Frugal January, everyone welcome.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Useful links.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/1324074-For-those-who-cant-afford-to-use-central-heating-this-year-How-are-you-going-to-cope

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1543785-your-top-tips-for-money-saving-and-a-more-frugal-life

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1600030-Small-money-saving-habits-petty-even

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1628874-Gas-Elec-Bills-monthly-and-SKY-so-angry

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1911061-NO-MORE-COLD-MUMSNETTERS

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2209167-Slow-Cookers-are-shit

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2224969-saving-money

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2258202-Debt-mutual-support-thread-number-6-start-the-new-year-with-a-clear-purpose-and-keep-moving-forwards-even-by-tiny-steps?

orchard.tesco.com/ Sign up to this.

www.topcashback.co.uk/home And this.

www.quidco.com/home/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub ditto.

www.checkoutsmart.com/ Plus this.

www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new?page=3 Check this daily.

Happy New Year Everyone!

sportinguista we have the same situation. DP has a very small regular monthly income and occasional freelance income and I'm completely self-employed. DP's freelance work is totally unpredictable so anything that comes from him extra we put aside for unexpected household stuff like emergency repairs to the car or the house, or holidays. My work is all done by contract so technically I can forecast my cash flow but in practice the invoicing happens sporadically and some clients are quicker than others at paying.

Have you got any specific challenges/questions - we've been doing this for a while now so can share our experience if it helps. I would say the most important thing I've learned is that when your income is variable, it's essential to know (or estimate) your monthly budget so you have a fixed point e.g. if you will spend £xxx over the year on birthdays then you need to divide that by 12 so you can work out how much you need to be earning and putting aside each month to break even.

Hoping for an NSD today (unless we nip to the pub this evening, but as that'll only be a couple of soft drinks and maybe some crisps, it won't be too bad!).

May spend some of the Christmas money and buy a couple of bits online but it's all accounted for so it's ok

Congratulations collie, that's great news!

Congrats wobbles!

Yesterday was supposed to be a nsd but dd got worms so £18 gone on worming treatment for us all and numerous cleaning products as I obsessively clean everything in the house.

Today I will have a nsd- my first since joining the thread

Huge congratulations Collie. All our bills fell when we bought our house because I could control the insulation & appliances etc instead of using the expensive to run things the LL had installed.

Congratulations colliewobbles.

sixforgold that dream is hilarious!

I dreamed my friends and I went swimming,mbut they got bored and wanted to ice skate so they go special shoes which allowed them to ice skate on the tiled floor of the pool but I'd couldn't find any to fit me ...

Apparently I am insecure!

I had a semi NSD today. I bought an ice cream machine today which was very expensive but one I have wanted for at least 5 years. I used birthday money i had been given that I was holding onto as I was wanting a nice rug. When i realised I would be cross with the kids and dogs after a couple of weeks when the rug was guaranteed to be dirty I changed my mind. Hoping for a couple if NsD's this week as back to work I go.

Finally put my hand in my pocket and spent 67 at Tesco online and 2.95 on a Yorkshire flag. That is the first money I've spent this year. I'll be the coin sweep thingy every Sunday and every Wednesday. Be interesting to see how much it accumulates!

Yay collie! Fab news, how exciting! :o

Off to town in a minute

Congrats collie We're hoping to buy this time next year, I can't wait! That's why we've got to stay on the frugal train to build up our deposit.

NSD planned for today. Plenty of food in, weather grim so not going anywhere, plus I still have the plague and loads to do! Today I need to reread a book I'm writing an essay on, make some notes, and then I can start my first quilt, which will be a small one for my friend's munchable little boy The fabric has little bears on and arrived yesterday.

I also need to tidy the bedroom and get DH to help me sort through the books in the office. Most will go to charity but we do sell our old textbooks which can make a few pounds here and there.

Hi, I'm just joining (although I have been here a few times before and then fallen by the wayside) but I've just received some inheritance and can now actually see the light at the end of the debt tunnel - as long as I stop dicking around buying crap!i

I started coin sweeping this week after lurking and have made a strict meal plan this week (helped by my new year lose weight motivation, so hopefully I won't stray!).

I must get my brain in gear to do surveys again, I've not looked at them for months and they are so easy to just sit and do while in front of the tv.

I also want to start being stricter about electrics being on, our built up credit on the gas and electricity was wiped out by our meter reading yesterday so I don't want to go too far the other way as we still have the potentially colder half of winter to go!

collie congratulations! Great news

Going to join in thread. Am on mat leave so finances are limited and we need to be careful. Will coin sweep today and report back. Also using up freezer stuff like others. Think I will invest in a slow cooker as well :0)

Amazing news collie! We couldn't get a mortgage for a shed round here

Congratulations Collie, you must be chuffed.

I'm just back from Lidl and spent £37.58 on (hopefully) this week's groceries. I went armed with a meal plan and a list and allowed everyone one off-list purchase. Would have been £4.50 less if I hadn't let them all choose something.

Congratulations collie! Buying a house is so exciting stressful. We've owned a house for about 8 years and we're lucky enough to have had a little help with our first deposit. I have no idea how people save such a large amount of money now that rents are so high.

I've accidentally tumble dried dh's favourite top and it's shrunk He got it in the sale for £55 with birthday money and the closest replacement I can find is £70. He has said not to replace it. I feel really bad but equally I don't want to spend £70....

It will be lsd today. Ideally it would be a nsd but I have a price match voucher for Sainsbury's for £1.63 that expires today. I'm going to buy some dried apricots for £2.50 AND NOTHING ELSE. I have to walk past there anyway this afternoon, I'm not making a special trip. I'm not that frugal.

Hi everyone.

I've made an apple and date loaf this morning using dates I that needed using and two old apples from the fruit bowl. I used Jack Monroe's Banana bread recipe as a guide and used the apple and date instead of banana. It's vegan so handy as I haven't has any eggs since I used them up on my toad in the hole.

Verdict - well half of it's been eaten already!

I'm just going to redo my budget and make sure everything's up to date. Going to restart my monthly expenditure spreadsheet too.

Just made myself a highly nutritious lunch consisting of last night's leftover mashed potato fried up, a fried egg, tomatoes and mushrooms. Not the healthiest but ticks the frugal box as usually on a quiet Sunday I'd nip to McDonalds.

Although my friend has invited us out for tea so we'll likely spend there...unless we have them round here instead!

Had leftovers for lunch. Some ham, some rice, some potato leek soup... Random but hey.

I've started to follow this group on fb (for those of you on fb)... Feed your family for £20 a week. Some of the language isn't necessarily palatable, but some of their ideas and menus are ingenious!!

Congrats collie! Welcome to home ownership - it will be great, we've got 14 years now under our belt and because of a cheap house in a not great neighbourhood we managed to remortgage for the best deal as now around 50% paid. It's totally worth it although sometimes it is a pain!

Mystic thanks for the tips. It's hard to know what will happen until I actually start and I've got to second interview on a permanent job already. But I need to make a 'Plan B' as it's by no means sure that will pan out. I've got several agencies that use contract workers in my industry so hopefully between that and temping we might break even. At least one plus is I've got around £500 worth of child are vouchers to use this year so that's pretty much all paid. Good point about working out stuff like birthdays and incidentals.

Tea today is mish mash of left overs and may include a range of cheeses and possibly even tempura prawns (got with orchard vouchers) which we didn't manage on New year as I flaked out around 11.30 so it might be odd but it's cheap!

ive just read the thread and would love to join you guys

im a hoarder and shopaholic and 2015 will be the year I change (been saying for a long time but need to just get my act together and do it!)

I spent way too much at xmas and dd's were overwhelmed by the 'bargins' I had picked up all year. so this year no random cheap purchases, im going to try and save money in an account for closer to xmas, I already do park for Amazon and love to shop vouchers. the things they loved were last minute purchases based on current interests not things they liked 6 months ago!