May we continue our furious frugaleering into June : )

[mammymammyIRL]

Anyone new, lurking or regular poster interested in getting the best value for their money big or small- this is our happy place join in

Whatever makes you comfy wins I say!

I have a little smile em every time you write 'baby boy' a boy! EEEEEEEK so excited for you, can't believe you are over halfway til you meet your son :) :)

Is it weird that we are bunking off 'school' tomorrow - by which I mean our regular activities - we're off to the beach instead :) there's a swimming pool there too which we are going to try. More expensive than our local (where we get HE discount) but apparently this one is awesome with flumes etc. Everywhere will be busy next week due to half term so this week it is, DH's hours are changing a bit after this so making the most of the chance. Although TBH I was tempted anyway because the last few weeks just make me want to say "sod everything let's run away" :o so we are doing it on a small and temporary scale :o

Thank you meadow re: assessment and glad exam went well x

Goodness you're all busy, I'm struggling to keep up, can't think why! We've actually had ybusy few days seeing various friends and family members.
My NSD run ended last night as I spent 50 something quid in the supermarket. That wasn't even our main shop, it was mostly for the cat and the babies.

We've been spending too much on food lately as we've been relying on sweet treats to get us through the sleep deprivation but we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel so as of next week I'm back to shopping in Aldi/Lidl/Asda and trying to cut the food bill down as much as possible.

I've just been doing my budget/spending spreadsheet and it's quite interesting (I'm getting a bit nerdy about it now).

So, current spending which includes new mortgage amount and our debt repayments and everything else...comes out at 73% (this is at DH higher pay due to his overtime, otherwise the ratio would be 83% spending at his basic wage). So in theory a savings rate of 27%

But without debt payments it's 64% savings and therefore savings rate of 36%

But....whoa, without a mortgage it decreases to 31% spending...and s whooping savings rate of pretty much 70%.

I worked out that our spending over a year without a mortgage equates to around £19,200. Which is $24,837 and that is the same a Mr Money Moustache.

I'm really pleased as I've come a long way since joining this thread and have read up a lot about personal finance. So it's good to know that we are soonish to be in the black.

But essentially we are now (hip hooray) frugallers 😎

I urge you all to do a simple but epic spreadsheet.

all I did a spreadsheet course recently, I really should follow your lead and use what I learnt

So, my financial planning seminar has put me in a quandry. I thought I'd decided giving up my job was the way to go, but I hadn't really considered how good my pension I will get actually is. Some months I feel like after costs such as travel and childcare all I'm doing is paying towards a pension. But that actually is worthwhile long term.

Sadly since DD2 is sleeping so poorly and deciding to quit, I care much less about work which means I don't mind going so much and am much less stressed .

Sorry, I think I'm going to keep boring you with my shall or shall I not quit!

The financial planner did suggest Martin Lewis' one day a year of sorting through finances like a wise (can't remember who) frugaleer suggested!

seacow I hadn't worn leggings for 15 years until pregnant. Style or unflattering things go out of the window when comfort is involved!

Well done meadow

£10 Morrison

Don't worry about postage Wreck, just pm me where to send, k?

Hi all quick pop on to say hello!!

Beautiful weather here, busy day with work and then over to my brother and sil for a bday tea.

NSD.

Have I told you lot I've joined a rounders team?!

Have a feeling I may seriously embarrass myself, sports is not really my strong point!! That said i need to do something as am so unfit dd can come along and watch me do something for a change

Thanks Mammy that's really kind of you. Tbh it's a lot about seeing what's in the shop and designing something from the material usually, and I don't like to send you on a wild goose chase. I can't pretend I'm not tempted by the thought though.

We had Beavers tonight and it was good again.

Cag Your social communication clinic sounds good. I could do with some lessons too

Thought it might be sunny no worries

I'm thinking of getting back into cross stitch again, dd wants to learn.

Rounders sounds fun girlie
Have you made any step towards dating as you were considering or have all our dh related issues put you off

If anyone else has Sainsburys lego cards going Id like some for DGS , especially unopened packets..

I ended up gong d for dinner in local italian with DS ( and paying of course £32.20.. it was nice to spend some time with him though..
However Im now busted for the month on personal spends ...

House account has also taken a hammering also this month (paying for holiday stuff) and we have weekend guests and the car is low on diesel.. Bum .. (Luckily, i have some reserves ,but they had 'christmas' written by them..) I ishould able to claw back some from next months budget as we are away for hols soon and have already bought our euros.

girlie I love rounders. You'll have an awesome time!

That's so cool Girlie! Rounders is one of the most popular sports DH runs at his classes. Often get the mums wanting to join in :o

I think it's a great example to set your DD too :)

Ha ha great idea Girlie, good for you!

You are all so right about comfort. I ❤️ My Crocs... now there's a sentence I never thought I'd say!

I need to buy birthday present gifts for a 4-yr old boy and girl (DS is going to their party). What sort of thing do kids that age like? DS is so atypical I have no idea what his peers are into. I want to add to my amazon order. Also need a boy 6th birthday present for a family friend, quite boisterous. Would normally spend about £15 on him, but £5-£10 on party present. Is that reasonable?

It's boiling here, still so humid 💦

I'm not having the best evening here. DH did a tin of soup for me just now as I'd not been up to eating before, I then realised it was out of date. So I heated a box of Micro Chips instead. And then spilled them all over the floor. still ate them

christmas DGS 4 loves: jigsaws (he is mad on them) , Alphabet bingo , Monster Snap (we got ours from Waterstones). Skittles, My first Uno game , Marble run, any cars, Duplo, Tractor Ted and Sesame street Dvds.. Dot to dot....

Glad the exam went well Meadow. I set exams and used to set them for the Open University. Sometimes if a question is answered really badly we ask a very similar one next year. Also it is very difficult to thînk of new questions when the syllabus is unchanging.
Girlie, love that you are joining a rounders team. Such a good game.
I went to watch DGD playing rounders recently against another school. They were all aged 8.
The bowler threw the ball badly. The batter missed it but ran. The backstop failed to catch it and scrambled to get it. She threw it badly and the person on the base failed to catch it. She scrambled to get it. Eventually the batter scored a rounder. No one had hit or caught the ball. And repeat. I think there were 3 hits in the whole game. But they loved it and ran about in the park. It was hilarious watching it.
Spent all day in the garden faffing about with my vegetables.

Christmas, my DGS aged 4 loves Lego, and then more Lego and play mobile.

Evening all (showing age)

Monday £8 on a pair of shoes for DD2's costume for Saturday (one of the other mum's picked them up for me). £150 dancing fees for all 3 DC.

Tuesday £11.70 top up and lunch in Tesco. £10 to DS to top up his Oyster

Wednesday £44.25 holiday club for DD's in half term. DD1 is doing 2 days, DD2 only one as she's having a play date on the Friday. £1 for DS for police cadets tomorrow.

Thanks fluffy that's really helpful. Have bought the la Roche stuff to try. So £35 on that and £7 on cakes for work since it was my birthday the other day. I remembered lunch though 😊

Girlie rounders sounds great fun and what a good example to your daughter

Em sorry the house stuff is frustrating. I'm sure it will work out in the end. Are you getting any particular feedback on why people aren't making an offer?

All spreadsheet sounds fantastic. I love a good spreadsheet. I'm lucky that i have a website provided with my work pension that can pull together all bank accounts and credit cards and analyse spending and saving. Just getting to grips with it but at the end of the month I'll have to see if i can work out my spend/save ratio

DGS is still on duplo (but thats all we have so far) . its Duplo city in our house when he is here. He loves his duplo train, the farm animals and people, the plane , and building 'houses' and towers.

I like building a duplo Airport , especially the 'check in' hall where he has to send all the people around in queues to different desks with their suitcases to get on the plane , and if hes forgotten their passports or tickets he has to go back round again ( well he has to learn !!).
We also make duplo castles and magic animal temples ( sometimes Greek style with columns - its for his classical education!! ) .. - well i get bored of just making the train! -

I'm not controlling am I ? .. its 'free expression' play.. , Sometimes we have unexpected earthquakes or planes or trains crash into it all and there is utter carnage!

holly the only feedback we've had is that they just don't like it enough. Which makes me annoyed because I love it here. They should to. But the. I figure if they don't like it enough then they're not worthy to have it.

Have calmed down somewhat I know things will happen. And I know I've just got to be patient. but oh my lord it's frustrating

As you can imagine we have loads of Duplo! It was a great bargain, Someone at work sold me a whole big bin full for £20 and then he was given stuff like the plane and number train as presents.

The same person later sold me another big bin full of Lego for £25 which is in the cupboard for when he gets older.. however we have no instruction sheets for any of it ..and I know it was all space ships and cars and stuff. ah well, lt will have to be be more free expression.

What age do they have Lego rather than Duplo?