Marching into a miserly march with the mumsnet frugaleers

[Fluffycloudland77]

Newbies, helpful tips & lurkers always welcome.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1600030-Small-money-saving-habits-petty-even

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1543785-your-top-tips-for-money-saving-and-a-more-frugal-life

spotty I feel embarrassed that I am about 1.5/2 miles away from 2 Lidls and 2 Aldi and it feels too far. TBH though I hate driving and I hate food shopping. Put the two together and I am a super stressed bunny.

Thanks, have added meat and champagne. Must remember to amend the order

I have to drive further than that to get to the main road

Thanks adora! No peanut butter but have the others... What are you suggesting??

Spotty* Glad I could pay it forward

Ended up spending today.

£1 on 2 tubes of anusol. Horrible piles since DS was born and when I saw it was on sale in Sainsburys for 50p a time I took advantage.
£1.50 on 8 bread rolls as had some friends coming for lunch
£3 on cheese (£2.51 for 1 block £3 for 2)
30p on a lemon (expensive in local convenience store but I forgot I needed one)
£1.30 on soft cream cheese which was only ingrediant missing from this weks meal plan.
£3.65 on vitimin tablets for DD (she's been really ill and needs building up again)

Total £10.75. Monthly total £199.21

Still proud of myself though. My friend asked me if I wanted ot go to local pub for breakfast after school drop off. I said no and invited her round instead and we both had baked beans and scrambled egg on toast

Another frugal win. My neighbour keeps chickens. She came round today and asked if we could look after them for a week starting from Monday and take all the eggs as a thank you - 4 chickens laying one egg each for 7 days :)

Have to spend tomorrow as need to get my friend a house warming gift as we're visiting her in her new home for first time after school tomorrow. Also have my mum staying and she keeps on about all sorts of things she'd like to do none of which are cheap, guess I@m going to have to give in on something but it is NOT going to be the trip to ikea if I can help it. I always spend loads there even if I need nothing

PS thought I had loads of cheese but DP had some friends round on Sunday night and it seems they all had cheese on toast and didn't make me any!! grrr

Thanks for the snack ideas cadbury. Have done a menu plan and will be double checking tomorrow before I go food shopping to see if any shaving off can be done!

lists good news on the eggs. We go through loads and I love it when my mum visits as her neighbour always gives her tons of duck and chicken eggs to bring - I normally have a mad baking session and we eat a lot of scrambled eggs for a few days

And final post of the day.. just got up to £15 on Valued Opinons and claimed an amazon voucher. Down to 25p now will take a long way to get back up to £15.

Also have £20.65 on One Poll so half way to cashing out there (£40).

I have £18.90 on inbox pounds so only need £1.10 there before I can claim a £20 cheque. Very slow as I only do searches, read emails and watch videos and rarely earn more than 18p a day and often not that!

Nearly half way to a £25 amazon voucher on Swag bucks as well but don't like the site so will take ages to get there maybe in time for Christmas

Maybe a sandwich, pita bread pocket, or pasta salad. Dependíng what else and How much time you have, NK. For my DDs I throw together chilled pasta, tuna and frozen veg. Sweet corn is a fav but any veg works.

I did Mexican Style mince tonight, with beans. Enough left over for 3 people instead of the usual 1.

Just made easter nésts with DDs. Seems a bit early but in fact it's the first time I've done them as never had the mini eggs here úntil this year. DD1 saw a huge egg, £20, that I will not be buying.

Really need To cut back over the next few weeks, there have been lot's of business costs with very little income recently.

Well done on your breakfast with your friend Lists and at the free eggs.

Should be a nsd here. Off to nursery for 'mums morning' so get free coffee and cake with my best friend

My American Express cashback just became payable & it's the amount I need to buy a compost maker & water butt! Dh's hasn't even confirmed yet on Quidco.

I never get anywhere on opinion sites, I don't seem to ever fulfill their requirements for the surveys.

I'm the same fluffy - I signed up for a few sites but was hardly eligible. I'm clearly a v boring type of person!

Food shopping today, plus a few bits for the hospital bag. Was looking like being really low, but have realised we need toilet cleaner, baby wipes, tea bags and a couple of other restock things that will push it up.

A good day yesterday, less than a fiver on a top up shop (not tempted into buying any extras). Last night I met up with some friends (we meet once a month) and went for a walk and then a drink. When I checked on the pub website to confirm where it is, I found a voucher for a free drink if you sign up to their email. So a no spend evening

Today I'm going to town with my mum, the only extravagance will be lunch out at a cafe but as she helps us out with babysitting and some childcare in the school hols it's a small price to pay. I'm taking some shoes to the repair shop in the hope that they can be fixed to get some more life out of them. Also need to buy some essentials for dh; we buy so few clothes but some of his are now threadbare so it needs to be done.

Heard on the news this morning about the 1% public sector pay rise. Dh and I are both public sector, I'm NHS so won't get anything unless we agree to changes to our T&C and dh is in an area where you only get the pay rise if you sign up to the generally worse new T&C so a fifth year of pay freeze for him and 1% in 5 years for me. The problem is that the government have got through so far by saying "we're all in it together" ie public and private sectors. That's fine so long as when private sector wages go up, ours do too, but I don't see that happening.

Sorry whinge over, I know we're in a much better place than lots but there's no wonder most people feel things getting ever harder when wages just don't keep up with the cost of living.

I'm another one who never gets picked for surveys!

Should be a NSD here as bought my lunch into work with me. Am working overtime today so that will add into my wage next month and have transferred some of my paypal profit into my savings account to try and build an emergency fund.

Did my online shop at tesco last night as I had a £20 off voucher and I actually struggled to spend the required £60 to get the discount! That has never happened before! I meal planned for ten days though so should have enough to last a while. Just have to stay awake past ten tomorrow night to wait for delivery

Northender I think people who haven't had a a pay cut in real terms over the last few years are few and far between now . DH is private sector and got his first pay rise in 6 years a few months ago, despite moving jobs to a more senior role 2 years ago. His salary used to be enough to live on quite comfortably, now it is nowhere near - we couldn't possibly afford for me not to work and still live in a house big enough for 4 (soon to be 5) of us.

I am feeling v chuffed as have just achieved 95% of the week's food shopping for £52. Need to get lamb mince and paneer cheese, which won't add more than another £8, surely? So hopefully a week's shop for £60! That included a couple more bits for my hospital bag - chocolate and dried fruit - so would have been about £3.50 cheaper were it not for that. I have had to commit to making 4 meals from the store cupboard/freezer to make it happen, but bugger it, if we have to live off jacket potatoes (have big sack of potatoes) for the last two days of next week we'll manage it! This is the first time in as long as I can remember that I've done a genuinely cheap food shop

Northender I'm nhs too but not on a pay band as I work in a drs surgery which is owned by the partners I get paid an appalling amount of money and could earn more in tesco even though I do a really difficult job.

Dh had his first pay rise in 6 years a few months ago. Obviously it was better than nothing but I suspect in real terms we still not as well off as we were. It's made more difficult by the arrival of 2, soon to be 3 dc, a house move and me giving up work so so much has changed it's difficult to compare. I didn't particularly think about money before dc but I budget for everything now but a lot of that is changing circumstances rather than dh's pay. I do try to be grateful for our situation though. I know a lot of people who are really struggling.

Whoever asked about snacks possibly maybe? In this house it's fruit or more fruit. Occasionally a peanut butter sandwich. If dh or I want more than that, some sort of junk, cake crisps etc it comes out of our pocket money. I do cook a batch of brownies, fairy cakes, flapjacks, jam tarts and biscuits that go in the freezer and get put in packed lunches daily. Sometimes I'll do home popped plain popcorn.

My mum used to give me whole raw carrots as snacks. They take ages to eat & are cheap. I'd probably peel & chop though nowadays.

NSD.

NSD but DH wages were due today and they haven't gone in the bank account. Fingers crossed they go in at some point before close today otherwise that really screws us for the shop arriving tomorrow
Things like this really annoy me as it can mess up everything all because of one person / company not doing the payroll right. Grrrr

Nugget can I ask, please, How you do your pop corn? I always seem To mess it up.

Here snacks are fruit, dried fruit, yoghurt, nuts, HM granola or flapjacks, frozen berries, crackers or rice cakes for DH - 3 times the price of ordinary crackers here though, with a little cheese, chopped veg if I have something To dip it in. I'm trying To drum into DD's heads that biscuits, sweets and chocolate are not real food and therefore not a snack.

I like things like a little bowl of beetroot salad or a cold boiled egg as snacks too.

Will be NSD for me, DH has Spent $2,000 on brake pads. Can't Get my head around converting from dólares ATM, sorry.

I have a handbag that needs a new zip. Really nice leather one, and still in good condición so I don't want To chuck it. Can't afford To Get it done right now.

Mixed day today. Took ds' school shoes back to Clark's and got a £45 voucher back despite not having proof of purchase. Dh is now stocked up with clothes so threadbare ones can be binned! Spent £90 but used £17 of vouchers so not quite as bad. Avoided all other temptation, just didn't look. Took Birkie sandals to cobbler who said he can re heel/sole them for £8 so I'll take my other pair too which will then last me the summer.

Sorry for whingeing this morning, almost everyone we know has some sort of financial struggle at the moment. Let's hope things improve soon

Nsd should be tomorrow too as I'm working 8-6:15 (with a 20 minute break zzzzzz) hope someone brings in cake!

Interesting news about Morrisons taking on the discount supermarkets. All for it here as I do my top up and veggie/fruit shop there.

Spent £3 on lunch but will get that back on expenses next week.

Tesco & Morrisons have both said they will "take on" the discounters. It's about time too.

I walk round supermarkets thinking how much for a bag of apples? They're having a fucking laugh charging that much.

Asparagus is on super six.

Gentle persuasion has worked, both dds now on packed lunch rather than school dinner so big saving there.