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

I need holiday stuff too. Not sure I can get away with a bikini anymore

Adora, to be fair to DH, he had already cooked the DC pasta for tea, they have school dinners, get a fruit or veg Snack at school in the morning. He normally gives DD a wrap or something similar for a snack after dancing so it is unusual. I don't mind crisps per se, but one pack is never enough for her, as a follow up to a sandwich than that's fine (especially after an hour and a half dancing lesson)

£2 into a leaving collection and £5.29 for my tea as had a parents committee meeting at nursery and I was starving.

£20 for my nephew's birthday present, a voucher for ebooks. Got my mum to buy it (and gave her the money) so I wasn't tempted!

Sold my playpen for £35, only advertised since Sunday. Had some interest in 2 other listed items as well.

Cadbury, Lanzarote for a week during the Easter holidays, so just under three weeks away :).

Even moré so here Fluffy, DH got new wiper blades. Fancy pants ones so he coudn't find them in the shops. Main dealership $230, he said Fuck off no, so they did it for $190. Then we had a damaged tyre and he saw the blades at the tyre place. Bloke was very embarrasted as they a mega expensive, $15.

Audit in that case you can let him off

Spent £12 Today, veg from the grocers as I had some cash. This living abroad lark is okay as long as the bank cards work. I can't use an ATM as it says my PIN is wrong, but the PIN works in the shops.

Ovivo mobile has shut down. Bugger.

I was this close to buying a sim last week. Off out soon to buy a water butt.

Quick cooking question! If I am adding some red lentils to beef mince to bulk it out a bit - am making a big batch of mince/onions/carrots/tinned toms to turn into shepherds pie and bolognese etc - at what stage do I add the lentils? Do I just toss in a handful when the mince is browned?

Possibly - I just chuck the lentils in with mince but not sure if that's right !

A very high spend day here! £162 on car insurance, £200 nursery fees and £95 to British gas

Oh well made £23 cash back on the car insurance and have some things ending on eBay this weekend. Plus at least the car insurance (for one car anyway) is paid up for the year.

Can I join? Just sat and had a proper look at our finances and we are currently spending more than our income each month. There is no need for this, as we have enough to cover all essential outgoings with a small amount leftover for luxuries, but as we don't track what we're spending we get halfway through the month and realise we've ran out and resort to using our overdraft. We have a small amount of debt that we are in the process of paying off, and are on track to do so by this time next year, however I desperately want to get out of the cycle of using our overdraft and even start putting some money away each month!

Hi magical - welcome

Welcome magical. You'll get lots of support here .

I don't know whether anyone else follows it but I've started following the Frugal Queen blog. I don't know how to link on the app but its easy to find on Google. I wanted to link to her post from yesterday which I thought was Fab and summed up much of what I feel although she advocates much more extreme frugality than I practice at the moment.

My big frugal win today was £8.95 to have my Birkenstocks sorted out (built up and reheeled). You can see the join close up but I dont think anyone would notice and its £40 cheaper than buying new ones. I've left my other pair to be done too. Despite their unpopularity on the S&B threads I live in them in the summer!

I also spent £1 on some rings and cord to finish the roman blind I made a year ago . No excuse then not to start on the curtains that I've had the fabric and thread for for 3 years .

possibly I add lentils at the same time as the mince.

Welcome magical.

Spendy day and I feel bad

£12 slippers for ds
£40 something in h&m on jeans and jumper for me, cardi and top for ds and hair clips for dd.
£10 petrol
£1.91 drink and paracetamol
£2 something on some dried mango and Wispa bites...

Thank you for the welcome . Having analysed our spend, it seems like it's food shopping which is causing our problems... £500 in a month for 2 adults (we also have an 18 week old DD who is EBF). So it looks like meal planning is the way to go! For those feeding 2 adults, how much do you spend on a weekly food shop if too don't mind me asking? I have no idea what to aim for .

Hi magic why not aim to cut food bill by a 1/4 this month and then a 1/3 then half of what you spend now. Including nappies and toiletries £200 as mth is doable depending where you are prepared to make cuts.

We are 2 adults n a toddler n shock horror don't have a food budget we buy what we need and want within reason we only buy meat on offer or reduced and use it well. We waste nothing n said if we start to we will start budgeting n meal planning.

We use westin gourmet for meat when chest freezer needs restocking n not been many reduced bargains around. They always have good deals on excellent half price meat hamper for first time customers- we have several email addresses n always Google a code for something extra free like pk sausages or couple steaks. Meat has been good from them not as good as Donald Russell but sloop much cheaper we couldn't warrant Donald Russell prices any more.

Magical - I feed 2 adults and one toddler (who eats like an adult!) and I spend around £60 a week including toiletries, toilet paper etc
I tend to not shop at one but shop online with whatever supermarket send me the best vouchers and then if I have none go to sainsburys as it's right opposite me. A lot of people shop at aldi but there isn't one anywhere near me. It takes a while to get into the swing of it but once you start meal planning and having more of a store cupboard it gets a lot easier.

Magical welcome.

Which supermarkets do you have? I shop at Aldi & feed us for £30-35 a week but its just us and the cat.

We don't have a lot of snacky foods due to my food allergies & Dh's diabetes. I think they add a lot to the shop.

Have you got a farm shop or a market near by? They can be very cheap.

Lidl do very good weekend offers where they put 3/4 items on half price, this weekend it's british reared bacon for 99p. You can buy a maximum of 6 of each item which makes it a very cheap way of filling up the freezer.

We have sainsburys, morrisons and Tesco nearby. We do have a farm shop, and often shop there, but it's not a cheap one! I've noticed that our shopping always seems significantly more expensive in sainsburys so I will avoid there from now on.

We have two farm shops within a few miles of each other, one is uber expensive with a cafe & yummy mummy's & one looks like an animal feed place, is full of Volvo driving older people but only charges 80p for 2.5kg of spuds or £1.70 for 12 free range eggs from the hens scratching around in the car park.

Tescos is good for dishwasher powder & rinse aid that hasn't been tested on animals. Good 3 for 2 offers on flour/yeast around christmas time. They used to replace their bags for life for free when they broke but I don't know if they still do.

Sainsburys is good for butchers choice sausages, they are two for £3.50 in tescos, morrisons, sainsburys so you might as well have the sainsbos ones. It's very good for own brand toiletries (all BUAV approved), sp sanitary towels, sun creams etc.

Morrisons & tescos both do "ethnic" food in big bags like red lentils & rice. Much cheaper than buying little packs.

There are several shopping apps you can download, shopitize, clicksnap & checkout smart. They give small amounts back on certain items but if you combine with existing offers it works out cheaper than Aldi.

Ours is definitely of the yummy mummy variety . We live fairly rurally though so if I hunt around there are probably some cheaper ones nearby. Thank you for all the tips regarding bargains!

£7.50 on a jiffy bag and postage for my sister's birthday present (Republic of Ireland). Also 50p on a 2nd class stamp and £2.35 on an upcoming event at DS' s school today. Oh and £2 to sponsor someone for Sport Relief.

My Birkenstocks arrived today. I got them online from Zapatto for £23, including postage, for anyone else who's looking for a cheap pair for summer.

I swore by Birkenstocks for my dodgy feet, till I tried Primarks equivalent for £4 a pop. Now I won't wear any other sandal. I bought 2 pairs last summer and they are still ok this year. I'll buy a couple of different colours this summer.

I bought some Papillio by Birkenstock and I LOVE them. Well worth the £40. I have to get the ones with the double strap or they fall off my feet

Well I had a bit of a crappy day what with all the bills and then getting drenched on the way home but DH has just made cookies so going to devour those in front of the TV

Cadbury - glad you got your money back!

Ohhelp - I love own brand nappies. Wish I had used them from the start as well.

Never had a pair of Birkenstocks. Am I missing out ?!