an Ostentatiously Austere October...join here for a frugal month ahead!

[PeoniesforMissAnnersley]

All welcome to join the MN frugaleers for another month of recording our spends, frugal wins and frugal fails!

NSD = No Spend Day (let's have as many as possible!)

LSD = Low Spend Day

Count me in

Thanks for the new thread missa.

thanks for the new thread MissA Hope you are recuperating well.

£22 for groceries for the week (including a few treats and a pair of school trousers for ds1). I had a £20 Tesco gift card, so my £42 shop was only £22. Very happy!

£30 on meters for electric/gas.

£2 on a gingerbread latte at Costa. Yes, yes, I know, but it's been positively ages since I've done that, so I refuse to feel guilty.

Alice you're allowed a latte. You just managed to get the whole weeks shoppipng for £22. That's brilliant. I hope you enjoyed it.

NSD so far but need to buy a bottle of wine for my friend as she's stepped in to babysit tonight at short notice and won't take any money

Marking my place. We need so save as much as possible this next year if we want kids any time soon and I really need to get anal about the budget.

Nearly £10 attending 3 Macmillan coffee mornings. I'm okay with that though as it's a good cause and got plenty of very yummy cake. £4.25 on a bottle of wine for dm and £5.76 on pies for df. I consider it an investment as I'm hopeful they'll buy dd some new shoes and get the other 2 dc some bits in the TU sale which will definitely be more than a tenner .

I've switched energy suppliers and I'm about £50 in credit with the old ones. I'm going to give them a week and then start chasing them for it.

Thank you for new thread missA

MissA thank you for the new thread, and hope you are recovering well

Fluffy did you get £14 from the orchard? I only got £7, which was £4 for me and 3 separate £1 coupons for my friends.

£71 in Tesco on a big shop - got loads and lots of offers so I am really pleased

Marking my place as just waffled on in sept....it's not quite October. ...the heating won't be going on yet!

Thank you for new thread Have joined Tesco Orchard.

I would love to join in.

I have a problem in that I have to have half all the supermarket in my kitchen at all times. I have the same money I have had for years to feed the family and the car and now there is nothing left for anything else so food prices are definitely going up more than I had realised initially.

I cant just go and get bread and milk. I keep seeing things and thinking DD will like that, the boys will enjoy this, etc etc.

My children eat a lot. The boys eat most things but DD is more fussy and they like sausages, pizza, fish, rice but once actually moaned at the second time they had had jacket potatoes in one week .

I am not prepared to lower the quality of some things we eat more than I have (own brand cereal as opposed to Kellogg's and the kids didn't notice) but I wish they would all eat the same stuff.

I have spent around £70 the last couple of days but some of it is Christmas related so it will come out of the Christmas savings rather than the house keeping.

I am wondering whether shopping for a month would be better but then I suspect the DC will just eat everything four times quicker.

Found you all

Yep fluffy, how did you manage to get £14? Like fanta, I got £7, which isn't all that much for fresh fish for a family of four sadly. However, I will be creative!

Morrison's delivery later, a little over £40, using a £10 voucher for shopping on line 3 times last month. I will then top up at Aldi as required.

Other than that, £4 to take DMIL to the city hospital, parking was utterly horrendous and an 83 year old with heart issues ended up walking far further than she should have done .

Also bought DH's birthday presents from M&S online using my vouchers that I accumulate by having a credit card and bank account with them.

Also wine, 12 bottles for £50, using their 25% for two boxes on a white that I love which was reduced anyway. Using my vouchers, so win win.

We get a lot of vouchers, as DH has to travel a lot and incurs a lot of expenses, particularly flights.

Cheap weekend coming up as we have nothing planned.

pixie being anal about a budget does work, welcome.

Wonders if fluffy n her oh are both signed up hence double the amount :)

We plan to buy some pollock from counter n make goujons as our 4yr old likes making them- vouchers not here yet. Also have a £3 off £30 Tesco spend n a double points vouchers so will combine all for best savings poss.

Thanks MissA

Nsd here.

Itsfab welcome. It's hard to change your way of thinking with the shopping. Hopefully someone can help

There got brown in the bag now too!

The brown isn't reduced though spotty, otherwise I would be very tempted.....

Dh is indeed signed up to orchard. I'd sign the cat up if I thought it was legal.

I low carb so I'll get £4 of Manx kippers, then go back for packs costing £1 over a few visits. That's breakfast sorted for a few weeks.

There's nothing on the back of that coupon to say the fish has to be full price, it could be off the mark down counters if you hit them at the right time. Fish won't keep so its often fish and pork that end up reduced more than lamb or beef.

I've switched our joint account over to nationwide so hopefully it will track through quidco for another £80. They offered me a cc each time. Norty.

Switched the doorbell off at the wall. It runs 24/7 . People can knock instead seeing as its free.

itsfab would you consider shopping at Aldi or is that a step too far?. Even dh likes aldi food. He is very fussy too but he doesn't know half the things I do to keep the bills down and I don't intend to tell him.

You could run the cupboards and freezer down. On shopping day I'm down to condiments, spices, suet, oil and flour.

Ha ha fluffy I only guessed as its what I do for all freebies n offers but hadn't for orchard!

But you will now won't you?

We don't have an Aldi but I did try Lidl a few months ago. My nearest supermarket is Asda and we are back there after a few months at Waitrose. I compared 20 things I bought from Lidl with the same at Asda and Waitrose and there was a few pennies difference with Asda and £12 with Waitrose so back to Asda as not worth the pennies when I have to drive 15 minutes as opposed to 5 to get there.

I pick up bits everywhere - M&S, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

I have been running the food down and haven't done a big shop for 2 weeks. No one went hungry . Constantly having to buy milk, fruit and packed lunch stuff though.

I bake a lot and cook from scratch 99% of the time but the kids have just had a Tesco pizza as I planned to make it but with the few bit I would have had to buy I couldn't get them for the £1.87 they were selling the pizza for - it was half price iirc.

Itsfab have you tried having a cash pot for food? Take out your monthly budget and once it's gone it's gone. Any extra has to come from personal spends?

I think it's the top ups that ruin it. Have you got enough room to freeze bread and buy more fruit that lasts ie apples and oranges, so you don't have to top up quite so much? Sorry if these won't work for you not like I can talk anyway!

I was hoping to make soup but I don't have the chicken would I be ok to chop up and freeze my veggies as have chicken coming on Monday from Tesco? It's celery, onion, carrot and potatoes?

Have been doing so well with meal planning and not binning food I'd hate too see these go to waste (I don't think they would last till mon)

I forgot to thank you for the thread MissA, I hate starting them!.

Chopped frozen veg is fine. I freeze lemon wedges and garlic cloves too because you don't always want loads and they go off.

We have very little food waste here.

I freeze fresh herbs already chopped. Much nicer than dried.

Thanks for the new thread MissA

Marking place for now.

Oh, forgot to mention on the other thread, £10 - DH gave to DD2 to try and pay for her own cinema ticket/snack as she's out with the BF again. she'll be returning what she doesn't spend.