Money-managing Masterfully into May - Frugaleers unite!

[needastrongone]

Thread continued for old faithfuls, new posters and anyone else that would like to contribute.

Financial talk, tips and discussion, with quite a lot of other stuff too.

We are a friendly bunch and there's lots of support for new and old.

Yes. They would be great in the garden em.

Today is a nice day here but raining where we're planning on going so it'll probably be tomorrow before we have our day out.

I never split the bill TBH I don't drink at all really and my friends and I all agree to just pay for what we've had plus tip. Another friend is diabetic so doesn't drink or have dessert, others are struggling financially etc, just works for us to not split it.

Not quite sure if today will be spendy. Need to collect DD from brownie camp. The previous two years dad has been here with the car bless him, and we've waited in the car park by the meeting place. But dad no longer has a car. So DS and I will go by bus and wait. Which is fine in theory but both previous years the coach has been over an hour late. I may freeze! But it's not like I can assume it will be late again this time and just not turn up until later. Pretty sure the cafe won't be open at that time, there's a new Dominos with a table though so maybe we can wait in there?!

Cag I've never split the bill either. When I was in a proper science job, I was earning so little that I used to go out for dinner with my bf to a noodle restaurant and just get "plain noodles" off the menu for £1.20. I would then go home and eat a tin of sardines before going to bed. I always had tap water, which was free. In the end it just got silly and the bf and I broke up. I found a new one who liked eating at home, and then a better job.

Annoyingly, when we went to MacDonalds with the Beavers the other week they refused to give us any tap water at all as they said it is now MacDonald's policy never to give out tap water. Weird.

Ordinarily I don't usually mind splitting the bill. If I'm out with friends pre preg I'd usually have wine/drinks so it'd work out roughly the same for everyone.

I'm loathe to pay for booze for everyone else though if I'm not drinking.

We may not head to the boat show now. It's tipping with rain. will see what it's like later, it may clear up.

It's a shame as I think this year tall ship endeavour is in harbour. I did a months sail from Plymouth to Portugal and back when I was younger on it with jubilee sailing trust. Was talking to dh about it recently and would love to take him on board and show him the boat.

£125 pre school bill. Pleased it's such a short half term.

Yes bacon exactly that. He's been more helpful this morning I think it stresses him out so rather than dealing with it like an adult he just gets grumpy. He said he will pay for the hen do and can give me £100 towards the childminder (I know that realistically that's all he has) as he is also paying for all of Barcelona. Obviously when we booked that we didn't know I would be changing jobs etc.

My friend wants us to bring salad to the bbq which I already have so that's easy.

Hi all just catching up...

Wreck thats annoying re your dh, agree with everyone else comments and that he should be more supportive.

Em I'm the same when I go out, I don't drink so would really resent paying for someone elses wine!!

Snuggly toddlers are hard work, they are cute though which is just as well

Fluffy hope your face feels better soon, would taking some anti histamines help?

Yesterday was a nice day, we went into town in the afternoon, I managed to buy my friend who has recently had a baby girl a gift in Boots with my points so frugal win.

Spent 60p on a drink for dd,
£3 parking
£3 swimming for dd (she had a fab time with her friends.)

Went over to a good friends house in the evening and had a take away £6 and watched BGT!!

Not sure if I mentioned already but a friend has offered me her sofa, am so excited as I bloody love her sofa its a corner one and much nicer and a better size than our current one!! Just need to work out the logistics of getting it here and getting rid of our current one. Current one is pretty beaten up so don't think would get much if I sold it so might donate to one the charity shops that collect.

Plan today is to do a few jobs around the house and poss pop into town later again as ran out of time to do all the bits I wanted to ystd.

Sorry for the moaning on Friday night. I sat down with DH yesterday and we went through everything and it turns out he got a refund on his professional fees lately and put it in his Credit Union account. So that's €200 I didn't know about which will help to alleviate the car repair bill. We're also going to go through our medical expenses for last year and claim back for any prescriptions we bought during the year (we can't claim the full amount - it's a partial refund). Thankfully, we're all fairly healthy and don't have cause to visit the doctor very often. So it won't be a huge amount - maybe €15 or €20. But it all helps. There's also a fair bit of meat in the freezer so our grocery bill should be low for the next fortnight or so.

We're on a strict budget for the next two months and DH has agreed that we take out our weekly amount in cash and pay for everything with cash. I'm really pleased about this because he's never agreed to it before and he uses the debit card to pay for everything. I think he'll be a bit more frugal if he has a weekly sum to spend and knows he has to eke it out over 7 days and can see it dwindling as he spends.

We also had a talk about our long term financial goals and I'm happy to report that we're on the same page financially . Once our holiday is out of the way, we'll concentrate on paying off our credit card and then start to accrue savings. I'm aware that DD is starting secondary school in September and college is starting to loom and we'll be facing college fees and possibly accommodation/living away from home costs for DD. I should add that college is 'free' in Ireland but you have to pay registration fees of €3,000 per year. So it's not really free. If you're on benefits or are a low earner you can apply for a grant, but we won't qualify as we both work.

Anyway, I feel a lot better after our talk (DD was at a friend's house and we could talk freely). We had more bad news re: car though. DH was parked down the town yesterday morning and he discovered later in the day that someone put a dent in his car and scratched it. It's not a big dent and we're not going to do anything about it until after the holiday.

NSD yesterday. Today I spent €66 on two dresses from Next for DD. One of them is going back though. I've told DD she can keep the one she likes most. I haven't bought any summer clothes for her in about two years so her wardrobe needs updating but I'll do it gradually. She gets most of her t-shirts and leggings in Penneys (a.k.a. Primark) but I wanted to get her a nice dress for the summer.

I've read back my usual five pages.

Laska great value on the bedding for DS

need sorry to read you were having such a bad day on Friday. Living with someone with mental health issues can be very tough and I think it's healthy to let it all out every now and again.

Meadow sorry to hear you've been turned down for PIP . Hope you've managed to put it out of your head temporarily and that you're having a fun weekend in London. The electricity bill sounds really high (£300 for 2 months). Ours is approx. 75 a month and things are generally more expensive here. Although that doesn't include heating as we have an oil tank.

em congrats. on the new house! It sounds perfect. The nursery also sounds lovely but very expensive. A very exciting few months ahead for you.

Lonely well done on the weight loss. Sorry to hear about your ex messing around with the child maintenance

Love I agree - you can never have too much cake

Wreck nice tops. Your DH was being very unreasonable about the childminder bill. Enjoy the barbecue today.

Sunny that was kind helping your neighbour.

north well done on the weight loss also. Great news about DH's bonus .

Cag well done on filing your tax return! You must be so relieved. I'm the world's greatest procrastinator so I know (only too well) what it's like. I put something off for ages and it's always there in the background, niggling away. When I finally get off my arse and get it done, it's never as bad as I feared.

Girlie good news about the new sofa.

Hello to everyone else I haven't mentioned by name.

Went to the boat show. Spent £14 on two Sri Lankan curries dhal rice and coconut sambal. Mmm.

And picked up info re wetsuits, a sea kayak and outdoor garden bean bags.

As of tomorrow we are back to being frugal. I'll never be a super frugal type. But every penny saved counts. So no unnecessary spends.

Same here Em, re being super frugal ways. Curry sounds lovely.

Sorry, I've lost track a bit today.

mammy The mascara is Clinique Lash Power. It's £20 but genuinely the only one that doesn't smudge on me. A S&B thread recommended a £2 Natural Collection one, but it lasted about 2 hours.

Spends last night.
£20 downloading the boxing last night as we had friends round.
£25 Pizza.

We very rarely go out for meals in groups, so can't comment on the sharing thing! We always got other folks houses or vice versa.

Wondering where Seacow is?

That sounds really sensible Tayto re the financial planning.

Today, NSD.

Have found Amazon sell wardrobe storage/packing boxes. 5 for £24. Ive emailed local removals firm to see whether they sell them and how much each.

I know also that local pound shop had plastic storage boxes in stock the other day. Will take a wander down there on Tuesday at lunchtime and see if they still have them. They could come in handy for packing/moving.

Oh, we watched a TV programme last night about Richard Branson's island (Necker Island). Apparently it costs €14,000 a week to stay there . They interviewed a British couple who live in a very basic terraced house but holiday there every year. The wife said she came into an inheritance when she turned 21. Their neighbours don't know where they go for their holidays (I guess they do now).

Long term financial goals

1. Pay off Credit card
2. Save for college for DD
3. Buy tropical island with flamingos

That should be £14,000. It would cost more in euros.

tayto absolutely.

A client of mine has a place in the mountains and rents it out for €34,000 a week in ski season. we deal with the bookings and so far are fully booked for the 17/18 season.

I've stayed there for a night before, it's absolutely beautiful. Would I pay that price for the high season (maybe if I could a) ski and b) was mega loaded)? That's the only sad part of my job. Seeing how the other half live. But then perks are getting to stay somewhere lovely for free (two days one night, we flew in my clients jet and dh came too - he skis and had a ball).

Kitten cuddles!!

wreck omg such a cutie! Is he/she yours???

No my friends! He's still asleep on me!

Very sensible, Tayto. You must feel a huge weight off, after your talk.

Spends: £19.98 on gifts for my new nephew; £1.18 on a card; £1 mailbags; 95p deodorant for DS; £2 choker; £8.50 lunch (halloumi and large mushrooms with hummus in a brioche roll and salad and a Fentiman's rose lemonade. Le yum!) and 95p on a honey biscuit.

Oooh creme rose lemonade! Sounds lovely! Taste like Turkish delight??

A friend last night had a rose petal vodka and tonic. I had a teeny sip. So yum. Will be having that again (post baby obviously).

Girlie I'd bloody love a corner sofa. We had one for 10 minutes once but it was faulty. It went back on the van which was lucky because it filled the whole lounge/kitchen in our first rental. I can still see Dh in the hallway mouthing "fucking hell" to me. I'm on cetrizine syrup, my cheeks are less itchy now. Got hydrocortisone 1% too.

£20 hair and beauty wholesalers.
£4 screws. Dh put the skirting & kickboards back on, the cats livid & is trying to prise it off
£79 boden but I'm returning an order of the same value. Sizings gone a bit mad.

I'm jealous of a corner sofa too girlie. Cannot even consider it until we've completely cracked potty training as our leather type sofa wipes clean so well.

Ooooh tayto going to look up that programme. I love seeing how the rich people live!

NSD although will really need bread and milk tomorrow

Hello all. We had a fab time in London! We are on the train back now, first class so have wifi . Haven't read back other than this page yet so will do that tomorrow. I am absolutely knackered, all of my body aches from all the walking we've done but sorta in a good way, I'm proud that I managed to keep going for so long. Now back to the real world where exam prep awaits...

Wreck Love the cat!

Tayto Sounds like you had a very productive chat.

Creme I love Fentiman's rose lemonade! Yummy.

I like to split the bill if we all ordered similar-ish stuff but don't like to if I'm trying to be frugal and ordered a lot less/didn't drink etc and likewise if I notice somebody else ordered a lot less/didn't drink etc I would feel too bad to have them effectively subsidise my meal so would suggest paying for ourselves in those situations.

Love the kitten.
Had a fab night staying at a friends house with another mother and all the kids enjoyed a sleep over, it was so much fun and only cost a couple of bottle of wine as we ate in. We went swimming today but that was free too as part of her gym membership.

We managed to have a skint first week of the month after pay day (someone here gave me the idea) and we managed to only spend £100 for whole week that's all food, toiletries, going out and general spending. Really pleased especially as on the programme rich house poor house the poor house have only that much to live on. Which is the bottom 10% poverty wise.
However I know I'm blessed as I don't need to worry about paying to heat or eat.

Love the programme was broadcast on RTE (Irish TV) last night but I think it's a repeat so maybe it's out there in cyberspace? It's called 'Billionaire's Paradise: Inside Necker's Island'. I didn't set out to watch it (DH was watching it and I was browsing on the net) but I got drawn into it. It was interesting to see the contrast between the lives of the cleaning and gardening staff (who live on a nearby island and get a boat across every morning/evening) and the rich guests who stay there and have their every whim catered for. Two of the staff are married and have kids but their kids are the only kids who live on the island.

I can still see Dh in the hallway mouthing "fucking hell" to me.

fluffy I love your turn of phrase. This totally cracked me up.

I think I may have had an NSD today.