An Avalanche of Austerity for April - Mumsnet frugaleers continue!

[MissAnnersleyismyhero]

Thought I'd start a new thread for April

Well dh is still at work but it means he doesn't have to work tomorrow . We were supposed to be going out for tea as we'd both worked but as he's so late I decided to make scone dough pizzas with chips and dips. It's gone down v well and probably saved £40.
Looking on the plus side, its earning extra money that has helped us to reduce our debt so quickly this year so bring on April's pay slip!

£27 this morning for my haircut, £6 on breakfast on the way to collect Mum, Dad, sister and friend from holiday in Southampton (at least collecting from Southampton not the holiday )

£64.02 on diesel, but I reclaim from work.

I got £15 from selling my high chair. Gone to a doting 1st time Granny who couldn't believe it was over 9 years old and had done 3 DC (me too but DC3 is now 3.5) now I just need to get the cash off my sister (as was driving DH to work)

Thanks Fantasea we ended up in hospital with her suffering from dehydration, so it was me, dd & ds in hospital for the night as dh was working. So carpark €12 vending machine €6 - her first midnight feast!

Dh bought lunch today to treat us after our night away
Then I spent €32 on cot sheets & weaning stuff for ds - he slept the whole night in hospital cot, we have been co sleeping, so got cot ready & I'm fighting since 1am to get him to sleep in it!

Congrats possiblyorange

Morning all

Well an in the hell of potty training here but am hoping that at least it might save on the nappy bill! So won't be going anywhere for a while at least until the travel potty arrives from amazon( £19.99)

Other spends - DH will be getting (hopefully) a new work van today which will cost around £1k but it's from savings and we can make that up a bit from selling the old one for scrap, tax refund and insurance refund on the old car.

Happy new tax year everyone!

Lila- hope everyone is better back from the hospital

Marking place.... Now I'm back in the UK I can actively take part.... We've lived in India for the last year and were aghast at how much we spent in Asda yesterday doing a 'basics' shop... Am sure most things are a 50% mark up and I'm talking brands like Oreos.... 50p a pack in India and £1.08 yesterday on Asda! Problem is Asda is my nearest and with two kids under four its the easiest place for me to go....

Will catch up on thread later but hello to all!

Had a quick flick through earlier posts, can I ask what YNAB is? Missed a lot of the March thread so am a bit behind....

YNAB is a budgeting software (You Need A Budget). It has four simple rules. Its all explained on their website You Need a Budget. I have to say that it has changed the way I think about budgeting, spending and attitude to money.

I want to go out today so fed up of staying in at the weekends, dp works Saturdays too so I get super grumpy. Thinking of doing clubcard boost and going to Portsmouth...

Go spotty go. And have a good time.

Dp keeps saying no

How long does it take for your boost vouchers to arrive anyway? I naively thought it would be emailed immediately

lilac oh no! Hope you are all home now and feeling better.

Liz that is the attitude I am trying to adopt.

When I was a child, my mother shopped once a week and when something was gone, that was it, you had to do without until the next shopping trip, she didn't do all these top-up shops that everyone does now. That is what I am also trying to do - I freeze bread and milk to keep me away from the supermarket and I we have run out of say, potatoes, then I will substitute something else, like rice or pasta. It does make for some interesting combinations! If I pop to get some potatoes I can easily spend £30 on just bits so for me keeping away is the key.

Spotty I have only done the restaurant vouchers from Tesco and they came by email - I think they came in an hour or so.

I got them! Now I need to get dressed. It's been she's since we went out I'm excited. Dp hasn't been paid yet though

Possiblyorange congratulations :D
CremeEggThief sounds like good money spent sponsoring your friend. I always try my best to give a bit to charity.

Spendy day yesterday, but good spend :) Went to a charity sale with PIL and found loads of good bargains for future DD. So spent 35 Euros, but got like 2 bags of clothes, a playblanket (can also be used in a playpen) 5 sheets for the cot, 2 linned for slepping and 2 sheets for the pram cot. Think that was rather a good buy. Some brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Mexx, Prenatal and others not. (But dont care, as long as it is good looking, I am happy) :)

Good idea Fantasea. We are kind of trying to do that - planning every single meal but then just buying milk. Do you freeze milk? I wonder, if you freeze it, does it have a shorter 'life' once it is defrosted?
NSD here.
Have a great day out spotty!

SpottyTeacakes have fun, hope you enjoy your day :)

By the way, has any of you read this tread Little things you do because actually you are a bit tight???
I must admit, I was mainly shocked by some of her ways off saving money, I think there is a limit between wanting to save money/living cheaper and then being super over tight and taking all joy out of life....

I bought a packet of those Titan bars and two boxes of fake cornettos in my Aldi shop. I split the Titan packet in half and gave ds1 and ds2 half each and told them there was a box of icecreams each and when they are gone they need to use their allowance for anything else. Ds3 is just 7 so has a more restricted chocolate intake prefers Jaffa cakes.

Morrisons has an Easter deal at the moment. Spend £40 this week and next and get £10 off £40 the following week. I also get 10% back from the bank of Scotland if I use my card in Morrisons so am going to get the monthly shop ie dog food, Andrex etc over two weeks instead of a Tesco delivery.

insideleg yes I freeze milk. I do find it has a shorter life once it's defrosted - if DH is working away we use way less milk and I notice it then, so DD and I have the 2 pint ones. When he is at home, we use a lot and so then it is not a problem so I use the 4 pint ones then.

I freeze just take it out of the freezer before I go to bed and put it on a plate on the side, and then in the morning give it a little dry over and then put it in the fridge.

Italian your DD must have a really lovely wardrobe - how exciting!

£12 on mini roller sleeves

Ah right fantasea i thought that might be the case, thank you. Will buy a couple of the small ones or actually I might get some long life cartons although they taste a bit weird. Either way that 'milk journey' does end up being a tenner!
Ran out of cheese and dishwasher tablets so borrowed some from my DPs! Grocery delivery on Tuesday.