I can't think of a witty title, so here is July's Frugaleer Thread! All welcome.

[Cagliostro]

Hello :)

Drs done. He checked my ears and has given me nose spray and more antibiotics to clear my sinus infection. But more importantly and what I was worried about he's confirmed that in OK to fly next week. No idea what I would have done if he'd said no. How to tell Dh that one...

So £35 on GP. But I can claim this right back. So that's all good.

£50 in morrisons fgs
Pleased you got sorted em.
£15 butchers
I need some new shampoo as Ds is allergic to the one I got. Any ideas for an itchy scalp in a 6 year old. I was thinking coal tar?

Coal tar stinks though. Why is it itchy? I've had psoriasis on the back of my head for about 18 years...

i don't know wreck, i'm thinking allergic reaction as he reacts to certain other chemicals (soap, soap powder, sun cream) and it was worse after hair wash last week. I want him to stop the scratching but also e able to still wash his hair - i have checked for nits too there are none.

Could you try baby shampoo for a bit?

Fairly cheap day playdate at friends as 2 older boys go to different schools so don't see each other often, she also had ds1 for an hr while I popped ds2 to doc (well nurse practitioner) for some nasty I flamed eczema.

Just been to park and chemist and popped in co-op got 3 stuffed crust pizzas and 2 pizza express pizzas and pk scampi all mega reduced cost me £7.10 instead £21.

T gel is great for sore scalps
My ds uses it

£10 petrol.

£15 now tv pass
£10 Star Wars rug for ds1s bedroom
£10 meds at chemist - dr thinks it's either E. coli or ibs
Need to fill car and pay for hair this week and cinema trip on weds so that'll be £100 gone this week

Nsd as not leaving the house, it's bank holiday here & wet and miserable. Dog Hotel is on tv so it's a pj & movie afternoon with fire on.

Yesterday was a spendy day as dh's birthday is today & we had day out yesterday. Took train to next big town & ate in milanos 3 course using 25% discount code €52 for 4 of us.
€60 on shoes for ds
€44 in dunnes on school shoes for dd, 4 pairs of tights for school, 5 pairs school socks, a pair of crocs each reduced to €2 each & swimshorts for ds also reduced to €2.
€6 deals on puzzles & toys
€15 in olde sweet shop & €4 on drinks for train
€17 funfair

Train was €24.50 dh paid

Interesting to know that Florida is good for the non-wheaty need. Enjoy your holiday.

I love all your lists of handbag contents. :-)

Entertaining news from here:

I've been digging up hardcore that was the foundation for our old shed, and it's properly hard work. It's gravel, stones and half bricks all mixed up and then compacted down with a bit of soil in the gaps. I've managed to fill 5 rubble bags so far.

Also I just realised I suddenly only had two tablets of a prescription medication left, but when I rang Boots to ask what to do, it turned out that I'd requested a repeat, and totally forgotten to pick it up. Double score!

On the plus side I finished this month £300 under budget, so that's a big win. I'm very chuffed about that. It's entirely to do with the weather. Less food and more time spent in the garden.

Spent nothing other than £7 from my purse on a day at the theme park. We took a picnic of food we already had in the fridge and I used love 2 shop vouchers to pay for the entrance. Brilliant day and it will definitely help me get through the next couple of weeks till dh is off for three days. Got a roast in the oven now. Benefit of living five minutes from the park is we got home nice and early (well 4.30, we still had a full day there) that I can still cool.

I just looked at my loop energy monitor and it really shows the difference that heating and weather makes to the gas bill. The web page also told me that in three days I will switch to my supplier's standard tariff, so I'll need to look again in 3 days and see what that best tariff is to switch to. Loop is so extremely handy. Glad I bought it.

Also - sorry for multiple posts - but found this fantastic slow cooker on offer:

Link

It's the only one I've ever seen with a proper stainless steel pot, and should be really handy for just letting things simmer without me having to watch them endlessly. That's the hope anyway.

Out and about with my mum today, so I went to the morning Pilates class. So, spends: £28 Pilates (4 lessons), £7 bus, £12 entry to Auckland Castle for both of us (Mum bought lunch), £5.50 tea, scone and water and £4.65 in Morrisons, on Earl Grey tea bags, a Lyons cake (65 pence!) and of those squeezy drinks bottles- Systema. £57.15!

Good work ipsos

I've just done a stupid thing. We went to the fair after work. Well a few of us nicked off early. So £10 spent. On one hideous upside down spinny ride (I thought my head was going to fall off and/or explode) candy floss and a hot dog. I've never felt so ill in my life. I am officially too old for the fair.

kinda hoped the spinning and upside down would recalibrate me. Turns out not

I don't think inner ears work like that. How do you feel now?.

NSD Monday hurrah.
I am also going to make a frugal to do listfor August.

1. Learn how to eBay instead of relying on others and having to give them half.
2. Get a nectar card
3. Learn how to use TCB and other similar sites.
4. Save all my 50p pieces ( got 3 so far)
5. Take books back to library to avoid fine.
6. Take picnics when taking DGCs out
7. Use gym at least twice a week because it cost a fortune ( and I always feel better afterwards)
8. Sell other stuff locally
9. Freeze lots of veg for winter stews

10. Continue collecting wood for wood burning stove so don't have to buy any this winter 11. Have 15 NSDs this month.

Better. I threw up. Then had the candy floss and hotdog. apparently according to my work mates I'm a hero.

Home now. Far too much excitement for one evening. And have had some leftover spag Bol.

Work have refunded my train tickets from June. Yay! And I have reclaimed £50 import tax from our joint ac as I had to pay to release Dhs new paddle board. We can collect it tomorrow. Shame it's going to rain for the next few days.

trying i take 20% from eBay sales I do for my mum and sister. Half a a bit much!!! But yes learn to do it yourself. If you have the app on your phone it's super easy.

Hoping for nsd tomorrow. Was going to go to the gym. But I probably need to rest and let the antibiotics do their thing. Will gym again when I'm back from holidays.

I also need to learn about Ebay, trying!
Pleased you can fly next week, Em.
I'm not impressed with this weather, we're off camping tomorrow. Come on sun!
Anyway, mortgage meeting was great. Have got it about £40 a month lower payments and knocked 6 years off the term. Going to try and make overpayments too. Also got much, much better deal on home contents and building insurance. Lots of benefits and £15 a month cheaper so we're £55 a month better off

Lsd here. £1.75 on a card a padded envelope for my godson's birthday present. £1.50 on a cakey treat

Hope you feel better soon Em - inner ear stuff is horrendous. Going to be an odd mix of spendy and not spendy this week. We're having our garden relandscaped which is costing a bit (budgeted for) but I'll be stuck indoors for the workmen so no frivolous spends!

My frugal list for August (great idea btw!):

1. Check balances of current accounts every night so I know how much is in each
2. Have a set amount taken out in cash each week that has to cover all top up shops and treats - will start with £25 and see how I get on
3. Sort through freezer and cupboards and try to use up stuff in there
4. Continue to keep weekly online shop as close to £40 as possible - bit tricky while DC2 still on formula, but only 4 more months until cows milk!
5. Start looking up stuff to do near Longleat CentreParcs for our hols there in a few weeks and offers
6. Use Tesco vouchers for Longleat Safari Park tickets for holiday!
7. Dig out a few bits to eBay
8. Try and get to market once a week for cheaper fruit and veg
9. Remember to take my loyalty/nectar cards with me when I go shopping
10. Aim for minimum 2 NSD's a week

wreck aha didn't know that it wasn't allowed but then it makes sense to color only the ends...
Snuggly: happy holiday and em: hope you have a restful evening.

Going to follow and make a frugal list of August

1. Sell out of clutter
2. Continue to check accounts every morning and night (bad banking habit)
3. Get my Yaris valuated to see how much we can get if traded in
4. Make dinner plans for a week a head
5. Stick to dinner plans even when dh protests
6. Do cheap holiday fun stuff next 2 weeks
7. Use left overs or chuck in freezer
8. 2 nsd pr week
9. Check if we can negotiate our you see lower

10. Find premature clothes for baby dd second hand

Check you all out with your frugal lists. I will write one tomorrow. Some nsd need to be on there.
Crème is Auckland castle worth a look?
No other spends today.

Lots of good ideas on everyone's frugal lists for August.

Spends yesterday:
€10 drinks (DH paid for dinner and rest of drinks)

NSD today (DH bought takeaway)

Doing my YNAB for August and quite enjoying messing around with it now that I'm figuring it out a bit more.

Went to my friends grave just for a quick pop in with some flowers from the garden... It's so comforting quiet in the evenings there...