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.

Charlieboo Mary poppins is amazing though. Seriously one of the best childrens' books I have ever read. There are loads of sequels which are also amazing.

I bought loads of books in a charity shop today, I normally don't even go into town on a work day but I promised some of my pupils chocolate as a prize and had to go in for that, then "just popped in" to the book shop on the way past. Grrr!

Oh well, tomorrow will def be an NSD as I teach literally all day and shops will be closed when I get out of work

MissAnnersley - thanks. It really is a beautiful, collectible copy. I'm an absolute sucker for beautiful books and I view them as an investment.

Just got some vouchers through the door for £3 off for the next 4 weeks at morrisons so will probably shop there this week as well as Lidl. It's a bit of a pain as I normally go to Tesco, which is directly opposite Lidl but fell out with them a couple of weeks ago. Their staff REALLY need a customer service course!!!

Despite this mornings hangover headache, I went to make a packed lunch, but DH had finished the bread making tea for the DC last might and not got more out of the freezer. £8 for lunch and bread at M&S at the petrol station on the way to work, so I didn't yo to town at lunchtime and depend more money!

60p on a coffee at the DC dancing lesson.

Nsd. Tomorrow will be spendy though as I've got teddy bears picnic at dd's nursery £5 give notice for marriage £70 and then out for tea as we won't get home early enough for the dc to eat.

62p on cat food.

£2.70 cashback taken as amazon vouchers, saving up for an electric egg boiler. Dh cannot do boiled eggs .

mad if you switch your current account to first direct you'd get £100 & access to their online saver at 6% interest.

You could freeze a few cheese & pickle sandwiches for emergencies audit

Oh good point fluffy I should swap my standing order from to my isa to a new first direct saving acct.

40p on a bread roll and £2.50 on cheesy chips, shared with DS. It was the first thing he fancied eating since Tuesday!

Thanks for all the good wishes for DS. I hope your DD starts feeling better soon too, Adora.

£8 at the war museum. Donation and tickets to get to see the view from the top. Well worth it, it was fab. No money spent on food/drink.
£2 for ds' cricket match fees, £3 for dd's hockey training.

Haven't got to catch up here all week.
This month was hard but got tax back yesterday so will be able to clear some bills & start May with a fresh slate.

Hope all going well for everyone, will post properly later when I've read through properly

Argh we need veggie sausages for dinner, so it won't be an NSD. Hoping that it will be a SPD (single purchase day!) though!

Switched my banking to first direct who were soooo helpful. Barclays can keep their extortionate overdraft charges!

Going to be a spendy day as going to do food shop now, then going for a look round the designer outlet as need more work trousers and going to an away rugby match tonight.

I would switch my current account, but we are in the process of a TUPE transfer at work and I've just given them bank account details for next months pay. I think if I tried to switch now, it would just confuse them. Next month when all is settled down! But could certainly do with £100! Hoping for an NSD here, I've been to morrisons this morning to do the weeks food shop, but that's from the joint account. We have swimming at 10, will take snacks with and then a friend coming for lunch and afternoon. No leaving the house means I should be safe! And I have enough yarn, so I really, really don't need to be online shopping for that. That was my next biggest spending category after random shit food out...

Madscientist - I would highly recommend first direct. They've made everything so simple. The £100 bonus is nice but it comes with a few conditions, mainly that they have to see £1000+ going into your account for 3 months before you get it. The only thing I'd say is start the switching process about a week before you get paid. Mine won't switch till 12th June so wish I'd done it a week ago!

I did the food shop at Lidl/Morrisons this morning and spent £70 compared to the £90 I would normally spend at Lidl/Tescos. Pleased!

23p paracetamol
£1 work stuff
£5 petrol
£2 cat food but I checkout smarted the receipt so I should get 50p back. Woo hoo.

£21.13 of which £16.05 was for 2 prescriptions and the rest for Ella pouch for DS who insisted that he would eat it , vapour rub and Vaseline. Bit steep.

Turns out that I am deficient in vitamin D, hence the prescriptions. The news depressed me so much (which I blame on the deficiency) that I had to treat myself to a m and s pudding for this evening with some cream. £3.05.

cool that is a pretty frugal cheering up treat! Enjoy, hope your prescription helps as we sem to be lacking on sunshine.

I'm still awaiting this fabled double CB payment! Really thought it would be today. Last payment was on 2nd May so I thought 4 weeks later would be today? Would he a lovely boost to the bank balance at month end!

Help me frugalers I need a wedding dress! I can't justify spending much money on one but I still want to look nice and I do not want strapless

www.bhs.co.uk/en/bhuk/product/wedding-1020484/the-bride-1020511/wedding-dresses-1020869/grace-bridal-dress-2534583?bi=1&ps=20 it needs a sash with a sparkly brooch really.

Tk maxx used to do wedding dresses but the range isn't so good now or eBay for used dresses.

www.marksandspencer.com/l/women/occasion-dresses I love the v neck pleated maxi dress....! £99!

Or monsoon? Lots of them there uk.monsoon.co.uk/uk/wedding-boutique/all-wedding?showAll=false&pageSize=200

How exciting spotty.

How much did you want to spend on your wedding dress?

Thanks fluffy I quite like the phase eight ones but even they're too much. At least I've got some time to look hopefully I can find one I like then get it second hand

Coast?

I don't love any of the coast ones. I'm going to look in john lewis on Sunday. Luckily I know someone who can take any dress in max two sizes for me for free

Phase Eight ones do look lovely. I think it's one of those things that you HAVE to try on. Enjoy yourself on Sunday - are you taking anyone with you?