September savers/frugaleers continue into October

[574ejones]

All welcome!

ipsos no! No sewing machine. I'm saving for one though. I find it oddly therapeutic. Even though all The things I've made so far are a bit crap I've still made them iyswim. I did it.

Today's spends £5.25 on lunch. £1.62 on stock cubes.

Tonight's dinner is off the meal plan (finally). Caramelised onion and butternut squash risotto. Yummmmnmn.

I'm impressed with all the Christmas shopping going on. I haven't started yet. Have notes down a few thoughts. But no gift buying yet.

Welcome magic - you'll be amazed at how the small changes, and being more aware, really add up. need money issues are issues however much we all earn. I'm sure us frugaleers represent a massive range of incomes and lifestyles but to each of us a change in circumstance (especially when imposed by government or redundancy) sends shivers down our spines!

Frugal win - the frozen sandwiches were brilliant!!! Not soggy at all. In fact mine was a sandwich thin which has a coating of flour and it was still floury I'm beyond excited :)

NSD. DH and DD had beans on toast. I had my third portion of Moroccan chicken this week. So glad it's finished now!

Creme - I have a delivery pass and find the £40 minimum spend focuses my mind to get it as close to that as possible. They also now give you vouchers to use online for that compare and save they do, so that's really useful. I always go through the offers page to help stretch my budget!

Thanks for the kind words sorry I've been ranting a lot about this lately but it's really helpful to be able to talk about it :)

What thanks for mentioning the compare and save thing! I've totally forgotten about that, I must check through my inbox for vouchers. I was a bit annoyed about the increased minimum spend but we are trying to get it as close to £40 too. I really need to plan properly though in order to not end up needing expensive top up shops!

That's okay fuzz. Rant away. Also need, about tax. It's remarkably helpful being able talk about things on here, I find. (I slight wish it was possible to delete it all afterwards, in my case at least. )

Hello all, just done a mammoth catch up on the thread.
fuzz so sorry things are difficult with work and healthwise.

nk that's so exciting about the potential job!

Nsd today, yay! Looking forward to prawn and veg stir fry tonight and GBBO chocolate week About £12 yesterday on lunch out for me and DD with a friend.

Very spendy weekend though . Have been decorating spare room for DD to move into before baby comes. FIL has helped us out massively with the painting etc so that was quite cheap. Did desperately need new carpet and underlay though (£450) plus £30 on curtain pole and fittings etc (used old John Lewis gift card for that). Bought bookcase on eBay for £15 a few months ago, and all above has been budgeted for a few months, it just feels like a lot in one go! . Just looking for a bargain on curtains now but my mum is going to pay half as part of DD's Christmas present. Will be so glad when it's done as seems to have been dragging on for ages!

fuzz. It is a shit situation. I got very close to being there in 2012/2013. Do you have a union rep?

£42 on a new bag and wallet
£30 on new shoes
£25 on new boots
£5.60 on 2 new tops in Primark (this bit at least was frugal)
£28 in Next on new trousers and socks
£7 on a new lunch box

And god knows how much on breakfast/lunch at work and in Tesco on the way home.

I think I'm on the wrong thread. September has been rather spendy.

Collie by chance I found Primark do a really decent nail vanish!! I got a red one in there that cost £1 and was brilliant, people commented on it and everything!! I heard recently that their make up is meant to be quite good as well....

NSD today, but did get electricity and gas bill. The first one since moving to my own appartement. A lot more than I was expecting! But it is based on previous users, so I'm really hoping it's too much and when they do the end of year calculation I'll get money back.

riviera why don't you give them some meter readings? Estimated ones are pointless can cause all sorts of problems!

You could give a meter reading.

rivier sorry autocorrect

Can you do that yourself then? They only do actualy readings once a year here.

Yes you can give them a reading, they wouldnt want to be over or under charging you would they?.

Do you have your opening meter reading and access to the meter?.

Estimated bills are crap, you don't have to put up with them from anyone else, even our water board reads the meter before sending the bill twice a year.

Struggling to keep up with the the thread, sorry everyone.
Train ticket to London for a work event today, £28.50 which I should be able to claim back. Avoided buying anything on the way!
Also returned a pair of boots I ordered egged on by a friend that I can't afford. Been paid and all the money has gone out for nursery fees etc and I feel sick about how little is left already, it's not even the 1st yet :( going to be going through the house for stuff to sell at the weekend I think.

rivier I put monthly meter readings in online now, its actually meant a drop in my monthly DD of about £20 a month.

£30 Aldi top up shop (£10 was on formula, but at least £8 was on snacky bits because we went shopping hungry) and £15 on takeaway. Gone way over on the food budget this month, hoping that October will be a little cheaper but we've got MIL coming to stay for a few weeks in time for the new baby at the end of the month so we'll be cooking for 3.

Shopping order for tomorrow came in around £47, so a little above the minimum... probably due to treats being added to the basket... (I am in a 'fuck it, I deserve it' mood TBH - still, probably less spendy than it would be if I were in an actual shop)

Nice it's the 1st now! It is horrid when so much goes out at the beginning, mortgage and nursery are such big bills. Well done in taking the shoes back and not spending in London. DH was in London today and has been listening to me and only spent £38 including travel.

Dinner this evening was fish cakes, sweet potato wedges and roasted squash. Have half a squash to do something with tonight. Today only spend should be lemons and maybe some jars.

Thanks everyone, I'll go read the meter and see what I can do.
NSD yesterday and should be one today and tomorrow as well.

Now I have a months worth of bills, receipts and bank statements, what is the best way to form a budget?

I put some savings money in a fixed rate savings bond yesterday. It's going to get 2% interest for two years now. I'm really glad to have done that because all the normal savings account have such totally rubbish interest on them and constantly keep changing.

Rivier I downloaded a spreadsheet from money saving expert I just googled it I think I put budget planner in or something. Lots of people use YNAB but I haven't tried it yet.

Our overdraft is maxed until dh gets paid Monday and the food shopping is being delivered tomorrow. I'll have to borrow from the dc

NSD yesterday and probably today too. What does one do when one gets a passive aggressive email from above mentioned staff who ends the email with 'thanks for your passion and enthusiasm'? I feel like saying 'no problem. Hope some rubs off you!!' Smiley face. She's such a cow. A good colleague has just got another job and although he's going because it's a promotion, a lot of his frustration also stems from her blocking a lot of his work that he needs to get done.

She's in a functional position (eg finance, marketing). So her job is functional. It supports the other activities that other people do. No one is saying its unimportant, if anything, it's important. She needs to get her stuff out so that other things can happen. Eg car engineer can make a great car but marketing will need to sort out the branding, the marketing promos etc. she's not doing that, or rather she's blocking a lot of the activity. Doesn't help that she's not even pleasant or a nice person. She doesn't do meetings, she cancels them instead... She's perhaps the most disliked person around. Even her own people don't really like her.

There's a huge us and them culture too and it's getting worse.

X morning all. Yesterday was DH's birthday. Was working in another office, bought lunch plus a few bits for larder (didn't food shop last week) plus cake for DH £12 ish (I can't remember exactly, something like 32p!)

Went out for dinner last night, to the Ritz! DH bought vouchers months ago (£109 for 3 course meal for 2 including a glass of champagne) so last night was travel card (about £12, comes off my Oyster card) taxi each way to/from station, £14 total, DH bought drink in the pub and paid for the wine (shocking amount, but it was his birthday and he paid!)

Today I'll need to buy lunch (haven't shopped so running out of everything) need to do online shop for weekend delivery. Have Sansbury's voucher for £18 off £60 but it will make the shop harder work.

Lilac no there weren't many groceries on Tuesday. Problem is that we are a big trapped b rugby at the moment in Saturday's, and there are no shops where I work (except charity shops) so gift cards it had to be (SIL is really hard to buy for, love her daughter, but she is a bit awkward too)