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Original poster

Frugal January, part two.

786 replies

Fluffycloudland77 · 15/01/2015 21:57

Everybody is welcome.

OP posts:
Pointlessfan · 26/01/2015 22:11

Thanks for the gift ideas and links, will look thoroughly tomorrow, off to bed now.
Found out today that the 99p shop does Nair hair removal cream - result!

AdoraBell · 26/01/2015 22:12

Happy birthday Need Cake

Spotty how do you get discount in Nandos, is it work related? My DD1 plans to live on Nandos if we move back, although tonight she refused to eat ham because it's cruel. She's 13 and a half so I anticipate some hand wringing over the next few weeks/months. She ate a cheeseburger for lunch, Fe.

NSD for me today, DH bought lunch at €25.

SpottyTeacakes · 27/01/2015 01:35

Adora it's because I work for the nhs.

sportinguista · 27/01/2015 05:34

Happy birthday Need Cake

So should be NSD today, as walking into town for registration with agency. Will make a chick pea soup and investigate the freezer for things to cobble together into a meal. Doing big Aldi shop tomorrow with voucher so need to finalise list.

Job market a bit quiet but need to start getting ideas together for freelance stuff. I need to get a temporary website sorted and start getting out there.

Dh is a bit down about possibly not being able to afford holiday this year but realistically it's going to be difficult to save and even days out will be difficult. How do you cope with that situation? We didn't go last year either and thought it would be easier this year, not worse Sad

AuditAngel · 27/01/2015 05:58

Yesterday NSD.

Today, I need to do an online shop, need to top up various bits. Still got my mum, sister and her fiancé with us. They have been topping up on bread/milk/potatoes etc. it is helping to clear some of my freezer sticks do I can defrost it. Will try not to go mad, but never seems to work that way.

I got a shock last night when I had a look at what our holiday flights will cost. Our DC gave a couple of inset days do I thought I might sneak in before they got too expensive, huh! BA would be about £1,700, Aegean about £1,350 and Easyjet currently about £1,100. The downside with Easyjet would be having to go to a further airport and pay for parking on top.

This was a surprise as normally I pay about £700 to £800, but book earlier, plus we are going to Greece this year which is further away. Sigh.

It just seems to be one thing after another at the moment.

Pointlessfan · 27/01/2015 06:07

Audit we once ended up paying the same to fly with Ryanair as we would have done using a more expensive airline from our local airport as we had to travel a long way at both ends and pay to park. It was a lot of hassle too, I won't be doing that again!
Camping for us this year, probably about £50-70 for the week.

AuditAngel · 27/01/2015 06:08

Well, one bit of good news, just checked my bank account. Despite missing the date for submitting my expenses form because I was on compassionate leave, they have paid it to me. So that is £265 to come off the nasty credit card bill. I was surprised to fine £3,115 in my account (it isn't payday for me until Friday. This means I can pay £2,500 for my tax bill, leaving £700 to pay next month, and pay £600 off my card as well.

I have spent the £50 my parents gave DH and I for Christmas, after I found it in the pocket of my jeans Blush I suspect DH has also forgotten about it.

I am hoping for a nice surprise in this month's wages, I know my new boss asked her boss to give me a rise as I haven't had one for 2 years, hopefully I get one (but they haven't said anything yet so I am trying not to get my hopes up.)

£266 less in bills in Feb and March as no council tax to pay. Unfortunately I think I have spent it a few times over already.

Pointlessfan · 27/01/2015 06:15

That is good news, I love finding money in clothes!

confusedandemployed · 27/01/2015 06:30

Happy birthday for yesterday need.
Fx for your rise angel.
NSD for yesterday. Hoping for another today. I am dieting and have NO BUSINESS going to the Tesco Express near work for a mooch. I will take my salad and prawns and drink gallons from the water cooler.

574ejones · 27/01/2015 06:45

Happy birthday for yesterday Need.

£34 petrol yesterday. Am hoping for a low spend week.

lilacclery · 27/01/2015 07:43

Dh's bill at aldi was €52.74 bringing us €29.64 over our food budget for the week - that's also what was left from cleaner not being for 2 weeks so not out of pocket but it has decided it for us - Dunnes is no more. Aldi all the way. We've had nothing from Tesco since 12th Dec until I went to Dunnes last week and we still ate well and within budget. I will use my tesco voucher for a small shop next week as I'm away but that's it.

lilacclery · 27/01/2015 08:05

I've been doing projections for buying my next car, I would like to have 60-75% of it saved before I buy. If I save at the rate I'm currently repaying my credit union loan once it's finished I'll have it saved by beg of 2020 at which time my current car will be 15 years old and my children will be 6 and 10 so will need less stuff when we go visiting my parents. I'll have €11.5k. I have a good car at the moment so it'll definitely last the pace until then. Prior to following this thread and assessing how we are doing financially I would've just topped up my loan to get a newer car.

lilacclery · 27/01/2015 08:09

sportinguista I had hoped we'd go on holidays this year but dh reasoned with me that we'd be better with a groupon weekend away with the children and clear more debt. I am having a weekend away myself but it's part work but the way I look at it, we might have a better holiday next year and we'll enjoy it more plus ds will be 2.5 in summer 16 so much better on his feet than this summer also.

Belated happy birthday need

needastrongone · 27/01/2015 08:22

Thanks all for my birthday good wishes. I am made up with cold so went to bed very early, but DH did come home and took me for lunch, just to a local 'nice' pub, but it was a lovely treat anyway.

Ordered a new broadband package via Plusnet last night (had thought it was part of my Sky deal, but the topcashback site, or possibly the Sky site, was ambiguous) No matter, as I got another £50 cashback for switching.

Filled the car up yesterday but that will be a rare expense claim; as I do the company banking I put maybe one or two mileage claims in a year for driving to the local town to bank cheques. Would feel wrong to claim more than this, but justified in doing one or two and I don't need to go to the town hardly ever.

Also ordered the dog food online (budgeted) and ordered a bulk deal of granite cleaner, which is the only cleaning product I am fussy about but is much cheaper to buy 6 from Amazon than in the supermarket. I love my granite worktops, which were part of the spec in the house when it was built and are light grey and I am sad about Smile

Fingers crossed for the pay rise adora. DD 13 also tinkered with being vegetarian, and has never really eaten a lot of red meat through choice (she will have mince but that's about it). She eats chicken and fish though, which does help.

Sadly our council tax is over £200 per month, so the two months off will be welcome.

No ideas for baby gifts as I have teenagers, sorry.

Meal planned but it will go a bit off this week as DH is working late and the DC have clubs and I have meetings.

Bit cheesed off with Morrisons too. Got my £10 off voucher for 3 midweek shops, tried to use it for a shop on Friday as I want to stretch my shopping out and have to use it for a midweek shop. Just not going to get into this again, I feel I made false economy here.

Just need milk today and jam as DH is complaining that we have none!

Oh and cream buns for work given the birthday yesterday.

Original poster
Fluffycloudland77 · 27/01/2015 08:22

We've still got loads to do to our house so no holiday here either.

Our neighbours are selling so I've seen the pictures on rightmove & they've done loads to their house. We've only painted one room Sad

Holidays are a luxury though.

OP posts:
needastrongone · 27/01/2015 08:24

Oh - I have just joined the Scottish National Trust, I think the dd is about £6 per month. You can use it in England. If you take a picnic, would that be any good as an alternative to a holiday for cheapish days out, depending on where you live for petrol obviously!!

lilacclery · 27/01/2015 08:44

coffeefunction anyone can join, the more the merrier - welcome!!
Thanks opal how come I didn't think of that!! Just checked and range for this week is much bigger than what was in tiny outlet I was in, maybe they'll have more next week we'll see. It looks like great value for €14.

babsmam · 27/01/2015 09:58

£8.05 on a prescription bloody tonsillitis

MissMysticFalls · 27/01/2015 10:00

sporting have you thought about a houseswap with a friend in the UK somewhere? Not that I've done it, but would if I could. Hmm...friend is moving to Scotland soon...

We put down a deposit on our holiday this May to the Isle of Wight, last June, and it's self-catering so should be £500 all in. Going with a lot of family who I've already warned not to suggest we join them for meals out or paid for outings unless they're paying!

My tax bill has come in at an eye-watering £6,100 to be paid at the end of the week. Am feeling really, really close to the financial edge at the moment and desperate not to go into debt. The stupid thing is that I'm working so much at the moment, but it's freelance so I won't see the benefit until March/April when the invoices get paid.

fuzzpig · 27/01/2015 10:01

Aw babs you poor thing :( hope you've got some ice lollies (I always get calippos when I have it!)

MissMysticFalls · 27/01/2015 10:01

PS - am already technically in debt (mortgage and borrowed off my Mum until I get paid again) but not scary debt!

Original poster
Fluffycloudland77 · 27/01/2015 10:14

Anyone else joined ShopperThoughts? You get tesco clubcard points for surveys.

I want to see hampton court palace in the summer but its £15 each to get in so I'm hoping to pay for it in tesco points.

OP posts:
confusedandemployed · 27/01/2015 10:59

Thanks for the tip Fluffy, never heard of them before.
I just checked my Ipsos account (ordered 2 John Lewis vouchers 2 weeks ago) and I've got enough points for another voucher, thanks to one huge survey I did. So that is ordered and will go in the post with the others. I now have about £120 in vouchers to spend in JL.
£1.12 on milk for work and a pack of TicTacs. I'm dieting and they give just enough of a sugar hit to keep me satisfied, for only 70 calories. God I'm a saddo.

Encyclo · 27/01/2015 11:16

Morning everyone!

Lila you are spot on re: Dunnes (It's kind of like M&S crossed with Sainsburys for all the non-Irish). I may not bother using my voucher either. It's a con.

welcome coffeefunction post away, it's a great place to make yourself accountable for your spends :)

babs you have my sympathy, I was a martyr to tonsillitis when I was a teenager, it's just awful. Icecream and lollies all the way.

I'll have a nosey on Shopper thoughts later Fluffy Thanks for the tip .

That's fab about finding the £50 Audit, about time you had a bit of good luck.

We booked a holiday to Florida for June long before we came to the conclusion that I needed to quit work. On the plus side, it's all paid for except the spends. We also take my niece to help with dd18, so there's 5 of us going. God it feels extravagant now in our new reality though. Dd18 loves Disney and we went loads when we had no sense when they were younger. Good old Irish Celtic Tiger ;)

Nevermind, we'll just live on beans until May to pay for the spends!

Encyclo · 27/01/2015 11:17

ooh ooh PS:

Weekly groceries budget €120 / Actual spend so far €95.32

The week re-sets on Thursday. Pretty sure we can come in under budget.