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!

My stocking presents were all the free little toys my DF used to collect at petrol stations during the year. You used to get a smurf or whatever every time you filled up. He saved them up

Hmm... could be where i am going wrong looks at gut. actually when i am her on my own If its a 'wet' dish i often just use the bowls ..

Love the cat photo!

Welcome further new people, lots of friendly advice here and no judgement, it's not that type of MN thread x

laska.

Dinner for me tonight from fridge/cupboards (I'm hoping to eat everything in cupboards before move at end of month - bit of a food hoarder.

Soup made with oldish carrot, celery, sweet potato. Onions, garlic, stock. And from cupboard pearl spelt, few old lentils. Some tasteless tomatoes and out of date tofu.

Delicious, and plenty for dinner for dc and I tomorrow too (will serve with home made garlic bread out of freezer).

Always amazes me how much soup a few bits of veg can make rebecca, frugal for sure.

Going veggie has made me realise how expensive meat is, or how frugal veggie cooking is, whichever way you prefer.

My dh wanted to throw away what he called a 'wiggy' carrot 😱. It was perfectly fine but even if it had been wiggy I still would have used it!

I know and I didn't even add cheese! Though I did drizzle a bit of truffle oil on top which seems decadent, but it was Lidl truffle oil so not that decadent after all

the Cereal bowl from the set i mean need !! ..

Thank you for all your recommendations, I’ve ordered a contigo, it’s coming from America so will not be here for a few weeks but that was the cheapest price overall including postage, I had to have a bit of a word with myself to stop myself paying more to get it sooner - a nasty habit I have

I thought £10 per 30 minutes group session was a lot. I will have a look and see.

Thinking about it life, we have our own pony though, which reduces the cost, or increases our options, whichever way you look at it.

Certainly reduces my bank balance....

X

I need to go through he thread with a pad and pen the recipes look delish :)
I've not spent anything today :) and I've started putting the money is normally be spending in a jar if it's from my purse and if it's money is normally take out of the bank I'm transferring it into an old account. I'm hoping that once I see it grow then it's a habit I'll keep up with in future.
My ds2 and dd1 are back to having problems sleeping again they both have sensory issues and the dark seems to a trigger. They both share bedrooms with other siblings and I don't have any way of putting them in rooms on their own. We have tried mp3 players to try and help but it really isn't working. Bed tents was suggested but they are over £30 each and I don't want to pay that if they just end up being used once or twice.
I had thought about using old curtains to make them 1 each but can't figure out how to make it work. Was hoping that and a night light might work without disturbing the others.

Veggie green Thai curry for dinner. Yum. With white rice. Mmm. White rice. Bil had white rice which we inherited. Dh and dsis both favour brown rice. I tolerate it. So because I was cooking I used up bils rice.

Dh has decreed that from now on only brown carbs in the house - bread pasta rice wraps pittas. Boooorrrrrrriiinnnngggg. But healthier and cheaper. So he wins.

I weighed myself this morning. And am back on my fitness pal. Fitbit is charged up too and have found my copy of 52 small changes so am back on that. Week one. More water.

I think (fingers crossed) I’ll have paid off my credit card tomorrow. Dh transferred me money for my gym membership and half the Christmas gifts. I’ve used a bit of my savings to rid myself of the rest. There was a balance of £200 ish today so I’ve paid that off. I get my weekly maternity allowance tomorrow so will be ok for cash money.

life I pay £27 for an hours group lesson or £32 for half hour private lesson.

Absolutely try out a few stables - you need to find an instructor who works for you and dc.

Looks delicious, Need.

I'm stressed out, because my boiler has broken again. It went on Christmas day, so I had no heating or hot water for 2 days, when it was 'fixed'. The pressure had dropped to 0 and the engineer showed me how to re-set it, but he warned if it's happening frequently then it's probably a leak in the system somewhere. I managed to re-set it when it went off again on Monday night, and very briefly today, but it's not working at all now. I won't have to pay, as it's a HA property, but it's really annoying having no hot water and heating at these temperatures (3° here this week). I was so stressed earlier that I rinsed my rice I'd made for chilli in cold water instead of hot, (I'd re-filled the kettle with water to boil for washing up and forgotten I'd done so!), AND I used the surfaces sponge on the crockery, which is so not me at all! Argh!

Thanks for the tips Seacow and Wolf . I will try Wilkos tomorrow and add lard to the shopping list. The DC would probably enjoy making fat balls.

Oh, do you all remember the "my dh ate a fatball" thread? Twas hilarious. It must be in classics.

Are they denby imperial blue? I have remnants of luxor and storm. I used to be distraught when I broke a piece, now I pick it up and go meh as I hoover. I use the salad plates for me and the two smaller dd's. Dp and dd1 have dinner plates. All bought from the denby factory as seconds (carefully chosen!).

Dp can't cope with white carbs since his gallbladder came out (he gets bloat), but he won't eat wholemeal pasta. It pisses him off more that me and the dd's like it.

creme that is so annoying, but at least you won't have to pay to fix it. But still, it should have been serviced before you moved in, so shouldn't be packing in already.

Yes lonely ..most of mine came from the seconds outlet also..have had it many years so its good you can still get replacements (so far luckily we haven't needed many) I only have the plates (both sizes) and the bowls.. i might start eating more off the smaller ones though.. its a good idea

Finally caught up :)

£10 today on two lots of jelly baff stuff that turns bath water into jelly. The boys had bath bombs that changed the colour of the water in their stockings and have begged for more. As they both had such a rubbish Christmas they deserve a little treat.

Ocado coming tomorrow, £41, very pleased with that.

NSD for me today. Hopefully tomorrow will be the same.

Have created spreadsheets for credit cards. Bit scary but now know which ones to throw any spare cash at first.

It was, Lonely. Of course it had to wait until Christmas to start playing up! Grrr!

What is this bath stuff Fridge? DS might like that. Or might freak out. Hard to predict!

Lonely I do indeed remember the fat ball thread. I laughed a great deal.

Snuggly I feel your pain re. sleep . Dd has already had one night feed, next will probably be before 1am, and then again at 4ish. Then up at 6. Rubbish for a 6+ month old . I consider it a good night if she just feeds and falls back to sleep. The last two nights there have been prolonged periods of chat too.

I love BLW. It wasn’t what I set out to do either time as a firm principle but I am a convert. And I reckon dd will get over her gagging thing quite quickly if left to explore.

I’ve not paid my credit card but I have knitted. I have another day before the cut off though and I just wanted to knit and clear my mind. I heard today that a good friend’s husband passed away suddenly this week so I have been thinking about her a lot and feeling rather upset. Makes you want to tell people you love them while you can.

Lost I have just discovered these most awesome light bulbs. They work as normal lights but also different colours. Might work well as nightlight in a lamp.

10W Colour Changing Light Bulb,NetBoat B22 RGBW Led Light Bulbs Dimmable,RGB Bayonet Light Bulb,Updated Pure Daylight White,Disco Party Home Mood Ligh https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XWRK8X5?ref=yopoppmaswf

em my DH also only likes whole rice and pasta etc, I like white rice primarily because it doesn’t take 50 hours to cook... but he’s right that it is healthier so I give in
Dying to get home from NI tomorrow so I can POAS...