October Frugaleers part deux

[CremeEggThief]

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

Thai chicken curry for tea, with mushroom and kale stirred in. Easy but nice.

Hi NK5BM3. I put separate salt and rinse aid in the machine, but I use cheapest I can get (although if Finish RinseAid is ever on offer, it is the best, imo - I do love a sparkly glass!!!).

I did get a brilliant tip from here sometime last year though, to buy 'broken' dishwasher tablets from ebay. I get around 10kg of tablets (some broken, some wrapped, some powdery, but all fit for purpose) for around £12. Last tub lasted me around 8 months - frugal win!

I also had a frugal win, inspired by a poster on here (sorry , can't seem to read up the thread at the mo to see who it was ) who reviewed the Sky bill.

I chopped movies & sports off our package (hardly used) and have gone down from £75 to £24 per month . What a huge amount of money we were wasting.

Thank you for this thread all - such good ideas on it. :-)

bbc thanks for the tip re eBay dishwasher tablets. My dishwasher has recently decided to coat cups and glasses with gritty dried food (it looks like cuppasoup but we haven't had any) every wash. Tried running a bottle of cleaner through it, topping up salt and rinse aid and now hand washing most soiled pans which sort of defeats the point of using it. Might try swapping brands to see if it helps.

Great news digger

£14 in tesco this morning. Had to chuck half a packet of chicken breasts away as they smelt rotten even though they were in date, annoying. Divided our monthly shopping money into 4 weeks and already used half of what should be spent on Monday, looks like a beans on toast week!

Annatha- have you checked there are no blockages in the water squirter bits? Mine was doing this, I removed both showery spinny bits and had to really clean them through (blowing air through them helped get the blockage to the holes to dig out, but was a bit grim) but after that it solved the problem.

Hiya everyone! Well done for finishing the month in the black digger :)

People considering exclusion diets for their kids - you'd be best to speak to your GP Re: formal testing if its a worry, and then if there's a proven problem get a referral to a paediatric dietician Re: the exclusion to ensure they aren't missing out on any essentials.

I am feeling rather chuffed. Huge trolley full in lidl... loads of fruit & veg, nice meat, household stuff, treats, wine...£49. Then boots (where we normally get our nappies & wipes etc for the points) - £19.60 got 6 packs of nappies on offer and 8 packs of wipes. Really pleased as I've worked out since switching to lidl for our main shop we are spending on average (including any top up shops, nappies etc) £60 a week which is great. We were spending anywhere from 90-110 a week before, so its a huge saving . All helps towards the freedom plan!

needa, we're having thai curry as well except ours has got prawns in it. Like you say really easy, so doesn't take to long, and hopefully means avoiding the takeaway. Have a bottle of wine to go with ours, told DH I'm opening it whether or not he's home at 7pm!

ifonly I would put prawns in mine if I had any too SIL has invited us for a quick drink at 6pm, so I need something I can just eat as soon as we get in, or at least as soon as the rice cooks. Therefore used the slow cooker today. Wine will be quoffed here too

blue Massive saving there! I popped into Sainsburys yesterday, couldn't believe the price of stuff! I use Morrisons/Aldi, then Abel and Cole for fresh (in the main). Which bizarrely works out cheaper, even with the cost of A&C.

I think I am with you on the testing, that's my gut instinct too and what I would definitely do if my DC suffered.

Dishwashers - mine is doing exactly the same at the minute hairspray, I do the same trick, bit grim but there you go!

What can I serve with falafels and feta? Forgot to buy salad & pittas. Oooops

Couscous?

Nsd. I really want an Indian. Really, really. But shouldn't. Someone tell me why I shouldn't. Mmmm Indian

You shouldn't spotty, because you haven't invited me round to share. There.

Cous-cous or rice, with some mixed Frozen veg maybe, Collie?

No you can't, Spotty, cos I wanted one last night and I resisted temptation, so you should too!

£6.33 top-up shop (bread, cheese, crisps, popcorn, chewing gum and washing up liquid).

Happy Friday everyone .

Ooooh screw the falafels! Now I want an Indian takeaway too!

£23 for new trainers for ds. Now heading to m&s (nearest supermarket) to get some pizzas for dinner although I so want some takeaway curry too!!

Thank you hairspray mine is doing the same at the moment so I shall do it tonight
Please don't talk about Indian takeaway, I am trying to be good

I have sinned Jamie Oliver's book

Also some undies, so £33-ish in Sainsbo's plus £10.13 in Lidl.

Will catch up later.

Dinner is on. I resisted.

Thanks hairspray, will get dh on it tomorrow, I'm too pregnant to get back up again if I managed to get low enough to take them off.

Car has sold! £250 but considering it was heading to be scrapped it's a very good price.

I'm so cross. Dh finally got round to try and fix the tap that broke over a week ago. In doing so, he cracked a copper pipe, which caused a massive leak, so had to turn the water off. Need an emergency plumber. We have no money to pay said plumber, so have to borrow from in laws.
I'm here instead of near dh because he feels shit enough about what he's done and me shouting and roaring about it isn't going to help.
But fucking hell we have just had the worst month for money.

TheOnly - DH did something like that a few years ago around Xmas - water was leaking from the shower downpipe (not over bath) and we had to switch water off as well for a couple of days as plumbers were off - I've never forgotten! DH doesn't do water or electric repairs any more!! Hope you get it sorted soon.

Spotty, so are you resisting the Indian? Not saying we never have a takeaway, but I keep a few sauce jars in which help - tonight we're having a thai curry, but there's also a jar of normal curry sauce to add whatever meat or veggies we have sometime. Might not have all the extras with them, but it'll stop that flavour playing on your mind. That reminds me a jar of sweet and sour needs to be bought in case I get the craving for a Chinese.

evening all
had some money paid into account yesterday from extra work I had done.
had quite a spendy evening but all needed
£35 on Christmas presents for dc that were down to a good price on amazon
£70 on clothes in Debenhams sale for me. Again all much needed as I have no winter work clothes. May not keep all - will try in and decide when I get them. I did get free click and collect though, and a £5 voucher, plus everything I ordered I've been watching for a while and was all half price.

hoping for lsd today
dh did buy a bottle of wine on way home

also going to bake at weekend, planning more bread, choc chip cookies, peanut butter cookies and maybe victoria sponge....

Having contacted Sky to cancel they have now written to me offering me 50% off tv package for 12 months, plus free second hd+ box, plus £50 credit...must admit I'm tempted....

Food is in the oven! I also resisted the takeaway in the end I've done falafels & roasted med veg. Hopefully it'll be tasty.

I'm exhausted.

I haven't caught up with the thread yet. But.

£20 on a round of drinks last night.
£5 on much needed McDonald's and full fat coke and monster munch this morning in the way to work #hungover

£6.10 at lunchtime met friend in greasy caff for lunch. Cheese and ham toasty curly fries and Coke.

Payday on Tuesday. Credit card will be paid off.

Also made a decision today. Ordered boots from Clarks. I loved them in store and online. But when they arrived I tried on and they looked awful.

Sending back so £60 back in my PayPal account.

We very nearly got a chinese last night but resisted and I made egg fried rice instead. Our issue is that dh works 2-10, so we eat a cooked lunch together and then he takes sandwiches for dinner and I usually have some leftovers or soup or something like that. He'll get home and be hungry so we'll order takeaway thinking it's too late to cook something. Stocked up on bread for toast, cereal and other quick cheap things that he can have instead.

Meal plan:
Stuffed peppers
Spag bol (from freezer)
Veg curry (from freezer)
Toad in the hole and veggies
Sausage and lentil hotpot
Tomato pasta
Homemade KFC chicken (dh is determined to crack his spice mixture)

The stuffed peppers are going to be a mishmash of what we've got lingering in the fridge and the sausage and lentil hotpot is something new for us so hopefully will work!