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Super Savvy Savers Skid towards September Saving Spree

990 replies

lilacclery · 27/08/2015 16:08

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

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www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1628874-Gas-Elec-Bills-monthly-and-SKY-so-angry

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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.

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www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub ditto

Plus this.

www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new?page=3 Check this daily.

Kudos to PeoniesforMissAnnersly for the links

OP posts:
Laska42 · 02/09/2015 21:22

Thats great ipsos , keep at it , maybe soon people will be paying you to advertise!
(want to share a link?)

I was wondering..... have we lost NK5 ? since the mumsnet hack? i do hope not.. NK have you changed your name?.. ( I have made your aubergine and sweet and sour now , both fab, and am definately up for more recipes !!)

Pointlessfan · 02/09/2015 21:31

Is that AV as in my favourite footie team ipsos? Hope first day at school is ok. I go back tomorrow, training day.

Whatabout · 02/09/2015 21:32

Took DS to have his feet measured, they haven't grown but he does need new shoes as his are trashed. They had nothing in his size (5.5e) so left it, which was good as everything was so expensive. Instead I've ordered him some cute little boots and a much longed for pair of Thomas wellies from m&s with 20% off. Both pairs came in at £20 less than the shoes I was looking at.

I spent £40 on Amazon gift cards to get the £10 Amazon voucher. Check out the Amazon website to see if you have the offer, the gift cards are valid for 10 years so basically £10 of free money if you use Amazon. I'm going to stash the gift cards for Christmas. We always buy a few.

Only other spend was £2 on parking. At nearly 39 weeks pregnant and with a very dodgy back and pelvis (and a transverse baby that is making my waters break a medical emergency) I can't walk far so have to park in expensive places. The shoe shop is the only trip out I've had this week!

Collieputthekettleon · 02/09/2015 21:40

Love M&S shoes. They are very durable. More so than Clarks.

Whatabout · 02/09/2015 21:44

Collie - brilliant! Just what I wanted to hear. I've never "risked" it before but they look nice and he will like them. m.marksandspencer.com/mt/www.marksandspencer.com/leather-riptape-trainers-younger-boys-/p/p22401081

fuzzpig · 02/09/2015 21:48

Well done ipsos! That's fab. Is it a random thoughts kind of blog or a particular topic?

I'd love to try blogging - I was thinking about starting to blog about home ed but I've had two attempts at blogging a few years ago and gave up after a couple of posts! It would be a dream to be one of those bloggers who ends up getting sent educational products to test and review... :o

ipsos · 02/09/2015 22:05

Thanks for the encouragement on the blogging. I'd better not post it here as it's not anonymous.

The posts are mostly about gardening and then very occasionally how-to posts on consumer electronics.

I like it mainly as I get to talk and feel heard. In the semi-isolation of Mum-dom that is a valuable thing and prevents me from spending loads of money on amazon when I'm stressed

Good luck tomorrow pointless. I hope it goes well.

ipsos · 02/09/2015 22:15

The AV is audio visual pointless. I posted it there because it was about a workaround that I found for people who don't get on with LED backlit tv sceens (like me).

Good luck what. I hope things go well. We are keeping our fingers crossed for you here. (I feel like one of the British Airmen in 'Allo 'Allo whenever I say "Good luck What" Grin

AdoraBell · 02/09/2015 22:19

Ursula it's crazy isn't it? I hope all your school's equipment turns up very soon.

I've been too busy with getting things organized here to keep up, sorry, but I will try once DDs are in school.

Laska42 · 02/09/2015 22:37

what thanks for the Amazon heads up , I had the offer and have bought a gift card and used it to credit my own account. Hope i do get the £10.... It said i would, but theres no mention of it on my order!

Lollypop27 · 02/09/2015 22:38

Evening ladies - this thread moves so fast Shock.

We had a bit of an up and down day here today. We got £271 paid in to the account from dh work. He finally put his expenses in. That has really sorted us out this month and it means not in the overdraft.

I had to spend £8 on a perscription as I have a 'viral infection' that makes me feel like I'm going to pass out every time I stand up. I felt so awful this afternoon I dozed on the sofa. Luckily the 9 year old was at a friends and the other two -11 and 13 just played on games consoles. I had put bbq chicken in the slow cooker and ds1 chucked some baked potatoes in the oven and made a salad so we had an ok dinner.

I am declaring tomorrow a no spend day. If I feel up to it I will do some more baking but if not then I do have a stash of muffins in the freezer.

Ememem84 · 02/09/2015 22:43

ipsos ohhelp I thought about scrapping data altogether. But can't do it. just bought myself iphone6 a few months ago
So I'm just trying to wean myself off.

It's more a distraction for me - phone sits on my desk at work. I see something pop up and have a look. I figured if I leave it home a few days I can get used to not having it and will be more likely to leave it in my bag

AuditAngel · 02/09/2015 22:57

Spendy day today. £75 for DD1's school lunches, £81.20 for DS's lunches (secondary school so more expensive, plus DD1 got a credit from DS last year), £15 for DS locker hire at school.

wheelycote · 02/09/2015 22:57

Night all!

Those talking about phone and no data package...wherever there's WiFi your phone will pick up (and for free) and if you have BT there are BT hotspots all over the place where you can pick up free WiFi on the move. I have 5pound package with giffgaff and used for over a year....whilst I'm out and about it picks up free WiFi here and there....not the same as a data package but it's not bad for 5 quid a month.

Almost made it a Nsd but found a movie deal for sons birthday next week...40pound for 3of us for a double bill mazerunner movie. Not a complete bargain but have a happy DS :)

AuditAngel · 02/09/2015 23:12

Spotty, not sure if I have anything that small. I did gave a beautiful red coat of DS's, but it may already have gone. Will check tomorrow or Sunday (lots on this week, my sister gets married on Saturday, DS is giving her away, girls are bridesmaids, need to curl their hair etc.......)

fuzzpig · 03/09/2015 00:41

Sounds good ipsos. Wish I was good at gardening (or come to think of it, that we had a garden :o). I often end up on blogs when I'm trying to find out how to do something - just today I couldn't work out how to delete a sample from my kindle and found a blog post on it. It's a great help to be able to find stuff like that (not least because, as I was discussing with a customer today, most gadgets don't actually come with paper manuals anymore!)

Totally get what you mean about needing to do something that is away from 'being mum', that's another reason I'm thinking of blogging (although it will mostly be about the DCs' activities so not that much 'away' really...) - got a couple of other plans too, I want to read up on a particular subject too and really get to know everything I can about it, just to give my brain a challenge that I'm really craving ATM.

Today was SO spendy what with the shopping and taxis, and DH needed a new shirt for the wedding. Tomorrow is more spendy as it's climbing club - got the next block to pay for, plus log books so the DCs can start doing their levels. Hoping that we will have a frugal few days when at the wedding (staying with family), then we will be throwing ourselves back into proper home ed and apart from paying for clubs/related paraphernalia [that word is so hard to spell!] we can ease off the spendiness. Although we also have the world cup match to go to. Not good planning! Will have to have a veeeery frugal couple of months if we are to have any hope of pulling it back by Christmas (incidentally, I have started a spreadsheet for that and am recording EVERY related spend!)

fuzzpig · 03/09/2015 00:44

I don't use mobile data anymore - I get the cheapest Giffgaff goodybag each month for my [pretty basic] smartphone (that's an oxymoron surely...) which I just use for calls and texts, and normally just use my ipod and the laptop at home if I need online stuff. It can be annoying though, if I'm out and about and there's nowhere with free wifi. The very definition of a first world problem I guess! Scary to think that even 5 years ago this was barely an issue.

babsmam · 03/09/2015 06:21

I'm with you on the data issue. I ran out on holiday and wasn't fussed,except for here. I pay £6 a month sim only on virgin and save for a new phone evert couple of years about £100.

babsmam · 03/09/2015 06:22

Hope people are feeling better this morning. [[hugs]]]
Good luck to dc going to school, mine went yesterday and loved bring back although dd said she wasn't ready yet.

Ememem84 · 03/09/2015 06:35

Earlier this year I was paying 36 pcm for my phone (iphone4). I had 400 free minutes 2000 texts and unlimited data.

Phone broke (was 4 years old, had been down toilet twice ...) so had to buy a new one.

I'm now paying £15 pcm for 200 minutes 500 texts and 1 gb data. Because it's a smart phone I can hook up to wifi at home, work and family's houses so it's only really when I'm out and about I use data.

It's frustrating when I see you guys with your crazy cheap tariffs. Here in channel islands they won't let the likes of O2/three/giffgaff/etc in. So no cheap deals. Sad.

I'm really going to try not to use phone so much though. she says, using it for mn'ing I enjoyed being outside in the world yesterday and seeing it properly.

SpottyTeacakes · 03/09/2015 06:41

That's kind audit thanks!

I have 100mbs of data and once it's gone it's gone I switch it off

Have skimmed the thread. Went to legoland yesterday I spent £14 hiring a buggy as neither dc would have made it round all day. Dh spent £25 on lunch and we ate the picnic on the way home. The pizza and pasta buffet had run out of pasta and I composed on fb. They didn't give a shit and didn't even say sorry!

Dd back at school today and I'm taking ds to a music class which is a taster so free.

SpottyTeacakes · 03/09/2015 06:42

Oh and when I came home I had a migraine so was in bed by 7:30!

Fluffycloudland77 · 03/09/2015 07:36

I'm too far behind to catch up.

£140 paying back dh for the table we bought last month
£2.35 on puddings in tescos, used £3 in clubcard vouchers
£40 hair and tip.

SpottyTeacakes · 03/09/2015 08:05

I forgot to get the cubed beef out of the freezer for dinner! Can it go straight in the slow cooker or would that be asking for food poisoning?

Collieputthekettleon · 03/09/2015 08:32

what they are gorgeous! DS is currently walking around with M&S shoes that are 3 years old. They are still fab.

peppa I cut up bits of patterned paper and fabric and made tiny bunting! Then I stuck it on nice card. It looks really beautiful! I also used watercolour for a bit of added affect. My handwriting has ruined it a bit though. You can use paint charts that you collect from B&Q & Homebase for free.

!!NERD ALERT!! ipsos I used to blog but spammers commenting on my posts used to piss me off. But I SEO-ed the shit out of it so I'm not surprised. Grin