August Frugaleers Part II

[PeoniesforMissAnnersley]

Thought I would start a new one since the old one is full!

Childcare vouchers are alien to us, sorry.

My budget for kids birthdays is £10, but with a HUGE caveat that our DC now have far fewer birthday invitations, being teens. In primary, £5 was the limit.

Good news on the jambalaya fuzz

what You were very brave to plan all the things you did anyway today, being so pregnant!

I go between £5 and £15 for parties depending on how close DCs are to the birthday child. Now we are HEing there aren't so many parties, especially 'whole class' type ones so it tends to be really good friends and I don't mind spending £10+ then.

We've not done a party for either DC this year but I really hope we can manage next year. I've found the most incredible venue for DD that is perfect for her (it's a mountain biking and rock climbing party! :o) but it's megabucks of course.

Today was my mum's birthday so she came to watch ds playing cricket. I took an eclectic mix of foods to the game in a cool box to have as picnic nibbles and then we came back here for tea. I managed to do it all with things that we had in already so no extra cost. All we paid was match subs & tea money & a few drinks from the bar.
Fortunately we don't have any food allergies or intolerances so I most definitely do one meal for all. The dc turn their noses up sometimes but they know there is no alternative so they tolerate it & hope I don't make it again
Still haven't done my meal plan for the week but will do it in the morning and post it tomorrow

Right. I might be able to manage a no spend week! I'm working all week this week 7:45-6-15 mon weds and thuds and 6:45-1:30 tues and fri. I don't get the money until September wages though but it's going to be Christmas money.

As we have no money today will be a nsd. This may sound crazy but I quite like being forced not to go out and spend, we are lucky as we have lots of food in the cupboards/freezer, I'm a bit of a panic buyer and if I get an e-mail informing me of a sale I feel compelled to buy stuff because it's a bargain.

Later this afternoon I'm going to collect the pottery that dd's painted last week, Tomorrow evening we are leaving for a day trip to France that I booked ages ago - just me and the kids, I've taken them overseas on my own in the past so I'm not too worried about that, We won't arrive until late morning on Wednesday and that's payday so I'll have cash by then, I'm only planning on spending on a meal late afternoon.

I'm still waiting for the 4 for £10 books I ordered from Amazon, just checked and I placed the order on 9 August and they haven't been dispatched yet, is anyone else still waiting?

I have finally caught up with reading this thread!! Wow we've been super busy! Too much to comment on so just going to leave it except for this one thing whatabout will you relax!!

We were away for a few days so it was spendy but much looked forward to by the dc and enjoyed by all except for dh being a gigantic PITA & only putting 1 hour parking on the meter on our first day causing me to get a €40 fine, he paid begrudgingly He is suffering with his mental health but we're all suffering with him.

Frugal ways that were brought on hols with us were buying multipack of bottles of water, crisps and chocolate bars on the journey there for snacks for the entire weekend so no can I have x, y or z while we were out & buying one kids meals for the kids to share at lunch as ds is only picking due to teething

Spotty I really worry about when DD starts attending lots of parties. It was bad enough this year when she and all her baby group friends turned one. She is the youngest so I assumed people would match the value of what I'd given their babies - mostly baby books from the Works or 2 for 1 in Waterstones. They all spent far more on lovely toys that cost about £15-20. Clearly my lovely friends all earn more than me!!
A gift that went down really well with a 3 year old I know was a child's watering can, £5 from garden centre and seeds to grow sunflowers and pumpkins. He waters them every day and shows the plants off to me every time I go round.
Ohhelp we also said we might start getting a large portion of chips in future just to freeze them!!
I have a day on my own today, DH is back at work and DD at nursery for the day. It's my only day to myself for the rest of the holiday so DH has banned me from house work! I might do the bathroom though and I want to work out what we spent on holiday.

In regards the vouchers, mine are electronic though, my childminder doesn't get paid until I physically pay her. Can you contact the company for a breakdown of vouchers and payment?
Spendy day today, school shoe day.

For pressie I go between £5-15 depending on the child at school and about £20-25 for family

I used to spend quite a bit on pressies (big classes, so lots of invites), so you all have my sympathy. Even £5 per child can dent the budget when there are lots of them!

I avoided the lure of new stuff this weekend by sorting out my clothes. They were tidy, but unorganised in terms of size, but now my wardrobe is beautiful. I was quite surprised to discover that I do actually have something to wear. I have no excuse to buy new stuff until I drop another size.

It's my first day back at work after summer break, and it's quite a big deal for me NOT to have a brand new outfit/shoes/bag. I'm sure that not a soul will notice!

Anyway, have a good day, all.

aargh all this talk about birthday presents! This year is dd's first in school starts next Monday she's growing up, but I've managed to avoid having birthday parties for her up to now, it's all going to kick off this year I'm sure. theonlypink what is the general rule where you are?

I've got to do my tax return this week, want to submit it by next monday as then they'll work out what you owe, if I wait until Oct I've to work it out myself and could get it very wrong, a week of late nights ahead of me

Hi fuzz, you are best speaking to your vouchers people to check when things went out. Then check with your cm to see when she redeemed them.

As far as I know, the paper vouchers have to be handed over so that they are redeemed. I have always automatically transferred them to my nursery as we always had a bigger bill than the £243. But starting September I will be doing a manual transfer to the after school club as the costs are lower than the monthly £243 that gets deducted from my account.

Hope that helps.

Morning everyone! A NSD here yesterday. And hoping for another NSD today.

It's wet and windy. I have packed away the flip flops for next summer now.

I need to sort out a wardrobe too. But I can't afford one. I was thinking a clothes rail may work in the spare room just so I can see what I own. And feel inspired by it.

I'm psyching myself up to go and clear out tops I've not worn for 9-10 years.

They cost £100 each new. All damaged so no point ebaying them.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/allergies

Tops not as bad as I thought, I'm using vinegar to get rid of anti perspire the marks then I'll was them and list them.

Hi can I join in please?

I downloaded the Daily Budget app at the weekend and am determined to be good because I have a couple of big payments going out soon so need to balance it all out. I have a water meter installed which I pay for twice a year so that does out next week to cover last six months of water usage! Wedding present to buy and a desperately needed hair cut and colour. DD is away at her dads this week so I thought I'd have a great week of no spending but my car decided overnight to go crazy so I will have to take it to the garage :/

In regards to birthday presents - I stock up on the 10 for £1 card from the Card Factory and only ever buy presents from Home Bargains for less than £5.

lilac my ds class don't have many parties for the boys, but the girls all have loads, the rule is €10 max. I know one school and they all do €5 in a card, no presents at all! How are you feeling about your dd starting? Is she excited?

Slept really badly last night, woke at 12.30 and was still awake at 5. So my humour isn't great today. Think we will just stay at home and do crafts or something. Not a NSD, tesco is due with a delivery.

Meal plan isn't great this week, I was rushing throwing it together, but posting anyway!
Mon - roast chicken dinner
Tues- bacon risotto
Wed- chicken and chorizo tray bake
Thurs- beef stir fry
Fri- burgers and salad
Sat- spaghetti Bolognese
Sun- cottage pie with leftover bol sauce.

Nothing too exciting, but cheap and gluten free!

Welcome wildheart.
DH just texted me to say they are restructuring at work yet again and he might have to reapply for his own job again. I feel so sorry for him, this has happened several times in the last few years and he's been lucky so far. Just as I'm about to go part time too.

Urggh - it's pouring down here. We've got a puppy and he won't go outside in the rain so he's been weeing on the floor and even had a number two there, thank goodness we don't have carpets, I put him outside after he's been fed and every half hour or so but he just stands by the back door waiting to come back in then has a piddle on the floor.

I really do not want this to become a habit, he has a crate but never goes in it, except at night time when I put him in. We haven't had a time when everyone is out yet as either ds2 or dh has been here to keep an eye on him.

Any advice?

Thanks folks. I'll get DH to look through his payslips from Feb onwards as presumably the voucher contributions will be listed. I'm going to print out the most recent paper voucher and ask new CM to ring it up just in case it's still valid. But after that we will do manual transfer online instead. I don't like the idea of payments coming out automatically particularly as we have a term time only contract and it just gets confusing! But DH will need to start making the voucher contributions again (he cancelled when previous CM gave us notice).

Feel like my ME is flaring up AGAIN so pretty pissed off. Work later today but will be honest and tell them that I'm struggling. If I can manage it, I'll go via Primark to take back a tunic I got the other day - it's really pretty but the stitching at the back is really loose, and given that it's quite tight around the chest I'm worried it'll split :o it's still got the tag and receipt so hopefully will be refunded rather than exchanged (although DH does need socks)

Spends should just be bus fare, and I'm getting the New Scientist as a one off. Must remember that I Do Not Need To Buy Snacks.

candy put him on the lead and take him out until he pees, I know it's a massive hassle but otherwise he will think if he hangs on he will get to pee inside in the warm.
They don't like peeing where they sleep so make sure crate is small (otherwise he will pee in one end and sleep in the other - if you take him out and he doesn't pee in 15 mins of standing outside then put him in the crate for 30 mins and then try again.

Big reward (like small, pea sized piece of chicken or bacon) everytime he pees outside. Oh and if you actually catch him on peeing, take him outside immediately and say "no!" so he starts to associate the action with being outside.

Finally, if you haven't already, get a specialised cleaning spray for pee/poo from petshop which eliminates the odour otherwise he will smell his pee and go there again.

Pointless That's worrying. Can he jump ship?.

Welcome Wild