Oh come all ye frugalers, joyful in December, oh come ye, oh come yea and chat

[babsmam]

New Fred, hope I've done it right I've never done one before.

spotty well done, I put 3 things on credit card recently and I'm disgusted with myself after working very hard paying it off all year.

Thanks lila. Our credit card is far from paid off but at least we aren't adding to it!

I am a long way from paying mine off too just wasn't adding to it either until two weeks ago

I know I overspend on food. I always take a list but can't resist treats.
I have more toiletries in the house than I can possibly use in a year or more.
I also seem incapable of buying one thing if I'm in a shop - has to be a couple of things. Like its not worth the assistant's time to ring through one thing!
But I think online shopping is my downfall. It's too easy just to browse and buy stuff if I'm bored at home. And with PayPal I don't even have to get up to get my card details. And I'll say to myself it's only £10 or £15 but they mount up!

Hi INeed we have very little left over for fun after all the bills are paid. At first it seems really difficult and boring to have fun & treats on a budget. And then you break through a barrier & it becomes fun and rewarding.

Magazines and nail polish were my weaknesses. Now I use Pinterest instead of buying magazines. And I use my Boots points to buy nail polish. I don't miss out - I just spend differently than before. I buy less clothes now and I eBay everything that looks unflattering or doesn't fit.

If I need / want clothes I wait until the Sainsbury's TU sale. I buy summer clothes in the Winter and Winter clothes in the summer. I've saved so much money.

Basically I've banned myself from frittering money on nothing worthwhile.

Do you collect Nectar and Tesco points?

I found it hard to keep within a realistic food budget but we meal plan now and the budget includes tasty treats & snacks. So there's no need to pop to the shops for chocolate etc. Love it!

When I worked at Spar (many many many years ago!) I used to LOVE getting customers with just one item. It was a nice break!

Well I have been lurking, have read the whole of this thread up to page 21, I have been pushed out of hiding by a letter saying I have gone into an unplanned overdraft and will be charged £5 a day, this is the first time in my life that I have gone into overdraft. I have now moved money around, luckily I had enough I just have different accounts for different things, and they removed the charges because I have never been overdrawn before

So I am no longer a lurker, I have seen that other people have been welcomed in so it wasn't too scary coming out of hiding

Welcome smurfy £5 a day is scary!

I just did a Google survey and got 55p for it! Then it showed me that I had almost £10 Google Play credit so I bought an album and a book. And still have £5 left.

Thanks Collie I actually like bargains and I'm a good bargain hunter, things have just got on top of me

Speaking of nail varnish, sorry to de rail, is OPI expensive here? In Chile I was using that at about £5 a bottle but having moved back I saw it in John Lewis, I'm not sure if they mark it up or it really is extortionate here.

Welcome INeed we all have a starting point so don't worry about being behind.

NSD today and I've signed up for the Martin's Money Saving email thingy, will be looking into the help to buy ISA in the new year. DDs are not quite old enough yet but I do want to concentrate much more on saving next year.

Welcome Smurfy glad you had the funds to stop those charges building up.

INeed I also find online shopping is a real problem, just in the same way that you say. Since joining this group I've developed a scheme that is working for me though.

I have a spreadsheet that I write to all my spending in (which is very easy when online shopping).

I use the table to work out how much I've spent on average per day on groceries, and separately on fun with ds. The average gives me a very strong hint when I need to cool down my spending.

When I started with the Frugaleers I was spenting £7 a day on fun with ds (mostly home ed with cbeebies magazines as he was not at school full time then). I now average about £3.

I've attached my table in case it helps you. Writing down all the spending in a way that is meaningful to you though is incredibly helpful.

Welcome INeed and Smurphy. Bank charges are ridiculously high aren't they? We all started somewhere, and we are all working hard to be as frugal as Fluffy

NK You have so much on, take care. The job interview sounds exciting. I know exactly what you mean about the working, I feel like I work and work and work at present, then come home and facilitate the DC's various lives, cook, try and keep up with the washing and cleaning, then work again.

I keep thinking how easy life would be if I didn't work. DH couldn't give a monkeys if I worked or didn't. I know I would regret not working, but this week has been hard.

However, in good news, I have vastly overestimated how much tax we will have to pay in January. I always err on the side of caution, and keep plenty aside, but this year I have been WAY too frugal (!!!), to the tune of about £6k. Either that, or our accountant has done something wrong, which he hasn't, as they are not complicated earnings figures to work out.

So that's good news at least.

Hi need I can totally imagine what a treadmill it must be to work and deal with everything else. I don't work outside the home, but I find that the isolation is the flipside of that. I used to enjoy going to the office and having people around and having structured breaks (lunch and tea breaks with a bit of a natter each time). I really wish there was a way to get the structure and the company without the responsibilty.

I am just being self-pitying tonight ipsos, take no notice. It's a combination of being very busy at work and DH never being here, plus he's now off to Dubai for a week next week, which has pissed me off. The kids have a lot of extra curricular stuff going on too, which I do entirely on my own, I just have never known what it is like to share the load!!

I do enjoy working, for the reasons you state, it's often easier than being at home, it just leaves less time to do stuff at home.

Maybe voluntary work is the way to go for you? When your DS is a little older or not coming home for his lunch, you have a lot to give.

Hi need, Glad to hear that you allow yourself to feel self-pitying sometimes too. I think we all feel like that sometimes. I hope you get to put your feet up sometime this week.

I do think about volunteer work, but I have all sorts of ideas of things that I'd like to do while I have the freedom, and I think I would like to do those first.

My crush on dd's swimming instructor is getting bigger and bigger dd spends the whole time shivering still though is there such a thing as an extra warm swimsuit?! Like a wetsuit I suppose but without the buoyancy (I'm impressed I can spell that)

hello all, needa know what you mean about work, I do love my job but sometimes just think it would be lovely to win the lottery and just suit myself!

Think I have managed a NSD, have been adding stuff to my online Morrisons shop which looks like its going to be nearer the £50 mark this week but need to top up tins etc.

Its very windy here again tonight!

Hello ineed and smurfy! For me it's eating out...spend all bummin month scrimping then blow it in one weekend on a lunch, a brunch, just a pint and a packet of crisps etc

Needa sorry to hear you're feeling snowed under. It's relentless isn't it? I've just cleared a laundry mountain that was threatening to avalanche out of the utility room!

£2.58 today on crap and treats. Had a bfn today after feeling really positive. Have been trying for #2 for a year now

ursula enjoy your treats

Welcome Ineed and Smurfy.

I hate bank charges. Always for "admin" charges .... it cost £5 per day to tell me about an overdraft that I know about already?

NK sorry I dashed off there last night - the amendment vote was happening. I live such a rock n roll lifestyle.

need it is hard when it appears never ending - somehow I always find it worse in the winter.

Spotty it was DDs ski instructor... damn he was hot.

Ursula

This warm weather is really helping hugely with keeping the heating costs down. I had no idea how bit a difference it would make. We're due to have 14 degrees at the weekend and it's only 3 weeks until Christmas.

Southern electric want to put out direct debit down from £122/month to £107/month. I'm going to phone them and tell them not to.

Spotty you could ask them to move you to SSE 1 year fixed rate v3 while you're there. My loop thing said it was the cheapest tariff on the market (for me at least).