A miserly May on Mumsnet for the fantastic frugaleers!

[MissAnnersleyismyhero]

Saw April was getting very full so thought I'd start this off early!
Welcome to all who want to save cash, live frugally and pay debts, or just trying to live within our means!
Full of hints and tips on how to save money in the supermarket, meal planning and daily life.

NSD.

The new telly arrived today and I managed to set it up, although I need to screw in the stand properly.

Would have been an NSD but needed to spend £16 on prescription charges for new pain killers for my back pain and abdo pain which is back with a vengeance. Don't know how I am going to make it through evening at work, but I really really can't keep having time off.

Dr keeps changing diagnosis from kidney infection to potential gallstones to potential ovarian cyst... am supposedly on list for urgent ultrasound (normal one and transvaginal one, barf)

In the meantime I've been in pain since 1pm yesterday and no relief really from any painkillers.

Oh missa that sounds awful. So sorry to hear you're in so much pain. Have you tried a tens machine?

Well done cremeegg I'm crap at stuff like that.

ohhelp what is this thing you speak of??

1.90 on milk in aldi. 2.80 in Tesco. A few quid in Jack Fultons on cereal and porridge a wee bit out of date.

MissAnn that sounds horrible, really hope you feel better soon.

Nsd. MissA hope you get sorted soon

25 euro on theoretical exam for DP and 25 euros in Etos (Boots in Dutch :) ) Suffer from insomnia and way to much heartburn atm., should not complain, I have pretty much had a very very easy pregnancy with little pain, discomfort or sickness, so I can manage these last couple of weeks, but do hope, she will arrive soon. Midwife appt tomorrow and cardiologist as well, he seems worried for me, because my blood pressure atm is like 80 over 55 I think. Normally its always low compared to average, but still in like what the docs call accept low, typically around 90 over 60, which is on the limit between normal and low. Most of my friends and ppl I know who became pregnant got to high blood pressure while mine just seems to drop, hmpf.

Hope those painkillers are kicking in missa

Wanted a NSD but ended up spending £1.09 on eggs as me and dd made cakes after nursery. I think I can stretch petrol til Wednesday though.

Frugal LOSER - made an enormous vat of mash potato on Friday with the intention of doing a couple of meals then freezing. Stupidly left it out on the side rather than at least in the fridge and it turned 'orrible! What a waste!

This may be a controversial question on a credit crunch thread but...does anyone have a cleaner and is it worth the money (both monetary and time value). Me and DH have always argued about this. He has always wanted to employ a cleaner, grew up in a family where domestic chores were farmed out, me the total opposite. My gut thinks it's a waste as when I'm organised I'm pretty domestic and would rather spend the £10pw on something else (we're considering a lady who charges £20 for 2.5hrs every fortnight) however since having dd there are times when either the house is a tip or, like happened this weekend, I'm spending too much time doing chores to the detriment of quality time with my family. The cost could be absorbed somewhere else e.g. not buying weekly wine and beer as I've mentioned before but would I rather have a nice glass of wine in a hovel or a nice cup of tea in a sparkly clean house?!

Drink enough wine and you don't notice the house.

It's a tricky one, both parents should equally do housework but you'll have less time to do it with a small child & more with an older child who can help out.

That slow cooker is a good idea, I've seen a similar idea on other websites.

NSD but have just traveled 200 miles for work.... Claiming that.

I have a cleaner. It's the best money I've spent. They tidy and clean. I don't have the time - really - to clean beyond the daily washing up and putting laundry in and out of machine.

Why don't you try it out for a set period of time and see if it works for you?

I have had cleaners in the past and the house was sparkling. Without effort. Lovely.

Don't have one now as the money has gone into gardeners instead . Hate gardening.

Like cadbury I was going to suggest getting the cleaner in for a few months and see how you then feel. I would absolutely have one if I could justify the money but can't as I live in a 2 bed flat I can whip round pretty quickly.

I've been out of the loop for a while - put an offer in on a house last week and had it accepted and now frugality has a new goal: proving we can afford a mortgage!

MissA have you asked for codeine? It helped me loads when I was getting over an operation. Also do you take ibuprofen and paracetemol staggered for Max effect - if you know what I mean?

Spendy few days just doing rushed supermarket shops and buying things for my Mum's birthday party. Really do need to buy some new work clothes as my standby outfits are getting worn and a bit tired, but putting my head in the sand about that.

Does anyone know anything about agas? Are they horribly expensive? There's one in the house we're hoping to buy but think DP would rather we just sold it.

Horribly expensive. Unless your rich.

Good resale potential though.

Nightmare here, DD has outgrown 3rd pair of school shoes this year. Could have done without spending about forty pounds in clarks on Saturday. Often get them from the outlet but don't live near one and it's not worth a special visit. Does anyone have any ideas for where I may get decent ones any cheaper?!

Just spent £30 in Asda, but it was all stuff I needed, and nothing else. I'm trying to meal plan properly, so hopefully that will last me for a while now. The only thing I need to top up on in a few days is milk.

I've got a friend coming over tomorrow, and I'm just hoping she doesn't suggest going anywhere. I'd love a NSD.

Ilikesweetpeas I have heard good things about Toughees shoes. Prices seem to vary enormously but you can find them on eBay, Amazon and lots of other stockists.

£54 on 1 top, 1 cardi and 2 jumpers with 25% off and also sale items at GAP. All pretty summer colours.

Fluffy can I ask what makes agas horribly expensive? DH is thinking about buying a plot of land down south for when the zombies attack and has floated the idea of an aga because they heat the house.

We have no money to buy land, or anything else ATM, but he's keeping himself out of my way occupied with his Apocolypse plan.

Today I spent £4 in the grocers, £6 in the supermarket on a frozen pizza for DDs plus 1 and some frozen veg and gave DDs £3 to spend for a snack. They scoured the shop for offers and got loads. All sugar laden crap, but at least they've learned to look at prices.

I'm not buying instant coffee anymore, lazy habit as I prefer fresh coffee and can get a good cheap one here. I saw a tip on another thread but don't remember who posted it, sorry. Anyway, I make a large pot of very strong coffee, have my fresh cup then leave it to cool and use it as instant thoughout the day by half filling a cup and adding hot water.

MissAnnersely hope those painkillers work and you get an answer soon.

Hoping for a nsd today

Agas run 24/7. Every so often there's a thread in good housekeeping about them with people shocked at the running costs.

You can run them on solid fuel, electric, or gas. It's fine as long as you have pots of money but if you don't its not so good.

Some people have a spare cooker for the summer months when having an aga on all day would be unbearable.

Eg our condensing boiler heats the whole house but is only on 4-5 hours a day in the winter.

Oh lordy! I must be feeling guilty about the thought of spending money on a cleaner - just woke up from a dream where we booked a holiday to the Caribbean which was going to cost 5000! Actually now I don't feel so bad about 10pw on a cleaner . Thanks for responses. Do you know I think a trial run would be good...at least it would end the regular 'discussions' about the pros and cons!

fluffy this house has an electric cooker and gas hob too, so maybe they only use the aga during the winter months when it doubles up as heating - probably for most of the bungalow! I know they take 24 hours to heat up - we had one at a holiday home and you had to give notice if you were going to use it.