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Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

The friendly frugaleers natter on through November...

999 replies

blueteapot · 05/11/2015 22:07

Hope you dont mind me starting a shiny new thread Brew

OP posts:
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Ememem84 · 19/11/2015 21:41

Just catching up! Lovely that loads of you two have been here. I love it.

rafa tha other place...??? Surely not???!!! It's lovely there. Was supposed to be popping over next weekend. But i suspect the ferry will be cancelled.

Last time I travelled on it I was meant to stop there. But went straight on to Poole. Sigh. nothing wrong with Poole, just wasn't where I was meant to be

Ememem84 · 19/11/2015 21:41

Oh and nsd.

Whatabout · 19/11/2015 21:52

Penultimate day of holiday today. We had a drink with our bowling, £7. No other spends today, we had soup and sandwiches for lunch and tuna pasta bake for dinner. Tomorrow we have to pack the car up and then we will go to the swimming pool. We are planning lunch out but I have £25 of vouchers towards the cost. I have realised I haven't planned a dinner at home for tomorrow night. This would usually mean we get take away. We have some bacon we are taking home and that will need eating so I need to think of something to do with them!

I have a steam mop and have a tiled kitchen and hall and the cleaner uses it for those. I want to buy a mop and bucket for in week clean ups but don't have anywhere to store it. I'm not convinced it does as good a job as is like.

We live in a country park and have a long haired cat so we are havjng a lot of leaves brought in. I use our recharge able floor sweeper a few times a day sometimes. It means I have a tidier house and it takes a second.

lilacclery · 20/11/2015 05:08

Would you say whatabout that the rechargeable sweeper is a good substitute for a sweeping brush or Hoover?

Have carbonara for dinner simple but delicious. Or is it too soon after tuna pasta bake?

Had you a lovely holiday? I can't imagine going on holiday with a baby as young as Gabriel.

Dh felt sorry for me missing out on my takeaway, so last night he had oven chips cooked & pancetta pieces so that I could have cheese & bacon chips. Hit the spot nicely!

Made €50 at my class last night & my mother sent me €50 to treat myself on my shopping trip tomo. All helps. I may use my credit card but I know my father will give me money for Christmas next weekend & I can pay off any spends on credit card with that.

SpottyTeacakes · 20/11/2015 06:34

Dd is ill so can't go to her disco tonight which I've paid for! Hope she's better for tomorrow.

Star2015 · 20/11/2015 06:52

Yes babsmam still £13.

We've realised my local Sainsburys got it wrong as we went to a bigger store tonight and my hubby asked for £10 to £20 top up on clothing and it worked (i.e my points went down to £3) so I used my nectar points 3 times yesterday Blush

2 bottles of taste the difference wine (costing £15) cost me £ for both. A new 'now' triple cd (costing £11) cost me £1 and new pjs, tights, socks for DH (all for crimbo-costing £32.50), cost me £12.50.

So I had £58.50 worth of stuff for £18.50.

I've got to grips with using my o2 rewards lately too, so had 25% off Bella Italia yesterday, as well as £1 boots meal deal on Monday and a free can of de-icer last weekend.

Let the bargains continue....

Happy Friday everyone Smile

CremeEggThief · 20/11/2015 06:57

Oh no, poor DD, SpottySad. Hope she's better soon.

Pointlessfan · 20/11/2015 06:57

Thanks for reminding me it's Friday, has cheered me up! Should be NSD too.

Whatabout · 20/11/2015 07:07

Lilac I use mine but stil need a Hoover but I have Carpets and an asthmatic. I don't use a broom so much or my dustpan and brush. I could probably live without those for my hard floors. As it goes into a compartment I am very hung ho about what I wil sweep up with it so I often use it after toddler meals.

We have had a good holiday, my husband has taken ds1 off on his own a few times while Gabriel and I have stayed behind, but that's just fine by me. We took Wilf to Devon at 13 weeks so bringing a 9/10 week old is similar and we knew it would be ok. The fact he sleeps through the night at the moment makes life much easier!

Carbonara is a great idea, I didn't have any pasta as I was at the spa (birthday present) and my husband could eat pasta every day!

Cheese and bacon chips sound great! Good idea. I might do that sometimes, cheesey chips are so nice!

Spotty sorry she is poorly!

Star, great news on the bargains!!!

ipsos · 20/11/2015 07:24

Sorry to hear dd is ill Spotty I hope she feels a bit better today.

My next challenge is still building-work-related. The guy has been stripping wall paper from our hall, but told me he doesn't know how to set up a platform over the stairs to do the bit of wall that is hard to reach. He said could he just miss that bit out. (!?). I'm been mulling it over and I've figured out how it can be done, so I'm going to suggest my idea, and if he doesn't like that idea then I'll ask for a reduction in price so I can pay someone else to do it. sigh.

SpottyTeacakes · 20/11/2015 07:25

Ipsos it sounds like you're having a right nightmare!

Ememem84 · 20/11/2015 07:47

ipsos what a nightmare. Surely it's easy enough (for decorator types...I mean. They just use sort of scaffolding?)

spotty I hope dd is feeling better soon.

Today is payday! Yippee. And a day off for me. Yippee!

I'm studying at present. Then meeting a friend for lunch and maybe a wine and definetly a whine and then more study.

needastrongone · 20/11/2015 08:13

Good bargains there star.

spotty Hoping your DD feels ok soon.

ipsos You are not having an easy time of it with your tradesmen are you? Hang in there, it will soon be over and you will have a lovely looking hall. I would be a bit Shock and Angry at a suggestion 'just to leave that bit' though, as that is hugely unprofessional. Imagine you not completing half your work?! He should have considered that before he took the job.

I was pissed at DH, but he was pissed at himself and he will not hear they end of it at work, they are fairly merciless with stuff like this. It's the regularity of how much stuff he manages to do like this that bothers me!

DC have a training day, so it feels a bit weird as I am sat in bed with a cuppa and would usually have been up for 2 hours by now!

Big pile of ironing, then need to nip out to post some returns and by a couple of pressies. Hopefully the DC will walk the dogs though.

We have an 18th tonight at the local pub, but hopefully won't be too expensive.

Whatabout · 20/11/2015 08:41

Those tradesmen would be doing my head in ipsos, but I think it's very nice of you to offer solutions.

Need - it will be a funny story one day!

Very have honoured my £25 off a £50 shop and apologised for the inconvenience. As i forgot to type in the code at checkout as I thought it was an auto offer I think that's very (snort) generous of them. I got a three for two in the £50 and most of the things were discounted so I am very happy with he stocking haul for my DH!

Tomorrow my husband is off to a stag do in London. Goodbye money. I'll take the money from the holiday fund but I'm not looking forward to seeing the bank account. Nursery still haven't refunded my £172 they owe me and we have another statement that doesn't make sense. I'm seriously considering giving notice and withdrawing him as he could go to preschool one morning and it would be less faff. However, he loves it and "sportsman" goes in on a Thursday and he loves he session. Sorry for the rant!

lilacclery · 20/11/2015 09:51

Whatabout that gives me encouragement to buy the rechargeable sweeper. I've bought a fair few dustpans and brushes because they either end up in the bin, same press for storage, or dh takes them out to the shed for something and they get ruined. This would seem like a good solution, plus it would make picking up the crumbs that end up on floor beneath chopping board a quick task too, so more likely to be done regularly rather than kicked under the cupboards!

The pack of pancetta was actually a great idea because I threw on a bit of gf pasta last night and this morning mixed it with pancetta, parmesan, some cheddar and a drop of cream in a lunchbox and will stick it into microwave at work at lunchtime for a handy carbonara.

We both work full time and usually have an au pair but she's on hols this week so we thought we'd really struggle with dinners. Monday dh made a big pot of bolognese and roasted a chicken. The bolognese did us Mon & tues and some lunches, the chicken did a couple of dinners and some lunches. Then last night he cooked some pancetta, oven chips and the 4 pork chops I had taken out of the freezer which no one ate so this evening I'll cook the precut swede and carrot that I got on the €1 offers in tesco last week and some potato and that'll be dinner done very quickly.

We find doing a roast chicken great as it's used for lunches/sandwiches/risotto/fried rice/and finally stock, ultimate mn chicken I suppose. Now I'm adding pancetta to my fridge stock, and will slow cook a ham joint too. Time saving cooking! Could I do the chicken and ham in my 6.5l slow cooker at the same time or would it make the chicken very salty?

ipsos that tradesman should be ashamed of himself!

Poor spotty's dd

ipsos · 20/11/2015 11:01

You're quite right that the guy is a bit odd. I got him at 16 hours notice for a 7 day job, when everyone that was recommended was full until after Christmas, so I figured it might be a bit interesting. Just hoping that he can actually do the plastering well, as that's the bit that will show. He's figured out how to get up to the wall now. I typed up the quote and invoice for him so that's it's all just slightly more organised.

I just got fined £30 for driving in a bus lane. The bus lane really annoys me as it's only 30 feet long and never has any buses on it. It's on a busy stretch of road with many turns-offs and in order to avoid it I have to change lane twice in heavy traffic. Anyway, £30 charge for me. Poo.

Luxyelectro · 20/11/2015 11:29

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Luxyelectro · 20/11/2015 11:32

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lilacclery · 20/11/2015 11:57

ipsos that's sickening
I may have gotten penalty points from a speed camera van this morning but not sure because I wasn't much over limit so will wait and see.

Collieputthekettleon · 20/11/2015 14:32

Lovetoknit sorry for my slow reply! On the mycoupons website there is an option to select each one. You can only have 5 Coupons in your coupon wallet at once. When you do your shop you should get an email saying "thanks for using MyCoupons" within a few days. Then the new points will appear on your Nectar account within a week or so. If it sounds like it hasn't been processed correctly I'd email them. I have had to email them before and they've been quick to reply. I've noticed that the Nectar website hasn't been working properly for aa few days though Sad

Hello everyone, I'm back. Hope youre all well. Scottish Power contacted me last night to confirm everything had been sorted regarding my new account. It's taken them since April! Wankers. Anyway....it looks like we've been averaging £45 per month for gas and electric. We had been saving £80 per month for the gas and electric (as we couldn't setup a direct debit until our account was sorted)! So pleased.

They also gave us £100 off. Which means our balance is tiny! I'm so glad its sorted now.

We made £17 on eBay last night. And we are also due to receive £10 in Nectar points for listing an item. So £27 in total!

This weekend I must:
Sort out the present cupboard and check off the Christmas gift list.
Have a no spend week next week!

[santa]

ipsos · 20/11/2015 14:47

That's great that you got your gas and electricity sorted Collie. What a relief to have that out of the way.

I've just been out trying to be Miss-DIY in the garden painting my own new skirting boards. It was more Paddington then Leonardo Da Vinci. The newspapers kept trying to blow away, and bits of soil and grass kept blowing onto the paint and then it started to rain before the paint was dry. They look quite good though, and are now stacked up and drying in the hall. Phew!

Luxyelectro · 20/11/2015 14:51

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Collieputthekettleon · 20/11/2015 15:08

I'm not entirely sure. But I haven't had the heating on much.

Electricity wise - we turn of all the lights if they aren't needed, turn off the cooker and microwave at the wall (so the digital clock doesn't tick over and consume all the energy), only boil the water we need, keep showers short and sweet.

I do 3 loads of washing per week. And tumble dry it unless it's sunny. (Which warms up the house!)

We often have the living room lights on (there are 2) and we have all LED bulbs throughout the house. Our temperature for hot water isnt on the highest setting but its still hot enough for us. I burnt myself filling the washing up bowl last week.

Our usage used to be £60 per month ish but we were wasteful back then. There's only 3 of us in a 3 bed semi detached house. It's a new build.

Obviously we'll use more now it's cold though Sad the goal is to not get complacent.

ipsos · 20/11/2015 16:16

That's impressively frugal energy use Collie. My loop graphs show a massive surge in gas usage since the weather turned cold and it's due to snow tomorrow. That will be interesting.

SpottyTeacakes · 20/11/2015 16:17

I really can't be bothered to cook dinner!

Thanks everyone dd is generally ok but I'm glad I didn't send her to school.

I have read through but for some reason my brain didn't absorb any of it Blush