An Avalanche of Austerity for April - Mumsnet frugaleers continue!

[MissAnnersleyismyhero]

Thought I'd start a new thread for April

Welcome backHelenagrace, have wondered a few times how you were getting on and whether your dh had found work. Pleased he has even if only temporary.
Well done MissA and ohhelp it's a great feeling paying those debts down. We're not going to have made any progress this month, it's been horrendous for spending but we've been as frugal as we could. We've had car insurance and tax, shoes for everyone, our mini break in Devon (which was spendy despite staying with pil) and cricket subs and some new gear for ds. In the past we would have given up trying to budget at a time like this and I know that, barring emergencies, May, and hopefully June, will be much better.
Shouldn't be too bad a weekend for spending apart from a couple of birthday presents for family members.

I will catch up when I'm home but I mean a moan drive the forty minutes to lidl and they haven't had a delivery. They've got none of their offer stuff that I've meal planned for I know it's a bit dramatic but I could actually cry. I've just pulled up at tesco

Spotty that IS frustrating! Without stalking I did wonder if you lived nearby with your description of Lidl opposite sainsburys & Tesco 10 minutes on! Hmm! Although could be just a huge coincidence!

I forgot a voucher for 30% off eggs in Aldi, sulked for hours afterwards.

When you get home email this man [email protected], CEO of lidl uk.

Short polite emails work well. You might get a voucher off them.

Hmm is it near a city with a cathedral?!

I think our day is going to be spendy - we need to buy a second car!

We've only had one car since 2009 which I'm actually quite proud of. DH will need a car though as it's a 45 minute drive but 2 hours by train!

I've been using Lidl a bit more recent as there's one a mile away but Aldi is a 16 mile round trip. Very pleased with what I've had from there so far.

Does anyone have experience of those multi-car insurance policies? Do they work out any cheaper?

I got a quote for aviva multicar but the cashback made it cheaper to have two policies and be named drivers on each others car.

Any older relatives you can put on as a named driver as well? We had Dh's dad on until he got too old.

Thanks fluffy I'm going to do that:

£45 in lidl (4 ocado bags full)
£28 in tesco (1 tesco bag full)
£30 petrol

Glad your dh has a job now Helena. I would like to keep the same car for a whole but as soon as I only have a year left to pay off someone always writes them off

Well, stocking up for the kitten (food, cat litter and tray, collar) £52, quite annoyed as last time I was there I signed up to their VIP club which gives a 10% off voucher but it hasn't arrived.

DD1 jazz shoes £22 and ordered her ballet shoes £10 but DD paid for these with her birthday money.

£1.66 on disclosing tablets as I'm not convinced DD1 brushes properly.

DD1's new school shoes were £41, but we got her a free pair of Lelli Kelli sandals that are £45 normally.

New PE t-shirt for DS whose PE bag has been missing and a school baseball cap for DD1 £10. Of corse, now I have bought a new shirt his PE bag has reappeared and it's my fault as I told him to put it under his bed ( I did mean for him to put the stuff out for washing first )

£54 in Sainsbury's, but will still need a proper shop later in the week.

£61 on diesel and £28 on car valet but I claim them both back from work so don't count them.

Helena- how have you found Lidl & Aldi compare? I'm the same that Lidl is v close but Aldi is much further away.

Spotty- ah no it's not the same area then Although I did wrack my brains about a cathedral for a minute wondering how uncultured I might seem!

Angel- how about if you contact the company re the VIP club & the voucher. Worth a try & you never know they might send you some it other discount/ vouchers that you can use in the future.

I want to have a day indoors this afternoon after a busy week. Have lots of housework etc to do but DH seems to be Itching to go out & spend.

NSD :) Went to a market in the local area with PIL. Its Kings Day in NL, my first to experience, great day :)
PIL bought the little one a autochair toy and a sleeping bag at the market, 3 euros in total. Now its washed and hanging to dry :)
Happy weekend to all

Lizard I went to aldi once but now go to lidl. Aldi is well over an hours drive and I didn't find I could get as much as at lidl, although their super six veg and meat are great.

I used to find Lisl not as good as Aldi in either range or quality but I think Lidl have upped their game now and they are much better.

I think lidls come on as well. There's a very twee cafe in Dartmouth, über expensive eg £6 for beans on toast and last year I saw the owners in lidl bulk buying food for the cafe. I hoiked my judgy pants right up at that. That or they eat a lot of lettuce and fish.

Right.

£7 on 7 mugs from John Lewis
£4 in lidl on ribs and bread
£3.79 aldi on wine.
£10 petrol.

£3 refund from ocado, so food this week £31 incl thick cut steaks!. Next week will be more due to aldi raising the bar on the £5 voucher. Aldi, our love is dead.

Hello all, been a few days and wow this thread is moving fast! I am so hungry it is rubbish. I hate diets! On the plus side I have paid off my last cc! Really pleased. Only debt now is student loan but don't really count that. Now we need to save as we only have about 2 pounds.
Need to get a swimsuit as i nearly flashed my enormous boobage at the life guard during aqua aerobics the other day. Anyone recommend swimsuits that have support but are not too expensive? Looked at Bravissimo but they are 40-50 pounds!

I'm hoping one of you lovely ladies can help me. We are changing gas and electricity supplier. I have decided that Ovo are the best (will rerun the comparison as it was a month ago) but who will I get the most back from? Should I use Tesco compare and get points, Nectar, top cash back or who? If it makes a difference we pay about £300 a month. Thanks

I seem to recall someone talking about going onto a water meter up thread? We average about £30 a month for 2 adults 3 kids plus my mum/sister half the time or more. If we paid water rates we would pay a lot more.

That was me audit that's about what we pay now for water. £300 a month gas and electric?! Ouch!

I'd go for makeitcheaper on tcb for dual fuel or the moneysavingexpert energy club is good. If you ring your supplier they might price match for you. Have you checked you've got enough insulation?.

Water meters are fine if you've got modern close coupled loos and water effiecent showers and water saving dishwashers but not if you've got older style appliances and loos.

The water boards should subsidise dishwashers & new loos instead of tap inserts & hippo bags.

Well done gogo, I'm really pleased for you!. There might be a pro-rata payment next month though, mine always had £12-15 the next month still to pay. eBay for swimsuits.

£91 for swimming lessons for DS for the summer term.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

We've got old style everything in this house and our immersion heater is 6ft tall?!

gogo well done on clearing your debts (I don't count student loan either). Also if you are hungry, drink water and see how yo feel. If you are still hungry, eat a bit more. BTW, have you checked your BMR and TDEE to check how many calories you should be eating? Don't go by MyFitnessPal, as I think they are a bit stingy with the calories.

Spent £20 at Aldi. Obviously not full shop but can't really buy much perishables when kitchen not fully functioning. Having said that I cooked my first meal in over 2 weeks! Just chicken and broccoli stir fry but still. Felt good just eating home cooked food. We had brunch and that was £24. Parking £2.50.

As part of my new kitchen, we are getting a dishwasher. Wow. Yes all my life (40!) I've never owned one. Have used them at holiday cottages but even my parents didn't have them so...

Is it very expensive to run them? We don't have a water meter. But we do obviously pay for electrics. Does it take a long time to run - like as long as a washing machine??? Which dish washing tabs or powder is good? Thanks!

Tesco daisy dw powder, one dessert spoon per wash. Much cheaper than tablets and not tested on animals. The rinse aid and salt is cheap there too.

The manual will have a table of each cycles power and water consumption, you don't need to rinse but you ought to scrape plates. The spatulas food processors come with are good because you can keep it in the dw.

Half a cup of soda crystals in a hot cycle once a month keep it clean. You don't need special air freshener etc, its all just designed to get money off you.