Frugaleers chatting and saving into August...

[ipsogenix]

Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

Useful links 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.

I got a very large mob phone bill yesterday so I rang them. Turns out I had called 0845 numbers and I will get repaid in expenses. I told EE I could not afford it and they said "ok we will reduce your bill by £5 per month until the end of the year". Worth a try!

wreck I wasn't getting at you btw!

I haven't made the couscous just put everything into a tub, I will add boiling water at work while veg & meatballs heat in microwave. I'm going out for dinner tonight but it will be 8 before we arrive so I figured I'd have a filling lunch, this worked last Fri for me when I went out for dinner.

fluffy no not eBay! An online outdoorsy door.

Have a good holiday Em

£21.50 to renew my driving license which included the photo. Going to get the car cleaned later as we are going to a funeral tomorrow and might have to give people a lift. Car is filthy after camping.

Trying those huge mobile phone bills used to happen to me all the time but I switched to tesco so that I can cap my bill at a certain amount for every month. If I go over, I get cut off for the month unless I go online and deliberately increase my budget. Vodafone used to routinely send me £100 and then blame me for it. Now it's £7.50 every month.

collie

They should refund the original post and packing. It's distance selling regs.

I have a cap of £5 on my £9.50 contract on ID Mobile and a £2.50 cap on DS's £7.50 contract on Tesco Mobile too.

Em, hope the flights were fine and you have a super holiday.

Bah. Cancelled my lessons today so nearly £30 down. But am in no way up to it. Feeling rather sorry for myself.

Good news though, I've been wondering how much longer we should keep paying for DSDs' phone 'contracts' (it's actually a rolling goodybag thing on giffgaff, same as DH's and mine) as they are 18 now (twins), but one is off to uni this year and one is still at college etc. So I've been thinking of maybe doing one more year or something but wasn't really sure. But they've both decided to get their own (much more expensive) phone contracts with new phones, more data etc. So that's a little saving for me. :)

That's good news about the phones, Cag. Hope you feel better soon.
Just found a wasps' nest. It's been one expense after another this month. Pest people said it'll be £60 to destroy it.

Nah leave it. They'll be gone soon enough.

Winter is coming.

fluffy/ Jon Snow! Winter is indeed coming!

Spends today:
€12 on building blocks for DS, have been meaning to get him some for ages I think he will love them.

Also have to buy bread on the way home, pay Creche and DH is going to buy fish from the seller near his work.

Was very tempted to go out for lunch but I resisted the temptation and had a sandwich in the office instead. Some great lunch suggestions up thread, thanks lilac. I'm realising that I can't rely on myself to make a fresh lunch for work every day as some evenings I just get too tired and lazy to bother. So I'm trying to bring in food at the start of the week that I can pop in the fridge and make lunch from as the week goes on e.g. I currently have bread rolls, cheese, hummus and tomato relish there so I made lunch from that today.

Fluffy I just read that on money saving expert. Frugal win!

So..... I haven't been on the ball with stuff in the freezer lately. And today I have found:
3 opened bags of peas. 1 unopened bag of peas.
1 bag of finest sausages
2 bags of corn on the cobs
2 bags of Sainsbury's chicken fillets
2 bags of chips
2 bags of alphabet letters
2 bags of frozen courgette
2 bags of veggie mince

and that is why you must check the bloody freezer before meal planning

The next shop / meal plan I do will be based on what I already have in the freezer - as it should be every frigging week.

I hate going through the freezer as it's low down and I seize up when rummaging for long. Oh well! Sorted now.

Snuggly, don't pay £60 for anyone to destroy a wasps nest. They are being a nuisance now because the nest is breaking up and there are no more larvae. If you have to get rid of it either block up the entrance or simply spray insect killer spay into it. Cover up well, really well, gloves, hood, scarf round face, welly boots because they will not be happy. But that is what the pest people do. If you spray, when you have finished cover the entrance so others can't get in and the dying ones can't get out.
If I was nearer I would come and do it for you. But £60 is a rip off.

Collie, just think of how that will enhance your meal planning over the next few weeks/couple of months, even. Don't feel bad, as it will save you money on your next few shops.☺

creme yes!! Which is good because next week's food shop budget is £56 again!

north hope you're resting up! Thinking of you

Exactly, Collie.

Following advice from here, I went to pound land and got lots of snacks that the kids go through at an Olympic rate for a lot less than Tesco.
Also got dog food 12 cans for £5 which is much cheaper too.
So am feeling good about that.
Sorry people are feeling tired its not much fun feeling drained.
My parents took us out for a pub lunch today, which was nice.

Sorry I haven't been keeping up - another drained one here, very low on iron, just woken up from an afternoon sleep!

£120 yesterday on a sofa cover from ikea. It doesn't fit exactly as we don't have the erktorp it's supposed to fit but it will do and certainly cheaper than a new sofa!

Thing is we can see wasps going into the roof but they are all coming out somewhere into the kitchen. There are loads of the buggers and we can't tell exactly where the nest is. If it is in the roof we can't get up there anyway, no ladder.

Hello all. Bit of a spend today but nothing crazy. Went to local ice-cream parlour with 3/4 kids and friends. They all spent about £20+ on lunch/drinks/ice-cream and I managed:

£2.25 on large coffee plus £1 refill
£4 on x2 ice-creams for kids (oldest had one to himself, made younger two share and just asked for a second empty tub-in the past would have bought one each for kids (then ate leftovers) plus one for myself.
£5 on birthday present for 1 of DC.

Oh, and £20 diesel. Total spend:£31.25

DH ate half of leftover chicken that was supposed to be for dinner, normally I would just cook another and buy an extra one with food shop tomorrow. Instead I'm just going to have a quatree of a chicken (between 5) with mustard dressing, roast veg and made homemade sundried tomato bread so we'll all feel stuffed- so effectively saved £5.50 by not buying another chicken.

Haha, reread post: I mean 3 of my 4 kids, not 3 OR 4! I do actually know how many I took with me!

Ahhh our freezer has died, lost food, and just spent an hour trying to find the receipt. Only bought it in Nov so should be covered.

Snuggly. They must be in the cavity wall. Can you see where they are getting into the kitchen? Have a good look and if you can find it, just block it off. The nest will die out at the beginning of September anyway and they don't reuse them the following year. But if they are really stinging you then pest control it must be.

Oh forgot to say...you may be covered for wasp nest on your insurance if you have emergency cover as they are considered a pest, no excess to pay.

Me, I presumed you meant three quarters of a child😀