Friendly Frugaleers chat their way into February...

[Ipsos]

Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

By popular request - copied from last year

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/1324074-For-those-who-cant-afford-to-use-central-heating-this-year-How-are-you-going-to-cope

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1543785-your-top-tips-for-money-saving-and-a-more-frugal-life

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1600030-Small-money-saving-habits-petty-even

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1628874-Gas-Elec-Bills-monthly-and-SKY-so-angry

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1911061-NO-MORE-COLD-MUMSNETTERS

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2209167-Slow-Cookers-are-shit

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2224969-saving-money

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2258202-Debt-mutual-support-thread-number-6-start-the-new-year-with-a-clear-purpose-and-keep-moving-forwards-even-by-tiny-steps?

orchard.tesco.com/ Sign up to this.

www.topcashback.co.uk/home And this.

www.quidco.com/home/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/ And this

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub ditto.

www.checkoutsmart.com/ Plus this.

www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new?page=3 Check this daily.

Just tried my ice cream (I'm a grown up, I can eat ice cream at 7am if I like) and it was amazing! Dh is out tonight so I'm looking forward to an evening of ice cream and Netflix :o

I used the recipe linked if anyone is interested. I just did a third of the amounts given and there is plenty for a few large portions.

allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/12684/easy-homemade-ice-cream.aspx?o_is=Hub_TopRecipe_4

jeepers I would love to make ice cream, do you have a machine? Sorry if you already said and I've missed it.
I feel loads better today but super tired still. DD is at nursery, DH is working from home so I'm going to have a proper rest.
I've really taken on board a lot of what ipsos and fuzz have said about recovering properly. I hate taking time off work but I think if I went today I'd be wiped out again, just when I'm starting to feel better. I'm still not eating much either and I don't want to faint at school (again!).

Happy Friday! Today is inset day for the kids so I've got their dentist appointments and then a hair cut. Off to a friends for a play and dinner tonight yay!

Dinner at another friends tomorrow night but I'll have to really sort out the shopping list because we are having lots of people round for dinner the following weekend as we will be doing Chinese New Year dinner! (A week late but hey...).

Have had a few spends last few days but can't remember them. The table from Fenwicks arrived and it's lovely! Now not sure what to do with old table.

Another nsd today as am staying home. Woke up still feeling sick from antibiotics and the sinus pain has moved from back teeth to front. From previous experience it moves closer to front then goes away. So here's hoping things will be better by Monday!

spotty no am not taking probiotic but might do. It's rubbish really. The drugs are making me feel sick and hungry. I don't want to eat because I feel sick but then get that hungry sick feeling. Then eat and feel sick. Gah.

Have just had a crumpet. And a multivitamin. And a tea. Will see if that helps. Not moving from bed today.

Have told work that I'm not going in and will not be monitoring emails. I'll log in at lunchtime and at about 3 to have a cursory glance. But they're under strict instruction to text if there's anything urgent. There shouldn't be. We've been pretty quiet this week.

Can you sell the old table NK, on Gumtree, Pre-Loved, Ebay, Facebook? Or, Freecycle it?

Sorry East, I missed that about your poor DS, hope he is ok

I am home today, and won't spend, but the saddler is coming later this afternoon to measure the pony for a new saddle, which will ultimately cost a fair bit. Plus, I have had the horse box measured for new seating, that's £250 when ready.

Having a dreadfully spendy time at the minute and need to budget.

Food spends brilliant though, and clothes. It's just the rest of life that is costing.

DD and me are having soup for tea, butternut squash and carrot, DH fancies buying a bag of mussels and making a sauce with crusty bread on the side, DS eats at DSIL's Fridays and goes to karate.

Well done pointless

Sorry for all the poorly tummies out there.
don't I think you asked up thread about apps for budgeting? I use money dashboard and am bordering on evangelical about it. It imports your bank balances and transactions so you can allocate each to a particular category rather than work with a separate spreadsheet.
Should be a lsd today. Will take kids into town after school for an appointment and have bribed them with promised them a treaty snack. Tomorrow however will be spendy. Hair cut, colour and eyebrows. Sorely needed though. And budgeted for.

Spendy day planned today. Out for a work meal tonight and £8 spent this morning on a new top.

Has all come out of money budgeted for in YNAB though. Still have some money left in clothing budget and hopefully in the eating out budget.

Does anyone have any ideas for helping DSD out at uni? We haven't done this before as DSS still lives at home, but DSD will be moving into halls. Wondering about one of those prepaid cards or something that we can put a little something on each month? :)

fuzz I'm not there yet, 2 years for DS, but friends and family are. Some things to consider are - getting a small online shop delivered to her (if appropriate in halls, definitely good in 2nd year), paying her mobile contract, small funds into her bank, paying for any extra curricular activities she still may wish to do that cost money. Paying for study books and materials. Paying travel home.

We've an old endowment policy from when I got my first house at 21 that will mature when DS is about to go to Uni, this will be split between my 2 DC, and I've got another policy on the go, which may or may not go to them. And they both will work to pay as much of their way as they can.

I don't know if all unis do this but when I was a student my dad opened an account for me at the university bookshop so I was able to get all my course books. I think he liked knowing that he was giving me money I couldn't spend on beer!

Well we can't go swimming tonight because poor dd has come home from school with a high temperature. She's currently asleep on the sofa. Ds sobbed so I've texted dh asking him to bring him some ice cream home to cheer him up!

fuzz so nice! My mum and dad gave me a weekly allowance. And paid for a food shop at the beginning of each term to be delivered. Basics and treats.

I stayed at home and commuted to University so I had no costs for accommodation and only paid for lunch and a train season ticket. My Mum and Dad paid some money into my bank account each week, but tbh I kept most of it in the bank and it meant that when my PhD supervisor insisted that I work 6 months beyond the end of my paid contract, I had the money to do it.

Ah that's useful advice thank you! I'm pretty sure she would say that she'd rather the money was specifically for certain places/items etc rather than cash as she'd know it's put aside for that and she won't be able to fritter it (she's sensible like that :o she's asked us to look after money for her before for this reason). We do pay for her phone already - not the actual phone but the sim (we all have it so we can all phone each other for free). I think we will keep going with that. Lots of other great ideas there. We currently pay for her bus pass but she won't need that at uni so the money saved will be used for other important things. She has a great holiday job here which she plans to keep, but I'm kind of hoping she won't get a weekend/evening job at uni TBH, obviously I would support her to find one if she wants to, but she is severely dyslexic and needs to work so much harder (and longer) at her coursework than her classmates, so it might be better if she doesn't at least for the first year? She should get a decent grant, due to family income, no idea how far that realistically goes though.

So today we went to the local play centre place, DD's friend's parents own it and they said I could advertise - free ( I was offering to pay!). It wouldn't be for a while, but it's great to know they will let me do that to find pupils. A LOT of families go there so it could be really useful! :)

I've been wondering about actually giving my 'business' a name when I properly start. I could set up a facebook page/email address and stuff like that (previously it's all been done through my personal one). But should I just do 'myname - piano tutor' or '[name of location which starts with M] Music' or... something fun, that would be more memorable and child friendly but therefore might put off parents of older pupils... argh! Any thoughts please oh wise and experienced Frugaleers?

Fuzz good idea to get a name asap as you need to register for tax if you haven't done so before. I set up a business formally about four years ago, long before I actually knew what it was going to do, but I had to get a name right at the beginning in order to be able to advertise. The business has to be registered for before you start advertising or you can get fined. Sorry I got a bit knotted trying to explain that and buzz lightyear is talking to me so can't redraft.

Ah yes I haven't registered yet - I looked it up and found that the deadline for me is this October. Good point about a name being used for that. I'm not planning on finding any pupils for a long while anyway so I'll definitely wait until I registered. But I kind of want to know what's happening with work first :(

On that note, I've decided I've really got to tell my manager what I realised the other day about how the illness has progressed - i.e. that it's not a relapse anymore and I'm genuinely not expecting to recover enough to return to work in the next few months. It's hard because it's a subjective thing (how much pain I'm in, and what I'm capable of - it's not cut and dry like a broken leg) and I am forever paranoid about what they all think of me. But I'm seeing the doctor next week and I'll try and talk it through with her. This is the one who thinks I should just quit (must admit I'm getting incredibly tempted).

Say hi to Buzz for me :o

Didn't get DD's bus pass done today, we pretty much rolled out of bed to get to the GP this morning and she was so scruffy that I didn't think a photo would be a terribly wise idea! :o

Good idea to get things all straightened out. That should be a weight off the mind.

When you do come up with a name it's a good idea to find one that's unique and easy to remember so people can google on you. Mine is unique and I was pleased with it, but if I tell you I will be totally outed, so that's no use. . I suppose it's a bit hard for us to help with your name for the same reason.

Still feeling sore. Had some more tests today. So treated ourselves to coffee afterwards and cake for dh😒 €9
I treated myself to some magazines to read from sick bed😉 €10. Dh did Aldi shop €90. He also got me flowers to cheer me up😍

Hope rest are starting to feel better!

Just sharing what we had for dinner (not literally - DH is taking the leftovers to work tomorrow :o). A stew loosely based on jambalaya which amazingly DD had lots of, and DS after initially grumbling actually sat there merrily picking at it, which is an improvement believe it or not.

At an educated guess - £2 chicken breast chunks (I'd divided up a pack and frozen it), 50p chorizo, 10p rice, 70p 2x tinned toms, 15p handful frozen carrots, 5p tbsp frozen onions, 5p 2 cloves garlic. So, £3.55ish for 4 adult servings, not too bad I think? Not that I have anything to compare it to, as I've not really done the maths before - might do it more often as an interesting exercise. It was yummy anyway :)

Indeed Ipsos I haven't shared my idea as in the future if I use it and people google it they'll see the thread! :o I keep my MNing habit quiet IRL. :)

But the more memorable name is animal related. And rather cute as well as being personal to me. So I think it'd fit in with a lot of the companies round here that are aimed at younger kids. But... I don't want to alienate older ones! Also, with the [place name] Music, I'm wondering if it'll imply that it's more than 'just' piano. And if we end up moving, we can't afford to stay in this area so the name would be redundant!

Spoke to my mum earlier and she's bought me a bowl. That sounds weird but she has this really cool one in her flat that I've admired, and she finally saw the same one in TK Maxx and got it for me just because she knew I liked it! I'm really excited. About a bowl. Does this mean that I'm a grown up now? :o

Just booked dinosaur zoo live for half term. Should be good £27.50 for the three of us, going with my friend and her dc.

Hi Dont I'm about the ice skating! DD really took to it when we went to the temporary rink in Brighton. I wish we had a permanent rink nearer. I know a couple of local home edders do proper lessons but it's too far for us really. Not that DD really needs any more activities :o

Just £7 on getting to work and £40.81 for the weekly shopping came out today.
Booty, I hope you improve soon.

Happy frugal weekend, everyone .

Fiver in the range. £2 beavers, dh can't remember aldi.
Need to get a birthday present tomorrow and DS has skate park coaching £7