The super savvy savers continue steering their way through September

[northender]

Thought I'd start a shiny new thread as we've filled the other one so quickly.

Good news and bad news here.

Bad news is dh got a manky pasta sauce out of the freezer for dinner instead of chilli it's really gross so no one will eat it.

Good news my back pay owed is more like £200 rather than £50 should get it next week

Crikey! Sainsbury's is so freaking expensive. I called in to get some stuff as DS has his birthday weekend and is having his mates stay over. Planning a big pan of chilli and a fajitas meal etc. £52. That was 2 packs of mince, chicken, 3 cards, some jars of cooking pastes like harissa, umami etc and 3 bottles of wine (not expensive).

Total frugal fail. I wish I had had time to get to Aldi, although they wouldn't have had the cooking ingredients and these will last ages.

£15 on shellac, which is my treat.

Well I fell off again for a while!

I know I keep doing it but things have been very busy and I keep procrastinating about posting although moneywise I have been reasonably good. Quite a few NSDs a LSDs at the moment as back to work and back to school. Didn't need to spend too much on new school uniform for DS although school shoes were £47 (ouch!) but they are Startrite and will last.

We have actually managed to save and soon will have £900 towards a holiday next year.

I made jam for all winter a couple of weeks ago and am dusting off the slow cooker towards winter.

As a bit of a frugal fail we have adopted a little feral kitten who has now firmly settled and is DS pride and joy.

Are Aldi still doing the vouchers does anyone know?

spotty Good news about the pay at least

Blue how did you get that many Clarkes vouchers?! Dd could do with new shoes but until they fall apart completely she will have to wait!!

So spendy day, popped into Matalan and ended up buying dd some new leggings (much needed as she only has one pair left that are too small!) a haloween costume and some new socks came to £26 in total. Will get her to try it all on and some of it may go back.

The halloween costume is Frankenstein which i thought would do for word book day as well

Then went to Morrisons and spent lots more than I intended to actual spend was £62 but I got £6 off in vouchers so came in at £56 which is still too much really. However that did include 16 loo rolls, wine and a load of bulbs to plant in the garden.

I did work out though that £50 a week for me and dd is roughly £3.50 a day each for all meals and food. That makes me feel a bit better!! That said will be a top up shop at Lidls next week

Great news spotty.

Has anybody pondered the energy savings implications of getting rid of carpets? I gather that wood floors are better for allergies, but I remember that before we got our lounge carpet we were always freezing. Not sure what the best thing is there.

lilac great that your hair worked out so much cheaper!

spotty excellent news about the pay!

My sister just invited me to a charity event she has organised tomorrow night. She has a free ticket, so felt I couldn't really say no, but tbh, I really can't afford to. Its a good bit away, so petrol spends, and will need to buy a drink at least. I was too embarrassed to say no and she would have copped if I made an excuse. Plus I want to support her, she has been an absolute rock for me over the past few years. She's only 18!

ipsos I haven't been able to compare my energy costs, as we have moved house in the interim, but our whole downstairs is tiled or has wooden floors. DH has severe asthma which has much improved for this being the case. I am never cold, it's a comment I don't understand about hard floors, although respect other peoples opinions as many do. We pay no more here than the old house, even though this house is large, but it is also more energy efficient I suspect too, being new build.

theonlypink Least it's only a mineral as you're driving.

This week I've put fuel in my car, au pair's car and dh's van. Mine in garage and all car needed fuel while I had them[sceptical]

even!

All this talk of children's shoes has reminded me need to get dd's winter boots and ds whose feet haven't grown since Jan - his first shoes & been measured three times since, as recently as three weeks ago, is now getting too big for his shoes.

Thanks need. I think the problem here is that it's an old house and when we had just floorboard there were holes in the floor so large that we could lose ball bearings down them. The house was designed to be heated by an open fire and the ventilation is under floor, so that the wind really quite whistles through the floor and up the chimney. We put bubble wrap up the chimney eventually, but it wasn't until we carpeted the floor that it got to be a liveable temperature. I'm just stumped now about how to be carpet free without freezing solid. Possible lino floor or something?

We have special underlay under the kids laminate if that helps? You board out, then put that on, then the laminate.

£2.80 on a jacket spud and a coke. Need to pop to shop and get kids a sweet as ds hasn't cried about school since wed morning (the bribe mightve helped)

There's a fair nearby, £1.50 per ride, cheaper than normal I think? might treat kids at the weekend as ds has had a bit of a rubbish return to school. And splurge some tesco vouchers on dinner. ..

Great news about your pay spotty!

Good day spendwise here. £2.50 in local Sainsburys on some fruit and a sneaky chocolate bar for me. Leftovers for lunch for me and DD and will be getting some cheese scones out of the freezer for her tea with scrambled egg.

Had music class for her this morning, but the whole of this term was pre-paid at the end of last term. Park on her scooter this afternoon while it was dry! Absolutely knackered when we got back - am due with DC2 in late November and just get so tired by mid afternoon. Cheated and put Wall-E on for DD to watch while I did some online surveys sitting quietly Managed the last one or two to claim a £10 Sainsburys voucher so have actually made money today! Yay!

Hope all those who were under the weather are feeling better

Thanks Pass that's good to know.

Thanks also to orange for the sympathy. Virus is proving slow, but I am pottering along hopefully.

£13 in Wilkos on stocking fillers and various cleaning stuff. It is fatal going in with all their Xmas goodies!!

£1.40 lunch.

We had laminate in one house and it was very cold to touch but the house was very cold generally. As always insulation is the key. The energy saving trust will have info on that.

If it's an old house you need something breathable or you can get damp.

I can't believe you have an open fire and it isn't on! I'd never leave the lounge if we had a working fire.

Hard floors always seem more work to me, sweeping and mopping instead of just vacuuming. The cat brings in as much mud as a dog and the turtle mats don't absorb it.

£40 weekly shop and a cheeky bottle of zoflora.
£1.25 on beer in tesco. Cheaper than Coca Cola.

Thanks fluffy

I'll look up the energy saving trust.

Our fire isn't in a working state yet. It's very shallow and the front has fallen off. It's a funny design and we did look around but we never could find the right part. So it's just decorative really. Here's a photo. There's a lot we need to fix about our house. We've been working at it for 10 years but it's still a bit of a wreck.

£3 on McMillan cakes (not just for me! Also treated two colleagues).

orange I love Wall-E! Thank you for the reminder. We have it on DVD somewhere and we've recently got into Sunday afternoon films so I think that will be this week's choice.

I love it too Ursula, it's probably my favourite Pixar film Although the amount of times DD has made me watch it makes me think we'll have to try her with something else soon before I get sick of it! I think some of you ladies were talking about Studio Ghibli upthread? What's My Neighbour Totoro like?

Sorry Fluffy ok, so who has a 2 yo DS that needed a winter coat?.?

Oh no, I'm going to have to re-read the thread.... See you all next week

pink maybe she was going to buy her ds a coat

ursula love idea of Sunday afternoon movie. My plan is to get us watching big big movie on sat eve so Jim jams at 6.30 & relax for evening. Perhaps children's easy dinner & something like date night dinner after. We've been going through a rough patch so have to actively improve time together.

I've checked back to August and it was Spotty who was looking for a coat.

Spotty, if you pm me an address I can post you a beautiful red down puffa jacket

I know how you feel AuditAngel. I'm finding it really hard to keep up too.

Totoro is lovely and works on lots of levels for all ages. We also especially like Arietty and Kiki's delivery service.