October Frugaleers part deux

[CremeEggThief]

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

Small world indeed, Annatha. Hope you had a lovely meal and walk with your dad.

Durham is on the top of my list due to jobs!

I get initially rejected from the surveys too but they always offer another survey instead.

Laaka, I want to live on the Isle of Wight at some stage. I would really miss it up here though, which shows it's a good place to be.

Come join us, Collie

Thanks all for your welcomes!

I also love the idea of drawing out £5s etc for kids' clubs etc..

We sat down tonight and worked out that after bills, food and fuel we have £200 per month disposable income.

We have 3 kids - two of them are babies who seem to be growing out of things all.the.time...

I think it has been a massive eye opener for him but we've both come away feeling unbelievably depressed. I just can't see how we're going to get out of this rut...

Before we sat down and did the figures I felt enthusiastic and motivated about being minimalist and stripping things back. Now I just feel so depressed :-(((

Under don't be down, stick with us and we will find ways to build on that disposable income! For baby clothes do you check out local fb buy and sell pages? Can ofter pick up quite big bundles of clothes for not much also boot sales? I got some lovely clothes for dd when she was younger at car boot sales.

Go through all your direct debits and work out if any can be reduced or cancelled.

Laska that sounds nasty, have you had it checked in a&e? Don't leave it if your vision is still not right.

It will get better though. There is a lag between realising there is a problem to cutting back to seeing the benefits.

Controlling expenditure is the key though. We've all been there.

Under, I have about the same, after food, bills and travel. It's not fun, but you have to make the most of it.

£3.60 here today which was mine & DD2's swimming entrance. DD1 is free as she does swimming lessons there which we pay £22 a month for (which I think is reasonable). She gets in free at anytime as well as her weekly lesson for that.

I have squirrelled my desired amount into the ISA this month. I am currently in the fully paid bit of maternity pay and need to save to support us in months 6-9! I have also fallen onto my feet somewhat as due to a technicality I am receiving Occupational mat pay (OMP) and Maternity allowance. Rather than OMP & SMP because I recently changed jobs but stayed within the NHS. But the contract says that they would give full pay MINUS any SMP paid (so you don't get more than full pay) but for Mat Allowance you get BOTH. Which gives me two lots of £530 extra.

I agree with whoever mentioned the Stollen and I grew up in Bavaria!

dizzy we are having butternut squash soup from my slow cooker tomorrow/I had it today for lunch.
Feeds at least 4 adults. (We did 5 adults and two small children)

2 onions (20p)
1kg butternut squash (I used 3 69p ones from ALDI)
2 garlic cloves (5p)
1.2 L veg stock (50p)

Sweat onions and garlic until translucent, throw in butternut squash and stock, bring to boil then put into slow cooker. Cook for 1 hour on high or 3 hours on low. Season if required- I didn't bother.

Recipe talks about serving with a dollop of cream I added full fat yoghurt a spoonful on top because we had it but I don't think you need it.

I reckon it costs up as £2.85 for the soup, possibly less if you use cheaper stock cubes. We had it with bread and it was incredibly yummy.

I cut the squash into 2cm ish cubes and then blasted in the processor at the end to get the soup but if you don't have a processor or hand blender I reckon you could mash it, it goes very soft.

Collie I've done similar moves four times. It is a big faff when you do the move. The main problems are finding a job, then a house, then a gp, dentist and hairdresser. Then there is a long slow phase where you gradually get integrated into the community, which more or less finishes when you can easily give directions to a stranger. The part that really matters, when the dust has settled, is that you are comfortable with who you and your children will become if you integrate completely with the community. So if you are English, then you may find it easier to settle long term in the north of England, where you will already have all the social nuances pre-loaded, whilst a move to Scotland would involve learning a whole lot of new attitudes and ways of seeing things. If you have family up north that you could move near to then that helps hugely - am I right in thinking that your sh'd parents are in Scotland? I find it tells me a lot about a place if I watch the local weather forecast and feel comfortable looking at the map. If I miss my own home map then that is a bit of a sign. Being able to afford to live is hugely helpful though. The Scottish Highers are great, and the University Education is currently free there, which is also a huge thing.

I had a useful learning experience today. I blew £4.89 on a house magazine and didn't really enjoy reading it. Now I'm not bf, maybe magazine expenditure can be quietly binned.

For some reason our house seems to be using a huge amount of electricity just now, even though it's the middle of the night, and I have no idea why. It's running at 35p an hour, with everything turned off. (!?)

Ah! It's not 35p, it's 3p. The graph axes have changed. Phew!

Electric is about 11p a kW per hour so a 2kw kettle would pull 22p . Freezer would use another 400w.
Is your immersion heater on? That would cost about 35p per hour .

Hey underwhelmed you have made the first massive step now. We are on your side and are here to bounce ideas off

Creme are you a detective? . Ds is fine he seems to bounce, dd got a nasty scrape /bruise on her side but is also a bit of a drama Queen.

Waves at anathana. Durham is lovely I may have a trip up one weekend, it's been ages.

Collie come on up. Durham itself can be relatively expensive but there are some lovely places to live. Should be OK for you being used to se prices

Underwhelmed we have similar left over. We manage to top it up by underspending on fuel and then the council tax free months help too but it is tough.

Should be nsd today just staying in and doing housework.

I also got OMP + MA this time round as I rotated jobs at 7 weeks, the extra was a lovely bonus - rang up work to query it but apparently thats right. Awesome! Yesterday was my last official day of mat leave and I am now on 'annual leave' until end of Nov. How that flew!

Underwhelmed is there anywhere you could cut back on your bills to cut a little slack maybe? If youre brave enough to list them maybe some frugaleers could make suggestions?

Ipsos that energy monitor would not be good for my mental health Id watch it constantly.. where do I get one?

DD is snoozing beside me in bed, very cute. Had another money goals chat with my lovely DH yesterday which ended in a semi fight. He did go off with a pack lunch he made himself though so I feel like he took my point (you can buy lunches and coffees every day, or you can buy the bigger things you want, but you cant have both as money is finite and you need to start managing it). Im as tight as my mother apparently. What I didnt say was that Im terrified of going self employed and him retraining happening at the same time and would like some breathing space saved up!

Hello everyone
Sorry haven't really said hello to the newbies, so hello newbies! Everyone's v supportive here, and full of useful tips for saving money!

Yesterday bought a friend a coffee and me a drink and I think that was £3.60?

And found out that a friend has died. Aged 44, 2 kids. Sudden. Wasn't a close friend but close enough to feel the shock, and of course the fact that her life was pretty similar to mine. 10 months ago another friend died, aged 45. I'm in total shock.

I'm going to work but not going to overwork, it's really not worth it.

under we also have similar. It's frustrating and depressing. eBay has helped bump it up a bit. That's why I'm so precious about QuidCo, Nectar Points, Tesco Clubcard & Boots points. It really helps. Even my £5 Boots points help. If you can - I recommend changing your direct debits dates to the 1st. I've recently done this and its made a huge difference. It took a while to do though.

DH has started applying for jobs up north. Near where we have some family. I'm really really nervous. it'll be such a life changer.

Apparently Tesco boost is due out on 2nd November.

Thanks all! We already have our DDs out on the first of the month - DH gets paid on 24th though so by 2nd it's basically all gone!

Could absolutely list everything here but it's pretty insane given we're both on good salaries... Actually one thing I've been trying to reduce is that our electricity and gas is £243 a month! I've tried switching twice and it's never that much less... We have quite a lot of big windows which I know we should be covering but can't afford curtains at the mo! So it's freezing from quite early - we've already had the heating on for a good few weeks (only for a few hours am / pm)

We do have other costs which we could reduce. Childcare is an au pair at £100 per week - but I can't see a cheaper option as I have two under 2 and where we live that £100 would b about 1.5 days at a childminder for both of them and this way I get about twice as much childcare when I need it (I work flexibly and from home) So it seems excessive to have an au pair when our disposable income is so low (I've already accounted for that before the £200) but then I can't bring in money without one - or at least I could but my outgoings would be higher.

I think I need to be a lot better at maximising the money we have. Thanks so much for the reminder about quidco which I'm registered with and NEVER use for no reason at all.

Also yes I need to stop buying new baby clothes. I have so much that I want to seel but my bundles never sell on ebay!!! I think I'll just put it all together and wait to sell it all at a car boot in the spring.

I think it all just needs to be top of mind - I need to be thinking about it all the time - which I guess is what you all do and why you're all here - so thank you x

Adora - I'll remember that in the future, you invite so you cook! Yesterday worked out okay with MIL in the end.

Bobbly - Hope you enjoyed your sponge pudding.

Laska - hope you're eye is okay today, that sounded painful

NK5, sorry to hear your news. Something like that really makes you think, doesn't it?

Under - don't get down, you've got a good starting point and know what spending you need to stick to. You're right little ones always need new things, but they don't know if things are from something like Primark, NCT sale or even a charity shop. You could ask family & friends for practical things for xmas. £243 does seem like a massive amount for heating & electric. Do you think you could cope with having it on a bit less and one degree lower (says me who hasn't got hers on yet and is actually cold this morning - think it'll be on tomorrow)?

LSD today - just spent 78p on bread. Am going to work later, but leaving handbag at home so I'm not tempted later on.

NK that's so sad. It really does make you think. my friends dad died last week and he was 56. He ran a half marathon 3 weeks ago. It totally shocked me when I heard he suddenly died. Xx

Blue I got it at www.your-loop.com/
Its very good. If anything it is reassuring me that it's okay to use the tumble dryer and things like that. I mean 35p is pretty amazing for a load of washing and all the work it saves me. If it had been £1.50, maybe not, but 35p is a cost I consider worth paying. It's taken a weight off my shoulders really. Also knowing that my pyrolytic oven cleaner only costs 50p a shot is great. A box of oven cleaner and an hour of scrubbing is totally worth avoiding if I can just pay 50p in electricity.

I'm now surreptitiously pricing solar panels.

So sorry to hear about those deaths NK5. I must admit I'm noticing that a lot of my friends have quite serious health problems now. I think it may be time to slip down into first gear.

Collie. Good luck there. Just think of how much smaller your mortgage will be. You'll be able to eat better and heat your house and watch tv, and have lots of lovely free outings. It sounds like a great scheme to me.

Underwhelmed that's a belting energy bill you've got there. Our's is about £115 a month. Do you live in a big old stone house with huge windows? My dh loves those, but I shudder to think of the cost of curtains for really big windows. Do you live in a cold place?

underwhelmed we have similar left over after all bills, so know what you are dealing with. I joined this thread in july/August time, and have already seen huge improvements. The biggest advice I've taken from this thread is, reduce spending as much as you can. Our house has been cold atm, but we all have thick fluffy socks, slippers, bathrobes on over jumpers. If it's still cold after that, then I will pop on the heating. It's only happened once so far.
I have to go collect ds 2 now, so posting and will he back later!

Trying To catch up but this cold is getting in the way of remembering what I've read.

NK sorry To hear of the loses

Underwhelmed well done getting the worst step done.

Spendy visit To the vet, £135. That includes Advocate and Milpro for both dogs. I Will get them elsewhere in futuro but this was their first appointment here and I wanted them checked.

Car insurance is ridiculous! Just did a price comparison and its all about £10 MORE a month than what we are currently paying despite another year of no claims. I'm SO confused. Why is it going up? Our new car is an old granny's car. It's slow, frumpy & boring. Nobody would want to steal it. It's kept off road at night.
Can't afford to pay for the whole year either. Sadly!

Rant over