We’ve had our Merry Thriftmas, now bring on the Happy Fru Year! All welcome as we Frugaleer our way into January 2018.

[Cagliostro]

A new thread in case we are too tipsy (or in my case, asleep on the sofa) to remember later.

This is a friendly group where we chat all things money related and all things everything else related. Everyone welcome so settle in and let’s make 2018 the year we save money!

Hi everyone I'm new to this thread so I have a lot of catching up to do! But I'm really keen to save some money this year as I had my DS 11 weeks ago and our one bed flat just isn't big enough thus a move to somewhere bigger is much needed! I will be mining the thread for advice and support on how best to save. I don't have any credit cards or personal loans, just a big student loan! I'm also self employed which makes things a bit less consistent money wise. Anyway enough rambling from me

laska he does usually pay every month, just goes nasty as Christmas for some reason. Did miss 8 months when he went expat (didn't tell me of course, just let his old uk account run down, then I tied to make it without his money, got into shit loads of debt, and had to find him on facebook, he hadn't noticed he wasn't paying).

Bollocks to it. We'll be ok I suppose.

On lighter news, the cat puked up some minced wild animal (rabbit or rat judging by the size) at the top of the stairs, and dp trod in it! Tee hee.

Lost I plan lunches but not as strictly. For example this next few weeks our lunches are crackers and cheese/toast/cheese quesadillas. All just standard stuff really and once it's gone it's gone (although we have loads of crackers)

Ewww lovely that's so gross!!!

Not sure what we're doing today. Friends mentioned the beach but not sure they knew how windy it was going to be.

I am so unexcited about going back to work today. And my train fare has gone up by 60p. Pitch black too. Currently stood next to the coffee place and resisting

Well done on resisting the coffee loveabacon! There are some great tips on here, I need to start recording them somewhere. I also need to start looking into cashback sites. We have more birthday purchases to make this month so maybe we could use one for that.

Wow such a busy thread!

I went through my dh bank account for November to try and understand what we are spending, I think he was really shocked - the biggest surprise to us was that he spent just as much on the lottery on what I call 'family fun' eating out or going out! He promised to not buy lottery tickets any more as it put it in perspective.

I had already done a grocery shop before New Years but went to ALDI to get ice cream as my son had made a lovely dessert, but as usual ended up buying other stuff. In fairness I only spent £5 and on food but prob didn't need it.

Yesterday we also had to fix our heating which only cost £100 but was a £100 we don't have.

Our downfall is managing the little spends which all add up.

But got left overs for lunch.

Caglio, thanks! I do look at him sometimes and think he’s the best 16k I’ve ever spent!

We’ve just had a bit of good news this morning that my wonderful stepdad wants to pay off our credit cards with his Christmas bonus! We will soon be debt free, I can’t quite believe it. Just the house to get rented out and we will be fine.

I still want to continue to regulate our spending though. My H has chronic kidney disease and although he’s hopefully a while off dialysis, we need to get some savings behind us to cope with the worst.

Lostemail, if it’s jusy the odd visitor and you are used to cooking for so many anyway I’d just bulk the meal out as it is with extra carbs. If you’re anything like me I over cook anyway so always have too much.

It’s when we are entertaining that the budget gets blown as I like to really treat people and my H is a great cook. I love having people over to eat.

lost re meal planning - we plan everything (except snacks).

cag smoked salmon...oh yummmmm. Cagletini can’t be teething yet can she?! I have no idea when they’re meant to mind you. Ds has been blowing bubbles and dribbling for a while now. And is obsessed with putting his hands in his mouth. Grubby little cute face he is.

It’s blowing a hooley here. Have just dropped dh into work. Did not want to do this as windy rainy had to get ds up and out the house etc. And trees down everywhere roads closed etc. Just back now.

Ferries cancelled today and for the foreseeable future. Flights are not coming in today but are leaving if they got in last night.

Ds is going to sleep in his cot tonight. Still in the Moses basket. But just in the cot. Just to get used to it.

This thread is amazing! Was very frugal last year as we saved for house deposit. I used cash envelope system, took a lot if organisation but worked! Bought my grandparents farmhouse and had DS and then went a bit off the rails spending so time to reign it in!
Lots of work to do on house including replacing part of shed roofs AGAIN as storm Eleanor ripped them off

£11.41 in co op yesterday. Whole chicken, lamb steaks, bread, milk, potatoes, broccoli and some reduced new potatoes dp adores. Roasted the whole chicken with roast potato, stuffing and veg for dinner yesterday. Having chicken and stuffing sandwiches for lunch today and making pasta bake with chicken. For dinner. Will boil the bones with some veg etc for soup tomorrow. First time I've ever done anything like this so I'm pretty excited for the frugalness.
We have really got into trying to wean DD now. She liked carrot and potato but less keen on banana. Trying sweet potato today. We've also been setting her earlier bed time. Got her back to 8.30pm now. Was strange sitting downstairs last night without her.
Should be nsd if my parcel doesn't arrive until late or lsd if I managed to get out the house before dark. Will just pop to the shop for yogurt and fruit.

Mo Queen of stock making here!
Sorry if this is unwanted advice but to avoid watery stock this is what i do .. If youve not done it before can i suggest that you strip the chicken of biggest pieces if meat. Keep these for eventual soup or use in something else .Then put the bones -break up carcass first- in just enough water to cover plus about half an inch. Then bring to boil then Simmer very slowly with lid i on for at least an hour. Dont bither to add veg except if you have half an old onion carrot outside celery stick etc you wont be using for anything else . Then cool the lot and strain. .Then leave in fridgeor cool place until next day and skim the hardened fat off. Put back in pot and boil rapidly lid off to at least halve the amount of liquid .
Then make your soup with fresh veg and the stock us chicken bits.. Believe me its much better this way to get good flavoured soup that isnt watery.

Actually what i usually do is boil the stock right down to really concentrate and freeze in ice cubes sonetimes i freeze chicken carcasses and do two at once

Morning All!

Couple of DD's out of the account today - Spotify, Calm (meditation app that has become such a crutch for me and can't get to sleep without it), and Netflix.

Also spent £1.17 on fictitious insurance to get the Meerkat Movies deal.

Spendy evening planned as it's mine and DH's first "date night" in yonks. Dinner and cinema....but I have codes for a couple of chain restaurants near us and the Meerkat Movies code do damage will hopefully be limited!

Really blustery day here in London too - nearly showed everyone my ginormous granny pants when my dress billowed out around me 😱

The betterthe chicken the better the stock also as they will have stronger bones and be tastier This is what t i do to justify buying expensive free range chicken fron local farm once a month rather than cheaper ones. I also buy chicken wings frim the same place . Chicken wings make great stock or soup

Morning!

Day 3 of potty training with no success. Have admitted defeat and will try agin in a few weeks as she really isn't getting it.

Got some lovely mugs in the anthropology sale online which will help with January's birthdays. No NSD yesterday! Second day of packed lunch for DD and dinner will be some freezer/cupboard concoction!

My mum gave me two packs of smoked salmon (her xmas leftovers) which I forgot about. 1 was out of date yesterday and one today. Opened one yesterday which I can use up today but am wondering if I can freeze the other??

Loveabacon - we bought a big box of disposable coffee cups a couple of months back. Far cheaper than buying coffee out and you don't have the inconvenience of carrying around a travel mug. It has saved us £££ on Costa/Nerro visits.

Lunches

I use the girl called Jack recipes online. I usually make the lentil & tomato spicy soup with home made stoneground whole meal bread & fresh coriander on top.

This weeks is spicy butter bean soup.

Or home made chicken liver pate on toast or leftovers if I've made a daal.

Or falafel in pitta breads from lidl, they make the best pittas.

The kidney bean burgers are good too.

Dried lentils, beans, marrowfat peas, pearl barley are all super cheap & you can get them in big packs in the ethnic aisle with the big packs of spices. Spices are so cheap. You can freeze chopped onion, celery & carrot for the soffrito base to speed it up a bit.

Turquoise That's super generous of him. It sounds like you have enough money but your spending it in the wrong areas ie the lottery.

Laska Can that stock be made in a slow cooker?. I have a big chicken for tonight.

My bank accounts never looked so good
€1300 coming out of personal for further credit card payment and mortgage due out of joint account €762.99, our trs has reduced so payment is €7 more than last year.
Credit card rates & balances
1 - 14.6 €727
2 - 14.0 €1144
3 - 3.9% €4897 €397 overlimit
These balances reflect what I paid off yesterday.
I have €500 more in about a week to pay against credit card debt.
Today I will pay €500 against cc3 to bring it under limit. €700 to cc1 and pay off fully when next statement comes and remaining €100 against cc2 and when cheque clears next week pay another €500 against it and change standing order to €50 to clear by mid March. Any spare money will be thrown at cc debt also. When cc2 is cleared I will change standing order to cc3. Once I've sat down and done budget properly I'll see if I can put more against cc debt.
Also I need to add the Christmas spends up to see if any repayment is to come from joint account.

Tayto we've got Service Man it's only €30 if they can't fix your appliance, would ye have something similar? Bet ye'll reuse lots of plates & glasses now rather than hand washing when ours went a few years ago I got one from Littlewoods on buy now pay 6 months later with 0% interest

Storm Eleanor is the worst one for a while, I'm doing Run Every Day January hope it eases up later, if not I'll do about 1km!

Loving talk of lemon curd, I had a lemon curd yogurt last night, and bought a jar last month too 69c of lemony goodness

I only meal plan for dinners too lost but I know others do more meals. Extra person here means extra veg/carbs cooked and meat divided up smaller, it's rare though in our house

Welcome gimble congrats on your ds not much between him and em's ds

Turquoise that's fantastic news and very generous of your stepdad

We've had a bit of good news dsd is talking about making a start on building her house, if that happens we should have rental income from dh's mothers house in a few years, it'll probably need some money spent on it but hopefully the minuscule rent she's paying will cover that and it was given to them in a habitable condition fully furnished so hopefully will be returned that way.

Em dd started teething at 11 weeks first tooth at 11 months

Yobo fantastic budgeting skills there

I'm thinking of buying a chicken for roasting today also missingmo as I'm away with dc tomo and dh has apparently been living on sausages and rashers as a quick dinner while we were away so at least he'd have tomo of a cooked chicken dinner and there's some steak too so he can have proper meals, he could also have done this when we were away though

Laska I just screenshot your post of stock making

Macarena definitely freeze smoked salmon in portions, it's on my list of things to do today

I had planned to pop into the shop to get bread on the way home from the cinema, instead I’ve put the bread maker on. Frugal win as long as no one in the family gets distracted by the restaurants round the cinema. Spendy day yesterday so need to balance it out a bit today

Ds is napping. In. His. Cot. I feel like a super hero.

I’ve hoovered the living room and bedroom. Washing is on washing up is done. House looks respectable. Which is a good thing as Dm is babysitting later so I can head to my appointment.

I’m having a sit down and a hot cup of tea. Woop.

Aaah cute babyboyface 😍😍😍 also he has such cool bedding!

This morning I put away aaaaall newborn/1 month clothing. She’s now officially in 0-3m. She is 2 months 9 days 😂 tiny thing.

Nappies arrived from Lidl product test this morning, in the nick of time as she won’t be in that size much longer. Not actually sure of their retail price, I’d only go out of my way to buy them if they are significantly cheaper. Tesco nappies are great and super cheap as it is.

Right I’m off to make a very long to do list of all the things I won’t be doing today.

As for teething it’s usually later but then some babies are born with teeth so I guess there must be a lot of variation. I’m not entirely convinced she is but she does seem distressed by it occasionally. I have forgotten all this stuff from when I had the Caglets!

@Laska any frugal food advice is greatfully received so thank you.

@mammy my dp often complains of having no food to eat when there's a great with some imagination and effort.

Parcel has arrived already so it's out to the shops for me. I'll hopefully spend less than £5

Laska Thanks for the stock making tips. We tend to bin carcasses but will definitely give this a try next time I have a whole chicken.

2018 needs to be the year that I declutter my house as I think that would save me a fortune. I've lost count of the times that I can't find something and end up buying a new one only to find it months later when I don't need it - tape measures being a classic example. I have a cupboard of doom in my bedroom and it's such an ordeal going into it that I mostly don't bother - yet it's got all my nice toiletries and make up in it

My first goal of the year is to take everything out of there and clear an accessible space so that I can use it. The stuff I don't need I will sell, charity shop or bin ( suspect a lot might fall into the last category)

Thank you for the tips I've got main meals planned until next week so going to plan lunches too. I do batch cook but at the moment it's mainly veggie stuff as dd1 has just turned veggie so I'm joining her.
Was hoping not to spend anything today but looks like I may have too. A friend visited this morning with 6 giant cooking apples and I don't have any brown sugar in for Apple pies and crumble.

fluff yes stick fine in slow cooker but you will still need to boil down to concentrate late .Also dont put any salt in stock .. addto the recipe ypu are using it for instead