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!

Welcome hetty!

Bantam that's shit poor you. I think you did the right thing. Our windows went and they replaced the motors but they still don't work. Turns out is a massive electrical fault so we still haven't got it fixed.

I probably have £130 but have to pay my credit card minimum paymentfrom that then there's birthdays etc. It all goes so quickly.

£55 new car seat for dd. Dh will give me half.

Had chicken stir fry for dinner, third and final meal from our roast chicken.

Bantam, that's crap for you. I hope everything works itself out for you. Crappy timing too. It always is though, isn't it.

I am supposed to have £600 a month leftover after bills, food, petrol etc. But I don't think I do. I am going to be sitting down this week and going through my budget/expenditure and seeing what I REALLY have left. I think it'll be more like £400 a month.

Does anyone have a good Cornish pasty recipe? I have been skirt, shortcrust pastry, potatoes and onions, but not sure what else I need really.

(Delurking - love this thread and have a girl crush on Fluffy)

Swede! Essential for a Cornish pasty.

£4.89 for lunch. The DC were on a go slow this morning, so I ran out of time to make a lunch. DH had his Christmas party this afternoon, which is normally his day off. He organised to take DD2 to his mum. He suggested I ask my mum to pick up DS and DD1, but she is ill with Nasty chest infection so I had to collect the kids from school.

Mum normally collects Tuesday and Wednesday, so I probably need to do those too. That means 5 hours at work, then pick up kids, finish remaining 2.5 hours at home. It is a bit annoying, trying to work with kids around, but I really appreciate that I can work from home.

Will try to make lunch tomorrow.

Collie I am sorry, your family is really going through it.

89p milk
£1.20ish on stamps.

Anyone else just worn out?. I feel like sleeping until March.

FUCK my bloody driving licence needs to be renewed. What is it about the universe that means as soon as you get ahead something takes you back again! Its only £14 but at the moment that's two week's food! .. buggers..

I wish the government would kendo uts bloody obligations. None of them bring me joy and there are too many half works nh versions of everything... hmmph..

Fluffy I slept for 10 hours the other night and only woke when dh's alarm went off still tired!

About £10 (DP did the shopping) today on peanut butter, baguette, sweetcorn and dates. Just sent in an invoice for work I did yesterday, so that feels nice. DP has taken lunch to work for the first time in ages today. I have leftover choc biscuits from Christmas and wine from last night so feeling quite indulged!

Nsd today (in my accounts anyways). Have just booked flights and hire car for end of jan so we can go to dgf's funeral. Sad. Sad. Sad. So almost £450 spent. For what will essentially be 2 full days. Not complaining though. We need to be there.

Me too, Fluffy. I was manic at work before Christmas but don't have that excuse now - things have quietened down a bit and I feel totally flattened.

collie.

Would have been an NSD here but my Oyster card needed topping up so £20. Nothing else, and tomorrow's packed lunch is sorted so I really can't see why tomorrow should involve any spending (but then one never does).

Hi everyone,
So after working out my finances I need to save a holiday fund, pay off a few debts and sort out driving lessons before my provision and theory runs out in April.

I can afford this and have worked out a budget, my biggest problem is how to have a life and enjoy weekends with the dc.

The park is rubbish in this weather, I'm really going to miss things like going out for breakfast and eating out with my friends and their dc. Obviously It's not forever but I'm finding it hard to think of 25 weeks without treats and days/nights out.

Bantam in answer to your question - not much by the time i have paid for everything that has to be paid for ie food, petrol, clubs, childcare and essential clothes (when dd has outgrown something else) I reckon maybe a tenner a week for treats and extras. Some months are better than others though (January isn't one of them!)

Fluffy hell yes - I seriously want to hibernate!!

Friedfish if you have an odeon cinema near you they do a kids club at the wend £2.50 a ticket otherwise cheap things we do include picnics, bike rides, finding a new place to go (that is free/cheap obv ) How old are your dc?

Right am over my YNAB clothing budget for this month ..(but not out of money , will now have to rejig and take £31 back out of savings )

What was that i said about only cat food yesterday? Went to sainsburys as it was cheaper there..and although i bought 10 boxes of whiskas to last for a while I ended up spending £84.97! (some hungry cat!).. though I hadnt done a 'big shop' since 23rd Dec and as it was after 5pm I got quite a bit of food reduced for freezer ,inc 2x packs of 6 lamb chops for £1.79 each! chicken and reduced smoked salmon some gammon , veg and eggs and other top-up essentials like , and a pair of jeggings that werent in the sale

I got the windscreen done this morning (Dh paid the excess) , and rather than get the bus twice I decided to wait the 2 hours in town so went to Waitrose for my first ever free coffee (although ive had my card for ages , and pretty good it was also .. ) didnt spend there but i also walked past White Stuff and bought a skirt in their sale for £17 (reduced from £45) and some purple leggings reduced to £14.. I'm actually ok with this as they are definately things I will wear, and also because i have managed to save using YNAB i could pay for them cash instead of putting them on my credit card.

However i now must be good and only buy food and petrol for the rest of the month .

.

Just been doing the survey at tescoviews.com, 25 points for answering a few questions. Apparently you can do one a month.

3 of the 12 things I have on Ebay have a bid.... Just need to find 8 more things to flog by the end of the month ha ha!

girliefriend yes we have one of the three odeons that do kids club for £1.50 but then that's £8 bus and a macdonalds healthy lunch to

Although I could do that on weekends when I have other things that I need a family day rider for.

dc are 7 and 9, we have lovely parks, free museums and landmark places to visit in the summer. It's just more effort then going out for food and letting the dc play in the ballpit while me and my friends drink wine.

I have asked on a local fb selling page if anyone has a bike so me and the dc can do bike rides and if I get fit I will bike to work and save my weekly bus pass money!

I asked how much you have leftover, as I am shitting a brick that I only have £66 per week for January (and I have to have a filling at the dentists). Do you think this sounds okay? You have all seen my spending for the past three weeks, I've really reigned it in and hardly spent owt.

bantam Im planning on working about £40 pw now until payday (£66 a week you meant?) . as we really shouldnt need any more food. now except veg and milk.

You say : I have ordered my online shop from Morrisons to be delivered on Friday and it only came to £51+ (there are a couple of things including a joint of meat that I will have to go and get myself) and my weekly budget is £75, so I have a bit to carry forward to next week.

So does that mean you have stuff in to mostly meet what you need for the next two weeks after your delivery ? and only need to top up? if so , I reackin you'll be ok ? ,

Have you budgeted for dentist? Is it NHS?

I'm not catering for so many as you all week, though do have two weekends with extra people to feed ( though not to entertain, just normal lunches and dinners) . ill have to fill up tank ,so that will be another £50 perhaps p but have bugetted for that

One thing ( please dont mind me saying this , but i'd be a bit wary of that car dealer..I dontthink he sounds quite ok . Perhaps get an AA check before you buy ? it might be worth it .

£28 on dinner out. Special treat for DS, as he had a great report from his first parents' evening of secondary school. Also £2.50 on bus fares.
Bantam, after rent and direct debits, I have £100 for clothes; Christmas and birthday gifts; hair and beauty, and £300 for everything else, including food. This works out at £75 per week, of which I try to spend no more than £50 on food (sometimes £40). So theoretically, I have £25-35 a week for everything.

bantam - I will post next week on pay day, so you can see the 'pots' and weekly expenditure. We have a reasonably good income, so I am a bit of a fraud being here. But, we do have large expenditure too (again, I know this is choice).

I also need to ensure that we can live within our income, rather than paying for stuff from DH's dividend each year, which is not guaranteed.

We went from being flat broke for the first few years of DH starting his business to getting used to spending whatever, whenever and it became a habit. There's no debt, but it was frivolous and unnecessary and we all stopped valuing what we had.

I've been doing this since August and it's changed my thinking completely. DH has a way to go, as he can't understand why we are doing it, and keeps asking if I have spent everything we ever had and haven't told him

Not sure why I posted that!!!

Oh, and I didn't plan my time very well tonight so DD and I had home made soup that I rustled up quickly and DH and DS had sausage and egg.

I really need to meal plan too. Last week it looked like we were going to run out of fresh fruit, salad and veg by the weekend, so I ordered a delivery for tomorrow. Actually, we've tons left, which is bad planning.

Also been thinking about my vouchers. I have a M&S offer for the next few weeks of spend £25 and get £5 off. False economy I think, as I don't need to spend that much in the first place in M&S.

Morrisons is trickier. 3 midweek deliveries of £40 plus to get £10 off. I am not sure I even need to spend £40 this week, but feel 'trapped' into it now, having done the first week. I will need bread, milk and sandwich stuff though.

Guess stuff is only a bargain if you need it right?

I do usually meal plan, just haven't so far for the forthcoming week or two and it flummoxed me tonight.

need when I first started really looking at our finances I found it really hard to let vouchers get wasted but, although M&S food is lovely, even with £5 off I know I could buy at least half as much again from somewhere else. So, yes, I think it's a false economy. As for Morrisons, when I get vouchers like this I stock up on nappies, washing powder wine, things that I need but will keep. I have been known to order 30 tins of tomatoes just to hit the spend threshold.

fluffy I am desperately trying to work out how I can get someone to have my dc for a couple of days so I can just 'stop'. I want lots of sleep, tea, a good book and biscuits.