Only Halloween will be scary in October - NOT our finances :)

[Leilandri]

Oldies and Newbies welcome....
Can't believe we are approaching the end of the year so fast. 9 months of money-saving, thriftiness, waste awareness. We deserve a large

riverboat, which boots did you get? I need some good waterproof ones for the shool run. Planning to go to my mum's for christmas day. I want to stay christmas eve too as there will be lots of presents under the tree and I thought dc might nt notice FC has been less generous this year - dp not so keen on this idea!

Spent about £5 today but made £15 selling some items on gumtree which were collected today - brill.

That sounds like good planning terror. Lidyl have some christmas food already does anyone reccommend?

Leilandri fingers crossed about the job!

Spendy day yesterday, out for lunch.

Today we might go swimming, only £5 to pay for DH because I get in free with gym membership. Other than that a NSD.

I would be miffed if a pair of boots lasted only one winter. Wellies would be cheaper and last longer possibly not so stylish. I have never owned nice boots due to fat calves. I live in my crocs though, so clearly do not care how I look.

Pookey - these ones: www.lahalleauxchaussures.com/bottes-laureana-41425.html but I'm in France - don't think this chain exists in the UK

Valium - my job takes me across the city daily, I have to go from office to office which involves a lot of public transport and a lot of walking. I had to have boots that were both comfy and smart, so these fit the bill, and given that last year I wore them literally EVERY day in all weathers, I think six months constant wear is OK for the price!

river ooh they are lovely!

River those are really nice - I can't walk in a heel like that though! I have a pair with a low heel which I bought from Duo for £120, they are on their fifth winter and still going strong.
Valium they are the place to go if you need boots to go around a wide calf like I do.

Even though they have the heel though, they are really comfy because the whole sole and heel is coated in a kind of springy rubbery base - I forget I'm wearing a heel most of the time!

Maybe I should have tried to find something a little more expensive that would be more durable, but I hate buying shoes, as there's always that risk that they're going to turn out not to be comfortable in the long run, and then the money is wasted. I'd rather stick to what I know!

Agree they are nice boots and not expensive either! . If they sold them here they'd be twice the price wouldnt they?.

I got my wellies in an outdoor shop, seriously cheap for kids wellies too. Dunlop for kids were only £5. I had a sneaky look for an adult size 3/4 but no luck. I got some very ugly boots with fleece lining for £25 in the end. So comfy. They have a drawstring at the top just to make them even uglier.

Evans do wide calf boots too but you probably know that. I have skinny calves so boots fit but some are baggy on me so you cant win either way really.

It took me about 45mins to fit my radiator panels I got after I sawLeilandri posting about foil refelcting the heat back off rads. We only had the heating on for a little bit last night and it was BOILING hot in here so I think they work. A 10 rad pack only did 5 rads though, We have big rads by the looks of it.

The chicken went back. I got a free range one in a fit of guilt over welfare standards.

River, it might be worth you setting up a little exporting business based around those boots! They're fab :).

Fluffy, glad you took the chicken back.

Just need some Frubes for DS's packed lunches today and that should be it.

Hope everyone has a nice Sunday.

Yay, job! Well done Leilandri!!

A fair amount spent this weekend but all planned,:

• £17 on a wedding present

-£35 on birthday present for my mum (good food subscription,cheapest I could find) -£10 on new jeans for MrEconomy, whose old ones were beyond repair -£8 on new slippers for me -£10 on sundries in Sainsbury's that I can't get in Aldi (organic milk, veggie mince (own brand, made them search through freezers our back as they had none in the store cabinet and it's cheaper than Quorn) and bananas as we are low on them.

Still need to get nephew and niece's Xmas presents this month. Then father in law's birthday present and Xmas presents for both sets of parents next month - going to do hampers, so may well start on them this month.

Still waiting for ebay buyer to pay for my broken laptop, £82. His friend is meant to be paying, but keeps putting it off. If he hasn't paid by tomorrow pm, I'm cancelling the sale and doing a second chance offer.

Todays spends - £8.42 on chicken food, bought double as was on offer.
£24 in matalan - got PJ's for both DS's. DS1 chose matching twinpacks of pj's, they're going to look so cute in the morning might make up for the 5.40am wake up call also got slipper socks for DS2 as he is walking with his walker now, but goes a bit slip-slidey on our laminate floors! Will also keep his toes toasty so another reason not to put the heating on. Got another Xmas pressie ticked off my list too
Spent £12 in Morrisons on toddler formula, and a chicken for dinner tonight.

Evening all - back after hectic few days settling into new house. Still boxes everywhere but am getting there.

Did lot of cooking yest so have started stocking freezer for week night meals - cos when there are not there I order takeaways or worse still go out

Spends since Wed
Thurs 4th £6.08 Aldi
Fri 5th £24.63 Aldi
Sat 6th £15.87 Aldi
Sun 7th NSD

So total of £76.70 altho a lot of that was initial stocking of bare cupboards so suppose it could have been worse - thats my story and I'm sticking to it

Woohoo, a no spend day for me today

With the exception of my online grocery shop for the week which has come in at £51-sum thanks for Tesco sending me a voucher for £10 off a £50 shop because I haven't shopped with them for a while.

(wonders what the other 2 weekly shops I have done were then? Scotch mist?)

wow this thread moves on fast! riverboat those boots are amazing, for boots that high to be comfortable for everyday wear.

Well I did the weekly shop on Friday, but checked my cupboards first.
Usual amount is ?140
Spent ?82 in Aldi, ?10 in Lidl, ?20 in butchers, ?8 on dognuts so ?20 under budget and even bought a few extras which will see us through to maybe 10 days rather than usual seven.

Helped with a planned night out last night and then used a Sunday lunch voucher today so that's today's planned roast chicken going towards making chicken fried rice, risotto and and some curried chicken and apple salad.

Found a bread recipe(on mumsnet!) for breadmaker that all the family like also, so no need to be buying bread anymore.

On hols from Wed 10th to 22nd so going to be putting more money saving and solving initiatives in place.

Saved ?200 on our house insurance by shopping around, and nothing to pay for first four months.

Am a member of Shop and Scan Ireland, does anyone here do that?

Ooooooh, nice boots! I've just binned a pair that split but I did get 10 years out of them, and I already have another pair (bought at half price in the sale last year) to replace them.

I've had an NSW- No Spend Weekend. I'm happy. DDs have been to a friend's to sleepover so they've had a free fun weekend, they're happy too. Can't ask for much more than that at the end of the weekend.

Yesterday was a NSD- picnic on beach and we were with my mum who bought us some (seriously yummy) ice creams. Hoping today will be a NSD except milk.

Had a bit of a spendy weekend. Have made in total £185 selling on fb this last week but have had to spend it all on stuff for the new house. Today I did a Sainsbury shop as I had no cereal or fruit for lunch boxes. Spent £24 but got quite a lot as was mostly basics. Used my last tenner and the last £12.50 on Nectar card. Now have only £3.50 left till DH gets paid on Wed. Got a buyer collecting a dress later so that'll be a fiver though. Hopefully weather will stay as lovely as it is so I can walk to school as I've no fuel at all. Been running on fumes since Sat

Spendy day today. DH off work for the week, and Dmum had my boys today. It is my Bday tomorrow AND our wedding anniversary, so we celebrated today without the boys
£15.79 on lunch out for us both, then we went uptown together which we NEVER do!
£7 in Poundland on packed lunch snacks, batteries and 2 stocking fillers.
£3 in Primark on 2 stocking fillers - Sudoku Loo Roll = Fab!!!
£2.85 on Xmas cards love Card Factory

Supposed to be a NSD tomorrow, as DS1 is in nursery and we're having an allotment day 70% chance of rain though apparently

So much for my nsd. £38 in sainsburys on food & £4 on mc donalds- no excuses for the second of those .

Wow, overwhelmed by boot-love! I wore them for the first time today and felt very shiny and special. Fluffy - actually shoes and clothes are generally more expensive here than in the UK. This particular chain is pretty good for having decent quality stuff at low prices though, but you have to go out of town to find it.

Seems like lots of people have done very well re: spending in the last few days, well done all! Wiggy, don't beat yourself up over £4! You have to give yourself little treats occasionally to keep up the old morale.

I had a no spend Sunday, which was nice. Today I just spent £22 on my return coach ticket for when I visit my parents in the UK the weekend after next.

Hopefully tomorrow and Wednesday will be NSDs, then I have a friend's birthday drinks on Thursday and a friend coming to stay for the weekend on Friday who is a bad influence spending-wise. A bit worried about the weekend with him around!

Happy birthday and anniversary Leilandri
Is it tomorrow you should hear about the job?

Good day today. £2.71 in sainsbury's, used £5 of nectar points - bread and some lunch box/after school bits. £2.70 for an hour of crèche for DS2 at the gym.

Tomorrow crèche again but no other planned spending at this stage.

Leilandri Happy birthday and happy anniversary to you and DH .

I spent £12 today (Monday) plus £6 on coffee for me post shopping and snacks for DDs, and £2.80 on road tolls. Tomorrow we're going after school to look for drama outfits, sorted the plastic tat last week now they need the actual dresses. That will entail road tolls going into town, also need to get puppy food. Tonight I mixed in adult food and in the morning it'll be purely adult food. Shhhh, don't tell my vet!

Happy birthday and anniversary, Leilandri :). Hope you have a wonderful day.
and .

I had NSD yesterday my first in a long time! We went to a garden centre to see xmas lights and bits and the animals instead of toddler group (I also wanted to see how much they are selling wreaths for so I know what to price mine at when I do my xmas fayre stalls in November.

Leilandri Happy birthday & happy anniversary to you both

We are still logging everything we spend, I was trying to stay in the black too but it's looking dodgy tbh, the credit card he just paid off with a bal trans have taken a direct debit payment for almost £60 which we really needed so it looks like we will be going overdrawn by the end of the week although I am painting on Thursday so I think I'll ask for half the money so I can top the bank up a bit.

Made another sale on fb. Only £4 but it all adds up. Or in my case keeps us fed till payday. Had hoped for a nsd 2day but needed some bits at aldi and sains. £5.02 at shops and £1 for dh's milk for his cereal at work canteen. Walked everywhere 2day and dh cycled to work as still no fuel till pay day 2mrw. Weather's lovely here though so quite enjoying it. Still got lots of things advertised on fb and got a couple of bits going at the weekend so that's all good