Awesome August Frugaleers..

[Laska42]

Blimey.. It's August Already (nearly)

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?

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Morning.

Wilkos do deliveries if folk need to be aware of this?

I am working this afternoon as the dogs are getting clipped this morning, which will cost £60, but they will come back looking and smelling awesome

Also need to collect my horse box from the garage, as it is in for a service, not sure of cost.

Need to get some cash out too, I have no need to spend any of it, but I don't have a bean in change/notes, and I would rather have a little in my purse.

Veggie lasagne or frittata for tea.

We're going to the library later. Might hire a DVD but that's it. Dc are driving me mad already

Haven't fully caught up but wanted to say this to theonlypink I buy Saturday's sun newspaper because it's €1 has the aldi voucher so that saves €9 plus it has a kids section which dd doesn't really understand but loves! I bought 3 on sat one for sats tesco delivery & 2 for next weekends shopping in aldi. My free deliveries have finished

At start of thread people set out their financial goals for August and I still haven't done it! A third of the way in

We have a two night break away next week, and family visited for a couple of nights before that so a trip to the circus with the kiddies.

My aims are
not use my credit card & to manage on the money we've got.

pay off remaining property tax
have a day out/activity of some type with children every weekend

This weekend we had a playdate over on Sat & Sun afternoon. Sun was fun filled - long walk in the morning which took in tidying two graves & Sun afternoon went to a vintage day which cost me €35 - €5 entry, €12 on a minion cuddly toy & two footballs, candyfloss, icecream, bob the duck(where they 'won' cowboy hats!) and lots of goes on the bouncing castles etc, didn't get icecream myself waited until I got home for my yogurt and fruit mix, on track diet and money wise!! Having the extra child there made it much spendier but it was a lovely day out & dd remembers everything so it was a nice day making memories. The lasting thing for me was candyfloss in my hair as ds ate remainder of one stick while I was backcarrying him

Next weekend is a trip to playground, walk and a picnic if the weathers ok

fluffy my washer/dishwasher doesn't run on the hot water, must suggest to dh that maybe it's an option but I wouldn't want anyone to end up having cold showers just so I could save a few € on electricity. Is it a big saving?
We have no immersion so must put on wood pellet boiler to heat water if we're out.

laska i admire you taking your grandson so regularly at such a young age. My mother thinks she'll wait another year to take dd who's 5 for a couple of nights. She'll have them overnight if we're at a wedding or something but not for a holiday!

I did some very frugal shopping for jeans on Sat put them into an online basket and left them there. I'm trying to lose weight and buying essential clothing only. These are not essential the couple of pairs I have will do until I'm gone down sizes & when I do it opens up more of my wardrobe anyhow.

Who uses goodbudget I'm thinking of using it while I try sort out ynab. The ten envelope option for free - that's enough isn't it? Could get another one set up with another email address for joint account too maybe....

Iclery, I definitely recommended taking the plunge with YNAB. Along with this thread it has completely revolutionised my budget and spending.

More than paid for itself several times over

Lilaclery!!

Spotty I would start of with the smaller sets, my dd isn't very girlie so likes the lego creation stuff but if your dd is more girlie she might like the lego friends stuff.

this one?

or this one?

lego friends

Have to take Girlie cat back to the vets for another check up this morning, hopefully not too expensive and will find out what is happening with the insurance claim. Also realised a friend owes me £20 so will chase for that and will ring Orange as they owe me money as well!! Plus have someone coming to look at dds old child seat for my bike that i'm selling.

Thanks, yes she's v girly so Lego friends looks like a good one!

my dd says the lego friends stuff is 'gross' she is not girlie in the least bit!! I noticed the other day there is a new line of lego elves stuff which I haven't noticed before but thought looked quite good lego elves even dd considered it i find the recommended age ranges are mostly (not always) fairly accurate though so she may be slightly young or need a bit more help with building them.

I once spent a whole wend building a lego pirate ship for dd who was then 5yo - I was completely slightly obsessed by the end of the wend, no one was allowed to speak to me until it was finished

Yes, I'd start with Lego friends smaller sets. If you find out she likes it, then you used to be able to pick up some baseboards and buckets of non-set Lego quite cheaply on eBay. That way you can supplement it with stuff she can build whatever she likes with and additional sets as and when.

It can get quite expensive though.

peppa I have it, have done the trial & paid for full programme, there's some issue between it and dropbox so can't enter transactions on app & I rarely turn pc on so it's awkward to use it.

o.kay very last link I promise but just found this which she may like frozen set

Thanks rafa for mentioning lego for girls. DD5 went for the intro session at school in June and was fascinated with small Lego, we only have MegaBloks. Might be an idea for Christmas. Love the elves stuff girlie link but not the price I did know that lego is expensive though as my friend's ds is into the star wars theme of it.

Thanks girlie it's in my wish list

I'm not sure it was me that brought it up. I think it was Spotty and girlie.

Although, having just googled Lego for girls, I got distracted by the search term 'Lego for adults'. OMG. I absolutely do not want a Lego VW van. Oh no. Not at all.

Just preordered the next Marie Force book in the McCarthy series, it's being released on 18th Aug and I'm on holiday the 20th, perfect!!
My current account balance is €3.31 so will put that into credit card payment holding account.

lilac Thanks for the tip about the sun voucher! I'm terrible for impulse buying so I sent dh, will actually check properly for next week! I have ynab too but can't really get on with it. I love the idea, and it does help loads, but I find it confusing because we get paid on the 23rd. I've done a few tutorials but need to learn and understand it better.

With lego for kids, my biggest advice is to get sets that correspond to your child's age. My ds 1 got really into Lego, and people bought him some really cool sets with ages 8-12 when he was 6, but they were way too hard for him and it really turned him off it. He's getting back into it now, but dh had to push him. We've found that the recommend ages are really accurate. Ds has just turned 8 and the sets that say age 8 are perfect for him now.

laksa you sound like such a fun nanna! And a godsend to your dd! as a mum with a small child, you sound so terrific!!

wheely I did a winter checklist after seeing it on here, well worth the time. Let us know what you come up with!

Not sure what to do today. Thinking soft play with the kids or something, although the weather is nice enough, so feel we should be outside. But as its week 7 of the holidays, we've been to all the parks, loads of times! I'm more bored than the kids! Only 2 weeks left, I want to make the most of it!

Did you enjoy camping wheely?
I just did the shopping for £36 which was good but I bought two tops which added on another £20 which is bad then got some shorts in Peacocks sale which was another £12. Also spent just under £6 in the 99p shop. Going out for a meal with friends tonight but just at local cheap place plus you get a free glass of wine with food on Mondays.
No more planned spends until we go away on Friday but I expect I'll end up buying something somewhere!

Pink where do you live that has such long holidays? Just asking incase any teaching jobs come up there

Lego is really expensive, may be worth waiting for the toy sale at Sainsbury's they do one before christmas!

By the way there is no such thing as 'lego for girls' all lego is for girls and boys

That camper van looks awesome

All this rain is making me think of winter :(

Ug..... One anniversary, two adults birthdays and my DS.

Any cheap ideas?

Thinking I might be becoming a bit OCD with all this frugalness!

Am going to spend this afternoon returning unwanted or damaged clothes (including a pair of £7.00 Matalan girls sandals which have fallen apart ????).

I just seen to hate spending now which I guess isn't so bad but don't want to turn into a tightwad. DH brings in a good wage and don't want him or DCs to miss out because of my obsession with saving.

Guess there must be a happy balance somewhere

peppa a recent, huge, change in circumstances has made me over-cautious. I know I'm being a bit silly about some things but I think it's ok so long as you know and can perhaps loosen up a bit.

wheely I too am turning my thoughts to winter and would be interested in collaborating on a winter list. At the moment I'm thinking of improving window insulation in rooms I don't really use (with bubblewrap and/or fleece) and making the room I work from at home really, really snug.

I also did a bit of research on heating one room with an electric heater vs turning the gas central heating on (and turning some radiators off).