Frugaleers chatting and saving even further into August...

[AGenie]

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.

Or this!!!

Dh is visiting now but I think he's a bit better. It's always best if I'm one step removed.
Nice nails need, can I ask you need what I should be looking for in a stables for a pony party. I went to one a few years ago but didn't like the feel of the stables. Dd wants one for her birthday.

Place marking
Em a previous childminder of mine got milk delivered a couple of times per week for that exact reason to avoid popping out for milk. It was a little more expensive but saved her money by not being in the shops

Need gorgeous!

Fab, Need. Thanks for sharing and I hope you don't mind if I might use that shade on mine very soon.

Girlie, that is shocking about the fire.

fluffy completely agree re Cava, € for € I think it's generally much better quality than prosecco. Unfortunately I feel terrible after tiny amounts of alcohol these days so my cava drinking is severely curtailed .

girlie omg girlie! Was it a new build? hope they are OK! You'll find out soon enough. You'll need to know in case its an electeical / gas fault. One of our neighbours was flooded and it was an error with the installation under the sink - all the houses had to be checked after.

I would looooove some chocolate! I may have had a biscuitfest earlier & the kettle is on!

Oh I love the nails need mine are chipped and looks a tad embarrassing!

GBBO is on later and it's gingerbread! Mmmmmmmmmm.

fluffy thanks for the coupon! Think I may get that too.

My eyes have changed and I need new glasses again! The "old" pair are only 7 months old!

Gosh girlie, thank goodness no one was hurt and for the eye candy

I luffs gbbo

I've found that too bertie. You need to really commit to drinking or you lose tolerance.

I hardly ever drink alcohol now, so when I do, I get really tipsy from a single glass of wine . DH is the same.

Hello!

£19 in the post office today sending off all my eBay things.

£20 taken out of joint account and put in a separate purse. So it doesn't get mixed up with my money.

lilac they used to deliver milk here. I remember when I was a kid and even when I was still a student waking up early with the hummmmm of the milk float. I'm pretty sure they don't do it any more though buy will look into it.

Mentioned too yo shops to Dh and his idea...just buy more milk at the shop each week obvious but buy different dates. why didn't I think of that

Veggie stir fry with hoisin sauce for dinner. Yum. And a cup of green tea. I am feeling very "blocked up" at present. Basically only ate crap stodgy burgers at the weekend. Need more veg/ruffage. Hoping the green tea helps. Dh reminded me of the time he drank 2.5 litres of it in the space of an hour it didn't end well for him.

Em what veg did you put in your stir fry? DH never wants it unless it contains chicken. But we tend to have mushrooms, Brocolli and babycorn to use up. Bloody men!

Em I freeze milk and milk avoid top up shops not sure if it was advice from here or somewhere else but it works

collie , lifelong and northender, we live not too far at all from Kielder and a fair few people I know have been. General consensus is that while it is quite nice, it's not worth £££. Queues are huge apparently and you're sort of shuffled from one heaving area to the next. I think they said it was okay, but that other far less £££ Christmas type experiences have been better.

girlie thank goodness nobody was hurt. DS was about 8.5 when he started wearing a 'light' deodorant (e.g. from Lush) as didn't want something with lots of chemicals in. It was about a year later when I realised (after trying numerous 'mild' deodorants) that he needed something stronger as he was ripe!

bertie I suppose accidental damage is more for big things like if we left the bath running and accidentally flooded the house, or left the iron on and burnt the house down. A relative of mine once accidentally drove his car right into the garage door and the insurance company bought him a lovely electric garage door for £2000.

Very very exciting about the sewing machine north. I love sewing machines.

I used to freeze milk too. Hilariously the milk and the water component thaw at different rates, so you get to drink the cream first. Yum.

I'm not spending money much at the moment as I'm stuck in. Silver linings.

Thanks for that me. I might go back to stockeld park then as that was £80 and fab (as well as only just over an hour away)

I get my milk delivered and have dinner for years. It's awesome finding milk, eggs and other bits on your door step. Cheaper than a top up but not as cheap as adding to your usual shop.

collie in today's stir fry I put: carrots courgettes mushrooms (yuk) mange touts spring onion sweet corn red onion chilli garlic ginger. I wanted broccoli but we didn't have any.

Yummy.

lilac I'm not keen on frozen milk and Dh says not to freeze it. It's possibly that because ours is jersey milk and has a higher cream content. It tends to go a bit wierd when defrosted.

Brief update- been a mixed financial rollercoaster today.

£210 on car tax but emergency dash to garage when realised MOT ran out months ago . Car is going back to garage next week for 2 days worth of repairs, expecting total bill to be about £350. Car is 13 years old so it's sort of expected and I had budgeted for extra car costs in annual budget but gutted that only 1 month in and this has pretty much swallowed up my extra 'rainy day' budget.

On the plus side (trying to desperately search out positives):

1. £99 refunded from union fees.

2.free £25 M&S voucher pending (see Martin Lewis website- you basically apply for credit card).

1. £33 spend on M&S sale but all really bargainous Xmas gifts, 15 items for £33! Only spend on me (clothes budget) was £3.99 on x2 thermal vests for winter walks/watching eldest play rugby (reduced from £14.99).

4.£6 spent on pizzas from shop for 7 of us as car was in garage a long time and couldn't face cooking.

Will definitely be trying that Aldi cava! girlie how awful for those people, glad no-one was hurt.

Ooo fab! Thanks Em brilliant way to use up all the veg! Taking note!

Ouch me, car bills hurt

Missing cashback arrived. Yippee. £9.78. Thanks booking.com!

Sorry, I didn't mean to post that many pictures of my nails!

life. We are DIY on a farm, but as a general rule, everything clean and tidy. Stables clean. Lots of staff. Routine, there will be blackboards everywhere with each ponies routine to follow. Doesn't need to be posh. We are the least posh place going. They need to have plenty of 'schoolmaster' ponies that will cope with lots of inexperienced riders with patience. Some ponies will cope with being kicked and yanked in the mouth, ours would throw you off then fuck off... If they offer pony parties then I assume they have lots of ponies that enjoy being fussed and groomed and will stand and be brushed. Ours will be brushed for 30 seconds then fidget or try to kick you.... And enough staff to 'lead rein' ie hold the pony by ahead collar or bridle while the kid rides. Kids generally love grooming and mucking out as well as riding.

Creme, please do! I feel better with new nails, I wasn't keen on my previous colour, too bright, but this one is nice. I probably won't get my feet done again until Christmas as it's boots season soon, sadly.

I'm going to stop lurking and participate properly! Nsd today, dc's had a friend round to play and built dens with the contents of my fabric chest that I had intended to cut into fat quarters and sell on eBay. Now I'm thinking of sewing patchwork wigwams for Christmas presents. I have meal planned for the next week from what we have in our freezer. 1 week left of the hols here and no spare money, so I'm hoping for good weather and some picnics.

Hello Frazzled, welcome.

7.5 miles run with the club tonight, happy days!