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.

[SunnyLikeThursday]

It's got loads of magnesium in it too, which you need to get to sleep. I think that's why people drink cocoa at bedtime, among other reasons.

[TeaAndBisquits]

Hello all!

I'm jumping on the thread to hopefully cut back on unnecessary spending! Our nursery fees have gone up by a lot again and we need to cut back!

Today I've spent £12 getting bits to take to a friends for a BBQ.

I'm hoping Tomorrow and Wednesday will both be NSDs.

Hope everyone has had lovely Easter weekends?

[Mummysh0rtlegs]

We had a lovely Easter weekend, but it made me cross how much I spent. DH didn't ask me to pick up eggs for his niece and nephew, I got my nephew's malteser eggs for 99p each. Yesterday morning my husband sent me for emergency eggs, cheapest I could get came to £14.
After I came back from that I went to get the puddings from the freezer (we were going to my mum's and my sister and I always cover starter and pudding), I got three lovely puddings in Aldi on Thursday and asked DH to put them in the freezer in the garage. He put them in the fridge, so they had to be chucked. I had to spend another £13 in the petrol station replacing them. So £30 on things I shouldn't have to have spent anything on made me pretty cross.
Those two things have prompted me to return to the fold. Neither were my fault as such, but I feel like money is slipping through my hands like water again.

[lifelongfrugaleer]

Hi tea and welcome.

I will investigate PCP. I will go and waste some car salesmen time and get a few test drives in

[CremeEggThief]

£5.27 top-up shop in the Co-op. Walked there and back (just over 3.5 milespecially round trip) and got in just before it started raining heavily, so feeling like a winner! Going to make Em's lemon pasta now and then eat some of my 2nd Easter egg while watching "Broadchurch".

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

Hi all sounds like people have had a nice bank hol? I have worked today but actually it was quite a nice day not too busy and no extra visits came in

Dd was at my mums and they had a nice day, went crabbing and caught 5 crabs so dd was happy

Anyone had any experience of dealing with this disgusting garden pest called a 'leather jacket' they are absolutely revolting, think along the lines of a maggots less attractive cousin unfortunately my garden is full of them They are apparently very common on new builds around here as our house was farmland not so long ago. My day off is tomos so am going on a mission to find something to kill them, they have already killed some of my new plants and large patches of grass Grim.

Have managed a NSD.

[LonelyOversharer]

Crikey, page 4 before I've caught up. Been trying to read up all day, but four posts in I've had "Muuuum, I really need.../so and so's hit/bitten/scratched me..." It's been one of those days!

But, on a whim we called a ferret rescue. The rest, as they say is history we now have 4 ferrets. £60 but very well spent and good cause. We took our own with us, they are very wriggly, so had to stop and get an emergency cat box en route! £19. He was out of the box we had before we'd left the village.

Our diesel car is 10, but suits us. It owes us nothing, so we'll run it until it dies. But we don't live in a city, and expectations for emissions is low, think smelly bus! My parents just swapped for a 17 plate diesel. I think the garage saw them coming, but he seems happy with it. I have to keep my nose out!

Easter sunday was nice, we had a good sunday lunch that I didn't cook and an egg hunt in the pouring rain, the only shower of the day, that lasted the exact time it took my dc's to find all the eggs!

[Cagliostro]

OOOOH FERRETS!!! So cute.

Just spent ages - and £100 - on a big Tesco shop for tomorrow. Not sure I've got many meals out of that, but I'm all stocked up for 'safe' food. I may turn into a giant cracker though.

[SnugglySnerd]

Welcome, Tea.

Ran out of cat food today and walking to local shop was less effort than getting everyone in the car to go to the supermarket but it is a bit more expensive. I suppose that's something I'm going to have to live with for the time being. I suppose we saved a bit on petrol though and got some exercise

[ememem84]

snuggly we need to do that. Wills. So sensible. So grown up.

sunny I think it's something they've got going on in France at the moment. At least in 3 cities. It may not be just diesel though maybe just emissions. I'm tying to persuade dm to get a sticker but she's adamant that when they're in France they don't go into a city. Have pointed out a few times that St Malo, where the ferry goes into, is a city... so they will have it there eventually.

Races were super fun. Sun came out yay!! I had £40 to bet with. Came back about £10 down. But great day out and we don't do it often.

Have caught a bit of sun on my face too 🌞🌞🌞

Dh made veggie curry for dinner. Yummmmmm

[ChristmasSeacow]

Feeling glad we bought a petrol car 2 years ago - we did consider diesel but it wasn't worth it to us as we do very low mileage.

We also did our wills while I was pregnant with DS - as we weren't married I was adamant I wasn't giving birth without a will in place! We knew we were getting married within a year or two so the wills were supposed to be written in such a way that they wouldnt need redoing (as they otherwise would on marriage) but I think I should check them. Also should check arrangements for 2 kids vs 1, and check our arrangements for guardianship of DCs, especially given DS's SN. Gosh, it's hard work being a grown-up!

Girlie I am not googling leather jacket pests - I don't want them in my brain! Hope you find something - if you don't already it might be worth putting bird feeders out to get some regular visitors and hope the birds help you out there.

My parents and sisters came round for lunch today, I did a roast and the garden egg hunt for DS. It was a dull day but stayed dry for the egg hunt at least. DS seems to have come down with something though - he has a temperature over 39 and slept this afternoon (v unusual for him). Don't think he'll be going to nursery tomorrow . We can have a nice cuddly duvet day together.

Looking forward to Broadchurch here too Cag. There's some good telly on at the mo - Line of Duty was exciting last night too.

[TeaAndBisquits]

Christmas, I hope your DS feels better soon. A duvet day sounds like a great idea.

I'm back to work tomorrow after 12 days off. It's going to be a shock to the system!

[LonelyOversharer]

girlie leather jackets hatch into daddy long legs I think. If you come across them either toss them in the garden rubbish, or leave them in a pile for the birds? I dig up ruddy great caterpillars here my chickens love them

We took the ferrets for a walk (we got harnesses from the rescue lady too)...more stress than fun! They will get used to it. I don't think the two girls have ever been outside, it blew their minds!

[ememem84]

lonely I missed the bit about ferrets. Cuutte!!

[MeadowHay]

Lonely!! Ferrets!! Awww. DH and I love ferrets but I have read a lot about them and they seem quite high-maintenance pets? They are gorgeous and cute though. Can we have a pic? (if not no worries obv)

Anxiety about my exams is becoming problematic now, and it's still a few weeks until my first one. I don't know how I'm going to get through all this time without getting really unwell and also doing myself justice in the exams .

Girlie DH was at work today and it was absolutely chocca where he was! He said it was the worst day in A&E he's had since a few months ago when the A&E department declared an official crisis thing, poor thing. But he's got some time off now to rest.

DH and I don't have wills yet but we don't have any assets or kids. Whichever one comes first then I guess we will have to sort them.

[Coppersulphate]

Any pics of the ferrets. I love them. I think of them as one big wriggle.
Welcome Tea.
The papers today are saying the Govt.may offer £2000 to scrap 12 year oldish diesel cars but only to poor families in cities where emissions are high.
I have a '63 plate diesel. But want to change it but can't afford it.
Just booked 5 days in York for me and DGD for August. We did it last year but Jorvik was closed. She loved it so we are going again. Jorvik is getting booked up.
It is no wonder I can't afford a newish car.

[HollyTheHarrier]

Meadow sorry about the exam stress. Can you get access to any support through uni? If not, or even if so, maybe consider meditation, exercise, fresh air etc - hopefully those aren't trite and useless suggestions, I'm basing this on experience of 'normal' exam stress rather than underlying anxiety issues and I don't know which is the case for you.

I've never bothered with a will but I probably ought to look into it at least. If you're interested in leaving a legacy to a charity some of them will do it for you for free, but I think you'd need to be careful about being pressured to leave them more than you wanted.

Spends today £18 on food shop and £20 on a work skirt to replace one where the stitching has come badly undone. I might try repairing that one as well but it would be good to have another for smarter occasions!

My buyers are having their survey done this week A bit terrified at what they might find 😬

[Taytocrisps]

Evening. We had a nice day today. Dad was feeling a lot better so we did a short trip to a nearby Abbey. It's in ruins but still rather impressive and it's a very tranquil spot (apart from the tourists). A stream runs alongside it and there were lots of cows and calves around. We spotted a swan also. Our timing was great weather-wise as the sun came out when we got there and it was very pleasant in the April sunshine. I've attached two pics. Best of all, no entry fee or parking charge .

Our Easter food has run out now and I'm on holidays for the next week (except for Friday) so I've just placed an order with Tesco - €56.13 + €4 delivery charge - €10.50 Clubcard vouchers = €49.63.

We had lamb curry (leftover lamb) for dinner.

[Taytocrisps]

Sorry, I posted the same pic twice. This is the second pic.

[Taytocrisps]

Meadow sorry to hear that exam stress is rearing its ugly head . Do you attend any counselling sessions atm? Would the counsellor be able to suggest some coping techniques?

Copper sounds like a lovely break with your DGD. What's Jorvik?

Lonely I never knew people kept ferrets as pets! I'm laughing at the image of them walking in harnesses .

[AdoraBell]

Place marking.

[WreckTangled]

Lovely day here!

[lifelongfrugaleer]

4 ferrets. Goodness.

Not sure what we will do today. Dh back at work and typically the weather is nice again. Probably just park.

[scattyspice]

Ferrets 😀fab!
Lovely pictures Tayto, Wreck.
Dh back to work today, DS needs a haircut and they want to go into town. DS needs shorts but apart from cafe and bus fares l shouldn't need to spend anything ( must be strong ).
DD 1st performance tonight, we'll go and see her so need money for tickets and drinks.
Have a good day everyone ☺

[SunnyLikeThursday]

I've never had leatherjackets Girlie They don't sound fun. I see you can get a nematode treatment for them with a coverage measured in square metres, so that is very encouraging.