Marvelous Frugaleers - May the Money Magic Continue into June

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Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

By popular request - copied from January

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.

£6 on top up shop. No other spends.

Have gardened, tidied and cleaned today. All good frugal stuff

I get toothbrush heads from eBay

£1.80 on a big fat jacket potatoe and beans. Love my work canteen

£5ish on fruit and half price mayo....we get through loads of mayo so I stock up when cheap!

Blue what did you put in your salad? Some things are moré filling than others.

Didn't have an NSD after all, I remember I needed eggs so Spent £2.20.

I don't want another puppy. I love dogs but I am done with the puppy stage.

Lots of different salad veg, mixed beans, egg, cheese but no real carbs. .. The tea and toast was sheer greed lol ;)

Loan forms signed and into the post. Must start saving now to clear it! I'm a bit unclear about whether you can make small overpayments, must ring them. Probably not worthwhile anyway, mortgage rate is higher.

25 quid tesco delivery coming this morning 10 of which is baby milk /wipes etc, so 15 of a top up shop really.

Finally been paid for election work

MissA I hope you will post some pictures of your puppy when he arrives!
I did a bit of reshuffling last night. Paid £45 termly fees for a class I do and finally cleared the balance on my interest free cc (using savings) as the interest free period ends next month. I was paying £30 a month on that so I'm now diverting that into my ISA and I think I can afford to increase it to £50 at least until I go part time in Sept. Might as well save a bit while I can!
Also did coin sweeping and I'm almost at the £500 mark in that account now which should easily cover Xmas and holiday money (my lovely mum is paying for the actual holiday).
I have never been so sorted for Xmas - normally I'm just skint for the whole of Dec and Jan. It's especially good as I'll be earning less then too. Going to start looking out for bargain pressie ideas.

Pointless that's great news! You have inspired me to also start saving for Xmas. We also overdo things, never keep to any budget and then spend the next 6 months paying for it.

Love this thread

Details of weekend shopping trip:

£8 in M&S vests for DD
£7.99 in New Look t-shirt for DD
£7 in Sports Direct tracksuit trousers for DD
£7 in John Lewis socks for DD
£4.98 Boots toiletries etc for DD school residential
£30 in M&S for 2 sets of pyjamas for DD
£10.99 for lunch in Pret

All of the above doesn't seem to have made much of a dent in DD's clothing needs!

Yesterday:
about £10 in Sainsbury's
£48 for haircut
£10 for sponsorship money (wish I had said no really)
£5 to DD for school trip spending money

pointless i'm sure you'll all get bored of him

I'm looking into pet insurance, one thing I do NOT agree with Dave Ramsey on is that "you shouldn't get a pet unless you can afford the vet bills" I don't know if vet bills are cheaper in the US but I see nothing wrong with having medical insurance on a pet (also find it ironic that he disagrees with that when they have medical insurance for humans over there!!)

I've filled in the form to keep getting child benefit for DS when he goes into 6th form.

I have dug out the tax credit renewal from the pile to do next but can't face doing it today! Will aim to get it done at the beginning of next week.

Should be nsd although dd has said she'd like a number five balloon at her party on Saturday so might phone the local party shop and see how much it is.

Nutribullet win today - summer greens, grated raw carrot, frozen grapes, frozen raspberries, banana, a few walnuts, 1/2 tablespoon of golden linseed blended with coconut water (the thin stuff in a carton, not the hugely calorific canned stuff). mmmmm.

Aww spotty do it, my mum got me a '9' balloon in rainbow colours and I loved it, she was actually a bit as I liked it more than my more expensive real presents

£17.85 on balloons

haha sorry spotty I hope she is suitably impressed

Collie I wouldn't worry. Just keep offering it. My dc lived off yoghurts when teething

Nsd yesterday. Hoping for another today

LSD for me, £2.20 for a coffee in a cafe on local park. School trip has been cancelled as council forgot to pass on booking for the coaches to the coach company. Cue 90 parents and children left waiting at 8 this morning ready to go on trip. School had confirmation from council but they just forgot to book transport. The kids were really disappointed and the parents equally gutted as many had taken holiday from work etc to go with them. So we ended up going on picnic on local park etc and they are trying to rebook it all. So feeling a bit down about it all but trying to put a positive spin for DS just so and at the same time.

On balance have been paid so things looking ok there! Hoping to have some more NSDs to save up money for holiday still.

I've been very busy over half term and although I've tried to catch up with this thread I don't seem to have the time so I've only read this page. I hope everyone is well. Last day of May budget tomorrow, it's been a very long month, about £20 over but I can live with that as we had a good half term and June is a short month for us so I should pull it back.

Collie please don't stress, it's a common, although annoying, phase a lot of little ones go through. If you're really concerned you could try making breakfast into more of a meal eg beans/eggs/cheese on toast with very dilute orange juice and/or increase snacks such as banana flapjacks with raisins or whole boiled eggs. We're veggie so these I the options I provided but I'm sure you could others. My ds is 3.8 and has only just started eating a wide range of food again after being a great eater when we weaned him but he's survived!

I want to do a cheap food week. So far I have:

Jackets and beans
Tuna pasta salad
Sausage meat lasagne
Chorizo and cheese quesadillas

So need three cheap meals to go with those, any ideas?

Spotty, do you have any chicken legs in your freezer?
Roast 2 with onion carrot leek & diced potatoes, strip the meat off the bone & make gravy with milk & stock. Encase in some pastry. Serve with veg. (Serves 4)