We are the Marvelous Frugaleers - Mindfully Managing our Money in May.. Come join us!

[Laska42]

So here is a new thread for all the Magical May Frugaleers!

All are welcome to come and join our friendly supportive group if you'd like to take control of your finances in May and beyond..

We are working together to support each other, live within our means, pay off those debts and save for the life we want!

Good luck everyone for another month

fluffy You can only slaughter at an abbottoir surely? Even our farm pigs go off to be slaughtered.

adora I am not sure, but I would like to think that the local farm shops use rather less intensive methods for producing their bacon. I won't buy cheap bacon again, but I guess you could take this theory and apply it to any food, particularly meat. It's how far you are prepared to take the moral stance, or how far you can afford it!

Glad you are feeling a touch better Italian

peonies Ivory Lace is nice, as it Timeless, both Crown. I have Polished Pebble upstairs, that's a lovely subtle grey. DD has Apple White in her room, with a striped feature wall, that looks fab!

Spendy day. £70 shop from Morrisons, including beer. £25 fruit and veg delivery. £55 farrier. £13 rescue remedy. £40 on 15 bottles of wine as I set up an account in Dh's name and there was a £60 off voucher, so not bad actually.

Well our butcher kills on site, there's a really posh butchers near where we used to live who kills on site too. I just assumed they had a licence etc.

When I google them it comes up as a slaughterhouse that you can take your animals to. I read a story about animals being hit and kicked in a really well known abattoir that did organic meat. It really put me off the meat industry.

I prefer it because the animals go in singly and are stunned. They only go three miles in a trailer and I used to live near the farms so I know they graze.

Sometimes you see the cows going in . When they invent test tube meat I'll be buying that.

Oh god now I'm panicking it's halal meat. It's the most white non politically correct area ever. You still get wolf whistled and men squaring up to each other in the car park over stolen spaces.

I'm going to have to ask and I'm shy.

Shows what I know then!!

I'd be surprised unless they saw a profit in it.

I thought halal was labeled as such, like kosher is, no? I can't imagine a halal butcher not advertising.

NK there are quite there are quite a few older ladies where I go too, 60's and 70's and one who walks with a stick and needs her mat raised because she can't get down to floor level, but she can do the excerises.

Spendy afternoon, ice-creams after school because I needed something not connected to house/packing/shipping/dogs/UK house/lawyer £9.40
School stuff for DD1 £4.50
Spuds & salad bits £4

Hello everyone. DH being home has interfered with my normal routine.

Sunday 75p in Smiggle topping up DD1's birthday and first communion vouchers, plus £5.75 on a couple of bits for DD2. Parking £18, but cheaper than a cab home would have been.

Monday NSD, Tuesday £30 in Sainsbury's topping up for DH to make a huge Spaghetti Bol (it made a box for 2 meals on our Centerparcs holiday plus 14 bags. We use one bag for us plus one for the three kids for a meal depending on whose eating, so 9 meals for all of us). I'd bought the rest in last week's mega shop!

Wednesday NSD, Thursday £4.59 lunch on the run. £24 buying boots for DS and a friend for the show, I'll get £12 back.

Wednesday wasn't really NSD as I booked a hotel and flights for a business trip (£324 for the flight, plus €240ish for the hotel) but I can reclaim all that from work. I'm off to Rome. Unfortunately I'll need to change some cash. I go after we have to submit our expenses, so in theory I have to cover this for 6 weeks until they pay next month's expenses. I'll try to get it paid sooner.

Because I'll need cash for both this trip and the holiday, I'm only going to pay £1k if the credit card bill, leaving £600 on it, I'm due extra maternity pay (from 2010!) at the end of the month, do will get straight then.

Adora

Some meat is advertised as halal but most animals slaughtered here are halal. Although I read somewhere the animals are stunned anyway with a few non stun abattoirs creeping in. I eat a lot of pork because of it.

I don't think all butchers process their own animals, they probably buy off an abattoir.

I'm just trying to imagine my spit n sawdust butcher having the Koran read out while working. There is literally no black or Asian population in that area.

Need I didn't mean to be a know it all, it's hard to pitch things right on a screen. Bit like text messages. I'm sure your pigs have a much better life than a lot of animals. You'll know a lot more about things like this than I do.

Free kitkat on Checkoutsmart today only.

Bit of a shock election result, God knows what they'll do with a majority.

Our local mp is also a big employer in our village so he's got back in, you're not going to piss the boss off are you?.

Am totally depressed by the election result

I can't believe it really, am seriously worried my tax credits will go plus obviously the bigger picture of the nhs and education.

and again

Wow we've been busy here.
Well done on the job negotiations! And the return to exercise also!

I'm now half a lb off 12st, had put off my return to running because it always stalls my weight loss but seeing as I'm gaining while watching my food strictly anyhow I'm going to start back! Tomorrow though , working today, funeral tonight & volunteering at credit union too

Spends haven't been too bad - diesel was big though €60.79

Tallied our spends on food last month & it was over budget by about €80, going to have a run down everything week this week to balance the books & just do the bare top up shop. We had guests this weekend past & used 17.5 litres of milk compared to usual 8 or 10!!

Thought dishwasher was goosed but dh fixed it!! Frugal win for sure.

Last night was a freezer odds & ends dinner, half garlic baguette, quarter pack of potato shapes, couple sachets frozen rice, pork chops done in tinned condensed soup with frozen peppers & mushrooms for au pair dh & kids, I ate leftover roast beef & veg dinner.

needa thanks - I'll check those out!

girlie I am also extremely depressed by it - I feel a bit sick at the thought of the Tories there without even the (usually ineffectual!) Lib Dems to hold them back.

This is the party that gave us the bedroom tax and millions using food banks ffs.

Will post fully later. Just to say fluffy, my post must have come across that I was upset. I wasn't at all, just laughing at my own ignorance sometimes

Just got MIL back from hospital, so that's good at least. The NHS has been utterly and totally fantastic these last 2 weeks. No complaints at all, wonderful wonderful staff.

NSD so far, I've transferred some cash over to another account though, as DH hasn't done his mileage since February, well over £2k will be owed.

Quite agog at the election results. I suspect Labour were masters of their own downfall to a degree. Union appointed leader. Wrong leader in any event. Incorrect strategy. Misjudgement of the SNP. Ho hum.

I think loads of folk voted Tory and don't like to admit it . I didn't, although with a high income and our own business, I 'should' have done.

I am so depressed about result that I can hardly speak.. but did a 17 hours shift yesterday at polling station .. so pretty tired also..

It has been spendy this week but i havent totted it all up yet , but actualy i just want to spend whats left on wine and fags now ( and sod the lot of em!).

Oh good, I'd hate to upset anyone on here.

Your mil must be so relieved to be home Audit.

£1.99 on bonemeal in homebargains for the shrubs we are hopefully planting tomorrow.

£1.20 on two kitkat but free on Checkoutsmart and I'm claiming 45p off one of them from snap n save. Dh will be digging lots tomorrow so I need something to bribe him with.

When I request all this cash off Checkoutsmart and quidco I'm buying a 1.5l slow cooker off Wilkos. I can heat my lunches up in it on my days off rather than use the hob. It's £10.

I've been on right move looking at houses in marginal seats

I'm surprised at the result.

Spent a fraction under £3 on breakfast as I did the school run and didn't eat before leaving. I'm usually not hungry until about 9-ish but today I felt ravenous just after we left. I bought cheese and crackers and now have said items in the fridge/cupboard though so it wasn't 3 quid squandered iyswim.

Nsd. I'm not surprised at the results but then again where we are its v Tory. I've only seen Tory posters and we've only had a Tory candidate round. I haven't seen a single poster, flyer through the door or even labour candidate. In our local ones we had a choice of Tory or lib dem and that's it.

Had a bit of a strange day, went to check on my mums cat as she is away till tomos evening and he seemed really quite unwell, didn't get up and panting a bit. Rang the vets who said bring him in, tbh once we got there he had perked up a bit (typical) but the vet reckons he has a virus possible herpes Fluffy any experience?

Vet gave him two injections and some meds to have daily, don't understand it as he has had all his jabs and is the most pampered puss I know thinking will have to go and stop at my mums tonight as can't have him here with my cats!

Anyway that all cost £75!! However am pretty sure my mum will pay me back

Other spends

90p parking
£5.50 in Greggs in my defence £2 of that was my friend who has been poorly all week so I thought some cakes might cheer her up!

Still need to do some shopping but no idea when I will get to do that now

Nope, ASBO cats not thrown that one at me yet. Post in the litter tray and maybe Cozie or Lone will comment.

Poor cat though. I don't think herpes is something they vaccinate for, it's usually flu and something else I cannot remember now. I'd stop with him too. I couldn't leave him on his own.

Well isn't that pants, 5 more years of... oh wait, I don't even live there and I'm upset! I am officially asking for French nationality next week.

Was refunded 45€ out of the €90 for our eye appointments. Will have to do a shop before my DM arrives this evening as we have almost run out of meals.

Tomorrow will be spendy as we are going out to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

Yeah Fluffy will be packing up and staying at mums tonight, just spoke to her and she is upset and feeling guilty she is not here. Had a quick google and it does seem to fit unfortunately it seems once they have it they are stuck with it for life, although it is only symptomatic occasionally. Poor puss.

Really disappointed by the election result. I don't think anyone could have predicted just how bad it would be. It's going to take a while to get my head around it .

£14.39 on some stuff from Tesco for the weekend, 64p on a stamp and £10 for DS' s friend's birthday gift. DS has been invited to the cinema with him tomorrow, so I'll give him a few quid for popcorn then too.

My brother is coming to visit us this weekend, so I've budgeted £40 for treats: a curry tomorrow night and afternoon tea on Sunday, instead of Sunday lunch. Can't wait.

Have a good, frugal weekend, everyone .

I'm disappointed with the election result too and worrying about all sorts of things, financial and otherwise.
NSDs yesterday and today though so that's good. Just making curry, should have enough to freeze.
Tomorrow will be spendy - haircut and supermarket trips planned.

I had a heavy period flooding incident on the way to work. ...

£2.39 for "super plus extra" tampons
£1 on jam doughnuts to ease the pain
£6 tights m&s (lanky legs so cant buy cheap)

So pleased my week is finished. Anyone got any idea how long notice periods are before probation ends? My contract says 8 weeks but some people have suggested one week. That would be nice, am finding juggling kids and commuting not much fun.