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August Frugaleers Part II

991 replies

PeoniesforMissAnnersley · 12/08/2015 15:05

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

OP posts:
candybar · 24/08/2015 10:28

Peonies - thanks so much for that advice, I will follow it from now! outside on the lead then into the crate if no success, I'll look for the spray - well I'll send dh to pets at home in his lunch break.

lilacclery · 24/08/2015 10:53

I like the sound of bacon risotto.
theonlypink I'm grand about dd starting school, she's very ready this year thanks to keeping her an extra year at playschool, it was a struggle financially but has really paid off. She's ready to go, put labels on clothes and books and packed her bag yesterday. Didn't want to leave everything to night before as I remember it in my own house growing up!

Will be interesting to see what happens with birthdays - there are 10 girls and 10 boys in her class.

I've been looking up subscription boxes, would like to have something to look forward to in the month & wondering would it eliminate the want to spend as I work hard & deserve something for myself?

Collieputthekettleon · 24/08/2015 10:57

Welcome Wild Smile

Pointless that is terrible. Can he find another job or is it really limited where you are?
When they restructured DHs company we looked at back up jobs / companies and there were (and still are) none in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset or Dorset. And only a handful in Bristol. Luckily there are hundreds in the rest of the country. It was such a worry for us. It could easily happen again.

Payday this Friday! Thank goodness. August has felt super long. No idea why.

DS is obsessed with books and words at the moment so I'm thinking of introducing the library to him soon. We have a bus that goes to the library! Woo hoo a bus that goes somewhere decent Grin

needastrongone · 24/08/2015 11:08

Welcome wild

candy I second all that MissA suggests re your puppy, plus also make a MASSIVE fuss when he does go to the loo outside. Sadly, it's not enough to assume they will pick up the habit by themselves by being let out, you have to go out with them.

£20 for my cleaner today, I told her I love her today, she makes that much difference to my life, she laughed and laughed!!

Jamie's beer butt chicken for tea, with wraps and salad.

Off to pick up the new pony soon!

babsmam · 24/08/2015 12:45

Welcome wild
Sorry to hear that pointless, v stressful.

Well £94 on school shoes,
£38 on football shoes, pe bags, footie kit,
£39 in sainsbury on more school stuff and food,
Need to go somewhere else for pe shoes for both and home shoes as both have outgrown all shoes. Sigh.

ipsos · 24/08/2015 12:49

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Myturnnow4 · 24/08/2015 13:04

August has felt super long. No idea why.

I've felt the same, I reckon it's because it has 5 weekends.

Fluffycloudland77 · 24/08/2015 13:37

Dragging on here too.

NSD.

TheOnlyPink · 24/08/2015 13:43

lilac Aw great that she is so ready. I kept ds 1 until he was 5 and so glad I did. You're very lucky with the class size, there was 34 in ds 1 junior infants class! Those subscription boxes sound amazing, I follow a few people on instagram who get them.

collie I felt like August was never ending too! The library is great for filling a few hours! We went every week this summer, it was one of their favourite activities!

ipsos hope your ds gets on better this year. Maybe a different teacher might make things easier?

Realised this morning that I put away some of ds 2 toys last Christmas (his birthday is December, so intentionally did it so he would get new toys in the summer too, but forgot about them!). One being a playmobil house. So we've had a great morning playing with it!
I've so far avoided the Christmas bargain thread, I don't want to start too early and spend loads, but got my dad a pair of leather touchscreen gloves for £10 Blush

ipsos · 24/08/2015 14:11

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lilacclery · 24/08/2015 15:15

ipsos school year here is from sept to June but in past few years they're starting back last week of August. Class size really depends on population & demand in the area.
The closest school to has much smaller numbers think 6 are starting junior infants it's 3 miles closer to us but doesn't have a great reputation & dss learned very little there perhaps not all the schools fault Grin

theonlypink I was planning on sending dd last year at 4.5 years but preschool advised me against it & I'm so glad they did.

Confession time I bought this on thurs reduced from €120 to €80, we have a space on our landing which is crying out for this & a standard lamp since we moved in Christmas 2008.

August Frugaleers Part II
Pointlessfan · 24/08/2015 15:19

Hmm, lost a post. Nevermind!
Thanks for messages re - DH's job. I suspect he will start looking around. Plenty of companies here (Birmingham) but his job is quite specialist. At least we know we can be frugal.
Despite promising DH I'd have a rest today I have done loads of cleaning. I've been on the clean my space videos recommended on here and I've been trying out bicarb on the carpet and the grouting and vinegar on other surfaces. The bathroom is gleaming! The carpet also looks better but there's room for improvement. I've just been on Amazon and invested in some microfibre cloths and tefal oven liners. I really want to try and keep on top of it all now. I'm going to the pound shop tomorrow for a squeegee and some plant spray bottles!
Using the natural products is a lot cheaper, the vinegar was only 30p. I've also been on Youtube to find out how to clean the filters on the vacuum, I expect it might work more efficiently when I've done that!

ipsos · 24/08/2015 15:25

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ipsos · 24/08/2015 15:27

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ipsos · 24/08/2015 15:30

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CremeEggThief · 24/08/2015 15:41

That's gorgeous, Lilac. Bargain too! Glad to see you still have the option of sending your child to school at either 4 or 5 in Ireland. I grew up there and I was shocked when I realised that flexibility of when to send your child isn't here. I know technically, you can send your child at 5, but then they miss the Reception year, so it's not really a choice. Anyway, hope your DD has a lovely time. Ipsos, I hope things work out better this year for your DS too. New year, new start!

Today's spends: 50 p on a pint of milk (ran out before my 4 pints come in my weekly shop tomorrow) and 65p a bar of chocolate.
£6 electricity.
£7 gas.
£10 topping up DS's mobile. That's his monthly allowance.

Pointless, fingers crossed for your DH. I bet all that cleaning has taken your mind off it today.Smile

Collieputthekettleon · 25/08/2015 10:16

We're back!

Spent £3.75 in Sainsburys on DS jeans. But they are as rubbish fit!

Budget £6 today as DS is into crafts at the mo. So we are stocking up on crafty bits on eBay Smile

Whatabout · 25/08/2015 11:57

Finally! Hello all we are back again again!

So yesterday only spend was £20 for the cleaner, £40 sainsbury delivery. These were both planned so that's ok. Sainsbury delivery came with a free sample of spice paste, so lamb curry for dinner which was lovely.

Today I am itching to spend money, im bored and could do with some bits from primark to put in my hospital bag. DH has gone to London, but we again managed to get up early and take him to the station instead of him using a taxi. He will spend £40 on travel and then £10 on lunch, he's being taken out to dinner so that's something and I can delay dinner till tomorrow.

DH gets paid in a few days and we can go and buy our new double buggy, he got a performance bonus so that and some family money and some savings is paying for it.

Collieputthekettleon · 25/08/2015 11:58

Yay we are back.

£3.75 yesterday in Sainsbos on DS jeans that dont fit well at all...
£6 limit on arty stuff as DS is really into crafts now. (At 21 months old)

Can anyone tell me what to add to basics washing liquid to make it better? Dh is moaning that it was a false economy as its useless. But I don't want to waste it.

Collieputthekettleon · 25/08/2015 12:00

Oh it said the post didnt work and I thought I lost the first one. Ha!! Grin

Whatabout · 25/08/2015 12:07

Collie - do you have a scrap store? We have one run by our play association and it sells craft stuff really cheap. We also use odd things for craft, Wilf likes mark making so potato prints, bits of sponge, cotton wool all make great things to paint with for free.

Is it clothes liquid?

fishfortea · 25/08/2015 12:10

In a dilemma at the mo, spoke with British Gas and I do qualify for discount on a new boiler but not able to get one for £250 but £1100 instead! No idea how much new boilers cost to buy and fit, guess I will have to ring a few gas engineers to see if it really is a good deal. The boiler is around 15 yrs old and I have no paperwork to say its been serviced regularly. It does work at present but does have a rather strange noise.

peppansalt · 25/08/2015 13:28

Aargh, horrible burning smell from washing machine after sticking on wash cycle.

Am so cross, this Bosch machine is only 4 years old and what I've spent on out of guarantee repairs would be enough to buy a new cheap machine Hmm

candybar · 25/08/2015 13:32

Glad the site is back up - I've been having withdrawals!

Staying home again today - Payday tomorrow and I've managed to keep the £20 odd we've had in the bank since the middle of last week. So we won't go overdrawn. Feels like a victory.

Kids are moaning that there isn't anything to eat in the house - it's because they've eaten it all. So the last of the bread was used for lunch and all the fruit and biscuits have gone too. Tesco replaced the small ham joint I ordered last week with a huge gammon joint, so that's cooking in the slow cooker right now, I'll use half for tea and freeze the other half.

Tomorrow we are in Disneyland Paris for the day, so I've given dh a list of bits to pick up from Lidl and the pound shop to take with us for snacks and breakfast when we arrive in the morning. We were going to have a late lunch/dinner at a buffet restaurant there but now I'm thinking I might opt for a McDonalds instead, it won't be as good but the restaurant would cost near to 100E whilst McD's will cost about 25 Euro.

What are your best tips for controlling the impulse buys and excessive spending? I've got a short list of things I'd really like to buy, nothing majorly expensive £50 max - but I feel like my impulse buys of cheaper things all add up and prevent me from having enough spare cash to buy the things that I really want. It's shops like Home Bargains that I go into for toilet roll or dishwasher tabs and come out £50 lighter with a load of random stuff that I never knew I wanted or needed. The other thing that I do far too often is compromise and buy something that I didn't really want but that's cheaper that the one I do, for instance I wanted a jacket in black, green was £10 cheaper so I got that as it was a bargain, but I've hardly ever worn it because it doesn't match the rest of my clothes. If I'd have spent the extra £10 I would have a jacket that was worn loads.

I think I need to get my head around all of these 'false' bargains - it's only a bargain if you really want it, isn't it?

Collieputthekettleon · 25/08/2015 13:37

peppa we bought a Bosch washing machine a few years ago and it smoked / burnt out just after it ran out of warranty. I only did 2 loads of washing per week (before DS!) I was so annoyed.

whatabout we don't have a scrap store. Sad

Washing up liquid for the dishes! Grin