September is here and our money-saving steps up a gear

[economymode]

Starting us off for September. Newbies and old hands welcome!

Oh, that sounds lovely, Rabbits. You deserve to be spoiled. :).

I've just ordered a new dining table and four chairs set online from Homebase, to replace my 10 year old one from Argos. Who said cheap furniture doesn't last!

The one I ordered is £199.99, but I got £30 off by putting the code FURN15 in the apply promo box. Some of it was swallowed up in delivery charges, as I don't drive, so couldn't click and collect, but still £178.94 isn't too bad. The code is valid until the 24th September. I got it by e-mail, so I don't know if the same code was sent out to everyone, but if it was, and you need some new furniture, I hope it will be of help.

Oh Rabbits I'm so pleased people have/are making a fuss of you :) Have a brilliant time!

CremeEgg that is a bargain.

I've got to go into town this afternoon to pay in a tax rebate cheque that landed yesterday!! Very unexpected, and very welcome!
Am determined not to spend much any of it, although I may treat us all to some yummy and prepared food from M&S for this evening.

My clothes came and I love them. I need to buy some boots and a proper coat for the school run, but that will be all for a good while.

Today was a NSD, spend today will be under £20 on some nice food, tomorrow and Sunday will also be NSDs and I have saved hugely on the grocery bill this week because we are going to my parents for the weekend. I have got a lovely pudding in the freezer which I am taking as our contribution to the festivities.
Monday I will need a shopping delivery as there is literally nothing to eat, and I do need quite a few store cupboard items so that might end up being an expensive one.

Sounds perfect Rabbits :)

Spent just under £20 on night out which is great. I have gone over my target spending but will hopefuly not spend much next week to compensate.

good news about tax Alibabaa!

pookey that is good for a night out!

I spent £39 in M&S yesterday, but that did include some basics for a packed lunch for DS1 for Monday which I will have to make before my online shop arrives.
I took one of the things I had ordered online back to the shop because on reflection I didn't love it enough. I could only exchange which was a pain, but I got myself a scarf which I have been wanting and a top for DH which he needed and will give me the money for. I used to waste so much money not returning things, stuff would hang in my wardrobe for months or years unworn. Makes me so angry to think of the waste, and there were many times I could really have done with the money.
Parking was £2, so a total spend of £41.

Today and tomorrow NSDs, and Monday will just be the weekly shop.

Marking my place to come back and read up later. I've dipped in and out of these threads over the last few months, but not been fully committed. I hope you'll have me here as I've just received my credit card bill and I'm £150 over my limit so will ne doing a car boot tomorrow in an attempt to clear some of it.

We are broke at the moment. Had a Shitty month with loads of unexpected bills. Plus we have just had to replace our washing machine. The pressure will ease somewhat when I (hopefully) start getting my maternity allowance in November, but until then things are tight. No insertion fees on eBay this weekend I hear so will be sticking loads of stuff on there too.

Hope the sleepover went well Rabbits, and you were thoroughly pampered!

Nice to hear about tax rebate Alibaba, and I'm glad you like the clothes you ordered. If you really love them, I think it is worth it. I also need to buy boots for the winter, but am having trouble finding some that I like. I'm kicking myself for not buying a second pair of the ones I bought this time last year - they were only 80 euros for beautiful leather boots, which were both pretty and comfortable. I wore them more or less every day throughout autumn/winter/early-spring, and eventually in April they died a death (my job involves quite a bit of walking). The shop I got them at doesn't have anything similar this year...boo.

Congrats on the cheap night out pookey, how did you manage it?

bumponboard, welcome to the thread. It's those unexpected bills that are the killer for me too, and are the reason I ended up on this thread. I've found that the thread has really kept me motivated to avoid spending on unnecessary things, even if they don't cost much. Good luck with your car boot sale and ebaying!

On Friday I spent 4 euros on lunch (failure to take a packed lunch to work) and 10 euros on wine and flowers to take to a friend's party. Had a lovely night at her place, so not too bad overall.

NSD yesterday!

Today I exchanged a couple of dresses I bought in the sale for some more maternity skinny jeans and a couple of tops. It's my pregnancy uniform! A lot of maternity stuff from last time round doesn't seem to really fit anymore, or is really summery.

Then vitamins for EconomyBoy, milk and a paper.

Oh, and my friend got me a heavily subsidised version of Office through her work (£7!) for my new laptop. So that saved mega-bucks. Before you all scream OpenOffice at me, I bloody hate it!

Riverboat, depending upon what size feet you have (and how vat works where you are), is it worth looking at children's shoes? I've just got a pair from Mini Boden (actually, have sent them back for a size smaller as they come up huge) that aren't kiddy-like at all. They have to cater for teenagers, too, so you can usually find some fairly nice stuff at a lower price.

Tomorrow should be a NSD.

Oh, and a sub £20 shop at Aldi the other day. Am working through what's in our freezer and using up what we have in cupboards, so only needed basics.

40p spent today on 2 chocolate Freddo's. Have done 2 very long walks today, interspersed with some park playing. DS1 "needed" the chocolate to get home, and I thought it was a good idea too!

Have £3.20 in my purse, which is ALL the money we have until payday on Friday Have meal planned using what's in the house already. I have milk and bread in the freezer, so we should be ok. Payday can't come quick enough tho. NSD for tomorrow - going to have a messy day with paints and glue etc.
Should be a NSD on Monday too :)

I have an interview on Monday, only for 16hr a week job, but it would get me off Jobseekers and feeling less like scum! Crossing fingers that I can rummage something smart from the depths of my wardrobe, as most of my clothes have been trashed by my little men now.

Lwilandri - good luck with interview. It sounds like you are being really organised hope the week goes ok :)

Economy I couldn't get on eith open office either.

riverboat sounds like you had a nice weekend so far. Maybe night out is stretching the truth in my case tbh! We went for a curry and I nursed a glass of wine. Resteraunt let us chat after they cleared the table until we left at 11.

bumpon how has ebay gone - I posted something on freecycle and gumtree this week - baby steps - bit scared of ebay.

Oh welcome by the way bumponboard :)

Anyone got any ideas for either a homemade or cheap (but not tacky) wedding present? The couple in question have a John Lewis list, but it's all overpriced and really boring. I'd like to give them something personal and memorable, but a bit stumped for ideas.

Haven't looked at this thread for a while

A couple of people asked how I spend so little money in Sainsbury's. I leave my purse, incl. debit card at home, and just take in coins.
It really works! I buy exactly what I need.

When I go in with my card I end up buying 2 for £7 books (I've stopped buying books, use library), shampoo, soap, etc, when I've got a whole drawerful of toiletries to use up.

This is the first month I've been on this thread and really glad I joined in I've definitely got more money left over by keeping track of my spending.

I've applied to start Open University in February, so need to be careful with money even more now

Today is a NSD

Meant to add - we have a HobbyCraft up the road and I am kind of proficient on a sewing machine (lines are a bit wobbly still)...

80 euros / £63 on weekly shop yesterday...my lowest spend so far! Actually we are going out to dinner a couple of times in the upcoming week so that's probably the reason for low spend.

Economy: I am not crafty but my MIL is. Some ideas based on things she does: buy a cheap plain white lamp and hand-paint the shade, buy a set of cheap glass dishes for nibbles etc and cover in pretty patterned napkins then heavily varnish over the top (hard to explain!), do a big clip-frame with a photo collage inside, or do a painting on big canvases...

Or, I have seen clocks with a space for a photograpg by each number (hard to explain again). Or a nice set of massage oils?

Good luck, Leilandri. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. :)

Boer, that's what I'll do next time I have to go to Sainsbos. Although for once, the overspend paid off, as I spent less than £20 on food last week and I think this week's will be under £35.

Pookey, I'm the opposite, as I've braved eBay recently (sold 9 of my first 12 items, but had to let some stuff, like a lovely wooden Noah's Ark I paid £30 for go for 99p and I've underestimated postage twice), but freecycle and Gumtree seem more daunting to me!

River, you must be really pleased with that! Are you in the Republic of Ireland? Food is so expensive there! (from there originally).

Just bread and milk to get today. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekends.

Economy For our wedding we bought a nice frame, inserted some paper instead of print, and asked everyone to write a message. We then added a wedding shot once they were developed, and voila! Our guestbook mounted on our wall! It's lovely, and the messages never fail to make me smile.
Maybe you could do that, but use an existing image of the couple, maybe baby photo's, instead of a wedding shot, so that it can be presented complete later in the day? Hope that makes sense!!

Another idea is to get some cheap champagne flutes, and glass paints and do some personalised glasses.. names, wedding date etc?

NSD going well here just aswell as it's chucking it down DS1 took DS2 to all sorts of places this morning, in his space rocket/bus/pirate ship made from Approved Food boxes Currently CBeeBies chill out time coffee time for me and then we are bringing out the playdough and paints....

I got a sewing machine for my birthday, so I am hoping to become proficient on it enough to recycle old clothes and be able to be a bit crafty and thrifty with it. Currently knitting a pair of mittens and a hat for a friend from my stash wool. It's going really nicely, slightly new technique to do holey pattern, took a few starts, but I got it now and I am also getting better at picking up dropped stitches and working out what went wrong. May be knitting for Christmas so long as my hands hold out.

Happy Weekend All. (mine was a NS, but an easy accomplishment given my situation, haha.)

Hi, well have had some serious budget planning this weekend. Spent about £6.60 yesterday in Aldi on fruit and veg. Had a day out in the park and a long walk so no other spending :)

Pouring with rain today so car boot was cancelled :( .Gutted after spending ages getting it ready yesterday. Held off eBay as have listed stuff on some local selling sites instead. Fingers crossed!

No spends today.

economy we had a lovely rose for our garden a few years ago as a wedding gift from my sister. It had a romantic name (which I can't remember now ) Everytime it flowers I remember our wedding day. One of the best gifts we received :)

Meal planned rest of week using up what we have in. Making own bread so just need to buy milk. Pay day Friday, can't come soon enough!

Thanks for the suggestions. I really do like the idea of a plant, but they are renting at the moment and will probably move at some point - it's a bit of a faff to move a plant if it's established itself, isn't it?

Have listed a few bits and bobs on ebay, including broken laptop for spares/repair and the pram I haven't been able to shift on local classfied sides.

Today was a NSD, yay!

However, if the weather is this dismal all week, I have a feeling that there will be at least one visit to a soft play centre (I'm at home with the boy full time).

Hi All. Sounds like some good weekends have been had!

NSD here on Saturday and Sunday was just a £19 top up shop in Tesco, but now have enough to last us till a week today according to my meal plans.

Baby Shoop is now on the cows milk....hurrah. No more expensive formula milk. .

£105 net amount made in eBay from sale of my "fat" clothes which I'm really pleased with.

Pay day tomorrow - yay! There's a lot more left in the bank account than there was last month, so thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow.

PS rabbits happy belated birthday. Sounds like you had a lovely time. Also, great about the sewing machine. I got one a couple of years ago as a gift and love it. Great for repairs and making little handmade gifts.

Wow shoop sounds like you have it sussed!

What about a patchwork quilt economy (Hobby craft too expensive for fabric though, maybe ebay?)

Dp has me making a cake/cakes for his work this week which is mounting in cost but fun!

Don't think I am doing that well compared to some of you but at least I am monitoring my spending. I am a shopaholic - even lidyl will do! seem to find it hard not to stock up. That's my challenge for the week as then we are onto the next month.

Fingers crossed for your items to sell bumpon!