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'm still looking at window film from your Autumn list Collie. I can't believe I never thought of it myself but I thought the patio door double glazing would be as insulating as a wall but it's just not.

I'm thinking of using fleece blankets tacked on with safety pins on the patio door curtains instead of fleece by the metre.

fluffy I recently bought two fleece blankets from IKEA and they are very dense & warm! I'm sure they were only £3!

I think our new home will be EPC E ish so I expect I'll be looking at window film soon.

It looks really good, our house is EPC c, it's really toasty apart from the bloody lounge with the patio doors and stupidly placed radiators.

We can't even use the patio doors because the cats banned from the lounge. They just sit there mocking me in all their upvc glory.

At least insulations fairly cheap and you can tell the difference quickly.

We only have two rooms downstairs. Our back door opens into the kitchen and the front door to the sitting room which also has the stair to the landing in. It's a nightmare trying to keep it warm.

Thanks :) I'm nowhere near an Ikea but I will see if we can go next time we're at mum's (it's much nearer Croydon) - I really want to get the folding gym mat for DD as well.

Here's a question for anyone from NI or anyone with a crafty talent... any ideas how one might make a model of Giant's Causeway?!

Hi all, Collie your bucket lists are so inspiring! They are the sorts of things I did with dd esp when she was younger but its lovely to see them all written down!

I have had another spend day but that is def it for a while now I bit the bullet and bought a Henry hoover and a middle of the range lawn mower both from Argos. It came to £159 but I had a £10 off voucher so actually £149, both items needed.

Also £15 on dds riding lesson, they are doing another show next Sunday which I will need to get dd some new riding boots for, think we have all the other gear now though.

I had a bit of a catch up with my finances this morning, my direct debits seem to be coming in at about £900 a month for everything (mortgage, rent, bills, insurances etc) I have spent a lot on the house this month and gone over budget with that by at least £100 (budget was £500) our trip away wasn't too bad but food and petrol seems to have been lots more than usual!

We now have £0 till next Thursday - eek! I have £15 in my purse, lots of food in the fridge and petrol in the car so in theory at least should be doable.....

Wreck Drs are so grumpy sometimes, I have had a few throw their toys out of the pram with me, I just tend to laugh at them now Fluffy yep I can think of a few as well its the rudeness that gets me, I also have some patients that make me wait which winds me up no end

Sorry to hear about elderly poorly puss cats, 15 yo is a good age though but doesn't make making any difficult decisions any easier my boy cat isn't doing very well at the moment, unfortunately I don't think he will make old bones at all we are taking him back to the vets next week.

Cag sorry to hear you are not feeling great at the mo and during our recent Ikea trip they had loads of storage solutions, might be worth a look?

Collie thanks it was a good night although i always feel very 'single' at those sort of do's

Sorry for the essay!

Thank you Girlie I will hopefully be better in a day or two. :)

This is probably a bit silly, but I'm a bit shaken up. So, I had my coach trip to Lincoln today. Had a lovely afternoon, wandering around, seeing the sights and shops, etc. I get back to the coach at 4.50 p.m., 10 minutes before the coach is due to leave, to see it slowly driving away! Luckily, as I was walking towards it, the driver saw me and stopped when I signalled. I hear one lady saying something like "Lucky you weren't any later." The driver apologised, saying he counted the numbers wrong. I can't believe this almost happened even when I was in good time and that people tried to make me feel bad for being late when I was actually early. Sorry, I just need a vent and to get it out of my system. If I'd been late fair enough, but that this could have happened when I was in plenty of time...

People are such dicks. The driver should have counted properly.

Ohhh that's crap that is. I would actually email the coach company

Thanks Fluffy. I'm younger than everyone else on the coach by at least 20 years, so I'm surprised nobody else noticed my absence too (unless they did and they didn't care, as they wanted to get going 10 minutes early!)

And I don't think you're silly for being shaken up!

Would you, Cag? Maybe I should.

That's really bad! How hard is it to count empty seats? I'd be very cross and definitely emailing.

Creme I would feel shaken up too! Definitely email the company. You aren't being silly at all

Cag are there any second hand ones on eBay?

Girlie some banks do cashback on bills! Could you benefit from that? £15 to last until next Thursday is tight but I think you'll be OK :)

Wreck I remember you describing your house last year and it sounded so chilly! We've seen a few houses with a similar layout for sale. Gotta think of ways to make it warmer. It's a tough one

Fluffy I love our insulation - I think we might take it with us haha!

We had a cleaner and wrote extensive lists.

Spent £40 in lidl and that included £10 for dd for a winter coat, I thought that was a good price.

I picked up some other bits, then put them down...I actually had this thread running through my mind .

Exhausted. Been train hopping today and have been exploring cinqeterre. So much pretty

Spends €16 on one day train pass. €4 (!!!) on a tiramisu gelato cone. Totally worth every cent!

Oh creme I would complain too! Imagine if he hadn't seen you!

Creme that sounds terrible, is it worth a phone call to the company tomorrow as they should know. But did you have a nice time in Lincoln.

In our old Victorian house we found a company that do perspex secondary gazing with magnetic strips and they sit on the windows - you'd never know it was there, and stopped the drafts, it was amazing.

Em it sounds glorious!

We are lucky in that we have brand new Windows, well, less than a year old now. Doors too. We put in the giant cat flap today.

That looks lovely, Em!
Cag I'm not crafty in the slightest bur wondering if you could squash loo roll middles into hexagon shapes? You'd need a lot though. Plaster of Paris and a mould??
Thank you all for the snack and activity ideas. DH makes a good fruit loaf so I've just sent him to the kitchen to soak some fruit! Going to do a bigger weekly shop in the hope that we don't keep running out of things and having to top up.
Had a lovely afternoon playing hide and seek in the gardens of our nearest National Trust place. We're members so didn't have to pay but did spend £6 on ice creams.

Allthebest I think I will start writing lists. I'll be doing it myself until I find someone new so it will be a chance to record in detail exactly what I do and also see how long it takes me so I know what I can reasonably expect in 3 hours.

NSD today