Austere April Advances (even though it's mid March.....). Frugaleers Unite

[needastrongone]

New thread. Can't link.

Save for a house? Or general savings?.

Ooo nk sounds intriguing.

General savings. For low income workers. Universal credit or WTC eligible folk. A top up scheme, sounds similar to HTB.

ipsos Sorry, you don't have to post your thoughts on here!! I just thought writing them somewhere (anywhere) might be beneficial. My post didn't come over very well.

Haven't caught up yet but just wanted to say I hope you all have a great week. We're off on our little break later today, can't wait. :o

I feel like we're having a mini fresh start, and I just wanted to thank you all so much for having been a great support to me lately.

See you when I'm back. [waves] :)

Have fun fuzz! Looks like you're in for a dry week too which is nice. There's lots of live lambing events around but not sure how accessibly they are on public transport.

Hope you have a great holiday fuzz

Have a fab holiday, Fuzz.

Have a fantastic time Fuzz

Ipsos the Government have basically increased the expectations of all children across the board to 2 years above their age fucking tories this Government do not seem to understand that kids are only ready to learn at certain points and that pushing them regardless is detrimental to their mental health. No idea what to do though other than home schooling which I think for dd and I would be a complete disaster! I just make sure outside of school we do lots of nice, fun things and she has time to just play and chill out as well.

Day off today thank God, taking boy cat back to the vets in a min - he is starting insulin! Then meeting a friend for lunch, need to do a food shop but will leave that till tomos I think....

Washing is out on the line

Oh and re Legoland, totally agree avoid in the summer hols its totally rammed and also they have a huge problem with wasps!! I have been twice with dd, the first time was Easter hols it was a rainy cold day and we had a fantastic time! Hardly any queues and we got round the whole park which is no mean feat The second time was May half term and it was stupidly busy, we spent about 4 hours queuing for 3 rides - would never do that again!

My advice is go very early in the season pref on a day when the weather looks rubbish!!

Haven't caught up was out all day yesterday.
Been waiting on money back from Revenue since November last year. I expected €1000, they returned €2,538.87 well worth the wait

So far I've budgeted it like this €1000 Wood Pellets, will be a small bit less, €400 each of my two credit cards, €238.87 buffer money and I'll give €500 to my husband for repairing his car/credit card debt.

Beautiful day here. I think I started Crowmageddon in the back garden. We stocked up on some bird seed for our container and a few balls of bird seed (bird seed in a net). One of the crows managed to pull a ball off the tree and the crows are all fighting over it. They're taking turns to pull it around the garden like an odd game of football.

NSD today. It's green day in school on Wednesday so the kids get to dress up in green clothes and green hairbands etc. in advance of St. Patrick's Day on Thursday. I usually pick up some cheap made in China tat in Penneys (Primark to you) or Dunnes, but I think I've enough left over from last year. Also, DD's Granny bought her a v. tasteful glittery green brooch so she'll be only massive .

lila that was a brilliant windfall from Revenue

Yes Tayto I was thrilled. I'd messaged them on myrevenue about a number of things including when was my payout coming over the past month got answers to everything except that & then it appears in my account this morning!! Thanks to this thread and ynab I didn't think 'oh what will I spend it on' but more what is the best use of this money.

I'm considering salt therapy for my two year who was diagnosed as asthmatic before Christmas so some of the buffer money might go on that who knows.

Martin's Money Email mentions switching banks & various deals

fuzz have a fab holiday
lilac what a fab windfall and a very restrained plan to use it

Bit concerned absinthe govt announcement, whilst it doesn't affect us I think that £50 per month for two years sounds like a lot to ask a low income family to save and I worry that it creates a potentially unhealthy dynamic where people feel forced to cut back on things like food quality in order to get the windfall and end up suffering because of it.

Ds had an all day sports tournament yesterday, great for him but I am feeling decidedly rubbish. Back to gp later in the week so will see what she says

£20 on two pairs of crocs. The dc live in them in the summer and they're cheap on Amazon atm.

Tayto Do you take the balls out of the Nets? Smaller birds can get their legs trapped in them & the rspb advise using fat ball holders now.

Fuzz I hope you have a lovely time & unwind on holiday.

lila Nice one.

I suspect £50 a month will be too much, they should stagger it from £10 a month to get used to saving. There will always be people who don't want to save though.

Still working on dh to put my bike together so I can sell it and buy a console table. One like mine sold for £160!.

Brilliant result there from HMRC Lila, that's fantastic news.

Martin Lewis was on the radio about the Help to Save plan, he stressed the need to pay down debt first and foremost, and that those on very low incomes may struggle to save £50 pcm.

Happy holiday Fuzz

NSD.

Meal plan.

Sausage tray bake.
Chicken with fennel.
Chicken balti (using a jar!!, it's busy night Wednesday)
Chunky vegetable and pearl barley broth.
Roast dinner.
Egg and chips or similar 'cheap' meal.

Fuzz have a great time.

Lilac that's fantastic (I am expecting a bill😔). Good I idea to take some pressure off you both.

Oh lila meant to say that's amazing!

Oh and I've just officially turned my heating off. It's still freezing some nights but it's March and I refuse to have it on now. If dh is cold he can put on a dressing gown

Happy holidays fuzz
Excellent payout lilac.

£3.50 and £2 on children activities. No other spends

Haha Wreck I'm with you on the heating coming off! DH will have a whinge though.

Have fun Fuzz!

lilac that's fab!!

NSD. It's sunny and the patio doors are open. But DS won't play outside. So unusual for him

Sausage casserole for tea!

Hi all spendy day in the end i think...

Vets another £34 but that includes special diabetic cat food and the insulin, handed in the insurance forms so should get some money back at some point. Vet said per vial of insulin its £15, one vial will last approx a month so if he is still diabetic in a year (when the insurance runs out) its going to get pricey ah well, he is worth it I guess

Then met friend for lunch, we ended up going to Greggs so was cheap! £2.40 ish.

£4 in Poundland on a few bits.

£18 in Morrisons on a top up shop, am trying to work out if we have enough in to last us till the wend. I think we probably do so will try and use up what we have....

Not too bad I guess.

Lila lovely little sum of money but that is a lot to spend on wood pellets!! I think I would be more tempted to have a holiday

I wish I could turn mine off, but as we're only just into double figures here in the daytime, it won't be for a while.

Lilac, you really deserved that little windfall. Hope it's cheered you right up!
I asked my Pilates teacher if I can come back after Easter now, as there are only 2 sessions left and I might need to help at DS's Scouts next week. She was fine about it. So today is another NSD. It's ages since I managed 2 in a row. I made a nice soup of onion, potato, broccoli, rocket, spinach and lime for lunches this week and tonight's dinner is jacket potatoes with cheese, spinach and pesto, which is a bonus meal, as some of the potatoes are large enough for jackets. I also have leftover Quorn roast, so either tomorrow or Wednesday, I will make a casserole with that, parsnip, carrots, potatoes and maybe some green lentils and poration it up for the freezer. I made it once before and it turned out very nice, bit DS doesn't likea casserole, so I'll have it when he's with his dad . So, my revised meal plan is:
Today: jackets, as detailed above.
Tuesday: Mediterranean vegetable pasta bake (hopefully enough for 6 portions, so I can freeze 2.)
Wednesday: same.
Thursday: meal out with work. There's a 2 for £12 deal going, so I've opted for flat bread pizza.
Friday: veggie burgers and wedges.
Saturday: chilli and rice (from the freezer).
Sunday: casserole.
Monday: pasta bake (as before).

I'll only need a top-up shop now too.

I didn't Fluffy but I will now.