November Numbercrunchers *blows the budgeteering bugle*

[claretandamberforever]

In here please.

Feel free to post a daily spending diary, to ask for advice or just for a general money moan.

Hi - can I join? (Waving)

I'm a single mum with 2 DCs. Am strictly budgeting to get rid of overdraft and start actually saving! How did I get to this age without actually saving anything

Anyway, it's lovely to "meet" you all.

I try to buy everything I need for the week in Saturday and then not spend till the following Saturday....6 NSDs in a row! Managed it for the last 3 weeks it helps that I work full time Monday-Friday so not opportunity to spend.

Hi BusyLizzie and welcome

I Spent £16 in the pharmacy, £25 having DD's hair cut, still no hot water To wash it, and far too much but can't remember How much in the supermarket. Also £2 on a coffee just because I had To Get away from the house. I'm hoping for a better day Tomorrow.

Hi Busylizzie! 6 NSDs in a row is impressive.

Last night was good and bad, money wise, in equal measures. We went to a cheap concert with friends, but the husband kept buying drinks so DH felt he had to reciprocate and ended up (a) hammered (he doesn't drink very often) and (b) spending way more than we intended. However, our nanny didn't charge us babysitting as I gave her an extra half day off a few weeks ago for some appointments, so it all worked out I suppose! Would have loved to save the money entirely, but tickets for concert were booked months before frugality drive so felt we had to go!

Hoping for a LSD today, only have some business posting (am self employed) and won't spend on anything more.

Busylizzie Wow, 6 NSDs in a row! I am impressed that you can go a whole week - I often think the key to not spending is not to go to the shops. Needing milk sends me to the supermarket and then I end up buying other bits I wouldn't necessarily have bought. My mother freezes milk - perhaps I should try this.

Hey all. Just hanging around the house waiting to go to work - first xmas present purchased today for DS1, a onesie costing £12. I did want to buy him a football kit but our club's website is poor! I kept pressing checkout but then nothing happened so I closed it down in disgust.

Forgive me frugallers because I have sinned. While I was in Asda I bought a sandwich to take into work with me! (and some Sushi, and some sweets) £4.50 - EEK I won't be doing that again.

Has everyone joined up to see film first? I got free tickets last night to go and see 'Saving Mr Banks' which was something I probably wouldn't have gone to see otherwise. I don't get many invites through per year but it's a free night out. Didn't even need to pay for parking (woo).

And my bad, bad pen pal told me about two brilliant books which I looked up on Amazon and HAD. TO. BUY (£3.35 in total). Haven't done my accounting for today and yesterday yet though. Need to book car in for MOT but can't decide whether to get it done this Friday or wait for next Friday?

monikar we freezer milk - I buy 4 pinters (8 pinters take FOREVER to defrost) and freeze most of them. Our fridge is tiny so we can't have more than one bottle of milk in there at a time.

Have just totted up my expenses for the weekend. £105, including all food (including a supermarket shop as my relative had no food in the house). I had mentally allowed about £100, so I'm not thrilled but not disappointed either.

NSD, and going to do a bit of work tonight to ease my overdraft a bit more, a couple of hours' work in the evening often makes me anywhere from £20-£100 (my etsy shop - a bit of twitter, blogging and relisting items makes people visit). I don't normally have the energy to do it too often thanks to hideous pregnancy exhaustion, but am determined to do it more than I have been.

Welcome busylizzie!

I freeze milk too monikar. I have skimmed and DS has full but it's obviously cheaper to buy in bulk. I just decant some and freeze it. It's particularly practical now im managing with my outside fridge (window ledge) till my new one arrives on Saturday.

I bought milk and bananas today for £1.39. Also paid for next batch of swimming lessons for DS at £73.80. That included renewing my city card which gives me various discounts in local attractions. I budgeted for that so it's not out of my weekly budget.

£10 at a school PTA event. And £17.05 posting eBay parcels, but that was already paid for.

I wish I could freeze milk, but I don't like the taste of it once it's been frozen. We don't use that much here anyway- usually between half and one pint a day for both of us.

Welcome lizzie .

Hi all,

Thanks for warm welcome

NSD for me.....work all day and then went to gold with kids....they have a lesson but it's prepaid as of before half term.....had their tea as a pack up (yellow sticker sausage rolls, basics crisps, fruit and basics penguin style biscuit) and I had tea in a flask. Had stew and red wine at my mums on way home...

Am watching Holby and keeping an eye on MODs 'woo' thread too.....it's exciting and scary

Everyone's welcome here.

I know we have lurkers here!

£5 aldi voucher in Thursdays mirror.

Golf not gold!?

NSD today. 3Frugalthings: after keeping an eye on daily gas/elec gas was higher than same time last week, suspect thermostat too high in the day so have reduced to 16degrees. Have been super organised and taken in tmrws lunch today as Weds the only day i cant carry a lunch in and ended up buying an expensive lunch last Weds. Had dinner at friends house this evening and took some homemade shortbread, from store cupboard, as a contribution - greatly received!

Brr, is it me or is it getting cold?! Must. Not. Turn. Heating. Up!

Épica fáil Today

Went shopping after school for PJs for the school tríp. Not a problem as I had things To return. Spent £40, including returning aforementioned ítems.

Also had snacks, £20 for the three of us. Was lovely but not necasseraly To spend that much.

Tomorrow I have To Go into town but can do that while DDs are in school. We now have hot water so providing it doesn't Go again I won't be stuck here waiting for engineers.

And I lost a Pre paíd Pilates class yesterday because the engineer turned up as I was about To leave so I couldn't give the requisit amount of notice.

Ooh, another bid on my sewing machine!

Aiming to only spend on posting today, don't think we need anything else that can't wait till Aldi shop tomorrow.

My lovely stepmother offered to send the DCs advent calendars yesterday, so that's a chunk of money saved (we set the bar high last year with playmobil ones, she is buying Lego ones apparently).

Didn't do much work last night, was absolutely knackered and in bed by 8:45pm, but made a whopping £10. It all helps I suppose...

Adora meant to say what a shame about the Pilates lesson, that's irritating timing!

turnoff I always find biscuits etc are well received - I have a standby ginger biscuit recipe that I do for anything where we need to take a gift.

Possibly and ilove - I will start freezing my milk I think - I also buy the 4 pints and it would keep me out of the supermarket. Do you defrost by leaving it out on the side or does it defrost in the fridge?

Turnoff it is so cold! I was frozen this morning so I put another big cardigan on over my normal clothes, then a scarf and then an anorak to take DD to the station at 7.30. I had so much bulk on me that I could hardly get my anorak zipped up! I love it when people make me baked things as I never bake so it is always a real treat.

Well 2 NSD's and this should be my third as I am poorly with sore throat and bad cold. One way to save money. I will need to shop on Thursday though as I am away for the weekend with Ds's 2&3 so will have to leave ready meals for ds1 and dh. Hotel paid for months ago but will still be quite a spendy weekend.

Fluffy ALDI voucher in the mirror - will that be in a Scottish paper? I think it was somewhere last time and I missed it.

monikar I leave it in the sink to defrost overnight. If it's really cold it's still a bit frozen in the morning, so I try to take it out mid-afternoon on winter rather than just before bed, iykwim. Takes about 24 hours to defrost I the fridge IME.

Its in the record in Scotland.

Thanks Fluffy, worth getting it!

I'm back again...had a frugal breakthrough last night as I cut my own hair for the first time and it looks really good. Admittedly it couldn't have looked much worse than it did pre-cut, but I am so chuffed and can see myself saving £30 x4 over the next year. I even cut a fringe in and it looks great :) Just need to learn how to do DS's with clippers and we'll be hairdresser-free (I can do toddler trims for DD and DH has no hair, lol).

Christmas shopping is going well - we've agreed a £5 limit among adults, with a kind of 'amusing tat' theme - I got Danny Dyer's autobiography for BIL :D Got a great deal from the Book People actually, various bits in their flash sale, plus two codes meant I got three presents delivered for about £11.

DH and I had a long talk at the weekend about our long term financial situation and we've agreed that we need to make next year our crazy megasave year to catch up to where we should be. It will no doubt be painful but if we stick to it, we should hopefully be able to then save like a normal family as of 2015. Quite excited in a strange kind of way

NSD, but only because the weather has been too awful to nip out for some milk. DS has promised to go for it before school tomorrow, so we'll see.

My John Lewis card and vouchers came today, so looking forward to treating myself to a free coffee and cake next week .

Thanks possibly and great result on the advent calenders. I buy Those discusting chocolate ones as we have far too much stuff in this house already.

Had To Go into town proper Today so I made a small start on Christmas shopping, just a few stocking fillers for DDs, cheap but fancy manicura bits and a bar of naice chocolate each. That came To about £14.

Another £8 on purifying whatever -it-is for DD2's turtle, she'll pay me back tho.

£5 contribución for a school BBQ

We've been granted a delay in paying To register DDs for school next year seriously, in what fucking alternativa reality do you have To register them To stay at the same school every year? Oh Yeah, the one I'm living in
because someone said they were going To make on offer on the house, but nada yet.

DDs are having friends sleep over this weekend and DD1 seems To think I'm going To do a 40km round tríp for Pizza Hut pizzas, silly girl, I'm going To buy supermarket pizzas in the nearest supermarket.

Well done on your new hair cut Bitches and good luck with your plans for 2014.