Still frugaleering into Autumn.....

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New thread for us all to chat, support each other and hopefully save some money!!

£9 in Morrison's today

Red Thai curry chicken curry with frozen spinach and frozen butternut squash and frozen onions. Cheeeeeaaaap frugal dinner.

And there's enough for dh to take for lunch tomorrow. Yay!

More pea and courgette soup for lunch and more pork stirfry for dinner ( I made far too much of each, but deliberately - theres still soup left for a couple more days!)

Spends: £50 sent to DGS mum for school uniform/stuff contribution
5.99 on trainer socks in H&m
£117.50 credit card on 2 Ikea basic Poang chairs to replace the two we already have in conservatory and which have given up the ghost after 12 years .. I did look for some hessian / webbing stuff to mend , but they would have also needed recovering, and at £55 each plus 7.50 delivery new chairs seemed the better option .. ( am just not as clever as Lonely at mending things )

Wow lonely that sounds like you know what you are doing. I wish I was handy, that and could sing and play guitar, basically I would like to be frauline maria from the sound of music

Sainsburys a bit of a trek (for clothes and toys ) but there is one on my way from work so if there is time I will check it out.

£31.84 coop for the week. Dh does the shop now.

em that is brilliant spend for the week, was it more or less when you did the shop? I love frozen stuff like you mentioned for your curry before - morrisons does some good finest frozen chipolatas and I use that and herbs and stuff to make a cheap sausage stew type concoction.

yumyum oh i would have spent about £80.... dh gets annoyed at me when I do the food shop. Despite going with a list I'm a sucker for the special offers and always end up buying more than I need and tend to go "off liste"

He also does the meal plans. Usually. I did this weeks. We're trying to work with what we have. I want a fully stocked kitchen...

The only thing he bought which wasn't on the list was sausages. They've been freezered and will be used for meatballs next week.

Em we are sort of the opposite in our house, except for the meal planning. I can't comprehend being that organised! I do also get suckered into buying bargains though.

It has taken me months to find a budget option Greek yog suitable for dp - he only wanted to buy Total for his posh muesli!

Thanks so much to whoever mentioned Lego Masters on the last thread. It was brilliant! DD and I watched the first two episodes at the weekend and the last two episodes this evening. The final creations were really awe inspiring. I also loved the idea of getting children to make up a story and then having the competitors re-create the story with Lego. I really hope they turn it into an annual series/competition.

Well done on your half-marathon mammy. €50 wouldn't normally cover a weekly shop but I had a lot of tinned goods, pasta, detergents etc. from pay week. Also, it doesn't include milk because I have a milkman.

I tend to do my shop to include an extra meal to give me an option in case we don't fancy what was planned. I do meal plan too, but we have a lot of evening activities to incorporate.

Good session at Bootcamp tonight, so feel tired. Jools Oliver sausage and smokey bean stew for tea. Pretty frugal and definitely healthy with all the veggies involved!

Yum Lidl greek yoghurt is good if you need a suggestion?

Frozen butternut squash is a great idea Em, why didn't I think of that? I always end up not using some of a fresh one.

Fluffy I don't know if you've ever tried the Emma Hardie Moringa Balm, it's my favourite thing. Hot cloth cleanser. It's £££ but my jar has lasted nearly 10 months now.

I've heard good things about it but perfumes/essential oils make me pink. I'm on Clinique take the day off balm as its fragrance free.

Dh used it as moisturiser last week.

I think these expensive balms can work out cheaper than cheap cleansers.

need coop do bags of it. And also spinach, less, broadbeans,, onions, mixed peppers, sweetcorns, carrots, broccoli. We have all of the above in our freezer. For quickness.

Cheers em, that's good to know. Frugal option indeed.

I've a sample of the Clinique balm. fluffy, interested to see how it compares. Wasn't impressed with Liz Earle, although I know that's against the grain.

Almond milk is my favourite alternative to milk at present, yum.

I agree about expensive balms and oils working out cheaper. I usually ask for one for Christmas and for two years running has lasted until the following Christmas!

NSD yesterday.

Aldi do a version of both the blue and pink total yoghurt. They are nice too.

Nsd planned today

I think Liz Earle was good when we had a choice of Anne French milk or foaming washes, in the way a ford model t was an improvement on walking.

Very high in essential oils though.

My skin goes red with some products too. I had this cleansing balm in an amazon free gift beauty box last Christmas - it was pretty good and only need a little but does have oils in. meru maya I also had a small eve lom cleanser and muslin cloth in the beauty box I got this week which I am excited to use (the box was 14.50 but there are top cash back offers). I found Liz earle made my skin feel tight.

Need I gave dh Lidl greek this morning and he said urgh which yog is this even though he ate it yesterday without complaint he likes one from morrisons in a big dark blue tub but they haven't had it recently.

That's good to know about coop frozen veg, I use morrisons they have a pretty good selection - my faves are green beans (these are better than non fresh for me as so easy), peppers (good in omelettes but too small to roast) and obviously peas. Butternut squash and carrots are ok. I didn't like frozen onion but have got the hang of it now - basically hot big pan and not too much.

I remember being desperate to buy Anne French cleansing milk after reading about it in Just17!

I love frozen veg. Makes things much much easier. Not a fan of frozen cauliflower though. Eugh.

There's a lovely farm shop here which has freezers full of amazing veggies. It's like a veggie and fruit pick n mix. You takes your bags and your scoop and you fills them ups. Horrifically expensive. But as a one off occasionally... in winter we buy frozen strawbs and rasps from here for cakes/porridge/cereal. they also do the most monumentally delicious frozen french pastries - croissants, pain chocs, pain raisin, pain apricot....

I need to get petrol today. We have exactly 29 miles left in the car. Dh thinks in a few years time it'd be a hilarious story to tell baby boy "remember when mum went into labour and the car ran out of petrol..?!" No. No it wouldn't. Not funny. So I'm going to buy petrol. It's usually around £37 to fill the car up.

But that's my one outside job today. I'm making a veggie (soy mince) spag Bol for dinner so will get that on this morning then it's just a case of heating up later. Am finding I've more energy in the mornings so cooking then seems to work. Also need to do something with the blackberries I have in the freezer.

Bakers of the thread - could blackberry scones be a thing? Scone of the week!?

Oh frig sakes! I lost a post

Basically said I was thinking about hot cloth cleanser things.. Do they make a big difference? My skin often looks dull and greyish until I pop moisturiser on. Wish I looked healthy all the time. How do people do it? Fake tans and perfect hair. I think I'm too lazy!

Spends today include headband from Primark £2 ish and a hat.

Bus will be £2.55

Doing the weekly shop online later and the budget is £60 including pull ups.

collie no idea. I'd love perfect hair. My hair only looks perfect after I've left the hairdressers.

The tanning though- I've given up on fake tan. I use a tanning moisturiser now. Much easier and no need to go through the tan ritual (exfoliate, dry, tan, walk about like John Wayne waiting for it to dry, sleep, shower it off, panic because I've missed a vital patch always an ankle)

Currently using palmers cocoa butter self tab moisturiser. It smells nice and biscuity/cakey and will reduce stretch marks. Hoorah!

Must wash hair today too. Haven't washed it for 4 days so am predominantly dry shampoo at present.

Slipped up. Also bidding on a new gilet on eBay. Jack wills and my highest bid is £5.

em ooo the Palmers sounds nice! I currently have loads of Xen Tan gradual tanner to use up but I always forget and mistakes show up quite easily so it puts me off. When I have time I mix it with more moisturiser and it looks gorgeous. But I do have orangestreakphobia.

I totally regret having my hair cut. At least I know to never have shorter than a chin length bob.

Just realised I need new bras! There's a few sales around so hopefully I'll find a good deal to hoik them up...