Frugaleers chatting and saving in the April sunshine.

[SunnyLikeThursday]

Welcome to the new thread. This is a support thread for chatting and discussion of family budgeting.

Coconut No not this particular brand before but I've kept the receipt just in case. I've used led hut when they used to do massive discount codes & aldi ones.

I've got two Poundshop led candle shaped ones in the cooker hood to replace the Pygmy bulbs it had before. They've been in a few years now. Or there's the range, b&m, homebargains, wilko. The supermarkets are really expensive.

Ikea do cheap ones too if your passing and if you have the ikea family card and swipe it at the entrance you might get a £5 voucher too.

I changed all the spots in the kitchen & bathrooms on exchange. The site manager clearly thought I was mad.

I sold my wedding dress. Dm said I should keep it but it’s not something I’d wear again.

£6.40 on stamps for Dm. And I picked up my new kettle from post office. No more “will I get boiling water on the floor/my feet” now when I make tea! Hoorah!!

I’m at DMs now. She suggested lunch and I needed to use her printer.

She’s just had a mare about things “for best” I’ve made her promise to wear a “for best” something tomorrow. She’s currently tottering around in the shoes she bought for our wedding. She looks fabulously crazy. 💙

I never needed a wedding dress, but have 6m of cream silk bought in Singapore (does quick maths) 22 years ago! Plus 3m of apricot. It's in the loft and has probably been eaten by rats. I daren't check. At 19 I was clearly optimistic about getting married someday. More jaded now!

Had a panic about my credit cards. I'm just about treading water with them. Is there anything I can realistically do? I can make over minimum payments on them all, but to actually pay off in full is clearly mission impossible. I'm thinking of setting up standard orders on them all, and just forget about them as it were.

Hanging up as 'best' are two homemade silk dresses, and my Ralph Lauren mini kilt - which I do wear occasionally even though it's indecent mutton dressed as lamb

Off out to hobbycraft with dc in a bit. They are taking birthday money with them. Will also pop to Lidl for run-outs, peanut butter, marmalade, shreddies etc.

Standing order sounds good to me.

Lonely Talkinpeace has some good advice on paying off credit cards on the money threads. ..

lonely take the minimum payment you paid by dd on your credit card this month and set up a standing order for that amount plus £1 (or £5, or whatever extra you can afford). Then cancel the dd. Debt will be paid off in no time.

But check out the debt threads. Tons of advice there.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/3114230-becoming-debt-free-in-2018 Tips current thread. She is very good with debt.

£5 nectar points coming in from e rewards.

Dh has fitted the lamps. Didn't measure using the tape measure but counted bricks. Ones 5cm higher than the other because we're on a hill. I've had to walk away before I say something regrettable. Fuming.

Thanks so much for the kind comments on my clothes. I feel really chuffed now.

The construction wasn't as bad as it looks. I just took apart a top and pair of trousers from Next that fitted really well, copied the parts, with 4" length added to the top, and then sewed them all together in the same order as the original. The really hard part was finding really good fabric. The only place I ever get really good fabric is Hickeys in Dublin, which I a bit of a hike from Cambridge.

I feel really chuffed to bits that you like it. Maybe I will try to find another nice outfit. LOL!

Thanks fluffy will try and get to Ikea for some.

lonely you should dig it out and make something else beautiful with it. No use having pretty things in the loft 😁

My wedding dress is currently hung up in dds wardrobe. We are having a princess and pirate party for our nursery leavers in July so will dig it out then to wear. Can't get more princessy than a wedding dress 😂

Afternoon.
My wedding dress is at my mil's. I keep meaning to retrieve it... But it is happy there.
We finished our walk very wet. Tomorrow we are taking a pack up and waterproofs.

Phew the lights are level. Optical illusion.

So FluffyDH’s crown jewels may remain intact after all

Dropped dd off for a sleep over. Her friends house is amazing. Her downstairs loo is bigger than my actual bathroom. Definitely can't invite her back here!

Little runny but tastes good

The cheapo lightbulbs work. Still keeping the receipts though.

I’ve got led in the fridge too. I’ve only got a few cfl bulbs left incl our hideous downstairs loo light the builders put in.

I always feel like that wreck. Other peoples houses are always so lovely. I hope dd has a great night.

Well, our little town was gridlocked today. Took us 15 minutes to get 200m past the castle, no idea why. £25 fuel, £22 lidl, and £17 in the range on dog food and acrylic paint, and £22 on worming tablets for the cat (ugh, much needed) and dogs.

Baked spuds tuna mayo for tea. Finally got Heinz seriously good mayonnaise, and it really is. Saw Gregg Wallace do the factory programme on it, and bought some on offer. I'm firmly in salad cream's corner, and have never licked a mayo spoon before.

Wreck
My DS had a GF who lived in a huuuuuge house and hated it .
Always on edge as it was so perfect.
She loved my house as it was "so cosy and feels like home"
She virtually lived here then they split up
😓

Mmm I love lentil dahl. We had spag Bol.

lonely I’m not sure we could be real life friends. I love mayo!

I'm a bit of a convert now though em that stuff is delicious.

Great clothes Sunny. I'm impressed that you made them yourself. I wish I could sew.

Highest overdraft figure: £350.40 (i.e the day before last payday)
Yesterday’s balance - £275.08
Today’s balance: -£346.54 (ARRGGGHHHHHHHH)
Difference - £71.46 (Road tax and Credit card)
Money remaining: - +£3.86

Money available elsewhere
Purse: £11.50
£193.78 in food / petrol account – I will move this across once I’m sure there’s no pesky forgotten debit card transactions to debit.
£42 – DS1 still owes me
£56 - expenses cheque to go into the bank which I had forgotten about yesterday but my nearest branch is in another town and I don’t have a pre-printed paying in slip for the post office so I keep putting off going – needless to say I’ll be running there tomorrow.
£9.86 – asda price guarantee vouchers to spend which I keep forgetting about.
£3.30 – requested from Quidco

I’m hoping that when I get into work next week overtime might be on offer as we’re at 60% staffing all week with work coming in thick and fast and the powers that be don’t like us to get behind, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Days left to payday: 10 (including today – I miscounted yesterday)

Finally made it out today, for the first time since last Thursday! DS and I had a late lunch/early dinner in a lovely pub, about a 4.5 mile round trip walk away. £12.07 ( a glass of lemonade is oddly priced at £1.42).

Lovely outfit, clever Sunny!

Hoping Dahl will thicken overnight. I'm very impressed though and it's frugal

Today bought lunch from deli counter and a cake for visiting my friends house, I had a voucher though.

Frugal win dc didn't eat their rolls from deli so they can take them on picnic tomorrow. It's amazing how they get excited about a picnic, it's basically just school lunch in a different venue
I've got prepack salads in grocery shop so I'm going to have some of them with some chicken and maybe a toasted bagel with hummus and a little pot of quark yogurt.

Wreck nothing wrong with having a smaller house once you make the girl feel welcome

mammy I love Dahl. It’s so cheap and tasty and freezes.