Marvellous Frugaleers - Chatting and saving through November, and into December.

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Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

By popular request - copied from an old thread

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.

Lego website or eBay, Italian?

eBay does not normally deliver to Denmark Creme

Congratulations Italian!

£2 on drink when out last night, NSD today. Really really tired as worked today at an event after really stressful day yesterday.

Question for cat owners- do any of you have an automatic pet feeder - what would you recommend? Need something to tide him over for an overnight trip away.

Thanks Wreck I'll look at that children's newspaper.

It's incredibly dark and wintery here. Not cold or wet, but the light is just very dim even in the day time. We feel like hibernating. I went out and did some gardening to see the sunshine.

Which skirt did you get Em from Hush?

Ah Creme, that's tricky. I'm not sure what to suggest if he won't accept his behaviour wasn't acceptable. No amount of sanctions would work I suppose, just breed resentment, which you don't want at this age.

NSD as DH is paying for stuff at the minute.

Ah yes First News is it? I've got a Shakespeare special edition somewhere that Mum gave us, I will look into that free offer though definitely thanks! We're nearly done with our Discovery Box magazine sub that we got with Clubcard vouchers, I highly recommend that. DD is so excited to receive it and is always telling me facts from it. I think there's versions for younger kids too.

I also got a Nat Geo kids one, but that had to be done by post rather than online and stupid me never got round to doing it. I'm wondering if it's worth pleading with them to resend?!

I went to H&M to get the Caglets some clothes. They need clothes as they've outgrown lots from last Christmas. But oh god I am now nearly £70 poorer. It's not like it's even an expensive shop and I went for the cheaper versions of trousers etc. I got most stuff from there last year as well though and they've lasted really well. It did include boots for DD, I think DS needs shoes as well and DD some t-shirts. FFS. Kids are like weeds, always growing. :( I may take some bits back if I find anything cheaper though. I bought bigger sizes but not sure if they'll be TOO big.

I'm wondering if I should take more opportunities next year to look in charity shops when I'm passing, to see if there's anything in their size? Particularly for DD as unlike DS she doesn't have any slightly bigger friends who hand stuff down to her!

It's a hard balance though as looking through clothes racks is ridiculously tiring for me - one of those silly seemingly harmless activities I used to take for granted before I was ill. It's the arms really, they are not capable of much lately. And the thought of traipsing round lots of shops. Argh.

Spendy day £87 sports direct, £10 Chinese, £5 in wilkos, £5 Claire's, £26 in sainsburys but some will go back as clothes for DD in various sizes

Lots of spends from everyone, it's just that time of year isn't it.

Updated spends:
€97 Pennys (Primark)- some stocking fillers for various people and a few bits for me; some of that will be returned, at least two of the three pairs of boots I bought; it was just easier than trying them on and making myself late.

€40 balance on work Xmas party
€10 lunch
€6 on biscuits, chocolate and water.

Dd has these boots which are size 5, suede, from M&S last year. They have very little wear on the soles but wear on the front of the left boot. I wasn't going to ebay them because of the damage to the left boot but really they are otherwise in great condition. Could anyone on here use them? I'd be happy to post them, otherwise it'll be the charity shop for them.
I've cleaned up 2 pairs of DS' football boots and am going to give them a try on eBay as they have only been worn a few times, his feet have grown so fast. He's now in 12s!

creme I think all you can do with your DS is to be consistent and hope that he comes round eventually. It's so hard with teens isn't it?

Forgot to say this morning, huge congrats Italian

I have an automatic pet feeder, it's called DH! Cat worked out ages ago that he's the soft touch who will get out of bed to feed him whereas I can ignore any amount of yowling! DD has now realised the same thing so always wakes up daddy!
I've got some great kids' clothes in charity shops, Cag including posh brands like Joules in perfect condition for a couple of quid.

Argh, just lost a longer post and don't have time to re-type it now! Thanks for all the kind words re: DS.

NSD, but there were a couple of spends last night, after my post. £16 Indian takeaway and £8.40 window cleaner, for 2 cleans. Sainsburys delivery came tonight, so that will be £44.78 out on Monday.

Meal plan:
Tonight : pizza.
Sunday : Quorn roast with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, broccoli, Yorkshire puddings and gravy.
Monday: pasta with avocado, hard boiled eggs and pesto.
Tuesday : veggie chilli and rice.
Wednesday: early Xmas dinner with staff at school, straight after school. We all have to bring an agreed food, so I'm bringing a cheese board. DS can sort himself out.
Thursday: as Tuesday.
Friday : staff night out- 3 course meal in a hotel. DS away with his dad.
Saturday: Macaroni cheese (from the freezer).
Sunday : veggie tart thing I got in Ikea a couple of weeks ago, with mash (homemade and frozen), mixed frozen veg and gravy.

italian wow she is beautiful!! Congrats so glad to see you are back on the thread too. Rest up and enjoy xx

We have been a bit spendy lately. :( going to get really strict with our spending now.

We are going to withdraw cash for the rest of the month as we spend much less this way.

Also need some frugal meal ideas. We are getting bored of spag Bol, baked potatoes and stew all out of inspiration. Any recommendations?

Does Aldi do good ales?

Hi all, thanks for the nice messages about you all shouting at your DCs too . We are fine today, he seems to have forgiven me. I am no saint, it's just that he is almost never deliberately provocative so doesn't usually need or deserve telling off. And he gets very upset when he is told off, really takes it to heart.

I went out last night with some ex work colleagues, the closest I will get to a work Christmas do this year in my unemployed state. Just £30 because I'm not drinking (bigged up my cold to avoid suspicion). It was great to see everyone but I am shattered today and have a stinking headache. I can only take paracetamol and it's not really touching it. Have been napping but still not gone.

Today has been spendy though. Went to a scanning facility in the giant mothercare near us and paid for the Harmony test (a non-invasive prenatal test that checks for various trisomies including Downs). I had an ultrasound to check the foetus and my dates first and then it's a blood test. But it was £399 . I wanted to do it because of my age - the NHS does the 12-week screen but that has a relatively high rate of false negatives and false positives, this is much more accurate though it is still a screening test rather than definitively diagnostic. One nice perk is that we get to find out the gender when the results come back in 1-2 weeks. (It also means that, providing the test works, we can tell family and friends about the pregnancy at Christmas). It was lovely to see the heartbeat again and to see it wriggle. It looks much more baby-like than if did 3 weeks ago, amazing to see the change.

While we were there DS went in the diff play (£4.25) and we had lunch in the caff (about £12).

Putting the tree up tonight although i am not very enthusiastic due to headache also normally get quite tipsy on Madeira and will miss that this year

Italian congrats on baby DD, she is lovely. And good that big DD is taking well to her. I agree it is nice for her to get something for Christmas for big DD's sake. Maybe a soft toy and something to shake (could even recycle DD1s toy if she won't remember it?)

Cag clothes are such an expense. I was very relieved when DS got to 2+ and started having clothes that fit for a year rather than 3 or 6 months! He does have quite a lot because of not wearing a uniform yet and also having a lot of nappy leaks so gets through a lot of trousers. We don't get hand-me-downs either as we are a long way behind most of our friends when it comes to breeding. I have noticed that our area's Facebook group advertises a lot of bundles of kids clothes. I only found the group recently or would have used it a lot for DS when smaller. Is there anything similar in your area?

I can't remember anything else on the thread with my foggy head, apologies if I have missed anything major!

My teacher friend did remind me today, at least we don't have to buy school uniform anymore! Which is true :o especially glad we avoid the junior school uniform where logo jumpers and even sodding polo shirts are compulsory (my grandma very generously gave me £75 for uniform when DD started there, it didn't even cover it all! Year 3 FFS!). OTOH home ed does mean they go through lots of everyday wear so we are spending more on things like trousers. Leggings and joggers get holes in pretty quickly :o but at least DS is getting lots of hand me downs from various friends.

I think I will make that a frugal resolution. I know others here have talked about getting a few bits of clothing regularly rather than all in one go, so I think I will do that with the charity shop thing. I always feel guilty buying stuff at random but if it means they end up with jeans or jumpers in the next size up then that saves me buying so much in one go. :)

Cag this was News Week junior

£9 on three waffles on Sticks at the Christmas light switch on in a nearby town. £1 on tombola but managed to get four prizes

That's kind north too big for us though

Collie it gets really boring doesn't it?!

We surprised my grand parents by popping in on the way home at 7pm. Lovely to see them and I think they liked it. Dh still isn't back from work and he left at 6:30 this morning

Ooh awesome thanks Wreck

Sorry it's The week junior

Collie Aldi usually have a selection of Badger Ales which I like and they do a lot of Banks, Marston's etc. They also stock a nice French beer called La Goudale, they had some in last week. Have never tried their own ales. Asda do a lot of brands of ale 3 (or maybe even 4?) for £5.

collie it is difficult keeping meals varied. About a year ago I wrote down all the meals that I cook & that we all like. It was a lot longer than I thought it would be and made me realise that I only cook a small number of them regularly. I've tried to be better since. These are a few of our meals:
Bolognese: spag Bol, lasagne, pasta bake (mixed with pasta shells & topped with breadcrumbs & cheese), with a jacket spud
Chilli: with rice, tacos or with tortilla chips & melted cheese to make nachos
Curry: I do a chicken curry with curry paste, chopped tomatoes, ground almonds & cream or a beef one with a creamy almond sauce
Carbonara
Fajitas usually with chicken, onions, peppers & Cajun spices
Quiche
Toad in the hole is a firm favourite with onion gravy
Sausage & mash
Jack Monroe's kidney bean & carrot burgers
Fish pie (topped with mash)
Cottage pie
I tend to borrow cook books from the library for new ideas too.

And yes, Aldi do good cheap real ales, here at least

need I bought the crossover skirt. It's great. Stretchy enough without being overly tight. Casual enough for comfort. But I think I'll be able to wear it to work.

The winter bedding is on and it's the best thing ever.

Hi all a late sign on before bed!

Been working all day, it was quite busy as usual but a LSD, picked up some veg for tea and a drink £1.70. Been out to see a ballet tonight with mum and dd, it was at a local theatre and was so good, really enjoyed it. Dd wasn't that excited about ballet before seeing it but actually was properly mesmerised by it

Cag I feel your pain with clothes, is it worth waiting till the sales now? Next do some nice kids stuff which I find wears well. Buying clothes for dd is a completely joyless exercise as she has no interest in clothes and refuses to try anything on but will then moan if she doesn't like something - arghhhhhh!!

Went for Christmas lunch today with friends but they treated me, so NSD.
Tiler is coming on Monday to tile bathroom floor.

I think I will wait for bigger sales in future yes. I never seem to catch them. At least, in future maybe I will revert to actually looking on sale/clearance rails. I used to, but then stopped as I felt it was unfrugal, but maybe it's more frugal than getting lots in one go.

I have a new issue this year though which is that DD a little while ago said she'd like some clothes from the boys section in future. Absolutely not an issue obviously but I'm not sure about sizing. I was looking today and there were some trousers I know she'd like (they are similar to some DS has) but didn't know what size to get - girls' and boys' clothing seems to be sized differently, I guess because at this preteen age they start growing at different rates. I'm used to DD wearing leggings/jeggings all the time which have a totally different fit.

Does anyone here use reuseable sanitary pads?

I'm debating it. But not sure. Tempted to get a couple to try just while I'm home (not sure I trust them...)

I use a mooncup and I'm considering reusable liners, just can't decide to take the plunge!