Frugaleers Frolick Frugally through February

[Ipsomatic]

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.

knitting oooh those biscuits look fab!!

Another one oohing and aahhing at beautiful biscuits a la knitting

I'm so annoyed. I need to switch energy suppliers as the collective tariff I am on is coming to an end. Not a problem you'd think, but no, my smart meter is totally dumb as, logging onto the British Gas website to check how much kWh I've used for the past year, my electricity usage since October is zero, apparently. I'm going to have to ring them up and sort it out so that I can find a cheaper deal. I hate talking to customer services of any kind. I'll have to psych myself up tomorrow evening. Grrr.

life why don't you discuss your mortgage options with an adviser to see if they are likely to lend the money?

We had real issues trying to reduce the term (and increase payments) last year. We couldn't do it. Might be worth checking their lending criteria before thinking any further

They look amazing, le yum!

Sympathies Fool I hate doing that sort of thing.

Just wanted to say thanks to whoever recommended Yougov as a survey site a couple of threads back. Loving it. It takes 100 surveys to get to £50 it seems so works out at 50p per survey, which is less than other sites I'd say. But they are so quick, and they are basically guaranteed unlike the other sites where you get screened out. So no time wasting. And I'm getting one survey most days. So I'm prioritising emails from them and only doing the other sites after.

I lie to qualify.

If anyone asks I have a 3yo, full sky package & I took two European holidays in the past 12 months.

I hardly ever get yougov ones.

Definitely go for Dream House. Like Em says, throw everything at in and try and pay it off. I am older than you and got a big mortgage last year but I had owned my previous house outright for many years. I am frantically overpaying as much as I can afford. I would go to a good broker (London and Country based in Newcastle are good) and get the best deal for you.
Knitting I love those biscuits
Fluffy you are right I just need hens for eggs but a friend in the village has hens and sells the eggs to me. I do have bees though, so lots of honey.

Life no advice here I'm afraid
We are in the fortunate position of having built our forever home first.
It's not huge but it's big enough to be comfortable and affordable & for everyone to sleep in a separate room if we're annoying each other

We are in the would love to pay off the mortgage camp. We bought a fixer upper, plenty of bedrooms and a large garden but all needing modernisation. Slowly doing it up and growing to love it but part of me longs for the spanking new kind of house - I dont think Id be willing to take on a big mortgage to move though. It just feels like this house will never be 'done'... there will always be another project. No idea if thays the same for people in modern houses though - possibly. We always wanted it to be affordable on one salary and lo and behold that is coming in useful at the moment. Up for remortgage this year when fix ends so hopefully will drop and we can start to overpay a good bit. Would love to be mortgage free by 40, 45-50 more realistic though lol

Just marking my place hopefully I'll catch up tonight. Another early start I just have to keep thinking of the extra money.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm going to number crunch today and see how it leaves us. I will contact our lender too. We have been with them 16 years so they know our payments and see what they say.

Warning light came on the car last night. Fingers crossed its not expensive

LSD today. I need to post off dd's passport should I do it signed for? Also need to post off my ID card application. I'm hoping that HR will ask for references today.

Nsd today. Staying home. Didn't sleep well last night and feel exhausted. So spending the day in bed. Dh has brought me toast and grapes. And catface. She wants to play with the grapes though. She may need to be booted off the bed.

Good for you Em. If you have another, it's very hard to rest as you have no other option but to sort to toddler so enjoy the opportunity a first baby affords.

Wrecked I would do signed for personally.

Our anniversary today. No presents, just cards and a curry later. Plus, DH wrote me a long love letter and put it in my card. made me cry. He's a keeper isn't he?

We've booked a very expensive villa near Amalfi. I am a bit [shocked] at the price but DH wants to do it as the DC will not come with us for very much longer.

Life I'm in two minds about the house stuff. I can see that it would be nice to have a perfect, huge house. Conversely, we live in an adequate middle-sized house with no outstanding mortgage. It's a very nice feeling to know that we have no debts and that the house is ours no matter what, iykwim. It also gives us some career flexibility as it means that I don't have to have paid work, and dh is able to take unpaid leave in the school holidays and not worry so much about the money.

I think it's ultimately down to what you want from life and a totally individual decision. Good luck there.

Snuggly I think that having an entertainment budget for the summer holidays is an excellent idea. That's going to be a busy time. Enjoy your slow eating.

Not even checking work emails today. The out of office message is on.

I've had a cry (because I'm tired) and have fetched my laptop so I can Netflix and nap.

Definitely do signed for wreck last year someone here had issues with children's passport, there was a service for checking the form before it was sent off too and it was apparently worth paying for.

Happy anniversary need

I just filled my driving license renewal form, it expires in a couple of weeks so made appointment for next monday morning €55.

em this sheer exhaustion lifts a little when the bump rises a bit too, that's what I found, when I'd a bump above knicker line I felt marginally less tired.

Was searching through android box came across a series called Girls from Netflix, anyone watched it. I want something about 30 mins per episode and this one fits the bill and there's about six seasons there.

Ah em hope you feel better.

Mammy I've done all the forms online so they won't/don't need to do check and send.

I've just noticed my tax code is 990 that's not right is it? It should be 1100? Not that I pay tax

mammy if girls is about 4 girls living in NYC I've watched it. Well the first season anyway.

£4.76 post office. Have sent off a load of stuff to HR and sent off for my ID badge.

Am going to make butternut squash and JO seven veg sauce minus the courgette because we can't get any.

Look what my sister sent me to congratulate me on my new job

Yay! Pop tarts!

em i just watched a few minutes of first episode. One girl was an intern & had been for two years & her parents told her they wouldn't be supporting her any longer, she shared a flat with another girl who was dating someone, one of the girls was in bath while other one shaved her legs at edge of bath.
Is it worth watching?

Wreck haven't had pop tarts in years yummy 😋

Happy anniversary, Need!

Wreck, DD is a big fan of the 7 veg sauce and it makes a great pizza sauce too. Our freezer is full of different sized portions!

Hope you feel better for a duvet day, Em. If it's any consolation I was sitting in bed crying at 4am because I'd been awake for 2 hours and just couldn't sleep. I feel like a zombie today. The exhaustion part is worse when you can't mainline coffee! 2nd trimester is much better than 1st though.

Low spend day today, will have to pay for hospital parking but that should be it I think.