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!

[SunnyLikeThursday]

Hello :-)

My laptop has suddenly packed up and it's going to take a long time to get a new one because I have to find one with the right kind of screen for my photosensitive eyes from ebay.

I might be away from MN for a week or two while I hunt and wait for delivery. I'm doing this on a borrowed computer. I'll be back after that though, once I can find a PC I can use.

I hope you all have a good couple of weeks in the meantime. I'll be out doing healthy exercise or something (not). LOL!

[mammymammyIRL]

Bacon I'm trying to get out of my own way, my weight is holding me back with my running too.
Writing this while eating a lovely apple pie bun that dd's friends dm gave us for Christmas, our only handmade present.

My dm gave me a spatula for Christmas and €50, I handed it back & asked her to wrap it

today's dinner was a mix of carbs with prawn stir fry. I've got some leftover cous cous & mungbeans/quinoa/wheatberry mix to have as part of a salad tomo.

[mammymammyIRL]

Alwaysbusymum I use ynab others use excel, I started with excel but prefer ynab you can get a free months trial, I've got a referal link but I need to be on pc to share it

Sunny see you when you get sorted

[WreckTangled]

Haha sunny!

00 I think they say always pay off debt before you save BUT ime its good to have a bit of money behind you even if it's just a couple of hundred pounds, otherwise when the dc need new shoes or there's a school trip or the washing machine breaks you have to get yourself in even more debt. That's just my opinion though.

[Laska5772]

I think my last £2 Piggie money was spent on a Radley handbag.. the one before ( when we were only doing £1s) was a Tilley hat .. Treats only Duchess , dont forget!! ..

Seriously though : - the £1 a day savings thing is great and pretty painless. I really recommend it . You could just put it into a jar.. it does feel good to have saved especially if you've been spending each month on a credit card each month like I had been (and slowly sinking like I was..) .

[Laska5772]

OO Debt first every time.. I used to have a rolling £3000 credit card debt,..

No more . the day I paid it off was like a day i grew wings!! (seriously) it felt amazing..

[Laska5772]

miss A! Hello .. I am still Laska as you can see . I too had a break but have come back home..

[Laska5772]

sunny 7lbs lighter? i need to diet

[Choccogoingcuckoo]

Hello all,

Can I join too. Looking for ways to manage monthly spends (although with 5 January birthdays February is a better starting point ).

Currently remortgaging to get the monthly payments down, lookin like over £100 saving per month.

Maintained energy bills to avoid a £34 hike. Saved £100 a month on sky bills.

Set myself a target of using all toiletries I have lurking in drawers and cupboards before purchasing anymore unless essential. Hoping I can see the year out without buying any toiletries and make up.

[LonelyOversharer]

Crikey, 6 pages! I love all the newbies (are you lurkers and already 'know' us regulars?)!

Nsd today. Two car shunt to tea with my sister, took little pies and cookie press cookies. Lovely spread. Kids will need some cereal for supper probably but thats it.

Am halfway through crunching last years figures. I have definatley spent less on groceries. Am going to count up how much I spent in the amazon though, betting it's thousands.

I have an almost finished smarties tube. I'm going to save £2 coins in it, thanks duchess

I'm going to save for christmas from now. By buying an amazon gift card each month (you get more points if you buy them in morrisons). Also I will do the £365 into my wee savings account cheers laska Little and often is the way to go for me. Two costas a week is about £1 a day. I'm also thinking of a cash grocery budget, possibly £100/week for supermarkets. May need to adjust a bit.

[Choccogoingcuckoo]

@lonelyoversharer nope first I've come across you ladies. I'm usually over at trying for a baby pages, recently discovered the chat and aibu pages.

[ememem84]

CATCHing up while I’m having some quiet time. I’m having a bath. Bubbles fancy candle cup of tea face mask the lot. And the best part - the door is locked. Ha! Ds and dh are watching die hard or other such nonsense.

laksa Dm saves all change in a jar - she counts it on New Year’s Day. This year £420 from last year (but would have been more if she had saved £1 coins too) treats only of course.

mammy no booze until Christmas party?! Good on you. I tried dry January a few years ago but failed spectacularly on burns night (work freebie at RBS...the wine and then the whisky kept flowing...)

Meal plan and shopping list done for the week. I’m going to try and have one vegan meal a week. And not my standard Thai veg curry - something different. This weeks is falafel burgers.

I need to do a boots shop for nappies and formula but will wait for my free Lidl nappies to arrive - I’ve hd a text from the post office so suspect they’ve landed. Will pick up tomorrow. It’s either those or the new razor plus blades and toothbrush heads I ordered from amazon.

We’re in fairly good shape at present. I’m working on phone useage, this will be the most difficult one for me. And am going to try (from tomorrow) to do my 10000 steps a day. And track every km I walk as part of the 1000km challenge on mapmywalk

Did you know about the bbc goodfood app? I discovered it this morning - capabilities to save recipes just like Pinterest. Woop.

Am determined to get back into getting up at the same time as dh every morning and making sure I’m ready to “go” when he is - whether we leave at the same time or not.

We’re dropping him off at work tomorrow as he needs to take shirts etc in and then are off out for breakfast. So ds’ bag is packed ready for the morning, formula is measured out for his breakfast bottle and just needs water and his outfit is chosen and put out. Mine needs work. Haha!

Tomorrow could also be a spendy one. I’m with dsis tomorrow and we need to visit dunelm (I need a few basic white base sheets) and also the garden centre - my orchids are in need of a boost so need some drip food for them. Am only aiming to spend £40 in total tomorrow though - including the food shop.

[Wolfcub]

lonely. I participate and then fall off and lurk most years. I need to stick with it this year

[ememem84]

chocco I’m on the “ashamed of beauty product hoard” thread. Motivation galore to use it up (and recommendations and enabling for lovely new products) but it’s a friendly space too!

[Fluffycloudland77]

00 I'd pay down debt first. Always debt over saving when it's dire. When your in a better place then save so you don't go back there.

[feelslikearockandahardplace]

Newbie here, halfway through year of adoption leave and Christmas hit us hard as my pay finished in October. Looking for inspiration and motivation, so thanks in advance.

[Choccogoingcuckoo]

@ememem84 sounds good, don't suppose you have a link?

[ememem84]

Here you go chocco

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/3056252-Ashamed-of-my-beauty-product-hoard-part-7

[lifelongfrugaleer]

YY have a rainy day fund but debt first. You will never get a savings interest rate that matches the debt rate you pay

[Choccogoingcuckoo]

@ememem84 thank you!

[FusionChefGeoff]

Ok so I had a look at the beginning of the thread and need to define my goals:

• sit down with DH and properly itemise our outgoings vs income
• ensure our 'fun' money is even, I suspect our current set up gives him nearly twice what I get at the end of the bills etc
• include savings as priority on monthly spends
• once monthly stuff has been thrashed out, keep an eye on spends to make sure we stay in budget!!

Exactly how I achieve that last one is mostly why I'm here!

I'm terrible (particularly in the new house) for identifying a 'need' ie I must have new baskets to organise the cupboard under the stairs. And then rushing off to Amazon to order IMMEDIATELY. This habit has cost me literally hundreds in the last 3 weeks

[mammymammyIRL]

I will see how this weeks grocery shop goes - different supermarket. It seems I've a lot for my money so will see how it goes, this week is a funny week because myself & dc away for a few days

Lonely amazon

Em yep 👍🏼 currently drinking a glass of vino because I opened a bottle last night to celebrate new year & being a true frugaleer I'm not wasting it! It starts Saturday am
I am looking forward to copious Jameson's & diet cokes on Friday however

[mammymammyIRL]

Fusion into basket online & then give yourself two days to think about** alternatives and identify if it's a need/want

[ShoopShoop]

Spendy day here:

£120 weekly season ticket
£140 monthly parking ticket
£40 petrol

Had a huge sort out of the kitchen cupboards though and have discovered loads of stuff I'd forgotten we had.....dusted off the slow cooker and now watching Spectre whilst browsing veggie slow cooker recipes.

Got proper "Sunday night blues" about going back to work tomorrow 😩

[mammymammyIRL]

Today I cleaned out our fridge on Friday I cleaned out dm's, proud to say only a few yogurts & some cream cheese needed throwing out in our house, dm however

Ours is now ready for replenishment with grocery delivery tomo.

ShoopShoop I've gotten lazy with using slow cooker except for joints of meat really.