandri. I am used to eBay and once I grit my teeth it usually goes ok.

Total for today- £19.55. £16.50 on a card and gift for a friend's birthday and the rest on a loaf and bus fares.

Some great tips on this month's thread :).

Hi all. Not too bad a spend this afternoon. 50p for Edward Bear fees, 20p on charity shop toy for DS1 & £3.59 at Co-op for 4 pints milk, 10 f-r eggs & a tray of flapjack (had a pretty rubbish time at Edward Bear with DS1 playing up, me telling him off, him crying & then the leader, a Rev, coming up to me & asking 'What are you doing to your boys?' even though DS2 was fine. Made me feel like rubbish mum of the year

Also was talking to a friend about credit cards & she was going on about how she'd never had any debt & never would. Just made me feel a bit inadequate, although I know her circumstances are vastly different from mine (10 years younger & on benefits so rent & council tax paid, she tells me). We have racked up this debt, mainly due to the erratic nature of DH's work (contracts), but we are making huge efforts to pay it off (and doing better now than we have in 6 months!)

Lizardqueenie, we are in SE too (Essex). Tots' time at Wacky Warehouse is basically all day up to 3pm, when under-5's get in for £2, for as long as you like (can also come & go). As for bargains, best to ask the shop attendants, really! But usually tends to be best a couple of hours before closing.

Anyway, sorry for the moan, welcome to newbies/returnees

Today's spend

£2.15 for weight watchers bars
£7.00 lunch-date, quite filling didn't snack later or have cake while there
£95p to feed fish and buy DS a mini milk

NSD was planned for tomorrow, but DS on playdate at a soft play, keep it to £6.00 if I can.
£1.00 planned for Friday, we need squash and bread, but I think I'll wait til weekend, we have wraps, rice or pasta for packed lunches.

I'm going to check bank balance, a bit of cold reality check always helps rather than the glint to hologram on a card to two!

Bumholes there is a sale on in monsoon and I'm dying to order a handful of outfits for dd for next summer. I don't have the cash, it would be a card.

She has too much I'm not going to do it. I am a sucker for bargains.

Don't do it! I've also avoided - I do need new work clothes but am going to make do for now.

Another NsD for me but DH is in the pub. He doesn't have access to the joint account though mwah ha! We had our second meat free dinner tonight, it is saving us a fortune!

Thank you Leilandri I think DD would love her own little patch in the garden! My dad has an allotment so could rope him in for a bit of advice to get it started. A good idea about keeping non-perishable snacks in the bag too- i did this went we went out this afternoon and enjoyed a few snacks myself.

Spent a total of £7.59 - posting package & parking. Other than that we just wandered & chatted, thank goodness it didn't pour!

Ah Jenduck sorry you felt like that, am sure the Rev didn't mean it in a critical way but maybe just said it to make humour of the situation. Big hug & glass of or cup of for you. Also everyone's circumstances are different & yes it would be lovely to not get into any debt but its a situation many of us find or have found us in. I think prior to the recession it was very easy to get into debt, I certainly left University with student loans, overdrafts and cc debt coming out of my ears. However it seemed to be considered the norm from those around me and whilst lots of my friends seemed to be sensible to pay things off quite quickly, even once I got working I found it hard to prioritise paying it all off over having fun.

Ooh might be worth me driving over to Essex- I often meet a friend there with his little girl.

Well I did avoid monsoon but after wrestling with the debenhams site I got a £100 order down to £60 with free delivery. I am pleased with bargains I have bought

DS two linen shirts and a famines t shirt
DD two rompers and two dresses

Just under £10 per item, which is good for branded stuff. I'll not feel great about this til I whip them out of cupboard next spring.

Right off to adjust budget, I'm not err doing that well really on day two, since finding this thread.

Spending today and yesterday:
£27 on new quilt cover and pillow cases for DS in the Debenhams sale (70% off) after he returned from university with a quilt cover that had spent a fortnight in the rain on the line and stinks unshiftably despite going through two washes

Today: £28 something at Coop. I won't have time this week to do my Waitrose bargainous shop so the few smaller shops this week have replaced that.

Tomorrow I'm off to Cambridge to take DD1 for an open day. Will have to get more diesel. Am staying with Dsis so free accommodation at least.

Thanks lizardqueenie, but she was definitely disapproving! I made some joke about 3.5 year olds being like that and she was all . Never mind, onwards & upwards, it has helped me to rant! BTW, the Wacky Warehouse is in Chelmsford, it's the smallest one in the country apparently, has about 10 tables & 2 play areas (over 3 floors though). I love it because you can watch DC from where you're sitting. Also worth doing if you use the Dartford Crossing on an even semi-regular basis: get a DartTag. Preload it with £10 & it costs £1 per crossing instead of £1.50.

Duchesse, I love Debenhams 70% off! Never buy stuff there at full price!

DH & I both had really rubbish afternoons, so spent an extra £6 on fish & chips as neither could be bothered to cook, plus £6.98 on 2 bottles of wine, 1 for tonight & tomorrow, 1 for Saturday night when my parents have DC so we can sell at car boot on Sunday (were going to go out, but will have bottle of wine & game of scrabble, so will save money by buying wine now). Wine bought at co-op on credit card, netting me 7p cashback! Woohoo

Today DDs wanted to out for dinner, there's a pattern here, so I spent £8 in the supermarket and did burgers at home. Still have enough left to repeat at the weekend. I'm going to get them out if their dad's habit of eating out. Add the £1.20 on road toll and I've come in under a tenner

Two NSD's here ... am aiming for NSD No. 3 today!!!!

Spent £2 so far today, on balls from charity shop for DS2's ball tent, which he was given for his birthday. Managed to resist reduced squirty cream (love the stuff!) & chocolate, so good for my waistline as well as my wallet.

Also twigged that I can get an extra £5 a month if I pay £1000 per month into an account I have (they reward you). This is not the main account we use, but I'm thinking I could transfer money in one day, and out the next. Not a huge amount, but it all helps

Afternoon all

Ah Duchesse I am going to have to check out the Debenhams sale now. DH and I really could do with some new pillows for our bed so I will resist adding anything else to the basket.

Rougepizie that takes some doing- well done

Jenduck well if she was being like that its her problem, people can just be a bit too serious sometimes. I googled it last night so I reckon it might def be worth a trip. It would just be timing it right, as much as I love being at home with DD I do enjoy the downtime when she naps in the afternoon, so if we went in the morning she is bound to drop off in the car on the way home. Hmm, might have to make a sacrifice one day though & give it a bash. And good news with your cash bank on your account, a good way to be earning an extra fiver a month, that £60 a year counts on fingers and toes definitely not to be sniffed at.

Today I have spent £1 for a whole mornings entertainment, snack, coffee & biscuit for me at local playgroup. I love it. Also emailed another group yesterday after my decision to be a bit more inventive with entertainment for DD, there is another local church playgroup so emailed to ask if I could come along & also asked if they ran in the hols. Got a reply back today saying that they are not a playgroup but a mother and toddler group! and she actually put an ! in at the end as well. Have I got the wrong end of the stick here? isn't it all much the muchness? No reply to whether they are open in the hols or not so may just not bother with that one.

Off to see my Nan this afternoon with DD so will stop off on route and buy her some flowers.

Total spend of £14.36 today. A tenner of that was for the childminder and the rest went on cat litter, a bus fare and a peach Melba from Greggs :).

£11 lunch (twas an emergency)
£ £5 softplay inc drinks and snacks ds ishaving a great time

Hello everyone, it's taken me a while to get back into this thriftiness again after my holiday!!! Spent far too much (£126) at John Lewis sale at the weekend on work clothes for me and clothes/shoes for my DS's. Whoever said "Stop buying stuff" is dead right, I need to keep reminding myself!!!

Lizardqueenie you made me laugh with your story about the woman who thinks a Mother & Baby group should not be confused with a playgroup!! How pedantic, one to avoid I think!

Today for me was £3 on some cakes to celebrate DS1s first afternoon visiting his reception class at school, and £2.29 on a Happy Meal at McDonald's as a treat for his tea (I know, I know, but he really wanted one of the Ice Age toys and we don't go very often!).

louiespence great name btw- yeah I'm still scratching my head about that. I just think what an arse. I like the way she put do come along next week. Bugger off!

I've planned tomorrows spending £4.00 for one o clock club for dd & then creche in the afternoon whilst I use the gym but this is already paid for. Maybe £1 for a coffee for myself at the one o clock club

No insertion fees on ebay this weekend - for 100 listings starting at £1 or more.

Lizardqueenie if you do want to go to that soft play, make sure to go either next week or after the summer hols, as I don't think they do tots time during school holidays. I see a theme of soft play being a spending point for many of us - blooming rain!

The £5 a month from the bank account doesn't sound much, but if I also get £5 a month for using the credit card (then paying it back straight away), all of a sudden that is £120 per year, which is one month's grocery shopping for me!

Went to Sainsbugs last week & was most disappointed with the 'service' at the cafe, so I emailed them to tell them. They emailed me back yesterday to say they had credited my Nectar account with £10 worth of points. I also have £15 off a £75 online shop, and can earn £10 worth of points on that shop too, so would make a £75 shop only £40 (and it is mainly bogofs)! I did struggle, though, to spend that much all in one go!

Yesterday also spent £1.92 in Tesco for foil, tinned tomatoes & instant mash

Today will probably be soft play with friend, so £2, then need milk for the weekend, so another £1.

Have a good day, everybody, let's hope this rain disappears!

Morning all, yesterday was a NSD. Today will be £10-15 in Sainsburys for bits to get us through the weekend, plus an ocado shop to be delivered on Monday to take to our caravan hol! That will be £50 ish as I have £20 off voucher.
I'm doing a night shift tonight so will probably buy an extra large coffee on my way into work.