October Frugaleers part deux

[CremeEggThief]

HI all, took the liberty of starting a new thread.

Thanks everyone

wheely it is just called "Spending tracker" it's by MH Riley. It was free, the first one that came up when I searched on Google play. The only thing it doesn't seem to do properly is sync between my phone and tablet.....but I usually just use it on tablet so that isn't too much of a problem.

We've now decided on an Ikea trip tomorrow to get throws, some better toy storage and DD's Xmas present (play kitchen). DH is excited about the meatballs, I am just bracing myself for the madness!

Spent £20 at b&m!! Only went in for some rinse aid!! But found other things on shopping list which I bought there as it looked cheaper. Dh doing the food shop at Aldi later.

I work ft as does dh and so kids have always been in nurseries and afterschool club. It's not great but when we can do things like Disney and they are starting to realise that, that makes a difference. They will understand. Eventually.

Happy weekend everyone.

Meal plan for the week in no particular order:

Chicken and broccoli bake
Spag bol (freezer)
Shepherds pie (freezer)
Goujons and chips
Chicken kievs with mash
Roast chicken
Bacon risotto

Lunches I'm going to make leek and potato soup.

Leek and potato is my favourite soup :) and DD's too. I sometimes stick some spinach in there (although not too much since the time I put heaps in and it was really bitter). I wish DS ate stuff like that (and eggs) as frugal meals would be a lot easier.

Having a frugal day doing sod all, DCs are playing board games with a neighbour friend. I did get the Tesco order and that was £70, not entirely sure if I got good value but there was a bit of meat and some tinned and household stuff so not too awful I think.

Both dc love home made soup it makes winter lunches so much easier! They don't like egg though.

I need to chase some cash back with quidco as it hasn't even tracked.

I made leek and potato soup today. It was delish but DD wouldn't touch it.

Fuzz - kids certainly know how to touch a sore point, don't they?

Today - £31.09 petrol and £26.09 Sainsburys (after deducting £7.50 in points earned and £8 voucher Sainsburys sent, so very happy with that). Aim this week was to spend

I've posted all but one of my ebay sold parcels now. I made about £33 after postage costs so that's not bad. More space in the attic now. :-)

It's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick ipsos.

wheely Yorkshire bank?£150. Email HSBC's ceo and complain about the level of service you received. It's worth a try and you might get a nice compo cheque.

How's it going diet? www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/2270347-Frugal-January-everyone-welcome Our most useful links were in the Jan thread, the ones in chat wont work because someone forgot to ask the MNHQ to move them to credit crunch that someone would be me but the rest should be ok.

IPSOS - I bet you're pleased with that amount - just try not to spend it too quickly!

Thanks ipsos going to have a good look into it now.

Lots of spending today, ds1's karate grading, he needed two lessons to be ready , needed a few bits in the shop and ds2's club too.

Have decided next month to go to the actual bank and ask for a months worth of £5 notes and £1 coins for clubs so we are not taking out £10 from the cash point and 'losing' the leftovers in frittering/having loose change about.

Thanks, yes I suppose so. I'm not going to think about having the money, or write it down so it will just melt into the household accounts without me wanting to spend it. I must work on my ebaying skills though. I really should have been able to get more for those things.

Fortunately my brother has said he'll take our car seats so they will go to a good home and not end up selling for £4.50 by accident.

Thanks Fluffy I'll look into that.

Tesco £165, including birthday cake for DD2 £10, plus party bag fillers, pass the parcel prize, wrapping paper, sweets for party bags, lots of cards (£10 but includes cards for DD2) also presents for two nephews for birthdays, and couple of top ups for DD2.

Lots of picnic food for a day out for DD's birthday

I also bagged an absolute bargain. Have you seen the balloons with a small LED inside? I wanted a couple of packs for DD's party next week. Picked up a pack of princess ones, plus a bag of 15 for £8, thought they'd be nice for guests to take home. Went to the reduced bit and found 2 bags of 50 (yes 50!) for £8.75 each!grabbed 2 they can go in party bags, stockings you name it. I also got a pack of 5 wierd alien ones for Halloween for £1.75

Spent £41 in Lidls so pleased with that (budget £40) plus seem to have loads in now so am thinking could prob make it last at least 10 days with minimal top up shop only.

My mum paid for dds riding lesson so no other spends plus just logged on to my account and there is still a fair bit of money in there which was a surprise, however did note that none of the cheques I have written recently have come out.

However will def be able to increase how much i save each month now am earning a bit more, will go in the 'when we hopefully move and get a house' fund

afternoon all
hairspray I did that for a few months. Went to the bank at the start of each month and took out cash in £5 notes and £1 coins for kids bus money and travel. Made a real difference. I seem to have not done it for a couple of months so must get back into it...
been to hairdressers. £63 for colour, foils and cut. In my defence though I have been cutting my own hair and colouring myself for years and had planned this and budgeted for it as am attempting to take better care of myself and lift my self esteem a bit!!

shopping delivery has arrived and have enough for around 12 days of main meals. will just need top up shops in between.

having family movie night tonight

then fancy getting out somewhere for walk with dogs and dc tomorrow....
not much else to spend on this weekend

Hi everyone, seem to have missed loads!

fuzz its hard to hear that, but I think you were right to get cross with her. My ds is 8 too, and imo is definitely old enough to understand that, 1) he can't have everything he wants, choices must be made, and 2) that words can hurt, and he needs to think before he speaks.

ipsos not bad for the eBay amount!

We had a lovely day today, went for a walk in the public gardens near our house. Only cost €3 for parking. Came home for hot chocolate instead of the cafe.
On the less frugal front, dh trip to the UK next week is cancelled. So that means he will need petrol money and extra in the food budget to cover it. Things are very tight now, but still not having to go into overdraft, or credit card, so I'm feeling very proud of myself. Revising the budget after each unexpected expense (there's been loads this month!) Has made such a difference. The old me would just keep spending as normal and wonder why we were €200 in overdraft.

Nachos for dinner.

Just survived dd's first year R birthday party of the year. She got invited and I thought I ought to go since it's her first in this new class etcetera. I don't know how I did it when ds was year R but I don't recall it being so difficult! People didn't look unfriendly and I tried. Did speak to a few people and they were nice. But still felt that it wasn't easy. Round 2 tomorrow!!!

Dh spent £41 at aldi.

Ipsos, you're still £33 richer than you were.

Bobbly, glad you enjoyed your hairdresser's trip.

NK, hope the next party will be easier.

£4.20 bus fare, £2 raffle tickets for a local hospice and £4.80 coffee and cake at a garden centre. Also £9.99 on a jewellery holder, which was reduced to half price, as a present for my mum's birthday and £7 electric and £5 gas. I still had £2 left on my gas meter from when I topped up last Sunday, so seem to have spent £3 on gas this week. That encourages me to keep the gas heating off for at least another week!

Another really busy day today, waffles for breakfast, 2 loads of laundry and lot of wood chopping and chipping after big branch came down from the monkey puzzle tree plus another small tree near the chicken run. We were also given logs from next door so the second woodstore we build couple months ago with old pallets and leftover felt is full
Dc wrote their Christmas list so I have bought the first present - a jack in the box for younger dd (£14 on Amazon so will get some cashback).
Older dd was grumpy with me in the summer holiday because I said no about going to McDonalds when they had minion toys but she is getting better in understanding about money.
£30 at Lidl today, went in mainly for cat food and kids yoghurts but they did have all the yummy Polish food again
Burritos for dc tonight and liver and mash for dh and me since we had Indian takeaway last night which dh and dss bought in the auction last week. It was a meal for 2 which was more then enough for 3 adults.

Meal plan-
Tonight: pasta and Mediterranean veg pasta bake.
Tomorrow: veggie roast dinner.
Monday: leftover pasta bake.
Tuesday: veggie cottage pie.
Wednesday: same.
Thursday: veggie sausages, mash, peas and gravy.
Friday: bean burgers in baps with cheese slices and wedges.

I think maybe the main use for ebay is buying things for mega cheap rather than making a profit on things. I must try to remember that when buying things. I've had some real finds on ebay. I once bought an £800 overlocker there for £100. I was chuffed with that. Good thing to try and remember when I get ideas about selling things.

theonly Well done avoiding debt.

love How long will all that wood last you?.

NSD.

Dh has had the heating on but only in the room he was in. He was wearing a dressing gown and not much else so I'm not surprised he was cold. He needs more thermal stuff.

I've been messing around on moneysavingexperts energy club and realised it's cheaper for us to be with a separate gas and electric company than doing a dual fuel deal . I cant switch until December though or I get hit with exit fees. Like creme it's made me more determined to keep the heating off as much as possible.

£4 cashback came through.

ipsos I think it depends on what you are selling and what keywords / descriptions you use. We've made quite a lot through eBay in the last 2 months. We've sold stuff I never thought would sell.

fluffy I always assumed dual fuel would be cheaper

I have a stomach ache. I hate being poorly whilst away from home so now I feel anxious too. Blerghh.