BOO! The Freaky Frugaleers prepare for Halloween and beyond. All welcome!

[Cagliostro]

:)

Girlie, can you 'go public' via FB and Twitter and email the CEO of Redrow?

Yes to lists for appointments. You will find you get to say everything that you want to say and that will be cathartic in itself.

Brilliant saving Em. So pleased for you.

I agree. Talking about what makes you anxious is therapy in itself. Em, take care. x

Hope you are ok Italian.

My foot from dropping a table on it...

Ouch Wreck that looks super painful.

Sainsbo's was just under £70, I didn't order as much as I'd thought, plenty of food though.

Oooh Wreck, that looks awful.
Em, another list addict here. I write a to do list everyday and tick things off as I do them. And brilliant news on the pension. Most people don't pay enough in. Despite my frugality I pay every month into the DGCs pensions and have done since they were born. And the good thing is HMRC top my payments up by 20%. They can't access the money until they are 50.

wreck ouch!!!!! That's going to be one amazing bruise. Please post in a couple of days for colour updates.

I've spent the evening colouring. Super therapeutic.

Have also been writing a list of my anxieties.

trying lovely idea. And you're right I don't think enough people pay enough in. I'm not sure I am to be honest but that's all for this year.

We don't have a pension with work, but salaries are higher so we can make our own arrangements. I can claim my payment back in my tax form next year so that's good.

Trying do you mind if I ask the name of the vehicle you use for the savings please?

Ouch the foot looks painful :(

Spendy day today, went to see a fabulous French film which was itself free (education festival thing) but train fare, lunch etc.

Also I had been considering telling even my parents that we wouldn't be able to do presents (friends and extended family, other than our little 2yo great nephew, are being told this). But then I saw this which I just HAD to get my dad. He is often compared to Einstein thanks to his unruly hair, he loves it (even wears a little badge on his jumpers). So the socks were a must. £7.50. :o

Adora, I use an ordinary pension. I have unit trusts wrapped in a pension wrapper. They are stakeholder pensions. The first one ( first DGC) I got before the rules changed about financial advisors and I got Hargreaves Lansdown to do one for me. Then the rules changed and they couldn't do any more because they couldn't earn commission.
The first one was with AVIVA ( although arranged by Hargreaves Lansdown ) and I rang AVIVA and told them I wanted another one and then more. I have 3 different unit trusts in each pension . And they are the same in each one. 2 of the 3 are global growth and the third is UK growth with all dividends reinvested.
I only pay in a small amount each month (£30 each) but as with all pensions, HMRC add 20% so £36 goes into each pension each month.
It adds up over the years ( I hope, anyway).
I do it because I wish somebody had done it for me.

I'm the first one the thread this morning, for the first time ever!

creme I viewed it but had nothing to say !!

I really need to get organised with pension next year once I've finished clearing cc!

I blew £90 on a really nice wooden handled umbrella from London for dh, who is becoming a British Citizen today. He is pleased.

Once again frugaleering, and knowing the budget, rocks.

Ouch, Wreck! I broke my big toe once when I dropped a table on it. Hope you've been icing it?
Haven't posted for a couple of days, been very busy and it's been spendy:
£64 yesterday on petrol and yoga, £82 in the supermarket this morning. Got all my Xmas cake ingredients. Bought more than I need as I'll probably do a Christmas pudding too at some point or I might make a smaller cake with no icing etc to eat before Xmas, I find it very hard to resist eating it every year!
Will try and catch up with the thread now.

Pic please cathode congrats to your dh

Mammy I got it here:

www.james-smith.co.uk/

and it was a bit like this one but with a darker brown handle:

www.james-smith.co.uk/product/umbrellas/london-umbrella-with-redwood-handle/

I think this really says it all. So glad to hear this information being put out there.

'Treadmill families' going nowhere, says social mobility report

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-37987166

Shit.

Just had letter from Landlord. They are putting the rent up. Can't afford the new price. At all. And the HB won't increase with it.

:(

What will you do?

Oh that's dreadful news, how much notice have they given?

Still being rubbish at keeping up in here. Or being frugal.

Today I spent £8 in home bargains on wrapping paper and storage bags. I'm trying to decide whether to buy a play pen to put the Christmas tree behind. It will be £55 but I think we will use it for a good few years and it will resell fly around £45. I can't find one locally for sale or I'd buy used. First world problems. Distracting me from my appointment for a breast scan on Monday from the two lumps I've discovered.

Not a fucking clue Fluffy :(

It's as of Jan 1st so we have two more lots of the current amount.

My parents are going to give us the extra hundred for a couple of months, thankfully but need to figure something out long term.

As I've posted on here before, we want to move anyway, but we weren't expecting our hand to be forced IYSWIM especially right around Christmas :(.

Thing is even the new rent is markedly lower than market rates even in the cheaper part of town. The only way we can continue to live around here is if we are housed by the council but we are still around 50th on every bid we make.

Oh Mummy I just saw the last bit of your post. That sucks, chances are it's nothing but I'm glad you are getting it checked out

Thanks Cag. I'm getting all my Christmas prep done and the freezer has my Christmas Day food ready as much as possible just in case.

The rental market is insane, it seems so unfair that so many people are being totally priced out. It's not as though you can suddenly magic up a deposit and a job in a cheaper area.

Oh no Cag. As you have said, you'd need to move in the long term but it's quite another thing to feel the clock ticking. I hope you can find a solution that is sustainable and meets your needs better, but realise that is the holy grail. Housing costs are horrific.

Mummy, I am so sorry to hear how worried you are. Will be thinking of you and hope it is good news .

Wreck, was it you with the foot injury? It looks awful!

cathode, I bought an umbrella from that shop 15 years ago. Seemed like insane money at the time but it was such a wonderful shop, and such a beautiful umbrella, that I bought it. It's still beautiful and going strong now. I took it back in to have the elastic loop replaced (to hold it closed) as it had loosened over time. They are happy to do little repairs like that, which I love.

Theatre was amazing last night - we went to see the Bowie musical Lazarus. Michael C Hall (him off Dexter) had the lead role and was astonishingly good. It was a little bit dark and weird but brilliant staging and casting, and great music obviously! My Sister babysat for the price of a packet of toffiffee (£1) - she's a bargain! And DS adores her.

The decorator started yesterday on the hallway. He's a cheerful chap who sings very noisily to elvis - lovely but i am taking refuge in Costa right now! He is very much in my good books though as he offered to use his magic ladder to change the spotlight bulb right at the top (deepest part) of our stairwell, which we can't reach. It wasn't working when we moved in and 7 years later we hadn't managed to fix it because it is such a stupid place to put a light. Anyway, it now works and the hall is lovely and bright. This makes me absurdly happy.

cag and mummy sorry to hear both your bad news

Oh, and thanks all for the moon photo appreciation. Photography used to be my hobby but it fell by the wayside when I had DS and for the last 4 years I've really just taken pictures of him. The moon motivated me to dust off my stuff and get out. I only went for an hour but it did me so much good to immerse myself in something other than family stuff, especially now I have given up work. I felt more like myself again so an hour very well spent!