Judiciously June frugal thread now including Christmas bargains.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Everyone is welcome.

Thanks for the new thread Fluffy

Had to do shopping for art materials for school today so picked up the week's shop while in town. Really need to keep petrol usage to a minimum now. Spent £90 in supermarket, £16 in stationers and DH is currently filling the car up -£48, £2.40 on road tolls, £2 for parking. Have switched most things to the supermarket's own brand and today the fancy pants butter with sea salt was cheaper than standard butter, so I bought that.

A nice crowd here this month, busy threads really help keep the focus.

We went clothes shopping for all four of us today using gift cards dh had gotten for door work he did a few months ago, grand cash outlay €2.85 he had €190 in vouchers so we all got a few bits. Working the mentality that for every new item in an old item must go & all those going to cash for clothes as adults wear their clothes until they fall apart here.

Are you better off now the gas guzzlers gone adora? I'd love an electric car & British gas will fit a power point for one in your garage for £99 for the 32A socket but dh says no .

I have made my packed lunch for tomorrow and will be leaving my wallet at home. And eating breakfast at home rather than buying it in Tesco.

Despite me initially saying that it was just my personal spends I needed to get under control, I find myself eyeing up the joint account as well... I wonder what we could save if I really put my mind to it. Need to go through out bills and see where I can shave the pence - we have a mortgage that allows us to overpay and borrow back the overpayments so it makes sense to bung extra money in there.

I have plenty of petrol in the car and a box of cupasoup in my bottom drawer if I really can't stand the hunger. It's a long day, 8am-5.30pm are my working hours and I do tend towards the peckish...

Well done mad!

How much are they to run fluffy? Do you have to pay tax? Much insurance?

NSD. Not a bad way to end one month and start another :).

According to one website a 50m round trip would cost £1.28, I usually use best part of £10 petrol for a journey like that.

I think they are free road tax but I don't know about insurance. They are much more expensive to buy though.

mad I'm going to put my monthly dual fuel savings onto the mortgage, then snowball other savings like when my mobile goes.

I'm in, put the deposit down on our new kitchen today with the balance to pay in 12 months, plus need to buy£2k of white goods. ...that's on top of about £13k already spent on the extension.

Got 4 loads of washing dry today and am not going to do laundry unless I have to if the sun's not shining!

Kids summer clothes sorted apart from a new uv top for dd...if anyone knows of any bargains in a 4-5/5-6 let me know!

I'd like to join in too please!
We need to save hard as I am on the unpaid bit of my mat leave, plus we really need to clear our debt and get some new bedroom furniture and a sofa soon.

I'm shopping in Aldi and cooking from scratch and checking our budget over and over. Hopefully you can help me get there!

nk we don't really save. Dh earns a good salary but I'm a sahm with 3 dc. We are careful with money but things are expensive! I would second paying into savings at the start of the month. I have a dd set up for this but those savings are to pay for car insurance etc. I'm just pleased if we get through another year without debt.

fantasea I defrosted my freezer today having cleaned the oven earlier in the week after last thread shamed me into it. It's strangely satisfying to see the freezer almost empty. It has meant we don't all eat the same thing every night but variety is good! I have a couple of meals left in there for next week.

It's still half term here as we get 2 weeks. Most of our dd will come out tomorrow then I'm going to draw out a little cash and that'll just have to last. Payday is nearly 2 weeks away. It's been a long month.

Batbear welcome

Fluffy I did about two months worth of washing on a cold cycle last year until I realised that the element in my machine had gone! I noticed when some of my tea towels were not as clean as they might be, but jumpers and jeans etc were fine.

nugget I am looking forward to defrosting my freezer, how sad am I? Mine is emptying nicely, but is still full of ice

PLease can I join in? May was manic spending and July is full of birthdays. I really need to have lots of NSDs this month. Can't tomorrow as have to renew season ticket and pay for DS's music lessons but hoping Tues and Thurs can be. Wed & Fri can't.

People who have garage sales - how do you advertise them? Who comes? I'd love to have one but we live in a v quiet street and I just can't imagine anyone stopping. The only people who pass by are joggers, horse riders and dog walkers all on their way to the woods.

Marking my spot. Will catch up tomorrow

Fluffy shifting the gas guzzler has really helped, but DH hasn't had any income for 5 months and nothing due for the next 4. Getting genuinely scarey now.

Had to change back to buying Vanish for shirt collares. Have To use cold Wash but the air quality is so bad here that Washing up líquido isn't getting DH's shirts clean. FFS.

Welcome To all newbies.

Agree with saving at the beginning of the month.

Wow lots of new people!

LSD today, sort of. Need to post the dress back (£20) and get a stamp.

Southern electric have lowered my direct debit without telling me I don't want it lower I like being in credit! Will have to phone them later

I had hoped Sunday would be a LSD, just church collection, unfortunately things did not go quite as planned. Took DS and DD1 to their swimming lesson. Despite giving DS his new trunks (which I had taken the tags off) he forgot to put them in his bag so I had to buy a horrible overpriced pair at the poo. Well, I say I, they are coming out of HIS money so he'll gave to save a lot longer for a new game. He is a good, helpful boy, but away with the fairies sometimes and hopeless at organising himself. Heaven knows what will happen next September (2015) when he starts at secondary school.

I also got caught for £10 contribution to a birthday present.

Friday I cancelled the morethan dog insurance. I had taken out a new policy which was cheaper than morethan (by about £10 a month), but as there was a period of restricted cover on the new policy I waited to cancel the old one (I put a task in my work calendar so I didn't forget). I was really surprised they didn't make a fuss, so I only paid for 1 month on the old policy, got a discount on the dog already insured with that company and got the cat thrown in, still saving £7 a month!

spotty why give money and interest earned on it to a utilities company? Put the x amount into your own savings instead. Anyway, if are in credit from the winter, you are paying far too much!

Because it was such a mild winter I don't think we will be in credit next year and we'd end up spending it otherwise!

Hi I've been watching this thread with interest for a while now. Was wondering if you wouldn't mind me joining. I plan on having lots of NSDs in the near future. My spending has been quite frivolous lately and I want to cut back and save. I've already started my Christmas shopping. I need to start taking meal planning seriously.

I succumbed to Tesco, but managed to limit myself to a 68p can of Diet Coke, which is a real addiction for me. I don't drink tea or coffee so this is a treat, but even so... And I forgot about dinner money. £20 there, but at least from September they will be free for 2 of the kids! Saving £20 a week, and I can do sandwiches for tea as they will have had a hot meal

Need to resist the food out - it's a bad habit, but I can feel my stomach growling already although I've had Cheerios and a banana already. Lunch is in the fridge at work :-) I'm doing a dual pronged attack, logging my food on MyFitnessPal and spends here to control it.

Broached the issue of cutting our joint account outgoings with DH, he was cautiously supportive. Does £400 a month groceries sound excessive for 2 adults and 3 children?

threedeer and Northern welcome - if you have already started your Christmas shopping you are doing really well. I still have a little pile of Christmas bits from last year in the study that I need to put away - I might just leave them there and then I have a head start for this year

Audit DD was like your DS and I fretted and worried about how she would manage with secondary school, but they sort of rise to the challenge as it is expected of them from the teachers. I understand your worry - I was exactly the same.

We are back to A level exams today so I am on my taxi run. It works out about the same in petrol as it would in train fares, but I wait for her as then I only have to make the one return journey, and also there isn't really time to come home. The trouble is though is that there are not many places to hang around near the school, except the enormous new Tesco so I shall have a lovely browse in there while I wait this afternoon, trying not to spend too much money.