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

[economymode]

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

Today was supposed to be an NSD, but that ended up not happening.

I read some online reviews of the birthday present I bought in the shop yesterday, that all said it was crap. "No problem", I thought, "I'll return it and get something else". Saw a lovely childrens book in a bookshop on my lunchbreak, so I bought that instead. After work, I went back to the first shop to get the gift that I bought yesterday refunded...and it turns out they don't do refunds, only exchange for gift vouchers or other products. I had forgotten how common that is in this country, having been so used to the standard full-refund practice of all large shops in the UK.

So, I have ended up shelling out an ?10.00 / £7.92 today on the book, and gaining a ?10.00 / £7.92 Toys R Us voucher. Will just have to hope that we have a genuine need to buy something from Toys R Us before the end of the month to relieve my guilt...

riverboat

No-one refunds here, it's an alien concept. Tomorrow I have to change the school outfits I bought yesterday.

Oh no Adora - so you'll end up paying out twice for the school outfits? Or can you at least do an exchange, if not a refund?

Do you find that there are "bargains" available in the country you live in, in the same way as in the UK? I must admit that I am a bit jealous reading about the Boots offers and vouchers and everything upthread. I love how supermarkets and big shops in the UK always have 2 for 1 offers and genuine bargains to be snapped up. That just exists much less here. I always end up spending a fortune whenever I go back to the UK because I get so swept away by the novelty of all the 2-for-1 and 3-for-2 offers everywhere!

Yep, all sorted with my neighbour, Adora. I made her brownies, to show there were no hard feelings.

£3.48 today on bananas, cocoa powder and cooking marg.

I fell foul of the no-refunds business here in the UK a couple of days ago - the two maternity dresses I bought in the New Look sale don't fit that well. But I can only exchange them. It's not a huge problem, but annoying nonetheless.

I'm a Bravissimo girl too economy I usually go once a year, near my Bday, as our closest store is Cardiff which is nearly 2hr drive away I buy in bulk, usually 3 or 4, and then try to only wear 2 everyday, so I have 1 or 2 for "best. That way my boobs gradually sag as the year goes on, but get hoyked up again for special occasions

Glad you liked the chicken riverboat Your version with the beans sounds yummy, will have to give that a go.

NSD here today. Took DS1 back to nursery after 6wks off hoo-bloody-ray and got cracking down the allotment with DS2, who mainly helped by eating mud, and my dear old Dad. AND sold more baby bits for another £3 :)

Spendy day tomorrow. We were going to take the boys to Legoland next Tues, to redeem some free Sun vouchers, but we can't justify the extra petrol etc at the moment as it's a 3hr drive from us. So I am taking the boys to a local farm/adventure park tomorrow with some fellow mummy-and-baby friends. Adult entry is £4.70. My DS's get to go in free. Will take a picnic, and bottled drinks. DS1 will want a donkey ride which is another £1, and I expect I'll get nagged for an icecream, but hopefully can come away with precious little change from £10. Or atleast that is the plan!!

That should be two bras for everyday USE. I don't use 2 bras everyday, I don't need quite that much support!!

I did have to read that a few times before I got it, Leilandri! I'm a convert to Bravissimo, kind of hoping my boobs stay big enough to be able to buy bras in there again after pregnancy.

Did you get the issue sorted with your bank and the fraudulent cash withdrawals , by the way? I think that was you...

It was me. Not really. The ploce investigated but couldn't really get any leads.
Unfortunately withdrawing large sums of cash hasn't been unusual for us. Until we moved in February we were drawing out several hundred pounds a month in cash to pay rent to M-i-L, and the storage place where we had our stuff. We even paid our deposit and 1st months rent for our current home in cash.
I did have a rant talk to the branch manager. We resolved by being compensated half the amount stolen, so £150. And having an extension to our free overdraft for 12months, which in my current unemployed state, is very helpful. I have also put in a claim to our home insurance, worth a try. Not 100% happy with the outcome, still pissed that someone got away with our hard earned money, but the best of a hopeless situation...

riverboat

we do get some things on offers, supermarkets trying to outdo each other, but not as good as the Boots vouchers. I am hoping to exchange the outfits tomorrow.

economy glad you sorted the money out with the neighbour.

NSD here today. Out doing errands tomorrow, vet bill is back in my hands as OH hasn't managed to draw the cash out for it. Yesterday I took out grocery money for next week to put in my local bank account. They keep emailing OH to ask if he wants my account closed as it doesn't see much activity. As I said before, England circa 1950.

Leilandri

Glad you got some of the money back. I too was a tad confused about your bra habits, but it makes perfect sense now.

My local paper (the one with the property sections) has a £5 off a £30 spend at aldi. And a coupon for a free bag of cookies at sainsburys.

Check yours to see if it has it, mine published by central independant news.

I dont know if any of you go on S&B but setting lotion is being talked about a lot on there and it's fab. Very cheap in boots right now as it's 3 for 2 and gets you a £5 No 7 voucher.

Hmm, I might ask my mum to go into Boots for me...

Pretty good day today for me:

?2.75 / £2.19 on wrapping paper and ribbony stuff.

Then ?88 / £69 on the weekly shop, which I am pretty pleased about. I made an effort to go to a supermarket other than my normal one - it's definitely cheaper, but it's at the end of a really long, bumpy, pot-holy road that I hate driving down in my tiny car, so I usually avoid it. But this time I braved the bumps, and I think it was definitely worth it. I also went down a brand on a few products and resisted non-essential, snacky temptations. Yay me.

FluffyCloud77 What's setting lotion? Is that for your hair?

I had a cheapish day, exchanged the school outfits, no extra cost, coffee with my friend was £3. including tip. That got me a double espresso and two half size criossants. Lunch, too busy cleaning to make something before I left £6. Tights go with the outfits, £4. Roads £3, refulled car, about £60, not quite sure now. DDs spent some more of their credit from Bank of Mum but the bank is now closed for a few weeks.

Setting lotion is the really old fashioned stuff our nans used to use for setting their curls.

It's fab, I only used a tiny bit (not enought really) but my style held which is a minor miracle for my hair as it's heavy and wants to be dead straight with an annoying flicky bit at the back .

It makes your hair all shiny too and full of body. I'm going to put it into a spray bottle later and have another go. I'm also considering taking it to my hairdresser next month and asking him to use it so my style lasts...Which I'm sure he'll be delighted about .

Im doing really well with the NSD's. Taking left over soup, veggie curry etc to work every day.

DH getting on board and will list random stuff we dont need on ebay, or someone on here mentioned musicmagpie for discs, so will try that too.

Can anyone explain the Boots voucher? In the past I've just binned them because I've assummed it's just a way of luring me to buy more stuff I don't need! If it's £5 off, do you have to have a minimum spend? I don't have a favored skin care brand, but slather on Nivea every night. I also had a sample of some lovely Estee Lauder foaming cleanser - can anyone recommend something similar that the voucher can be used on?

I haven't spotted any bargains to share, but I have registered on the BBC site for free audience tickets to forthcoming shows - a friend and I fancy free tickets to watch Strictly this winter!

The boots voucher is £5 off No7 skincare plus £3 off No7 makeup.

I use the hot cloth cleanser, it's on offer 3 for 2 then I use my voucher too so a £10 cleanser costs me £5 each.

Other people use it on handcream etc.

Ah, ok I get it now Fluffy, thank you. I will have a look.

Thanks for the setting info, Fluffy

A big to Fluffy for all links and tips.

Another NSD, mostly due to my benefits being stopped and me now being in dire circumstance.

Oh dear Rabbits, are you coping ok?

I shall, yes. I have a great bunch of friends and lots of support at the children's school. They gave me a token for the food bank, so we got a (massive) amount of food to last us, and potentially again should I need it, plus all the mums from my Due In 2008 group have been sending me bundles of clothes for my DD because she suddenly got too big for her old stuff. All my direct debits are paid, and most of my rent too, so by the time I get things sorted I should have a back payment in time for next months bills. Still got child benefit and tax credits too, so it's just a case of being very careful for a few weeks.

And you never know, I might finally get my DLA decision after twenty plus weeks, would be perfect timing right now, lol. The key is to never let it get you down, there is always a solution, and there are always worse situations than yours.

Rabbits, you have a great spirit, I'll bet you are a great role model to the DCs. Fingers crossed on your DLA.

Ditto what Downfall said - your attitude is inspiring Rabbit! I hope your benefits get sorted out soon, the stuff I am reading in the papers every day about the way the government is ruthlessly cutting support for people who need it really sickens me.

I have texted my mum, who is fanatic about snapping up bargains, using vouchers, buying in the sales etc, and asked her to get the boots hot cloth cleanser for me, since I've wanted to try one like that for ages

Today will be a NSD for me unless anything drastically unexpected happens. Quiet day at home, before we go to the birthday party tonight which looks like its going to be a pretty lavish affair...

Hope you're ok rabbits. I live on benefits and it's hard (and that's when they're being paid on time!) We're rooting for you

I'm tempted to go into Boots, but I've managed to avoid them for over a year. I've got an entire drawerful of toiletries to use up so I'll resist!