Keeping our Fru Year Resolutions! Frugal January thread two (already) - all welcome!

[Cagliostro]

Eeek so the other thread filled up fast. January 10th must be some kind of record!

£34 In Waitrose on way home from picking up dh. Apples wine pizza popchips yoghurt frozen croissants and frozen berries.

£8 some mugs for dsis.

Watched tv with dh and ds and catface. Almost wet myself filming ds trying to “fight” dh. Dh held him against his chest while he was sat on the couch. Face to face. SS tried to grab dh’s face. Then kept sliding over to one side. Lost his core strength. Shouldn’t laugh at him really...

Ooh also £24 boots - teething rings and teething granules. A new make up bag (mines minging) a tummy time roller cushion.

love hope you enjoyed your takeaway ,positive news about your dads treatment, 💐. sunny I used to get river ford veg boxes delivered and they were really good quality, I was actually thinking about getting them again. I think if I had a veg box delivered each week and bought meat hamper deals from the butchers I could reduce supermarket visits and unnecessary spending, I am such an impulse shopper that I really need to stay away from temptation.
It was nearly a nsd today, went to a fitness class (membership covered the cost), looked in freezer and meal planned for the next week, took dd to see darkest hours with vouchers that were a Xmas present (took our own drinks and sweets); but on the way home from exercise class: nipped in to charity shop to ask if they were accepting book donations, came out with a gorgeous pair of heavy, lined curtains for my bedroom for £5.40, couldn’t resist, but they are now hung and look lovely.
Here is my meal plan for the next 7 days,
Veggie lasagne, salad
Sausage casserole, mash
Jacket pots , tuna/cheese/beans, salad
Chilli con carne and rice
Sweet pot soup and rolls
Spaghetti carbonara and salad
Home made pizza ( need to find a good easy recipe as have never managed to make a good pizza )
My freezer will still be pretty full after this so shouldn’t need much shopping over the next 2-3 weeks.

I am looking at plants online, have just put them in my imaginary basket for now I think I maybe turning into a gardening geek, my current bedtime reading is '100 Perfect Plants' can't wait for spring.

Had a look at the NSJ thread, am thinking Jan and Feb would be unrealistic as its dds bday although after her party there shouldn't be eyes the plants any more spends... anyway my first proper No Spend Month will be March!!

I am still debating about going to Ireland for a wedding i've been invited to, think flights would be quite reasonable but would have to go to Dublin and then drive to Waterford, any of the Irish peeps know how far that is? Plus hire a car, accommodation etc. The biggest factor really is if I would be brave enough to do it!! I know its not really that far but haven't ever taken dd out of the country by myself before.

Hi everyone

love so sorry to hear about your dad. I was in that situation almost 3 years ago (though I got the news when I was at work - I was a mess!) . After a very gruelling year my dad finished treatment and is now, as far as we can tell, free of cancer. I really hope for the same outcome for your dad.

Re. Takeaways, we have literally hundreds of options here but nothing irresistible. I find takeaways disappointing and hardly ever bother. I’d definitely rather eat out or cook for myself.

My sister’s been visiting so it’s been lovely hanging out with her. We went on a rare trip to Big Sainies today and I spent more than intended - a few groceries (£18) and two tops for me (£24) . I haven’t tried them on yet so may not keep them. I’m not a massive fan of their clothes for adults, other than the jeans, but did like these ones, on the hanger at least. DD had her first ride in a trolley and was impressed - she’s very nosey and enjoyed the good vantage point where she could have a good stare .

I finished sorting DD’s clothes and am horrified by how much she has in 6-9 months (current size). Way, way more than we need - I reckon most will only get a couple of wears . I bought a fair bit, my mum and sisters and MIL each bought much more than I expected, we had a few gifts, a couple of hand-me-downs... the end result is a ridiculous pile of lovely clothes, although somehow we don’t have anywhere near as much in 9-12m. I think I need to plan a bit better in future and maybe buy a bit later to see what we are given first. Although I expect as the novelty wears off the family purchases will slow down

After a lot of activity the house is looking much tidier and cleaner apart from the spare room of doom The sleep lady is coming tomorrow and then my mum, who’s babysitting for us, so I needed it to look more respectable. I love sitting in a tidy newly-hoovered sitting room, I should do it more often. I feel much more relaxed than normal!

Made this for dinner, yummy and quite frugal:

www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/chorizo__bean__pepper_and_butternut_squash_chilli.html

I’ll be eating it for days though

I also finished knitting a hot water bottle cover. Really pleased with it, it’s lovely 100% wool and I’m going to give it a first go tonight as I can’t get warm unless I’m hoovering, even with the heating on. I am sure I feel the cold more when I’m tired.

Seacow that is amazing!! I can't believe you have made that well done

Ha, thanks Girlie ! It was actually an easy pattern but even so I was really pleased with how well the bottle fitted (I did tweak the pattern with that aim but things don’t usually work out so well)

Wedding sounds as though it might work out expensive - are the people important to you? If they are I am sure you could make it work with DD.

Lonely did you ever finish painting your sitting room?

Wow that’s amazing seacow 😍

Bugger, just realised I forgot to get club card vouchers sorted for lunch tomorrow. Will see what DH wants to do as it’s his birthday thing (it’s on Sunday but we have people round for games etc then... need to sort food for that too)

The form is ridiculously simple TBH it’s just tick boxes, it’s the evidence bit I get anxious about even though really it’s absolutely cut and dry that I’m allowed it. I just get so paranoid about doing these things wrong that I put them off. But I have everything now, I even remembered before we left that I’d need proof of address so we quickly found the council tax bill to photocopy. I don’t think we have stamps but I should be able to post it next time we are in town.

Not sure how long it’ll take to arrive, but then I won’t need to spend on bus travel at all as I’ve got 13 week passes for the Caglets (note to self - must check when they run out and write in diary!). Only exception will be if we go out of area, and I do want to get pass holders for me and DS (DD has an awesome one from the Globe with a quote on it)

Quite That's really useful to know, thanks. I might try our market then. I'm busting for an excuse to get out in the sunshine, so a trip to the market would be great if it saves money.

Seacow that's amazing!

Girlie don't forget Mother's Day is in March. There's always something, I could never do a whole no spend month.

Today I'm collecting the food shopping £105 forgot deodorant. That's two weeks worth but will obviously need more fruit etc. Will post meal plan once I've got it all back.

Also need fuel and car wash.

I usually hate January but I'm actually having a nice one this year.

I am also having a nice January .. really pleased with myself that I have lost half a stone so far on my diet .. but last night when eating dinner with DH something quite major hit me.. Portion Sizes!. also a bit of a low burn thing from the 'plates' discussion we had a couple of weeks ago .

Usually when we sit down - even just he and I - the table is pretty groaning. Last night I felt quite apologetic because there was a (only!) a plate of 6 sausages and a dish of veggies.. (he'd cooked mash for himself also as i cant be near mash without scoffing the lot)..

Of course it was tons of food.. I had two sossies and veg he has 3 .... plenty ! .. and of course no nibbling seconds or glugging wine after. not drinking.. and of course his all has an effect on frugality ...

It really shouldn't be a revelation I know , but somehow it was!! .of course, as i am always one to look for psychological explanations I'm going to blame my difficult childhood and super-critical parents for this !!.

My name is Laska and I am a Feeder.. but this is a thing I am determined to address now..Its not good for me and its not good for the bank balance .

Wow heavy stuff for this early eh? its partly in jest but I do think there is a nugget of truth somewhere in w there i do need to address..

Girlie approx two hours from Dublin to Waterford my friend does it regularly, I think it's mainly motorway too. Train would take similar time & cost €50 return for you both. I know buses aren't an option for you but airport to train station is €6 each & taxi would be about €25/€30. I'm sure car hire would be cheaper than combined cost of all of these.

Seacow hot water bottle cover is awesome, good luck with sleep training

Frazzled those curtains sound like an absolute bargain, your meal plan looks lovely too

Tayto look forward to seeing your Mary Berry creations, her lemon cheesecake is amazing. Hope work goes fast.

House was cold last night, think I need to look at boiler this morning, dh is working this morning.

girlie, that's a shame about the email and really not on... I'd be emailing the Head personally, or trying DD's tutor? As a comparison, I had a follow up email 20 minutes after the teacher had met with DD yesterday. Which stunned even me to be honest. Probably why the school is so oversubscribed. I thank my blessings. But that's not the response you should be looking for at all re your school

A soup maker will be so useful cag, I had one for a time and used it pretty frequently. Takes a bit of time to work out veg/liquid ratios but brill when you do.

sunny our local market delivers. I get a massive fruit and veg box delivered. I know the butchers in there also do so. The box was £20. I'm getting one today and will post a photo later.

I'm the same with takeout, I got voted down last night. DH paid for a Chinese. I'm always disappointed and thirsty the next day.

That is fantastic seacow, really lovely. I get cold when tired too. More so, should I say. Did you get the sleep program?

I'll post a menu plan too.

I decided to use the first months saving from the mortgage just once to buy some theatre tickets and comedian tickets. The comedian we've booked was £20 per ticket which I didn't think was bad really but the theatre was £31 a ticket plus booking fee. £130 to go to the theatre. Really pissed me off, totally makes it a middle class opportunity. Hardly inclusive.

Laska We struggle with this too, mainly because of the difficulty of keeping half a packet of sausages in the fridge to be eaten at the next meal.

The question is always whether to store the open packet uncooked or store the cooked sausages and hope someone will want leftovers at the next meal. That's a thing I struggle with hugely all the time.

A lot of my buying choices are about how easy it will be to eat tiny amounts from a large packet and still have the remains of the packet keep well in the fridge or freezer.

Morning all! seacow love the pattern, you're a very neat knitter! (I judge on plain stocking stitch terribly! Especially samples knitted for magazine photo shoots I'm an awful person!) And no, not quite, just round the front window needs painting. But the new curtains will look gross against the old pinky yuk colour, so will get on with it soon

I'm feeling less like a dalek after some sleep, so hoping I can get loads done today. Got the painted murals from the shop (outing, who cares) to move home, so will take dc to my mums so we can turn the car into a van. Just need to kick dp into action. Just 11 days before we hand the keys back. I cannot wait.

I spent an hour last night trying to sort out the self assessment log in. Not simple. I cannot set up a new one, as I was registered 16 years ago for when I was working (offshore). But just as the chat lady was explaining how to get into it, the online chat crashed. Was very . Will call them later. My figures are very straightforward, ie: almost no money, no tax, just need to be able to log in

I'm also going to ask at work if I can have a bit more (my absolute nightmare conversation) as I used to get paid about double what I get now (looking back at the numbers), so could clearly cope with it. For newbies, I do arty piece work from home.

With 4dc and a gazillion hungry pets I cannot 'no spend' something always comes up (empty sack of dog kibble this morning, no one thought to tell me yesterday, when I was going into town), so I am keeping it as low as I can, not kicking myself for the odd blip, and being very mindful of spends in 2018.

Laska when I put out normal portion sizes dh is last night I put out proper portion sizes for everyone of beef curry & wholegrain rice, then added some air fried chips to his & dc portions, he still got two slices of bread when he finished to mop up curry sauce & wonders why he's overweight

Me getting cold is my first sign that I'm tired as I reach for a blanket on couch, previously this would lead to me falling asleep on couch now i just head for bed when I get like this.

Last night as I was having a bath with Epsom salts to soothe my sore muscles I made a plan to buy some luxurious bath stuff for me next month. Any recommendations? I was using up last of a bottle of l'occitane at the time, lavender which I detest so it was either a freebie when I bought gifts a few years ago there or someone who doesn't know me very well gave it to me I hate lavender & hates a strong word!

The cold has hit and is escaping through my face.
I’ve cancelled my riding lesson. That’s how bad I feel.

Nsd today. Dh ds and I were meant to go for afternoon tea today. Paid for via gift voucher. Dh hasn’t cancelled it yet. I still want to go but will see how we feel around lunchtime.

Lonely my mother hates anything in plain stocking stitch as it shows flaws in her knitting That drives me crazy when someone dh & au pair I'm looking at you twouses last of something up & doesn't mention it & then it has to be bought in local shop & is like twice the price. I love to do one weekly shop & not shop again until following week.

Sunny Tupperware & bag clips are your friend for these issues. I prefer to keep uncooked but occasionally they get reused at lunchtime if cooked.

Ds going for a playdate at 2 & dd having a friend over at 3.30. A boy, they're only 7 & great friends at school

sunny it sounds like you need a lot of sensible small tupperware, and lots of labels. So each opened meat thing goes into box, and you write on it when it's use by is. I buy big packs of specific sausages (asda extra special chipolatas) and bag them up into 4 sausage portions for ds, and freeze them as soon as they are home. Thus I'm only cooking the right amount, we have none left over (for dp to eat just cos), and there's always some in the freezer. I cook from frozen, just start them low, and put up to the right temp after 10 mins or so. They are so easy to check they're cooked through.

Aww em sorry to hear that. My dm text last night, she went home from our house wed & is floored by a cold since, says she used 20 tissues on the 3 hour journey home & she was sick at Christmas time too

Lonely is your dp my dh? He always does this with leftovers or they make their way into his sandwiches in addition to the regular contents

Hope you're okay em, rest up and take care.

sunny I did exactly the same as lonely. Bag and freeze on purchase. Re sausages, I sometimes cook extra and use for sandwiches for DS the next day as a treat. Or you can freeze the cooked sausage and use in pasta dishes etc.

Portion size is something I think we've got a handle on here. Probably an intrinsic thing from childhood.

Low spend Thursday and Friday here - £7.99 Amazon on household bits and £7.50 eBay on those plastic posting bags so I can post off the things I'm selling on eBay.

Ocado order coming later and it's up to £99 which is a little spendy! It does include 6 bottles of wine (there was an offer on for 6 for £30) and I had a £6 off a £105 spend so managed to get it bang on. Loads of store cupboard stuff so I'm hoping next week will be low £50's.

Not much planned for today - chucking it down with rain here. So think it will be chores and homework. Want to make a couple of pans of soup for the week once shopping arrives too.

Day out planned tomorrow again but have picnic stuff bought and entrance fee covered from our annual membership.

Jobs today.

Clean out my minging car.
Tip.
Milk (I forgot the frigging stuff yesterday).
Make flapjack and soup.
Washing
Visit DM

Menu plan.

Sweet potato and black bean burgers, potato wedges
Veggie lasagna
Roast dinner
Enchilada bake
Cauliflower mac and cheese.
Mango curry
Fajita type meal
Homemade pizza.
Tomato dhal
Winter veg broth with quinoa
Celery and pear soup.
Turkey curry
Lemon and cumin salmon.

Busy but not busy day planned here if that makes sense.
Up soon brekkie & feed hens, sort out laundry
Grocery shopping coming 10-11
Post office to post birthday present & card to my dB for his 30th
Make some brownies as we have guests this evening. Au pair suggested I buy biscuits as they were coming, I found this cheeky as if I didn't know how to entertain guests so I'm determined to have anything but biscuits
Make lunch & despatch ds to his friends
Going to upload dresses on DressUp app for sale
Make dinner - traditional Irish bacon, cabbage & spuds for dh & dc and omelette & salad for me/carbonara I've not decided yet.
More decluttering
Make list for Aldi & maybe go there
Go for a run, I've a 5k race next Saturday.
Make that sweet potato & star anise soup 🍜
Meal plan
Figure out au pair holidays with dh, hopefully dh will be more willing to sort it out today, he just stropped last time I mentioned it

Ah need see you've posted your days plan too
Ds is currently whinging & annoying dd in bed beside me so think we need to get up & get breakfast