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Original poster

September savers/frugaleers continue into October

999 replies

574ejones · 20/09/2015 17:43

All welcome!

OP posts:
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5
ipsos · 03/10/2015 13:44

That's quite weird orange. Thank goodness for hot running water though, eh?

Welcome back unescorted. Is your Mum okay, and are you?

Unescorted · 03/10/2015 13:45

Elctro it is rubbish isn't it. I think you can get a copy of the will here

Unescorted · 03/10/2015 13:47

I am - run a bit ragged, but functioning if I don't count housework. Mum is getting better, but b/c of swelling couldn't eat so had to go into hospital to go on a drip. Not as frightening as the last trip, but still not great.

annatha · 03/10/2015 14:07

Dh mentioned he was cold this morning and suggested putting the heating on I shot him down despite having a bloody window open!

I had a month of holiday pay between my maternity leaves last month and the plan was to put away everything over SMP to pay a chunk off our credit cards, and somehow we've managed to spend a lot of it. Its so frustrating, lots of factors are up in the air at the minute- baby is due in 6 weeks, MIL will be living here for around a month so another person to feed (she'll probably offer to contribute but she's going to be a massive help looking after dd while I recover/get sorted with the newborn and they don't have much money either, so I'd rather not take any off her), dh possibly getting a new job, us possibly moving 100 miles away for said job, my dad retiring and possibly helping out with our debts, us losing some income after Dec... because there aren't any solid plans dh sees attempts to save small amounts of money as pointless, he'll just spend blindly because we might be better off next year. Or we could be much worse off. I worked out I can save us £65 a month by canceling Netflix and similar subscriptions and chopping a tenner a week off the food shop. I know its not much, but its better than nothing. I could probably shave £20 a week off the food shop if I was strict about portions etc. Gah. Rant over.

Whatabout · 03/10/2015 14:23

Anna - it is hard when they don't understand that saving and frugality breeds more saving and frugality and no effort is ever wasted. I have rules about the heating, it only goes on if you have on jeans and slippers and two layers on your top half. We have blankets on the back of all our sofas for snuggling under in the evening instead of heating and I turn off a lot of radiators. I haven't worked out whether to have the heating on constantly at a relatively low temp or my usual couple of hours a day only. With a newborn in the house DH says we will need it on more than usual. I disagree and don't think he will need more than an extra layer on the odd occasion.

magicgirl74 · 03/10/2015 14:41

No heating on here yet even if hubby wasn't being made redundant it wouldn't be going on until november at the least(hubby has always been tight with the heating)I was hoping for a no spend week but that went out of the window when my beloved,faithful old bread maker died and we have had to buy a new one,so that was £87 in currys and i spent about £12 in home bargains mainly on snack type of things for my teenage ds who seems to have hollow legs and be constantly hungry.

annatha · 03/10/2015 14:52

whatabout that's exactly it. He'll look through the excellent spreadsheet that he made that shows our budget and also makes predictions on the coming months, and he'll worry because things are tight. Then a few hours later he'll spend £20 on a takeaway despite the house being full of food Hmm it's like he doesn't see the link at all.

I have similar rules with heating, I see it as a last resort if we haven't warmed up after putting a layer on, having a cup of tea etc and its just on for a quick blast to stop the house getting too warm. Not really looking forward to it in this house because you can't turn any of the radiators off and I always keep the bedroom and spare room ones off to stop it getting stuffy/heating empty rooms. It is our first winter with double glazing for a long while though so that should make a difference.

I shouldn't think you need the hearing on any more with a newborn than usual, I had dd last November and she was always toasty in layers and thick blankets. I'm planning to to the same with this baby too, as its much easier to take a layer off them if they get too warm than to wait for the house to cool down.

Whatabout · 03/10/2015 14:58

Will you have almost Irish twins as my mother calls it? My two are 27 months apart and that seems close enough ;/) it'll be lovely having such a tiny gap and I don't think there is any right age for having a second, you all just have to get on with it don't you?

NK5BM3 · 03/10/2015 15:00

£90 ballet including new shoes and fees. £27 at Aldi!! Grindidn't get any meat. Lots in freezer and somehow not being used up.

Just baked some cookies for friend who's had a baby. Present was bought long ago. Going to visit soon.

ipsos · 03/10/2015 16:23

That sounds a bit of a stress unescorted. Glad to have you back.

annatha · 03/10/2015 16:53

I've never heard of Irish twins but it sounds about right! Dd was born Nov 3rd and ds is due Nov 16th. It'll be mental at first but I'm hoping that in the long run I'll be happy to get all the baby years out of the way in one go and don't have to deal with a jealous toddler at the same time as a new baby. Dd has just learnt to climb though so its hard going chasing her around the house!

bobblypop · 03/10/2015 17:00

Afternoon all
I've had a productive afternoon frugaleering ! I have cancelled the sky package and my on line weight watchers subscription that I never use. Yay!
Need to find out how much dh spent in aldi so I can add it to my spending tracker....

CremeEggThief · 03/10/2015 17:10

Welcome back, Unescorted.

Just had to change my password again, as Mumsnet had logged me out!Angry Has anyone else had this recently?

NSD here and I was pleased that my frugal thought worked. I had some leftover rocket, and instead of chucking it, added it to my leftover kale and potatoes for soup. It turned out really nice. Has anyone else ever added rocket or even lettuce to soup?

babsmam · 03/10/2015 17:44

Nsd. Friend came over and had a lovely time chatting and prepping for tomorrow's party.

Welcome back unescorted

AuditAngel · 03/10/2015 17:47

Frugal win today. DH's cousin rang and asked him to pick up 2 bottles of Bollinger from our local Waitrose and drop them into the restaurant, they are on special offer.

DH was unsure about taking them in his backpack on mooed, do
I offered to do it before he started work. £70 on 2 bottles of champagne, used a £6 voucher I had, free paper for mum, free coffee for me. Got back £70 from restaurant for the champagne, so I'm up £6 plus a paper and a coffee.

TheOnlyPink · 03/10/2015 17:48

lilac we get the park and ride. We live about 15-20 miles from the city, so definitely no buses here! But the park and ride is €5 for the day and as many bus trips as you want! Not sure if they have them where you are though. Sounds like you got a great au pair! Such a relief knowing the kids are well looked after.

orange hope your dd is feeling better!

So our trip to town was good. I went to the craft shop. Dh has been nagging me to start some hobbies, since ds 2 is gone to preschool 5 mornings a week, I have more time on my hands and I've been a bit down and bored. So took €20 out of the atm and spent it on craft things, going to make some Christmas decorations. Really enjoyed myself and its given me a bit of a lift, plotting my poncetastic crafts!
Spent €4 on a new book for ds1 and €50 petrol on the way home.

Girlfriend36 · 03/10/2015 17:55

Hi all so quite spendy in the end today.

£3.50 in Greggs on lunch for me and dd
£5 in Next on a gift
£12 in Poundland mostly on toiletries and snacks
£15 horse riding lesson for dd

£16 ish on cat biscuits and hay for the hamster! Remembered to use a 10% off voucher I had but was annoyed to find out I had missed the two bags if Iams for £20 offer. Only bought one bag as a result!

£18 in Home Sense, £10 of this was a Dracula cape for dd, its a really nice lined one that I am hoping can be used for other dressing up activities as well. Also bought a lovely tin of biscuits for friends bday £4 and a giant floor puzzle for my friends sons bday £4.

Think that is the last of the October bdays sorted now!

Still not made it to Lidls so will have to do that tomos and promised dd a trip to the kids club to watch Minions.

ipsos · 03/10/2015 18:12

Well done audit, you're running a profitable small business. Smile

Fluffycloudland77 · 03/10/2015 18:30

anna Broken record technique might work on him. "shall we get xyz?" "no, we cant afford it I'm saving". Repeat as needed. God it can take years though.

Brilliant bobbly. No point in paying out for things you don't use.

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better ipsos.

NSD.

Used my lidl voucher, it's dh's turn to pay and I think lidl are now officially more expensive than aldi. I don't think I'll bother again with them for a whole shop.

SpottyTeacakes · 03/10/2015 18:42

Meal plan for the week:

Chicken korma
Fish cakes
Shepherds pie
Spaghetti Bol
Pizza and salad garlic bread
Bacon risotto
Bacon mint pea pasta

Electrolux2 · 03/10/2015 18:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SpottyTeacakes · 03/10/2015 18:49

I just use normal bacon, whatever is on offer! I do mine in the oven based on this and just add whatever Smile

ipsos · 03/10/2015 18:58

Rice boiled and the lightly fried with a little bit of chorizo works really well too. I also add chicken, peas and sweetcorn, all microwaved from the freezer. I keep pre-cooked chicken in freezer bags in the freezer to add to things.

ipsos · 03/10/2015 19:00

LSD today. I got up this morning determined to have a restful day, and then realised that I was making this resolution while hanging out washing at 7.15am. RelaxationFail.

I got a lot of washing dried outside though.

annatha · 03/10/2015 19:49

fluffy I'll try that, I always feel like I'm a spoilsport as he spends money like its burning a hole in his pocket and always wants to treat friends and family, which is lovely if you can afford it but we really can't.

NSD again today. Food shop on Monday and after making my list I crossed off at least 5 things that I found in the cupboards already. I'm terrible for having 3 packets of lasagne sheets on the go.

Has anyone ever frozen spinach? Dh has it on his sandwiches every day but the bag is so massive that I always end up chucking at least a third of it. I've popped some in a Tupperware box and froze it so we'll find out next week...