Fearless Frugaleers Finding Their Feet in February

[SpottyTeacakes]

I've got fruflu

spotty gatwick. But now on plane. Heading home!! I hate to fly

collie! how are you?? We thought you'd got lost! Welcome back! X

DH is irritatingly on board (he has already had a rant this evening about lights on and leftovers not being used).

Of course, how long it lasts when a mood for a takeaway strikes remains to be seen

Like I said before ... the fastest moving thread on MN!...

I'm not well off , but I'm not poor either ( well just as long as I keep my job) .. but I do like nice (and sometimes expensive) things and I like to be frugal..(rather than in debt as I used to be) to afford nice things..

But what I really love about this thread is that , despite our incomes and different life stages (I reckon Im probably the oldest here and luckily no longer have a mortgage) and aspirations (saving madly for me hopefully retiring in 2 years and posh campervan so we can take off) we all share good friendly frugalling advice ..

Ive learnt such good stuff here, and I love that we all contribute to helping each other... Long may it continue. I dont have many people in RL that I can talk about this kind of stuff , so its great to be part of this community. oh shit i'm getting all soppy now

Right Baby news !! New DGD born last night!! 6lbs Eliza Grace. shes in the prem ward , but should be out pretty soon. Mum is doing fine..

Spends today £2.80 on card
£38 in TKMXX in baby clothes and stuff (inc a present for new ones older sister - shes not 18mths yet so she wont know whats hit here and I reckon DD will have her work cut out )

Ah laska what a lovely name. Congratulations.

Welcome back Collie
Hi vvviola and Bracknell, lots of good advice and support here

FFS people 3 pages already, are you trying to kill me :o

Thank you for further recommendations re: science.

Quick question please. Does anyone know about shipping from Amazon.com to the UK? I have a very foggy brain and can't make head nor tail of the small print on the website but there's a few things I'm considering for Christmas, thinking ahead, and they are much cheaper in the US (depending on shipping obviously)

I've never bought from there fuzz, sorry.

Wonderful news Laska and wonderful name. So lovely that you are thinking of her older sister. There's 18 months between my DC. It was very very hard work initially, DH was establishing the business at that stage too so I was on my own really. My DF helped out loads, saved me really. There's an exhausted haze surrounding that period for me

Congratulations Laska.

Welcome back, Collie.

Hooray laksa congratulations

collie shame the savings have gone but just think, they were there....and savings are there for emergencies like that right?

On way Home now. Flight was good.dh is making pizza. Tomorrow we start the great expense claim.

Thanks spotty for new thread.

Not sure what happened on the last thread but em good luck getting home. I'm heading to Heathrow in the next 3 weeks, then Gatwick the following week and then Heathrow again 3 weeks later. Two European flights and one long haul. All BA. All work. I'm not looking forward. Although apparently I am staying at pretty posh hotels. Well one looks like a chic version of a travel lodge or premier inn. One is the Hilton in Venice, and one is a really nice chain that I always coveted when I lived in Tokyo (but obviously because I lived there I didn't need to stay in that hotel!).

NSD today. Yesterday paid £5 for lunch and drink. Had pancakes tonight instead of last night as we were home late.

Paid credit card bills yesterday and today. We always pay off our bills which is great, but we can't seem to accumulate much. Or rather we accumulate then end up spending it. I thought we had a good buffer but it's gone now with paying cc bills from Christmas (which also included car service and MOT). We want to get a new fireplace (it's a need more than a want as the old one is probably unsafe). It's going to cost £2k?! Then after that it's the carpets - although I think I want new wooden floors now.

laska congrats! Lovely name (I'm biased as my dd's name is the middle name!).

Just catching up on crazy fast thread before I go to bed. Early night required tonight. laska congrats and I love the name. Hello to newbies and welcome.
em just wanted to say I have a law degree and a crazy busy job, and a good income. My husband is a professional too. I think I said it before but we have a lot of outgoings I won't go into and we do need to watch our finances. I am learning a lot here and I hope that I can share stuff from time to time that others find helpful. I travel a lot for work and it sounds glamorous but it never is - it is graft, long haul travel and time away from my family. Don't leave.

Congratulations to you and yours laska!

Just spent £15 on kefir starter culture as the dietician suggested I try some probiotics (and then looked at me blankly when I asked about lactose free options, but let's not go there).

I think its interesting how sometimes different people see differant things as spendy or excessive. For example I grew up in a crappy urban town where owning a horse was something only really amazingly rich people did. I was astounded when I moved somewhere more rural and suddenly met all sorts of perfectly normal people who owned horses. To be honest I still find it hard to get my head around as it is just such an ingrained perception.

I also want to say that I hope you do stay on the thread em and no you don't need to justify yourself. We are all in different places, but that Durant mean we can't all support each other.

At the same time I hope ipsos that you come and talk too. It sounds like you are feeling somewhat crap right now and snapped a bit. I've not been on this thread long, but have had a lot of support and welcome from you (and others), which I have really appreciated.

Do let's all be friends

I never thought I'd be so glad to be home. Am still living the high life but a more conventional high life - pizza in my jammies sort of high life.

I hate work travel. It's not glam. But I feel I need to do it. To further career. Meet people etc. Next trip is in May to Israel. Never been before but looking forward to it. Somewhere a bit different.

nk Venice!!!! I love Venice. We went there after we got married. So beautiful.

off to bed in a bit. So tired. Have an early meeting tomorrow (with clients in Israel - forgot the two hour time difference....) so a 9am call it is for me.

Also just noticed that during this afternoon I've snagged a nail. so will have to file it off and live with 9 lovely french polished nails instead of 10.

Thank you all for such a lovely welcome! It's good to be back.

Yep we were very very fortunate to have the money put aside for emergencies. It was spent so quickly it was actually comical

Congrats Laska and family

Just did the weekly shop for £40 but cheated as we spent £15 at Aldi a few days ago. Still - £55 for the weekly shop is amazing! Really chuffed with that result. And it included chocolate and beer.

DH has an interview tomorrow for a job. He could bring home an extra £500 a month if he gets it. The company is a bit shit though so I'm not sure it would be a good career move.

Em I've been pondering studying law. Not high level but perhaps something legal admin style. Although there isn't much of a law "industry" here. It's just people stealing horse shite and carrots. I really miss living in London sometimes.

Tomorrow I'm pretty sure will be a NSD.

Blimey I miss a day or two of the thread and you have finished one thread and are 3 pages into a new one!!

Em you do not ever have to justify what you spend your money on, this thread is for non judgemental support and if I have got that wrong then I'll get my coat.

Today I have spent £100 of my hard earned money on a spa day was absolutely lush and I loved every minute of it!!

Laska congratulations love the name.

of Girlie, you lucky thing!

Welcome bracknell. Congratulations Laska, I bet you're on cloud nine.

This book is good for setting up home. It's written by a mumsnetter. www.amazon.co.uk/Austerity-Housekeeping-Sandra-Bradley-ebook/dp/B00ASDW1U6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8.

I hope you've registered for topcashback and quidco free accounts, I got loads of cashback on broadband and utilities when we moved here. If it's not a new build buy some sugar soap for the big clean. Cuts through grease and grime like nothing else. £2 in the decorating section in wilkos.

Congratulations Laska, I was just brushing my teeth and I started wondering whether the baby had arrived yet!
Just spent £1.49 on a Kindle book, partly because I want to test it out. I'm not 100% convinced I will enjoy reading a book from a screen and I suspect it will interfere with my sleep. I usually read in bed or in the bath so I think library books are more suitable but we'll see...

Amazing news laska!!

Wow nk Venice would be lovely.

Em I've been to Israel to swim with dolphins. That's all I did there then I went back to Egypt, can't say I would fancy it with everything that's happening now atm but I'll admit to not knowing much about the place. It seemed much more westernised than Egypt.

Well my hair is done. It was £62 but I had £40 vouchers. I didn't get a full colour so that's why it was so cheap. Before and after below (not loads different but feels much better!)

Just sent a parcel to my friends son as he became a big brother this week it's an "I'm the big brother" t-shirt starting to wonder if it was an alright gift or friend will think I'm a bit nuts. Hopefully he likes it.

Love the colour spotty. It gives your hair such a lift.

Ipsos hope you are staying too and have a better day today

I worked in Venice for a year on my gap year, well just outside, about 15 minutes via ferry. Brilliant year.

Fab hair spotty, gives you a real lift.

I think he'll like it super

Jeepers With the speed of the thread, I've missed what the dietician said?

Few bits of shopping to get today.

Lasagne for tea.

Never done a spa day girlie, glad you enjoyed it

looks great spotty!

I'm not entirely sure I fancy it either if I'm being honest. There are an awful lot of troubles there at present. But who knows. By May it may have stopped.... Our client says it's safe. You just need to avoid the bad areas in Jerusalem. (I also have it on good authority that the hotel is great and Israel is the home of humus!).

Had a call from Hsbc last night. They've temporarily stopped my card. Because it was being fraudulently used in London. it was all me! I told them I was going away. The person I spoke to checked and could see the note on my ac. And can't do anything the block will be lifted in 2 days.

Luckily it's just my Ac not our joint ac and I still have some "English" money in my purse (we use different notes here -still gbp but ours are "jerseyfied" but "English" money is accepted).