Don't Panic, December is frugal this year.

[Fluffycloudland77]

NSD = no spend day
LSD = Low spend day

italian I'm not particularly religious but will say a little prayer for good results of that little boy's brain scan. Is your dd doing well? This is her second christmas right?

Did you continue using ynab? I can't get it to operate on my phone so I don't bother with it, might try sort out the issue over Christmas excel spreadsheet serves me well anyhow.

I have predicted we will go about €50 over budget for Christmas, this year we saved €35 weekly from my return to work on 28th April so going to save €25 weekly next year to give us a total budget of €1300 next year which is +€305 on this year, allowing for the fact dd will be in school & will have a better understanding of Santa or if we save €30 weekly it'll be +565 will discuss with dh.

€50 in my dishwasher fund from cash gift at work, aiming for a siemens in the sales if I've enough money.

Online shop from tesco - €230 - includes 4 crates of beer, 3 for gifts (all budgeted for in Christmas money), 6 brita maxtra cartridges for €25 (6 months supply-luckily I didn't pay €21 for 4 last week as I had planned but didn't get to the shop! - this saves us €6 weekly on bottled water €337 over 6 months) This shop will be last before a top up delivery on Dec 23rd. Will need to go to butchers this evening possibly €25.

collie I just can't do grocery shopping with dh so either he goes with list I've prepared or I go, end of story!

Peonies hope you have a lovely time at play and dinner. How is pain now?

Hoping for good news Italian

Congratulations on the win collie

MissA - enjoy your night out and meal.

robin - Was the meal worth it though?

Having my shop delivered today, but it's only a top up, and also gets me my £25 off from Morrisons.

Doing a bit of shopping at the weekend, but I will be restrained and report on here afterwards to keep me in check.

I keep reading but never seem to find time to post. Going out for Christmas meal tonight but already paid for so I'm hoping to just spend £20 on taxis and drinks.

I think I'm done for Christmas. I need a gift for mil but I've got £5 orchard voucher so will use that. I need to do big shop but I'm not going to buy loads as it doesn't get eaten.

Congratulations on your win collie

Big shop in Morrisons £70 have got my 6th voucher though and another £5 off voucher so that will be £30 off my Christmas shop also picked up lots of extras that I don't normally get so all is good.

Got the works do, not feeling great so hoping will feel better by then!!

£5.00 on bits today
off to Cardiff to see son at Uni tomorrow, husband is paying so thats 2 NSD :)

Congratulations Collie. Free moneys always welcome.

80p on farm shop potatos.

Bargain pillows arrived, absolute rubbish quality so I'm sending them back. Which will cost me £4ish. I feel stupid for not just going to tk maxx and buying them, it will cost me more now.

Lesson learned.

£72.75 tesco delivery.

Didn't have any lunch so that's all I spent today.

Frugal win -have ended the week with a stray tenner still in my bag that's going in the bank.

Frugal fail -put my finger through my jeans. Am far too long in the tooth for ripped jeans.

Will try to catch up soon. Good weekend everyone

LSD - put 50p in the school collection for ds' nativity.

Will be spendy at Aldi tomorrow. Getting stuff for Christmas dinner the following Saturday... Wish me luck.

I have been a bit frivolous at buying lunches this week and generally lax on the comfort eating. My mum is very ill with cancer and went noticeably down hill at the weekend. I am pretty sure it's getting to the weeks to live stage so feeling rather sorry for myself, resulting in excessive cake eating.

it also means we really don't know what we will be doing at Christmas as she is currently at home but needing a lot of care from my dad. So I think we might go there for the morning and then come home for dinner in the afternoon, but there is a chance she might be in hospice so we're playing it by ear really.

I'm going to buy lots of finger foods so we can just take a selection of yummy things to wherever we end up. Dh's mum is coming Christmas eve and said she will bring us a casserole in case I just don't want to cook anything at all (she is very lovely).

Present wise me and dh have done stockings for each over and dd is getting some books, an umbrella, and a stocking. The nephews are getting some sweets and vouchers, and dh has promised to take them to a football match in the new year. Nobody else is getting anything.

Ah, and I also had to buy 2 bras for £26 today as all my bras have decided to break at exactly the same time! Bloody typical.

£11.82 in Tesco on food, which should see us through until Monday (child tax credits and child benefit ), £20 for DS's Scouts subs and another £5 on Scouts raffle tickets, £1.70 on two padded envelopes, and... £38.04, posting a big box of presents to my family in the Republic of Ireland!

Oh, hearmyroar, so sorry to hear about your Mum, but glad you have a support network around you.

LSD on lunch £3. One week left at work before 2 weeks off and I am so looking forward to it!

I need to do a big food shop at Aldi tomorrow plus haircuts, so will be a spendy weekend.

Spendy day in aldi and Iceland and the last of my christmas shopping. Didn't go too ma dough and ended up putting stuff back as wanted it rather than needed it. Guess I'm slowly getting there.

Oh hearmyroar I'm sorry to hear about your mum. That sounds really hard. I'm glad your MIL is supportive. And if you want cake to feel better then you should darn well eat cake

12/12
£4.76 DVD set for DH at Xmas
£7.49 iPod charger cable (lightning deal) glad I found this as mine is on last legs and if I couldn't charge my iPod I would cry
£18.40 monster high doll for DS (from DD) - gutted it was this much but then he decided he wanted to get her one too - DH had already bought her one months ago in a sale, so we've actually just given that to him to give her IYSWIM, and have therefore saved buying an extra gift that way.
£7.85 cafe after school
£4.30 taxi home as feeling really unwell :( health has been crap lately.

Used all £7 of my orchard vouchers and as the finest range is £4 n 3 for 2 cost me £1 wasn't overly impressed with range got 2 lots prawn things n pies n we had half pk of pies for dinner with wedges.

We normally buy the normal range n they are normally bogof at this time yr n a better selection.v

hearmyroar, thinking of you and your mum.

Despite our recent spending, I've managed to keep frugal ish! Today I'm going to buy the Christmas tree, dd is going to the pantomime but my friend who is taking her as company for her grandson has paid for her ticket. We're going round to friends tonight, contributing mulled cider made from cider left over from a previous party.

Have a good weekend everyone

Hearmyroar eat all the cake you want

Frugal win: my dad chopped a Christmas tree down for me from the woods (all legal ) so super fresh and won't drop and FREE!

Need to buy my mumsnet gift swap present today

Lucky you, free tree spotty
Forgot to say, more spending today as a friend is coming to convert all our spotlights to led compatible. It's going to cost £300 but will pay for itself. Am mostly that when we had the kitchen and bathroom done a few years ago outdated fittings were put in and we in our ignorance had no idea. Anyway, look forward, not back
Ds has just rung from his paper round, over the moon that a customer who was up watching the cricket has come out to him, updated him on the score and given him a £5 tip!

hearmyroar so sorry to read about your mum, your mil sounds like a great support. Look after yourself & enjoy this time with her, nothing else matters.

Tesco shop came yesterday €208, the Brita cartridges never came so today I will purchase 12 months supply for €42 in Argos - I have a gift card from work bonus which I planned to spend on make up for myself in sales, instead our kettle needs replacing, I will buy gifts for a little girls birthday, my friends two children, plus a spare gift to make up the 2 for €20 deals, it's a set of different crayola things so will come in handy for rainy days with dd, also sisters present she's got a new car so a car vacuum cleaner & a fleece lined ice scraping mitt. This will cost me about €15 of cash.

Must package up gifts for dhs grandchildren & pop in post too. Buy some bags wood pellets as our delivery hasn't arrived yet & if Ive time to spare before dd swimming lesson buy ds Christmas clothes! Unlikely as lesson is at 11, shops are 30 mins away & we're all still in bed!

have to pick up & pay for 3 hand painted platters too €185 eek! Must bargain down but free courier for two of them sotmight not get much off.

Hear that's awful about your mum. I hope they are managing her pain

North Did you need new transformers?. I keep telling ndn to just change his because ours are all new build.

Just got a ridiculous renewal through for my aa cover over £200!

Going to go for the RAC this time. £121.99 plus £50 quidco and £30 free fuel. Dad will give me £50 for Christmas so will use that [boring]

Hmm spendy day, went to local garden centre to see Father Christmas and in a moment of madness ended up buying the photo as well so that was £13 in all, then £11 for lunch for me and dd and then ended up getting some Christmas presents £15 I think Christmas fever has set in.

Work do last night and spent about £5 on drinks, was a good night one of the plusses of not drinking is being able to laugh at all the other drunkards