Just say NOvember

[economymode]

Want to cut back on unnecessary spending this November? Then you've come to the right place!

I'm starting off the month by seeing if I can switch to cheaper fuel tarrifs...

Ooh very exciting. I did ours in July but I'm still waiting for the cashback off energylinx from Quidco.

I would love a woodburner, I could go foraging for wood.

And the good news is that I don't think we can. My brain is now addled from adding up kwH...

Hi, Fluffy - I used uswitch and it couldn't find a cheaper deal. We currently use EquiGas (which is supplied by Southern Electric) and I got a letter this morning saying prices are going up next month, which prompted me to look. Is there anyone NOT putting up prices?

I dont think eon will until January but that's not long.

What are you paying per kwh? we pay 11p for electric and 3p for gas with a standing charge of about 50p a day.

Could you insulate? free cavity wall or loft is available from British Gas at the moment.

We're as insulated as we can be. Not sure of the exact costs without digging out our bills again!

Picked up a breadmaker from freecycle today - don't think I'll have time to make it by the hand when I have two small people in the new year.

£1.20 on posting maternity allowance form 1st class, but that's it for spending today.

Thanks for the new thread economy great title :)

We moved into this house in February, and it was registered with Npower. I did a DD for £80 a month, duelfuel, as they weren't sure how much to charge us until our 1st bill (October) and that was all we could afford. Have recieved our bill now, and they want to increase our DD to £190 per month from December [hangry] We have looked into the Utility Warehouse, and our bill with them will be £93 per month - much better!! They aren't on comparison sites, and they don't advertise, they rely on word of mouth from satisfied customers. But google them, they might be cheaper that your current provider.

New job is going well. I work 10-3 on Tues to Friday in the Customer Café, and it is murderous!! Everything aches, and I have blisters on my blisters but I keep think of the extra £500 or so a month that I'm earning and it keeps me going!

Spent £7.83 today on some reduced halloween bits, including a costume for DS2 for next year. Shall box it all up safely and bung in the loft, and be smug when everyone is panic buying again next year!

Put a big blob of petroleum jelly on the sore bits and it will reduce the friction on them. I'm a podiatrist and I do this if I get sore areas. On my feet (clarification). .

Good planning with the Halloween stuff!

Had a mini-epiphany this evening. DH likes cheese and will eat whatever is in front of him as long as it's expensive artisan cheese. Tonight we were having bread, cheese and deli bits. Usually I would have put the whole cheese out and he'd have eaten the lot but tonight I just put out for portions (one each). He was quite happy and I saved half the nice cheese. I did the same with the pastrami I bought and now I have two "free" lunches. The only question is why has it taken me so long to work this out???

Something else I did today,inspired by the idea of trading down brands, was trade down our lunch. Normally we'd have found a lovely cafe and spent £30 but I found an adequate but less smart cafe and had a perfectly good lunch for less than £15. Ideally I'd have taken a packed lunch but we didn't start from home but I'm still happy with my "savings".

Well done Helena, my OH will also eat what ever is in front of him. The worst thing with him though, is if he does toast because he's hungry. He assumes everyone else is also ravenous. Once, many years ago, I had two packs of crumpets and 1 of English muffins which I wasn't quick enough to bung in the freezer. He toasted all of them, plus half a loaf of bread, then asked who wanted some. He realised his mistake when he put 90% of the the toasted bread products in the bin. Okay, rant over[hgrin].

I've had an NSD today, DDs have lots of goodies from trick or treating so I won't need to buy sweets for a long time[hsmile]

I second the Vaseline on sore feet, not enough to make our shoes slip off tho, just a thin layer. It really does help.

www.freestuff.co.uk/2-off-foxs-christmas-pudding/

If you can still get this voucher this christmas pudding is £2.50 in sainsburys at the moment so only 50p with a voucher.

The voucher expired on Sunday but later printed vouchers may be valid for longer.

Ha, I just got ebay! They sent me a £5 voucher to use with a mobile app, but I just thought I'd see if it would work on the desktop version of the site, and it does. I probably shouldn't be so chuffed about it, but I do like getting one up on big corporations!

Went into town quickly this morning and got 2 cookbooks for £10 from WH Smith (they were £9.99 each, or 2 for £10). They will do for my brother's Christmas present. River Cottage Everyday and a Hairy Bikers pie book.

I also discovered I have £60 on my Boots advantage card, but I have no idea what to get!

Ooh thanks for the recipe book tip off. I have a £15 WH Smith gift voucher!

With the Boots points could you get some presents in their 3 for 2 offer? You'd get a lot with £60.

Helena, I think they are mostly 'last season's' cook books, but still good stuff. Also, a lot of the current books are half price. I used a book token I was given in July (not had a chance to go in a book shop since then - toddlers just like to 'rearrange' and I was on my own this morning) to get Lily Vanilli's Sweet Tooth book for £10 (well, free as it was a £10 voucher) - usually £20.

I really want to buy something for me from Boots (selfish!) and I don't like smellies etc. Also, I've pretty much done my xmas shopping and hate buying smellies/bath stuff for others (probably because I hate receiving it so think why would others want it!). I did look at the other gift ideas when I popped in, but there was nothing I could see that people would actually want, more like things that they'd think 'ooh, that's nice but I have no use for it', if you see what I mean, or overpriced gift sets.

I'm being a right grump, aren't I?! I have seen a babyliss big hair spinning brush thing but I want to try before I buy, in case it's pants on my fine, yet copious, hair (it costs £45, so it would be most of my points, don't want to waste them).

economy

Repeat after me - it is not selfish to use my Boots points on myself -

That aside, could you stock up on consumables for the new baby if you can't find anything for yourself?

I spent £8 yesterday. Had to change school shoes and no one here does actual refunds unless goods are faulty. So DD2 has a lovely pair of Hush Puppy sandals because I couldn't find anything I like. Her summer sandals would normally be much, much, much cheaper than Hush Puppy's women's range, but not this time

Hello everyone. Didn't manage to post on here towards the end of last month, we were away and it has been half term so chaos!

Thursday was a NSD
Friday - DH and I went out to the cinema for the first time in 3 years! Tickets were £21, popcorn etc £10, and the babysitter was £26. We never go out so that was a real treat! :) Weekly shop also delivered for £90.
Today - £296 to the plumber :( Our shower has leaked into the wall behind and the whole thing needed re-grouting. The actual wall is damp and mouldy, so I am thinking of phoning our insurance company to see if we can get the wall replaced. Can't face the upheaval really, but the mould is really bothering me. Argggh.
We are going to a firework display later which will be £15 for tickets, and I need to buy a crusty loaf of bread to have with dinner - we've got friends coming to the display with us.
Tomorrow - MIL and step-FIL are coming for the day, NSD because all the food came yesterday in my shopping.

I've managed to get DH to sit down this morning and actually go through direct debits etc, and it transpires he thought he had more spare cash each month than he does. Not by very much, but at least we know now and we're all set for this month.
I need to do the Christmas shopping, I've only got a few bits so far, but all the money for presents and days out etc is sat in a separate account so I'm not worried about the cost, but I'm keen to get some bargains and have some left ready towards next year if I can.

Leliandri - glad the job is going well :)

ecenomy - I spend my Boots points on nice bath or skin things for myself

helena - good call on the cheese. DH also eats whatever is there with no regard for either the cost or whether anything might be wanted for another day!

Hi folks. I finally had the warm front surveyor out- they will fund the total cost if redoing the loft insulation if the landlord agrees - he better as it won't cost him a penny! Warm front is ending in April - check now if you think you might be entitled. It's on incomes below £15k before tax credits.

Has some success selling baby kit on eBay and Facebook just need to get rid of bastard buzz and I might actually have some cash!

hello, can I join?

Rubbish financial start to the month, but we've just sat down with The Spreadsheet and got organised for November.

There needs to be more NSDs and less frittering .

Off to make a meal plan...

Hello Rarely and welcome, we're a friendly bunch of penny p

Hello Rarely and welcome, we're a friendly bunch of penny pinchers , you'll find lots of tips on here.

Oops

Can I join? Hi everyone!

My tips:

Started shopping at Aldi (saving roughly £20 a week)
Joining TalkTalk and getting rid of Sky (saving at least £30 a month)
Buying a slow cooker (not sure of the saving but heard they use the energy of a lightbulb!!)
Going to take DS out of nursery as its just not economically viable for us anymore (saving £206 a month)
Opened up fire and having chimney swept (again, not sure of saving yet)

DP is self employed and work is quiet right now so having to really tighten belts

Hello Betty yes, come on in, the more the merrier my OH is also self employed and we're scraping the barrel at present.

Ali

Good luck with the wall. Our shower wall -fully tiled- is bowing. Builder swore blind it was tiled like that I'm convinced it's getting worse with every shower.

Aldi are doing cheap firewood next week for real fires, or contact a local tree surgeon and ask how much for wood. You just need somewhere to season it.

hi betty - we rarely use our slow cooker, but am determined to start. I'm just puzzled about cooking sth ALL day - surely just cheaper to cook it for 30 mins in the evening . Anyway, am making this tomorrow as found some pork in the freezer.

We're eating through the freezer this week - step one to a frugal month.

And it's free listings on ebay this weekend .

Hi All! A lovely shiny new thread with a super snazzy title :).