Springing into the New Year with the 2017 Frugaleers

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Just setting up the new thread for the chatty Frugaleers.

By popular request - copied from an old thread grin

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.

That's fair enough, Need.
Have you done all that on only an hour's sleep?

Yep Creme. In fairness, so has DH and he's gone out with the dogs now too. The house was , but it's all clean and lovely and sorted again now. We've done NYE for 3 out of 4 years now, it's someone else's turn next year, as fun as it was!

I've run for an hour too!!! 6 miles..!

Quiet night here last night.
I, too, am teetotal but will join dry January. I might even try no chocolate January. That will be hard.
What's the 52 small things Em. I need to do them too.
I want to regain my fitness and eat well. Because I live on my own I don't always bother to cook a decent meal. Must do better.
Need, I am tired just reading about your night/ day.

Hamsters make great pets cath dd has one and its been brilliant, requires minimal input but provides lots of fun!! As much as I love my cats I wouldn't get another one, we have had no luck and both of them have health problems.

Had a nice day so far, house starting to come together. Tree and decoration are down and have found places for most of the Christmas stuff.

Need you are a super star, on an hours sleep I would be a zombie there is def no right way to parent! Blimey I have made so parenting fails I could write a book on them dd still seems to have turned out alright so must be doing something right i guess

I was thinking of finding something I can give up for the year, as a personal, mental challenge, I quite fancy it but can't think what, I don't drink alcohol and I rarely eat chocolate plus I'm hoping to lose weight so won't be eating a lot of sweet things anyway.

I have told DH I won't buy baby clothes for DD because I spent so much last year after discovering Frugi and Maxammorra, she has plenty of clothes to last her the year and more.

No spend today, I'm using chicken from yesterday to make a huge vat of curry which I'll freeze half of and the chicken carcass and some sad looking veg for a soup for DH's lunches next week. (Btw if I switch between DH and DP it's because we only got married last week and it's new, I'm not playing the field!)

Wow, Need, make sure you have a relaxing evening and day tomorrow.

Need you're amazing I'm seriously struggling on about four hours sleep plus a very short nap this morning.

Lunch was nice and I had a glass of wine which sorted out my dizziness

Dh is working tomorrow but we're just going to stay at home as I don't want to be tempted to spend any money, might go for a walk.

Can't wait for bed.

I'm not amazing, I'll flag later, or tomorrow. I'm quite energetic though to be fair, DH is the same. We are not good at sitting still.

Girlie what does your DD do to play with the hamster? I don't really know much about what hamsters like to do.

Cath you can hold them, let them run all over you and put them in a ball to run around the house. Quite fun. We had a rabid hamster once that wasn't so fun.

Hamster balls are awesome. I had a hamster as a kid. The DC had them too, and a rabbit when they were little. Guinea pigs are supposed to be fun too, less speedy.

My friend has Guinea pigs and they're awesome. Her dc can leave them on the floor and they don't run away.

Congratulations on getting married, Tits!
Need how are you even awake?? Sounds like a great party.
We have de-Christmassed, everything put away, pine needles hoovered up, Xmas cards cut up into gift tags for next Christmas. The house seems a lot bigger all of a sudden!

We've done that too, Snuggly - I had forgotten how much light comes in the window when not dominated by a Christmas tree!!

Me & DH are doing dry Jan - currently sat sadly with a diet bitter lemon in a wine glass! I'm not a heavy drinker, but I do drink most days.

NSD! Happy New Year!

Much like dry January and dieting, frugaleering will commence on Tuesday!

Resolutions are to eat out less and have bigger budgets for necessities. E.g. This year we've invested in a tumble dryer and a dehumidifier and we've had the heating on more. Yes our bills are going to be higher but I am so much less stressed about damp, condensation, laundry etc that the money is worth it - I need to be more realistic about what we need to spend.

I bloody love guinnea pigs!

cath I think I dipped in and out before but yes I suppose I seriously joined in this time last year.

The 52 small thinga are designed to basically fulfill the resolution of "being healthy". But broken down into small manageable chunks.

The idea being you make one small change in week one (more water) then in week 2 you do whatever week twos change is (from memory I think it's multivitamins) as well as the previous week(s).

I bought the book from Amazon.

I had two glasses of fizz, about an entire bucket of water and a glass of white wine. Probably an entire turkey and some Christmas pudding. Yay! Oh and prawns and smoked salmon. Yummy. Feeling much less hungover and much more sleepy.

May have had a nap at the parents on the couch.

Home now. On bed. With a water and a camomile tea. Going to take make up off in a bit and maybe watch some Netflix before Sherlocks on.

Washing is in the machine in readyness for tomorrow.

We are de-christmassing tomorrow

Really looking forward to "Sherlock" too, although BC has hinted it might be the last series.

I'm torn between taking my tree down tomorrow or keeping with tradition and waiting until the 6th. I've already got rid of my cards, but I love my little tree and lights.

thewaitresses I've been same since starting frugaleering. Spending more on essentials and less on other stuff. It's really made life a lot easier for me. Getting a loop electricity monitor really helped me as I realised that a lot of the machines that make my life easier don't actually use that much electricity.

I was just thinking that I'd like to deChristmas too.

Em That's nice that I'm remembering correctly-ish about your arrival. I get the strong feeling that you are a long way closer to your goals than you were this time last year, from my memory of your posts a year ago and now. Just wanted to say well done and I hope that the fun starts soon for you. I'm kind of hoping that I am closer to my goals too, but it's harder to see when I'm so close to the action.

Cath dd gets the hamster out a few times a week and just holds her or lets her have a little run around, we have been lucky with her as she is really tame (hamster not dd ) Gerbils are good as well, you need a decent sized tank as they like to dig tunnels and they like to live in pairs. They are really low maintenance pets, they need cleaning out every couple of weeks, food and water and thats about it.

Planning on putting dd to bed soon as she is seriously flagging!! I'm in my pjs already as well

£15 Indian takeaway & sponge rollers from wickes.

We painted today, final coat tomorrow. Dh woke me at 7 to start but he bought me a burger later so it's ok.

need I'd have a coronary is someone danced on my sofa.

Great effort everyone, I hardly drink as not well, but I would like to increase fitness.
Ive started my blog, aim is to do a bit every day. If anyone wants to read it, then the can. Am I allowed to tell you it on mumsnet?
I am now officially unemployed....ive never been out of work. I had a Saturday job at age 14 in a hairdressers. Wish me luck 👍

Nsd yippee. Probably the only one this year

Sounds fab party need. Early night for you tonight. Were the pies as nice as they looked.

We de Christmased yesterday but the garage is such a mess. Recycling goes Tuesday also will do a tip run then. Need to properly box up the decorations and store in the attic.
Then I can put the book case back in the house and go through the books.
There are loads of toys in there too that the dc have grown out of. I keep meaning to car boot but never get round to it. I either need to actually do one or charity shop it as I don't have time for eBay.

We had a good night last night although most of the party guests departed around 11 leaving just us and our hosts to ring in the new year. The house was disappointingly normal. I've been told there's a secret room but nobody showed us around.

After a big breakfast, we collected my Dad and visited my Mam's grave. Then we drove back here and had a meal out. We just had a main course and a drink each (no starter or dessert) which came to approx. €80 for four.

I didn't sleep very well (the bed was sagging in the middle) so I'm struggling to keep my eyes open and it's only 7.15.

I'm starting resolution on Wednesday. Nothing to do with the half pack of matlteasers I have still to eat.

All the best I will read it if you want.