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!

I just took the dc for a walk. We ended up in costa £10 but I had planned to do that at some point over Christmas anyway.

As it’s the first I did a meter reading on gas and electric. Overall we used 4% less but December was big on both uses. Learning from this.

Wow so many newbies - hello everyone!

Had a good new years day so far, Christmas has been cleared away which pre-empted a mass clear up of the living room. Have sorted a load of dvds which I will try and sell, also sorted a load of dds old clothes for charity.

Went for a small run, did 2.8km in 22 mins which isn't awful awful right?! My plan for 2018 in to do this run at least weekly....

Lastly have made the sponge for my mums bday cake, it looks good so far, will finish tomorrow.

Will be a NSD.

Christmas stuff is away and should be a NSD. Did get son Xbox credit but he paid me back with Christmas money.

Girlie that's not at all bad, I've been running for a long time and have yet to achieve a sub 30 min 5k! You did great.

Oh also the Jamie Oliver apple crumble cookies are delicious! And definitely frugal

Hi I'd love to join please. We moved house last year and overspent on work for the house, so this year is one for paying off the credit card and getting into some good saving habits as I tend to emotionally buy and end up with a lot of "stuff" that I don't really need.

I've taken down all the Christmas tree decorations and there's four crates of decorations waiting to be transported into the attic. My sitting room looks a million times better, even though the bare Christmas tree is sitting in the corner.

Dinner will be loin of pork, roasties, carrots and maybe roast peppers, mushrooms and onion if I can muster up the energy to chop them all.

NSD so we're off to a good start .

DD has a friend over later for a sleepover. She's a nice kid and (most importantly) she likes her sleep so they won't be up until all hours.

00 I'm sorry to hear of your predicament. It must have been a horrible shock for you but it sounds like you're ready to grasp the bull by the horns and make some lasting changes. Good luck! We'll be here beside you every step of the way.

I can see why YNAB works for you mammy
I didntknow anyone got paid weekly anymore -that must make this V complicated to manage
My budget is simple -most of it goes out on DCs and so I have a limited amount I can spend on extras anyway.
This gets transferred to my own personal account so when its gone its gone.
No Cc or overdraft spending

Thanks for the heads up wreck! Happy new year frugaleers! Xxx

I will add that anyone with DC -consider starting a Uni fund .
Costs are hideous

Happy New Year everyone. I'm a new comer so be gentle.
I'm hoping to get our finances well and truly sorted this year.
I want to:
Pay off my car £350 left
Be on time with bills
Stop shopping every day at Sainsbury's for dinner/ lunch and do a weekly big shop
Start planning my wedding
Saving money each week

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for the new thread, I dip in and out but always return to this thread, some of you may remember me saving up for my VW beetle or relocating to Swansea, this year is just about stripping back none essential spending,ala Dave Ramsey style. So if you will have me, I would really like to join. More outdoors/free stuff, more nsd and batch cooking, more being gratful and fully using all I have,rather than stressing about what I haven't got. Good luck to everyone, gonna try and post everyday, really focusing on 2018 and love sharing everyones frugal adventures, pregnancies and journeys....

Our income is a mix of monthly, 4-weekly, weekly and, when we both start teaching again, less predictable amounts in cash/PayPal. Last year I started writing income dates in the diary but I’m going to go through my bank app and add in bill dates too now, as I always get surprised by regular things and end up with less money than I think.

This must be the first year in several we haven’t had a takeaway on either NYE or NYD! In fact one year I think it may have been both . We are using up leftovers although I’m not sure what to do for dinner yet.

this year's aims (so far):

• reduce monthly outgoings (NO takeaways!! ok, maybe once in a while like a special occasion)
• keep track of expenditure
• get husband to write me a current list of who our suppliers etc are (old one waaay out of date)
• buy when you see something you actually will need and it's cheap rather than paying full price when you urgently need it
• be done doing the shopping for midwinter/christmas by november (I used to be done and all the wrapping finished by september, then I had kids!) and avoid panic buying entirely.
• actually, buy early and reduced if possible for everything (birthdays, chocolate eggs, mother's day, father's day...)
• remember that free is the best price and have no shame in it!

Hello to you both and welcome! :)

Caglets are bored and restless and noisy and annoying today :o kicked them outside for a bit (they are less keen when neighbour kids aren’t around to play out with) and have now got them on the chores

Hi Wrecktangled, would the apple crumble cookies be suitable for lunch boxes? They do sound good.

Hello more new people.
Crème hasn't been on for a while. I have been pm her but haven't recently.

I will see if I can dig out the tips links we have.

Newbies,
Have you checked your are on the best deal for everything - utilities, bank, 0% credit card, mortgage, insurances

When did your last check your direct debits, standing orders, continuous payments? Are they all right?

Credit card - try and pay above the minimum amount. Don't spend on a 0% card, pay largest Apr first.

Sign up to cashback sites, nectar card and any other loyalty card where you regularly shop.

If you can make savings one of your regular payment at the start of the month not just a see what's left at the end.

Meal plan, meal plan. Use every thing up food, cleaning stuff, toiletries.

Don't be afraid of hand me downs or charity shops.

When you do buy something as the money saving expert mantra (mse) do I need it, can I afford it. How can I not pay full price for it (the last is me)

Sign up to mse weekly email.

Think that will d do for starters. Ignore what you already know.

I think so duchess. They're quite soft but as long as they're wrapped and not under a water bottle I'm sure they'll be fine. I'm planning on putting them into dds because she's a fussy bugger

HI there.. lots of lovely new people.. Dont worry, we are always gentle and non judging, we've all been there in our various ways ! . this is lovely supportive corner of MN,

But yes as Cag and need said above , we do canny and frugal , but we also spend some too! . its about making the best of what you have whatever your income level and using money to live well but not living to spend!! ( wow that sounds high minded doesnt it .. says the profligate one !)

I use YNAB all the time pink i have the old one and have changed a lot of the headings etc to suit me.. I also DONt use credit/debt on the main sheet but allocate a sum to be paid off once i know what it is and have set up a seperate 'budget' sheet for recording what is on my credit card.. (however i now pay mine off every month because after a few years of doing this I have managed to pay off my debts) .

I also have a separate 'personal spends' budget sheet. so lets say I allocate £200 a month on that.... i then split it into clothes / books/ hair/ eating out / phone and that is all I can spend .. if i buy more clothes i cant eat out with friends..

Also a separate household account with monthly expenses. we have two accounts . I get paid into my personal account and transfer a set amount into the joint account and so does DH. this is for food / council tax/ gas/ electric/ fuel and also with sub saving budgets for each thing i need to save for i.e house and car insurance/ season tickets/ christmas / car tax /unexpected expense fund etc etc to make sure I have enough under each category in the month its needed ). So each month have a set sum in my main household budget which i allocate for food etc and to 'pay' my other 'saving' budgets. Then dont get touched until needed to pay for the thing needed (except in case of unexpected disaster which ill then need to budget back to make up any shortfall ) .. Its about thinking in the end 'oh i have xxxx amount but i can ONLY have xxx for food / fuel etc' and ignoring the rest until the bill comes in

Simples it really is once you get you head around it

(we d save for holidays separately also and Dh has his own account.. ) it of course helps if only one of you is dealing with household expenditure.. I do it all .

YNAB ( and this board) is what saved me! NO Kidding

Hello - I'd love to join in.

We (me and 2 dc) will be moving from one bed flat to 3 bed house, hopefully end of January. Our lives will be changing dramatically. I will need to buy some new bits of furniture - sofa and a bed for me (I've been on sofa bed for years now). But I want to balance this out with buying 2nd hand and upcycling/recycling where I can, and not spending too much.

First challenge is to eat everything in the cupboard, buying only fresh bits as necessary throughout January. And making my lunches too.

Nsd - about bloody time.

Need or health worker frugaleers dd has bumped her head and has a bump on her forehead. Would that be an issue for pony club? Obv of she is feeling unwell I won't send her but if she isn't what do you think?

OO that must have been such a shock. However your are in the right place for help.

Also newbies don't worry about names or keeping up. Sometimes non of us can

Another NSD!! i have channeled my Inner Ukrainian and have made beetroot and red cabbage borscht for dinner (much yummier than it sounds, believe me! I love this it feels like Good health in a bowl ( until you eat it with loads of garlic bread with feta cheese on the top ...as you should ).

Was a lovely day here in the end , we walked up the Highdown again, i slipped on the way back in the boggy bottoms of a very narrow footpath, and had to walk the last mile with huge muddy splodge on bum and up the back of my legs and in my boots . I also impaled my hand on a rusty barbed wire on the way down,.Its sore ive cleaned it up well ..I think ill live,,

Thanks Cag and everyone else...
Life this thread originally saved my ass about 2008 when my twins were 2 and my husband was on commission at work, we really struggled and credit crunch/mse really did save our bacon. Got DH on board and over the years we have sorted the. Elec/Gas to the lowest that serves us best, we only have one credit card and a loan to pay off but that is mainly down to relocating back to Swansea. We don't drink or smoke, but teenage twins are expensive 😃 joining this thread enhances my meal plans and inspires me to spend time with my kids instead of chucking money ay them because they are lovely but moody pre-teens, it's money I don't have, really looking forward to getting in teeth into the next 12 months and membership on this thread gives great support..the links for newer newbies are fantastic in terms of advice and helpful tips. ..last year I felt I like I went through all the babies and twin babies arriving, lovely...

Shopping order and meal plan done and £200 (budgeted for) paid to holiday company. Now I just actually have to stick to managing my personal spends to make sure that budget works out over the month !