Amazing April Austerity.

[CremeEggThief]

Hi All,
Taking the liberty of starting a new thread, as I went to post spends on the old one and it's full.

We had a lovely day out at the seaside and visited an old lighthouse as part of it. As we rely on public transport, that's always a big part of our days out spend.
£9.60 bus fares.
£9.60 train fares (with the family railcard).
£6 lunch from Sainsburys ( £3 meal deal each).
£4.50 entrance to the lighthouse.
£7.10 coffee, hot chocolate and cookies in a café afterwards.

Oh and DS needed a haircut, which I think was £6.50.

Nsd. I'm not feeling great tbh. Woe is me.

Creme I still haven't emailed them!! I would think the graduate loan protection is PPI though.

Welcome Newmama impulse spending is difficult to stop, what I try and do now is leave items in shopping baskets online and then review after a couple of days to see if i still think I really need it!!

8 are you buying a house as well? I am dreading the moment the swipe my life savings, I know in theory its invested but it still scares the hell out of me totally agree with you re the savings and I will also be looking to build some up once we have moved. God knows how though!!

What that is so annoying re the passport - I think I might be tempted to pretend I hadn't noticed it but i guess that could be risky.

Lila the more you say about your dh the more it sounds like the relationship has gone beyond the fixing point. I have been a single parent for ever a long time and its really not so bad! Your happiness is important, have you started to work out what you want to do?

creme yes fill in the form and send it off. What have you got to lose? apart from maybe a stamp

Lunch was nice. Was lured to my face place and had a toasted Thai chicken wrap. A glass of wine and some sweet potato fries. Yum. I sensed a hidden agenda. And did say a few things which needed saying.

These will probably be reported to the directors meeting tomorrow. But none of its a secret.

I am so tired! Have been waking up earlier. And going to bed maybe Hal an hour later. And have been walking to and from work. Loads of fresh air. And exercise for me. But I am so unbelievably glad it's Friday tomorrow.

Creme I would think that MSE would be good to nail down the specifics of your loan. They also have templates to use I think for writing to the various organisations. Cake and coffee at your garden centre sounds just the ticket

It was Y7 for DD girlie, all the hormonal changes going on, and DH was very ill with his bi-polar at that stage. Keep repeating 'this too will pass' And remember, she was in hospital, in intensive care!! There may be some fatigue still circulating. You could take her shopping for something little for the house at the weekend? Just a small ornament for her new room? Or whatever.

Hello New. Menu plan, do an online shop if you can, go through your direct debits and cancel and old ones, use cashback, Ebay or sell anything you don't use, write your spends down, budget for annual stuff, Aldi and Lidl re great value too.

I've had a lovely walk in the spring weather with the dogs this afternoon. I easily cover 5 miles a day during the week when I do all the dog walking. Nicely tired. Salmon with Chermoula tonight, jacket spuds, roasted parnsips and leeks

Thanks all. The weird thing is they state they already provided this information to a 3rd party who enquired on my behalf in August 2014. This is the first I've heard of it, so I've put I'm puzzled by this statement in my letter back to them. I've got a good memory and can actually remember my meeting with the bank manager to ask for a loan nearly 14 years ago and I don't remember being informed about or agreeing to any protection. As I was an agency worker and due to start maternity leave in a few months from then, I doubt I would have agreed to ppi anyway. So hopefully I have a claim.

Girlie, you should definitely contact them. I know you're really busy right now, but it's worth the few minutes it takes to email them.

Spent, erm, £3 ish in the bakers and £2.75 in WH Smiths. Joined the library and have borrowed Jack Monroe, also Hugh Fearnley Wassisname's veg book.

DD1 is now a vegetarian and no longer having school dinners.

I'll catch up later, again.

Creme If they've given your details yo a 3rd party without your permission that's a breach of data protection. They need to explain themselves. And write a compo cheque.

New Welcome. If your energy tariff expires in May you can probably change now. You can switch 49 days before the tariff expires penalty free. Mse energy club is good, it's whole of market. The deal I got didn't show on any other comparison site & I saved more by using seperate gas and electric suppliers instead of dual fuel.

Omfg. Dh is home. Almost on time.

It's a miracle.

creme sounds really dodgy!

wreck hope you feel better soon xx

It's raining and dreary here. :(

I've posted before about utility warehouse being a great supplier of gas and electric. You should look into it. It's saved us a lot of money and now with our solar panels, our combined gas and electric bill is roughly £30/month. Our electric is pretty neutral across the course of the year so free really! My husband has just told me that last year there was probably 3 months out of 12 where we used more electricity than we produced.

And no I am not a supplier.

lila, thank you for clarifying the difference. If you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay for them a month? It's only so I have a rough idea what to expect.
girlfriend, yes, I am trying to buy a house too. First time buyer for me, shared ownership. Waiting for the mortgage approval :)
need, it's a good account, the 123 :)

Just did a Lidl and filled with petrol, £50

£43 aldi.

£2 crisps but will be free when checkout smart approves it.
£3 sains on reduced meat and tea.
£1.50 morrisons on pasta sauce, reduced chilli peppers and lettuce. Will get 30p back from shopitize.
£32 on two bras from fig leaves. Free returns so will send one back if it doesn't fit. It's from their outlet so no matching knickers so I'll buy plain coloured ones if I keep them.

Shoeaholics and kurt Geiger haven't refunded me yet, they received the parcels on the 6th . I need that £85 back.

Just wow & totally free

Oh fluffy that reminds me! My bras are all falling apart at once. I found a fab bra last year at Next and it was so good I bought 6! 3 are now in terrible condition. Pah!

I'm watching Bargain Shop Wars. Primary vs Primark style shops. No idea why I'm watching this no idea why I find it interesting

lilac beautiful!!

I've definitely got something creeping up on me! Haven't even begun to pack or get organised. I'm totally goosed. I have all morning to do it so not too bad. I'm going to have an early night. My head hurts, I'm achey and my throat feels like I've swallowed razors. I have a prescription of just in case antibiotics from last time I was ill.. a cough/sore throat always turns into bacterial chest infection for me. So even though it's naughty too... I'm taking them.

I'd take them too. An extra hours sleep won't do you any harm.

I can tell when asplenic, asthmatic, diabetic dh is getting a chest infection before they can hear it during an exam.

But no, we have to wait for infection to get a proper hold of him

Welcome new. I'm another very new poster too trying to get her house in order too. Congratulations on your baby

8 how funny I am in exactly the same situation! I have had the mortgage approval/offer, just waiting for the solicitor to finish with all the checks (I think there is one outstanding) and then we exchange contracts its terrifying but so exciting as well I can't wait to move now.

Have done an online Morrisons shop tonight £42 so not too bad.

LSD as predicted.
Welcome new people.

Fluffy it's horrible. I can especially taste it. Rather take them just in case. Pretty broad spectrum one. Especially as we'll be in the middle of nowhere at the weekend and it would be my luck to get really poorly.

Just seen another career opportunity/training for health visiting. I'm seriously considering applying. What's the harm in it. I've always been interested but never got chance to have a placement. I'm 9 months newly qualified but doesn't say anything in person spec about it being essential to have x amount of experience etc.

Sending painkillers and medicinal gin healing vibes to the poorly Frugaleers! Seems like FruFlu is doing the rounds again.

Dont/Fluffy I know just what you mean about knowing when infection is coming, and in particular tasting it. EUUWWW. I too have a very dodgy chest (thanks mum/grandma for that inherited trait!) and I live in fear of the next infection. I have a pack of just-in-case ABs in the cupboard, touch wood I've not needed them but it does make me feel better. Actually I've been lucky with my GP - there were a couple of times when they trusted my judgement and actually prescribed ABs over the phone, because I was too unwell to even leave the house let alone walk to the surgery and back, and I described how it was different to the usual 'viral wheeze' (which I also get a lot). Ugggh though. Am very grateful that I haven't had anything like that for a while - nasty cough ATM but it's not really affecting me much.

Anyway, I've had a nice quiet gently productive day. Sleep is being annoyingly elusive again so I'll stick the dryer on and then carry on sorting out the craft drawers. It's by no means the most essential decluttering task but it needs doing anyway :)

And yes Dont definitely go for it! Always worth a shot :)

Right. Off to potter about for a little longer! I expect we'll be on a new thread by lunchtime :o

It's definitely on my chest, I can hear the crackles already! This weekend away is going to be fun isn't it lol. I'm suppose to be doing some water activity which I don't really want to do- where you run about on water like a hamster in a ball.

I've always wanted to do it but right now I don't. I'm grumpy. I've still things to pack. It's going to be a long day.

I'm expecting spends to be:

40 petrol fill up.
£10 max food top up. Anything we don't have and need to grab. I've used things from house so far.

Don't can you get an emergency appointment before you go? Hope it doesn't spoil your weekend.
Sainsburys shop for tomorrow £80 so far. Will have to see if I can get to Aldi at lunch but I'm time poor atm.