Judicious June... the frugaleers continue!

[ArtemisatBrauron]

For those who like to plan ahead... god why is it not pay day already...

So much for my NSD today DDs needed school materials which I didn't have at home, £3 on plastacine and markers.

Good news though, there was a mix up and our open house attempt at flogging this place is the end June rather than this weekend. So I feel moré relaxed.

Ok the sofa purchase has clearly pushed me off the wagon! Slept in and didn't have time to make a packed lunch for our day out, so will have to get sandwiches etc in town.

Music Magpie came to get the CDs yesterday, though so that's something.

Gas/electric , price comparison sites. Only put the hot water on for half an hour if you have an immersion, set water temp to 60. Buy a plug in electric monitor and find out the cheapest cycle for appliances.

Water, order the free water saving devices off the water board and use a water butt in the garden.

Sky etc, phone up to cancel and stick to your guns long enough to get everything for 13p a month or whatever they reduce it to.

Mobiles, ring up and see if they can reduce your package. You might not need 3 million minutes a month.

If you want to be hardcore, cancel the tv licence and only watch catchup and box sets, lovefilm or Netflix.

Lovefilm are often doing free trials with £15-20 cashback on topcashback.

Has the Lidl voucher disappeared? Just went to print it and can't find it anywhere...

Payday at last, woohoo! Although not going to go mad. Need to get a birthday present for a friend's 4yo, get DD's passport pictures done and grab a few things from Waitrose as our small payday treat.

Can I join in please?

We have had some big expenses over the last couple of months and really need to get my spending under control.

I do meal plan and am in the process of trying to use up what is in my freezer so that I defrost it and get organised.

I just checked the lidl page on fb and it's still there. It doesn't work on mobiles. You need to print it off. Hope that helps.

Oh, it's on their fb page. I was checking the website Thanks!

Monikar course you can, welcome

Raanoisybaby would you mind sharing your shopping list/ meal
Plan. How many people do you cater for? Thanks

I'm in if its ok.

Pay day finally but can't go mad, printed the lido voucher only to discover we only have an Aldi near us.

Cupboards and freezer are empty so master shop needed tomorrow for as little as possible.

Going to contact sky as we pay £110 a month for multi room so that needs to go!!

I NEED to get my head back in the game!
DH has been made redundant today sob He is the breadwinner - his wages pay the rent, and the bills that keep this roof over our heads.
Our overdraft is maxed, as we've been paying off other debts first. We have no savings to draw on, and my PT wages don't even cover the rent. (My wages get paid 4 weekly, and pay the groceries, and pay back debts)
I'm freaking out :(

Oh no, what a thing to happen. That's shitty news to get on a Friday.

Does he get any redundancy pay?

So sorry To hear that Leilandri

Sorry to hear that Leilandri. Do get on the CAB website as soon as you can. My dh was made redundant from a big firm 2 years ago but they didn't know their legal responsibilities and we very nearly missed out on 4 weeks worth of pay.

On a personal note I think we may finish this month a teeny bit in credit although we're away next week so I may blow it all on ice creams.

:( news, Leilandri. Research redundancy and benefits entitlements this weekend and claim on Monday, or the day after his job ends. He will surely be entitled to contribution-based JSA and maybe you will be able to claim Working Tax Credits for your job, as well as Housing and Council Tax Benefits.

.

I needed bread and coffee today, so I bought moré chocolate biccies too and then remembered I was out rice, so that cost me £9 all together. DDs are playing hockey I'm the morning, rain permitting, and from there we're going into town To pick up a few bits that OH needs. He's been paid so we now have enough To cover 4 months expenses if he goesn't spend moré money on DDs we have our annversary coming up, I think it's the week after father's day. Not our best example of planning.

The GMB is an excellent union to join, £8 a month subs.

They can give you a lot of advice about procedure and support, it's been well worth it for us.

That's terrible news Leilandri. Do contact the CAB as there must be some help available. There is a certain length of employment where there's a statutory requirement to pay redundancy pay. I don't know what it is (2 yrs?) but the CAB would advise.

We have a house :-) It was a very leisurely completion day as we're not moving yet. Picnic in a local park with DSis and Dniece, just parking to pay, then met with DH to fetch the keys and explore our new territory. We had a celebratory takeaway - £14 that might have been more usefully spent at B&Q but what the hell!

Nothing really planned for today. DH works Saturdays so we might stay local and try for a NSD, or I if I can face it I might drag the DC to get some paint tester pots - will probably require a bribe though!

AdoraBell Thank you

Leilandri I am so sorry to hear your news. Others have made good suggestions about finding out what you can claim.

BriansBrain Your thoughts on Sky have made me think. I believe we pay about £65 on Sky - I need to check which channels we have as I think we still have all the children's ones and DD is 17 so I really need to do something about that.

Ohhelpohnoitsa That is a lot of food for £43. A agree it is a bit pudding-heavy but I tend to do a proper pudding when we have a jacket potato tea so we are all filled up. I make a Value Crumble which is really quick to assemble and costs 85p. I get my pyrex dish and empty a tin of value peaches (32p) into it. I cut them up roughly in the dish with a knife and fork. Then I pour over a bag of Tesco Crumble Mix (36p) and cook in the oven with the potatoes. We have it with a tin of custard (17p) and it's really nice. Plenty for 3 of us and there would be enough for 4 people.

Hello everyone, can I join in please? A combination of building works and unexpected car costs have tipped us into the abyss this month. I really want to get back on track ASAP as planning DC2 soon, and so need to have our finances under control before maternity leave (fingers crossed this will be within the next year).

Trying to start June off with a NSD...here goes!!

Value crumble sounds ace! Thanks for that. Will post my plan list later on

Well, after a dreadful April when I was moving continents and getting ready for the new baby, May was quite spendy also so I need to get back on track with the little things. Especially budgeting and only getting out the money that I need - too many little spends on unimportant things.

In wonderful news though, something must have gone right during the rest of the year, because I've managed to pay off the £10,000 loan I took out in December. I had borrowed the money from my aunt as part of my house deposit and she suddenly asked for it back. So I took the loan, but was determined to pay it back before my maternity leave. I was a month late, but still very very happy to have that monkey off my back! It also frees up £500 a month, which means I can actually live within my means for the next few months - assuming I can go back to budgeting!