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.

Hi all, well the sun came out this morning so the party went ahead and was a great success, all the girls absolutely loved it am pleased was worth all the stress and hard work! Dd did very well on the money front, got a total of £30 in cash and some lovely gifts as well - lucky girl.

I have got a problem with my shoulder, not sure what I have done to it but it hurts so much i can't lift my left arm and have pins and needles in my hand am guessing a trapped nerve but the pain in so bad I feel sick - not great for my week off

On the plus side its been a NSD.

Nice way of putting it Jeepers I agree! :) I think DH and I really need to get better at doing it, it's not so much that we can't but more that we usually can't be bothered! But if it saves money it's got to be worth it.

I've ordered my bus pass (YAY!!!) which as I've done it before 9pm will be usable tomorrow morning. :) Hopefully I'll be up to going to the travel shop after the library tomorrow and I can get DD's key card and a one month pass.

Well done Em very frugaleer.

That's great about the party, Girlie. I was thinking of you earlier. Sorry about your shoulder though. Hope it eases up soon.

Good about your bus pass, fuzz.

Well done fuzz!

Girlie that's great I'm pleased your dd enjoyed herself. I've had a trapped nerve before it was either my shoulder or neck. Luckily I have a cupboard full of gabapentin and co codamol which sorted it but it was awful.

Good idea Fluffy. I hadn't thought of doing that. Well done for making your house nice and frugaleering the heck out of the job. I'm on a similar mission.

Girlie is that what they call a "frozen shoulder"? I know someone who had that and it's fixable but you have to be referred.

Girl ouch hope that goes away soon!

Thank you Fluffy I'm kind of hoping that this manager is just all mouth and no trousers and has deliberately exaggerated (why I don't know. DH always puts 100% in, he didn't need to be scared into it!). Anyway, he's got this interview and he's applied for a few more decent jobs too. I have a feeling this week is going to be a stressful one.

Pretty much given up on being housed now too. We're way down the list when we bid, we were regularly up in the 30s until a couple of months ago and now we are in the 70s. Close but no banana. It's frustrating but as long as the LL doesn't increase rent it'll be fine (and I don't think they will - they seem happy to have long term tenants). I don't know if at some point we will have to just bite the bullet and move to another private rental elsewhere - we are in a relatively expensive part of town and don't want to stay here. Having a garden, and the DCs (DD 8 and DS 6) having their own rooms, while not necessities at all, would be great. Moving hassle and costs though... aaaargh!

Hooray for the weather holding out for girlieDD, so chuffed for you after all the effort. But not for your shoulder obviously.

Fuzz Fingers crossed for your DH this week.

Dark bamboo sounds nice fluffy

Sat in the bath while DH cooks tea.

Been training all afternoon, pony was a shit bag and bucked and bronked and was a twat basically most of the session. He was fully clipped yesterday and has been in his stable too much yesterday, so basically he felt totally weird (like suddenly he isn't wearing a thick heavy coat) and had too much energy anyway. All good fun, sort of.

Ended up with unexpected guests for dinner so £15 in tesco eeking out what we were having. Luckily they are very good friends so don't mind random food combos.
£83 for sainsburys shop tomorrow

Good news on the party girlie.
Sound like a I good flooring plan fluffy
Hope you don't ache too much need
Fingers crossed fuzzdh.

I am very sad and got few Xmas presents today a joules top for £5 for my nephew and couple tops for £4 for my niuece from john Lewis and a Lego set half price in boots for my nephew.

A!also got ds2 the elc phone/remote/key set reduced to £10 dh used a voucher he had.

We had lunch out at burger king but used some whsmith vouchers we found on floor!!! So 3meals for £1.99 each baby has few bits but had His food in my bag.

Ohh and sold ds2 maxi cosi seat n base for £60 sold other maxi cosi for £30 the other week so goes back in the pot I took the money for joie stages from although still haven't found the love for the stages I must mutter f**ing car seat under my breath every time I wrestle ds2 into it

Hi everyone. Been busy this week, caught up on the thread.

Wednesday Tesco £150.98, expensive given there wasn't much in the way of meat. And I forgot to buy a joint for today.

Thursday was NSD, kids rehearsal in London was cancelled, rehearsal at dancing instead.

Friday the kids had full day rehearsal in London. £1.50 parking to drop kids at station. DS's fare was £1.50 on his Oyster, which will need topping up this week. Rushed home to take DH to work and take over with DD2, by the time I got home, mum was back, so took DH to Richmond for work and then drove up to collect various kids (only one of mine). Unfortunately one of the boys was sick in the car. Good thing was it was after everyone else had been dropped off and 5 minutes from his house. Bad thing -I have vomit issues . His mum cleaned it up, but the smell remained.

Saturday £4.60 for DD1's train fare to London as she forgot her Oyster card and we didn't have time to go back for it. £100 to get the car valeted to get rid of the vomit smell. His parents have pressed me to let them pay, but work should be ok about paying for it (company car), it is due for trade in imminently, and the improvement in his it looks and smells will probably increase the value by more than £100.

Waitrose - I went in to buy a joint, hoping for a late reduction, but didn't have any sky I used a turkey breast I had in the freezer. £2.50 on mushrooms, carrot/swede/potato mash and I can't remember the third thing.

Today NSD

Forgot, Wednesday I bought 4 theatre tickets £280, but I'll get half of that back from my sister. It's to see the kids' show in my birthday.

Saturday £139.50 on 3 tickets for me to take the two grannies to see the show. I got them special disabled rate tickets and normal price for mine. Mum said she and MIL will both pay the normal price so I don't pay again as only going second time to drive them there and back. I'll pay for the parking.

FUUUUUCK

DS' bed broke.

Fabulous timing as ever!

It'll be a mattress on the floor for a while I think (he quite likes that thankfully, they often make dens on the floor and sleep in them). TBH DD's bed is on its last legs too, I have no idea what we can do about either though really because their room is so small (trivia: in France, it would not be allowed to be called a bedroom, it's too small) - DD's cabin bed is also storage, and it's narrower than a usual single bed. DS' bed is a toddler size one which he was getting too big for. There is no way 2 single beds would fit. We'd have to get bunk beds (inc mattresses) and new storage I guess.

In an ideal world we would swap rooms - ours is a decent size and they'd benefit more from the space than we do - but we measured once and our double bed wouldn't even fit in there.

We'd really hoped to make do with the beds they've got until we moved, but as I already ranted about above, that ain't happening either!

Yay girlie! So pleased the party went ahead. I've had a frozen shoulder, it's horrible. I was prescribed anti inflammatory drugs and valium to relax the muscle.
Have done some good frugalling today. Used 20% off code to buy birthday pressies for DD and about 8 other toddlers who have birthdays soon. Saved £25.
Looked at switching our mortgage and we could be paying a lot less. Going to look further into that over half term with the idea that we will use the savings to make overpayments.
Also realised we shell out loads each month for a decreasing cover critical illness policy that doesn't actually cover many critical illnesses. Going to cancel it tomorrow and get straightforward life insurance instead which should be a lot cheaper per month - more overpayment money!
Then got a few bits in Sainsbury's and used my Nectar points so only paid 97p. Just made soup, a big salad and some sweet treats for lunches this week, off to do meal planning and shopping list next.

Also, I meant to say that if anyone buys Quorn sausages the frozen bags are currently £1 in Sainsbury's.

Have just checked - I don't even need any small travel toiletries. Frugal win. As I had them left over from my last trip!

hoping hotel has shampoo as am not taking any

Red weather warning here. Force 10 winds and rain. Trees coming down all over the place. We park our car under a tree. Hoping it doesn't come down. (Nowhere else to park unfortunately but we've checked our insurance and are covered in case tree falls on car)

Tomorrow should hopefully be a nsd. Nothing I need. If the weather is bad I probably won't be heading out at lunchtime good thing as have my appraisal form to complete

Dh is Skypeing his mum now. I'm not allowed to speak. I'm sat listening on the other side of the screen. Its the only way I can hear directly what is said without her sitting there with a face on.

I've just dropped DS off at his dad's and ended up staying there for tea with his family and his new partner (minus his dad's presence). It was a bit weird but thankfully we all get along well and his new partner is lovely :)

How am I meant to fix this?
Dd loves this schoolbag

Apologies not up to date with thread will catch up tomo

Thanks guys was so happy the rain stopped!

No idea if its a frozen shoulder, have been sat with a hot water bottle on it for a bit and that has helped, I guess if no better in a day or two I will have to see the Dr.

Audit if you have kids in the show do you not get discounted tickets? When we went to see Mary Poppins recently we were sat with the family of the little girl who was playing Jane Banks!

Fuzz thats rubbish re the beds, could you keep an eye out for some second hand bunkbeds, fb kids buy and sell pages sometimes have them on them.

Needa ponies know when they do/ do not want to do something don't they little buggers

Sorry to hear that Fuzz. What a nuisance. We have a floor bed and it's very nice, if that's any help.

Well done Pointless. Great frugaleering. Are you feeling a bit better this week? You sound as if you're on a mission.

Loving the MIL skype scheme Em. Sorry to hear that's still ghastly. Good luck with the weather. Howling gale and rain here too.

Lilac has the bag ripped right in half? I'm not sure that's fixable tbh. I wouldn't sew it unless it could be taken to a leather shop where they have the heavy duty sewing machine.

We've been staying with friends in Somerset for the weekend and so I've totally lost track of the thread. Had a lovely time and we've come back with a fish tank and fish for dd. It belonged to our friends' daughter but she has lost interest. Dd is thrilled to bits, it is all set up in her room now and the three little fish managed to survive the journey.

My week is looking hectic beyond belief, added to which I'm quilting against the clock to get nephew's quilt ready to take down on Saturday morning. Work is horrendous but I will try to stay focussed and frugal and report back later in the week

Much better thanks ipsos, going back to work tomorrow. Still tiring quickly but only have to get through this week and it's half term!

Glad to hear you're a bit better at least. Ds goes back to school tomorrow with the same agenda. Survival to half term is our only goal at this time. Zzzzz.