July Frugal thread, Just chatting and saving.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Everyone welcome.

wheeley it was pointlessfan not me..

I have been home all day , and have been decluttering clothes ( have been reading the Kondo thread) .

Really really need to do this for lots of stuff though we've been in our house 9 years and havent had a sort out at all since ,.(we still have still stuff we brought with us packed in boxes in the attic!! ) Also the main thing which i now feel able to tackle at last is the fact that ive been guilty of buying way too many clothes and other stuff I dont really need over the last few years (being responsible for my previous £3000 cc debt) and its been making me feel quite sick looking at my stuffed wardrobe ( not the rest of the house is ok.. dont worry im not a horder )

(comfession/TMI warning .. but i feel i can tell you all and you'll be empathetic .. )

I suppose my clothes buying was down to a combination of 2 things: 1. losing quite a lot of weight - 4st- one of which ive put back on 2. and 'emotional' buying spending to mask other problems . I think this was due to a combination of 'bad mother' guilt and 'empty nest syndrome, after DS 'left' home (he dropped out of college/ work big time aged 19 and started dossing around doing nothing and eventually I pushed him - quite firmly - out into big bad wide world to fend for himself (which he didnt do at all well for some years) , and because of that ive been feeling bad and guilty for some years and that I think was what really stared my overspending.. (hes unemployed again at the moment but has had jobs recently (bad luck on redundancies) , but now a lot better than he was..

However it is a frugal fail , but i just cant face ebaying most of the stuff so have taken loads to the charity shop.. However i do think that it is this frugal thread that has helped me come to terms with this emotional overspending and stop..

So thanks

BTW Barney was a rescue cat ( and yes we think he's jolly handsome also!!)

laska if it makes you feel any better I've come to the conclusion that eBay is more hassle than it's worth. I put a bunch of stuff up last week and most of it only sold for 99p, and then when you factor in eBay fees, it's not worth it. Everything else I sort I'll probably just take to the charity shop (unless it's Topshop stuff, that always seems to sell well). Unless any of those shops are still around that buy bags of clothes by weight, but I haven't seen many lately - there used to be loads round here.

Laska, I reckon we all try our best for our best for DCs and we just learn as we go along even when they're adults.

My mum always used to remind me babies don't arrive with manuals and you just do your best. Hugs

laska My stress relief is wine, if I kept all the bottles of wine that I bought or opened when I felt the need, I would feel far worse than you . We do our best as parents, your DS knows you love him. We can't ask ourselves for more than that.

I don't split my groceries budget down. I suppose I should, and it would be useful but I don't realistically have the time.

In fact, this month, I haven't even moved our disposable income into pots, just had an overall running total, and we are having a great month

Spent £30 today on my best mates birthday pressie, feet and nails shellac. Special friend though.

Thanks people (I just had a little tear..this is such a lovely corner of MN!).. Yes and here also ( but i dont keep the empties to remind me! .

DS is 25 now and is getting there.. ( hes made a few mistakes - including 'accidently' becoming a father - but is a lovely person actually, and so is DGS..)

Laska we all make mistakes when we are young and your ds has had such a run of bad luck! He is clearly trying to turn it all around and that's because of you and how you have brought him up. I'm sure he will get there and you'll wonder why you spent so much time worrying!

Laska going through hard times and making mistakes makes us much more resilient if tough times happen again. I agree with you about Ebay - it can be a major hassle for not much return.

NSD today, but last night, i did book a city break away with my DM and Dsis for next year £170 (2 nights inc flights) which I thought was pretty good value.

Where are you off to Jones?

Laska you sound so lovely your son is lucky to have you. I think lots of us mums are so hard on ourselves but at the end of the day we do our best with what we can at the time. I seriously have made my fair share of mistakes with dd over the last 9 years but am trying to let some all of the guilt go as it doesn't help anyone!

So I think I have managed a nsd today, dd enjoyed her day at holiday club. I am counting down to my annual leave now, only 2 more shifts!!

Came in from work to discover my kitchen was covered in ants and flying ants and I hate ants!! Had to pull my washing machine and dishwasher out as lots underneath them, am spraying this kill ant spray about but these are mutant ants that don't seem to care!!

Peppa I'm off to Bruges next Spring.

Ipsos dressmaking can be really expensive. I make quilts too and every now and then I make one entirely of scraps which is really satisfying.

Girlie if you ants become a real problem, I have found those round ant traps really good - they take the poison back to their best and it kills them all.

Collie your summer sausage casserole sounds nice, what's in it?

I agree about home made things not being cheaper. My mum offerer to make us some curtains but when we costed it all out it was cheaper to get ready made ones from Dunelm. Being able to do repairs and alterations would be money-saving though.
Laska it is hard being a parent and I only have a year and a bit experience! The Kondo thread is fab, I've not had time recently but want to get back into decluttering asap.

I make simple skirts and dresses for my girls and use the scraps for quilts and other crafts. You can get cheaper fabric in the local market (if you have one) or online or you could reuse material you already have at home. I have used old t-shirts to make a rug and I am going to use an old pillowcases to line the ballet bag I am going to make for my girls. I bought the fabric at my local shop £12 for 1 metre which is going to be enough to make 2 bags.

Thanks for all you kind words Anyway yes he's survived so far! but it is hard to see your lovey little boy grow up to struggle.

collie thats such a nice thing to do im sure both you ans they will get a lot out of it

*ipsos that seems very expensive for hm flapjack.. Iuse ordinary oats are coeliac ones pecial?

As for sewing , ive tried to make things from charity shop finds which are nice fabric in th epast with varying good and bad results but Im not very good at sewing.. however when it goes right is fun.

girlie A line of washing up liquid put onthe floor behind door sills can help deter ants , though it looks a bit messy. Unfortunately for us the ants here like to build nests inside the cavity of our conservatory wall, so i end up putting down ant powder , other wise i have found that I come home to a conservatoty fulll of flying ants one day in the summer ( yeuch)

Frugal meals made for my next couple of dinners (in pitta and with salad .. )
Inspired bythe MN recipe for veggie black bean burgers , I have made Aduki bean bake , with lots of veg in , (peppers mushrooms onions, courgette and parsley,) and as im not vegan ive also bound it together with some grated cheese and egg .. Its the o sort of thing I used to make as a cash-strapped single parent student... Anyway just had a bit of the mixture fried into burgers (the rest is in the oven ) it was good.. (and it used all things I had in anyway ..) it is what Dh calls Brown Food though, but hes not here to eat it!

BTw Kondo looks very full on and they are quite evangelical about it onthe MN boards .. I just want to declutter and cant see the point in buying the book for £7.. but it has some good ideas

We use ant powder and it works well. Luckily we haven't had them since we had our new doors fitted.

Serious frugal fail day, we've just ordered a Chinese DD had her first jabs today and she's not been too bad so far but I daren't put her down in case she catches her legs and screams again, so really it's best that someone brings food directly to me...!