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.

Oops, sorry about that random exclamation mark.

lilac it is a storage / prep thing - I just put the gas stove on top of it.
Mummy hope you get your mojo back soon.
Our blackberries aren't ready yet, but the bilberries are.

I felt sorry for my unloved dusty ironing board so I bought it a new cover. I have avoided ironing.
Today's frugal fail... I dropped the bin while I was cleaning it & it broke. There were 3 other (unbroken from what I could see) in the skip - I couldn't reach any of them to check.

Hi all just checking in, this thread has been busy!

Have spent the day watching dd at a horse show, she did well and got four rosettes, but it involved a lot of waiting around! It cost £20 to do the show and I spent probably about another £5 on teas and cakes!

Going to get a take away later probably fish n chips as can not be bothered to cook after such a busy wend

Congratulations to your DD, Girlie. A take away to celebrate is a good thing to do! DS is coming home tomorrow after 17 days away, so I'm contemplating having an Indian take away tomorrow night.

Hello, can I join? My very meagre (SMS only) mat pay runs out in October, so dh and I are going to be seeing if we can live on his wage alone. I am self employed and don't want to go back if possible as my hours wouldn't really be childcare friendly.

We did a budget last night and if we keep "frivolous spends" to under £100 a month each, we can afford to put some in to savings to pay for the annual expenses (insurances, TV licence etc).

I know we're prob not in the same league as some people, but I especially am terrible with money. What we haven't ironed out is if my incidentals budget needs to be bigger than DH's - I am at home with dd so may have some costs that he doesn't.

We've had all of our bills now for a period where we had dd so we know what difference she makes.

Both if us have a problem with "popping to the shops" when it's not necessary. I just need to accept that I can spend a bit more on the weekly shop and then never go to the shop for top up food.

Anyway, I really think the accountability will help me.

And if we end up saving more, we might be able to go on holiday!

Welcome honeysuckle, I'm a recent joiner too and everyone here is really friendly and helpful, and we are all in different circumstances. We are actually in an OK position financially at the minute with me working part time and DH full time with relatively low outgoings but we are hoping to move to a bigger house and expand our family over the next few years so trying to be frugal and save money while we can.

Ah I get ya now
Bought this today Picnic Table for Camping €50 with 3 year guarantee.

NSD for me, DH paid for pub lunch because of kitchen fiasco, long story.

Well done to DD Girlie

Hi, honey, I'm trying budget lots and its a learning curve.

Nsd for me, DH spent £20 on food and wine, that leaves us a grand total of £40 on proper food at lidl. I hope we can do it.

Well done Girlie DD, I hope she's feeling proud.

Welcome Honey. Do you have topcashback and quidco accounts for cashback? It brings insurance right down. We got quoted £197 for our home ins to auto renew and I got more cover for £103 using topcashback. Little savings like that really add up. Do you do a big weekly shop? Dh was sceptical (we used to go every night) but it works.

Em Do you have tescos? There's a free offer for Tate and lyle jam sugar on checkoutsmart at the moment but it's tescos only.

£21 four tops in sainsburys 25% offer but 2 are going back, I only ordered them to get free click and collect. So really it's only going to be £7.50.

Free cake and tea in JL.

We haven't been either by definitely going next weekend. I've never made jam! I would love to have a foraging class. I bet I'm missing out on all sorts. especially other berries.

I'm watching In The Night Garden and I'm getting a tad freaked out.

Going away at Christmas and must get DS some Wintery clothing. We all need thermals too. sexy!

Well done Girlies DD!

Hi honeysuckle. I've just finished maternity leave and become a stay at home mum. We did living on one wage for a while and saved my earnings / mat pay. I use YNAB (you need a budget) to see where my money is and where it goes. I shop once a week in aldi and that's it. Used to always be in ssinsbury or the coop. I've done a budget with a pot for annual expenses as I've found its those that throw us off. No surprises.

Thanks for welcome, everyone. We do indeed to a big weekly shop. Unfortunately not Aldi/Lidl anymore. I used to, but I have mobility issues so a big shop and a baby is more than I can wrangle at once. I went on a Saturday once whilst dh was home... never again! Luckily all the major shops deliver and I can usually get a £1 slot as we go to bed relatively late. We meal plan, but probably need to work a few more veggie recipes in to save cash. Any favourites?

We used my last mat pay to buy a fully size fridge freezer. I am finding we waste much less food now. Before we only had a drawer and a half of space, so the two extra drawers are being put to good use.

Also, I found a recipe to turn bar soap in to liquid soap (1 cup soap, 10 cups cold water, 1 tbs glycerin, grate soap, mix together, heat to dissolve, cool.) I used to have a bit of a LUSH habit, but don't actually like to use bar soap. So my latest resolution is to use up all of the bar soap before I buy anymore shower gel, or pump soap for bathrooms and kitchen, for example.

I go to aldi at bedtime on a weekday. My Dh put my 11 month old and 3 year old to bed and i go. It's always quiet and easy. Just a thought. I have spinal and hip issues so I know it isn't easy.

I most weeks do a Sunday roast and use the meat for the next two meals. Tonight we had pork shoulder done in the slow cooker, tomorrow it will be wraps and the next day a hash topped with fried eggs. That really helps. The shoulder was £4 and will feed us three days.

Welcome Honey and well done Girlie'sDD!

The reality of the twins is sinking in. I am excited but we are going to have some big spends as some of DD's things e.g. pushchair won't be suitable.
Biggest thing will be the car. There is no way 3 car seats will fit in ours so we'll have to get something bigger. Happy to get something 2nd hand and to use finance if we have to BUT our current car (VW) is on a lease deal until Nov 2017, we'll need a bigger car by March. We cannot afford to lease a bigger VW so we want to return it and just get something different. However, unless we trade up I think there's a penalty for returning it early. We can't afford to pay for our current car and a bigger one so we don't really know what to do.
My idea is to get a cheap 2nd hand car after Xmas and buy it outright even if it's very old then when our lease runs out in Nov we could part ex the old second hand one for something better on finance, or keep it of course if it is reliable.

If anyone can follow all that I'd be interested in any other suggestions. Should mention DH commutes by train do we have absolutely no use for two cars.

Ring your finance company and request a voluntary termination figure. Then add up how many payments you'll make between now and March.

In simple terms let's say it's £1000 to VT, & you'll make 8 payments of £100 between now and then. In March it would be £200 to hand it back.

You'd need to pay for damage outside of normal wear and tear and over mileage if you've done too many miles. They will mark your credit file but it won't adversely affect it.

I've VT a car and bought a new one on finance from the same company in the same weekend.

Honey I can imagine aldi with mobility issues would be a push. You can do the grocery down shift challenge, you buy the next range down eg if you buy branded you'd buy own brand, if you buy own brand you'd buy SMARTPRICE. Watch eat well for less on iplayer for inspiration, it's surprising what people will eat when they don't know it's smart price.

Or send your Dh with a list. For some reason it's often women who end up being shafted with the food shop job. I hate it.

fluffy we do and don't have tesco. We have a local store which sells tesco products. It's in town near work so I'll check it out tomorrow. Next Saturday afternoon is blackberry time. I figure my riding boots are good for blackberry picking. Will be able to get right in the bushes and my feet will be protected.

It's got to be tescos proper or it won't work on the app

I suppose one corner of the U.K Had to be Tesco free.

Congrats to DD Girlie.
Welcome Honey. We are all very friendly and helpful.
Thanks for the jam sugar tip Fluffy. I will go to Tesco tomorrow and stock up. I intend to make blackberry jam but do you think I can prepare them and then freeze them because my neighbour is going to give me a pile of cooking apples as they have a glut, but they are away for 2 weeks. I can then make apple and blackberry jam as well. What do people think?
I have an old Oyster card which I don't use anymore when I go to London because I now use my cc as it's the same price. I read MSE's advice and reclaimed the money still on it only to find that I am still registered for an older card as well. They are sending me that refund as well.
So, if any of you have old Oyster cards knocking about reclaim the £ they pay it straight to your bank.

Welcome honey and well done to your DD girlie

NSD today PIL took us out for lunch and spent the afternoon in some lovely local woods/gardens. Both DC exhausted. Planning to go to bed soon - 10+ days of very interrupted sleep with the pair of them plus me staying up too late watching the Olympics has left me shattered!

Fluffy that's brilliant advice, thank you. Am not doing anything until after 12 week scan as I don't want to tempt fate but I will call them when I know all is well.

Aw. Never mind.

Tomorrow will be buying fruit from m&s. I've eaten well too well over my 2 weeks off but don't think I've eaten one piece of fruit. Budgeting £15 for fruit for the week. M&s usually have good deals (and the fruit is the nicest). So should be able to get loads. I have a new wicker/woven basket now too so I can use it for fruit. Yay! My sis brought it back from France for me.

Already one bid on a jumper I put on eBay. so will make at least £8.50.

Just pootling around now getting things ready for work. Alarm is set for 6am sigh and have outfit sorted. Need to buy a bottle of water on the way in. Will walk in tomorrow.

Welcome honey and mummy the pork recipe sounds yum!

Hi all :)
NSD today and yesterday, been rather spoilt by parents although it was a genuine accident that I left my card at home! Still, probably for the best as I couldn't go to Hotel Chocolat - there isn't one in my town so I usually make a beeline for it when we're at mum's.

Saw Dinosaur Zoo at the theatre today, it was brilliant! Definitely recommend. Also went to a free kids art workshop, turns out the shop does them pretty much every Sunday so we'll look out for them each time we stay on a weekend (quite often since starting home ed as we don't have to get back to school on the Monday - an unexpected benefit of HE, much closer relationship with nanny and grandad :) :)).

Spotted a poster for a Ministry of Science show too, the Caglets really want to go as they are really into science at the moment. Would be about £45 for the three of us though! Will discuss with DH.

Tip/charity shop run tomorrow when we get home, hoping that as we'll clear some space we can then move onto the next lot of selling stuff (Happyland etc) as we totally ran out of steam before.