Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

A miserly May on Mumsnet for the fantastic frugaleers!

865 replies

MissAnnersleyismyhero · 28/04/2014 16:29

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.

OP posts:
BoffinMum · 04/05/2014 08:11

Moment
Damn phone

Badvoc · 04/05/2014 08:11

NK..I have just sorted my new kitchen! We just have to paint, and put new blinds up etc.
Then the new carpets are coming on Friday!
Complained to ikea re some issues and they are sending me a £100 gift card :)
Will keep for Xmas I think?

Iamnotanugget · 04/05/2014 10:07

Hello All, I'm back with dc3! Being exceptionally frugal right now as we're not doing much, although I did go and spend £90ish on new clothes for baby. This is definitely my last dc and I only had some vests and 3 sleepsuits so they were needed. I shall source larger clothes from ebay when the time comes.

Boffin I would find out how much data his friends are getting through if you can as that'll probably give you a good idea what you'll need. I would definitely look at giffgaff as your provider. They use the O2 network so have good coverage, they are cheap and as it's payg you can maybe agree to paying £x per month but if he wants the next level up bundle he pays the difference. They do some phones on a monthly payment plan but the most frugal is probably to buy outright at the start. Pick a phone, use comparison site, get cashback.

fluffy hope cat is ok.

northender · 04/05/2014 10:11

Our broadband/tv is all with Virgin and so all our mobiles are with them too. We buy phones and then do £7 a month deal (reg payment but not a contract iykwim). Works out well for us and means I don't end up doing endless comparisons online which drive me to drinkGrin

SpottyTeacakes · 04/05/2014 10:24

Virgin don't cover our area Hmm

SpottyTeacakes · 04/05/2014 10:30

£42 online h&m order for dc holiday wear. Got a few more bits to get them including shoes £££

£132 asos order of swimsuits for me. Will be sending all but one or two back

springbright · 04/05/2014 10:59

Lovely news nugget!

Fluffycloudland77 · 04/05/2014 11:02

£5 yesterday on bits we didn't really need in morrisons.

Congratulations iamnotanugget. Is it a dd or a ds?

spotty, did you use a cashback site?.

I have to ring the co-op bank, our account was meant to switch but it hasn't, very odd.

SpottyTeacakes · 04/05/2014 11:06

Oh nugget I missed that! Congratulations!

Fluffy I did for asos but h&m don't seem to do it. Found a £5 off voucher online though.

CoolCadbury · 04/05/2014 11:15

nugget congratulations. Flowers

spotty landsend are doing 30% off their shoes today - children's shoes are pretty good. Unfortunately, DS sizes have all sold out in the ones I wanted. Sad

Also, Clarks are doing £5 off children sport shoes if you spend over £20.

Fluffycloudland77 · 04/05/2014 11:22

Yay for cashback & vouchers.

I need to find something to complain about.......I want a £100 gift card too Grin

Co-op all sorted, the person who did the switch did it wrong which is why I scheduled it the day after the mortgage went out. No harm done though. I had a feeling it would go wrong.

SpottyTeacakes · 04/05/2014 12:23

The strawberries I got from lidl yesterday are mouldy Angry so annoying. Their bananas are always bruised too.

ItalianWiking84 · 04/05/2014 13:24

FantaSea i have a sportsbag and her nursing bag. I tried following the hospitals guideline, but in the beginning I couldnt get it all to be there. They want you to bring a gown/robe and mine is a big fleece one, filling almost the whole first bag I tried packing in Shock ... And I am insecure how many nappies to bring, so just bought a small new born packet with 28 in and is bringing it in, but in the hospital guide they dont mention any of these things, so now wondering if that is because they might have these things. Oh yeah and how much food/snacks should I bring? I currently have some snickers, biscuit bars and drops. Planning on trying to remember my water bottle....

Congratulations Iamnotanugget Can hardly wait for mine now

SpottyTeacakes · 04/05/2014 13:31

Italian I didn't bother with a dressing gown as the hospitals are like saunas over here.

That will be plenty nappies, if you're in for longer than average your dh can bring some more.

I didn't eat any snacks before/during labour but afterwards I did. A bit packet of digestives and lots of a Mars bar Grin

I advise spare track suit/pj bottoms and you'll likely leak all over them after having the baby or wet yourself in labour when you're sick

ItalianWiking84 · 04/05/2014 15:07

Thanks spotty, May can be both warm and cold in NL, so think the dressing gown might be useful, perhaps :) And then at least I can say, that I took all they mentioned :D
So my snickers and biscuits should do the job, my PIL live 5 min from hospital, so can always come by after the birth with food, if we are missing..
I will add a couple of more pj bottoms, just in case, thanks for the advice.

lilacclery · 04/05/2014 16:55

New frugal babies so exciting!!
My frugal baby ain't as frugal as he used to be. Now that I'm back at work I've had to buy formula Sad as he's a guzzler for bottles & only on one spoonfeed per day yet. I expressed a bit at work this week but hoping supply has settled now.

Nsd today, will be tomo too as bank holiday here & I intend to spend it doing a clear out of my wardrobe did dd's today might do ds's as well tomo. Tues must post a nappy wrap I sold on Facebook but that'll be the only spend.

Jinty64 · 04/05/2014 17:23

Congratulations nugget I would love another newborn but I couldnt do another toddler!

Ds2 wanted coke from Tesco after swimming yesterday so I ended up buying hot chicken, salad and crusty bread for lunch. Money I didn't mean to spend. £13 for soft play today. I had planned on the park but it was raining here earlier and I'm getting too old for hanging about in the rain when I can sit on a large sofa with a latte and Mumsnet.

I'm not having too much luck with Gumtree or the local Facebook pages but I'll just keep going with it.

We will have to swim again tomorrow as we still have no bath or shower. I pay for the gym monthly so at least that won't cost extra.

Fluffycloudland77 · 04/05/2014 18:26

NSD.

silkknickers · 04/05/2014 18:43

nsd day today, which is just as well as I have fallen off the frugal bandwagon BIG style in the last few days.

FantaSea · 04/05/2014 20:02

Italian I would take your robe if you can pack it in - I was glad of mine, as I felt more 'dressed' in front of people and their visitors, but that is an individual thing I know. I agree with spotty about extra pj bottoms and I think that is plenty of nappies. Once I had had DD I was starving and it was nightime then and so I was glad I had brought some biscuits and fruit with me, so it sounds as though you are well prepared. Maybe put some juice boxes in now so you have an alternative to water? As I said upthread, I had tons of stuff with me but I never travel light - so my advice would be if you are unsure and you have room for something, take it anyway, as then it is one less thing to worry about. Not long to go now Smile .

nugget congratulations Flowers

NSD here Smile

ilovepicnmix · 04/05/2014 20:35

NSD for me.

Congratulations nugget

NK5BM3 · 04/05/2014 20:57

Congratulations nugget!

Am enjoying the new kitchen immensely... Smile So much so I've gone out to buy the sharp steam mop. You need to understand ladies...I've not had much floor to clean as when we bought this house, it only had carpets. Yes. Carpets everywhere including the loo, the bathroom and the kitchen. Confused

So we replaced the floor in the bathroom and loo pretty quickly but till now we still had carpets in the kitchen. So I'm going overboard. Haven't tried it yet but I have high hopes. Cooked my first big meal this evening. Chicken roast and baked some muffins.

Lunch out as needed to get lots of stuff in town. £27. Light casings for light fittings. £20. Asian food shop £53. And Lakeland £104 (steam mop and other things). £8 at pound land (bought some baking stuff and other necessities). Argh.

Happy bank holiday tomorrow! Hope to get all the kitchen stuff back into the kitchen. And get the rest of the house in some order!

springbright · 04/05/2014 21:29

£40 cash taken out by DH. Only about £6 spent on a couple of drinks but am counting all of it as it's bound to disappear into the 'cash- hole' (never understand when people budget better with cash, when it's drawn out in notes and coins it seems to spontaneously combust around here) Confused

Oneflueover · 04/05/2014 22:54

I've decided to bite the bullet and try and stop smoking. I've decided to bank transfer the amount that I would spend on flags into a savings account . So £4.23 today and then possibly Tuesday when I would have bought the same again and see how much builds up.

AdoraBell · 05/05/2014 00:42

Congrats Nugget Flowers

Glad your kitchen is up and running NK

Will catch up properly later.

NSW (weekend) for me, DH spent £165-ish on office bits and pieces, kettle, new non-stick pan, art supplies for school and roads. Parked for free in his office parking spaceGrin

I need to get a few things tomorrow (Monday)