Frugaleers dripping their way through a wet January...

[SneakyGremlins]

Hang on, that makes us sound like alcoholics

Sneaky on the Brexit point don’t panic. There is some great advice on the brexit threads regarding just planning to have three days storecupboard food so that you give yourself a bit of breathing space if the shops go a bit silly

If you’ve got 8kg of pasta and are eating 200g a meal for example you’ve got a good amount right there.

We definitely get that it is actually much harder to stock and save or take advantage of multi buys when you are on a lower income.

Em glad df and dh stuck up for you

Ggreen I’m sorry that you are having to go through the pip process for ds

Meadow and Girlie lovely to see you both

I can’t cope with 3D unless I am far enough away. The bigger the screen the further I need to be otherwise I feel sick

Dry out the inside and put a dry towel inside & leave it turned off for a while longer. That way you can check if there is ice behind the plastic bits - wet towel = still a way to go dry towel = you have a better freezer than me. That is the mistake I made a few months back ...it was still full of ice.

sneaky you know where one food stash is then

Are the banks allowed to do that still - I thought they had signed up to a code of conduct, This could be wishful thinking but might be worth giving them a call in the morning & seeing if they can waive them.

Oh god les mis 😭😭😭 so sad!

I can't do 3d either. Especially as I'm a glasses wearer. Makes me feel sick being near the front to

Banks can't charge you for going overdrawn if it's their charge that made you go overdrawn, I'm pretty sure.

I need some more shampoo and conditioner today. I got some at Aldi and it's so shit I just can't use it.

I agree Sneaky, you need to ask for that back.

Submitted my expenses for last week.

Freezer is definitely buggered. The thermostat is just switching off

Hello, I don't want to clog up the thread but I am having a really odd situation atm within my group of 'parent friends'. I don't know what to do about it (probably the best answer is just 'nothing' tbh) and it's really making me irrationally angry. Is there anyone I could DM for some advice on how to handle it? Obviously I know I'm not good with social stuff so don't want to mess it all up and none of my friends/similar-aged relatives have children yet. If anyone has experience of friendship/contact with a compulsive liar that would be of particular value! I don't want to write it all out here because it would be long and derail the thread. I don't want to start my own thread about it either in case somebody in the group sees it as it would probably be clear who it was about and who wrote it...

HELP

Sneaky ring them. Ask if you can pay the £10 amount over the phone now as you simply can't afford the full £80 odd. Hopefully they'll be sympathetic.

Meadow I don't have much experience with people like that I'm afraid

Sneaky Surely you're entitled to free prescriptions anyway babe? Are you sure you're not? As you are in receipt of certain benefits, right? There are lots of benefits that come with entitlements to free prescriptions. I would double-check that because then you don't need one anyway? If not, definitely just call and tell them about your situation as a starting point. If they're not helpful, I would recommend calling Step Change for advice if you can't afford to pay the remaining cost up-front, they're generally pretty helpful. But try not to panic

They took it last month but it came back as I had no money - as it's taken 10 months of the year not 12 I thought they'd just try again next month

Will see about free prescriptions. Hopefully that's the case!

Checking back in after our weekend in Edinburgh. Haven't read back yet.
Weekend was good, but apartment disappointing & no heating/hot water for the first night. I've just emailed a complaint and requested a partial refund. Hopefully it helps that I have stayed there before so I can compare it to how it was then in 2017.
Stuck to the frugal plan most of the time, except yesterday when we walked up Arthur's seat. By the time we were done, ds was feeling dreadful (exhausted) so we found a pub and had a main meal there. It's weird, when he is like that (which is quite often at the moment) he seems to lose the ability to regulate his temperature and has genuine sugar cravings. So his cold, tired, hungry self recovered with a meal and a sit in the warm pub. It's hard because he had been so much better, hopefully this is just a flare up & he'll be back on track to go on his trip a week on Sunday.

Can I join please?

In all honesty I know nothing about being frugal but need to start learning and I'm hoping this is the place to start ☺️

I'm in about £4,500 debt and have 2 small kids. I'm a SAHM and DH works full time. We don't have much money so looking for ways to make our money go further. I've done all the basics (used price comparison sites for utilities etc) but looking forward to making more savings so we can clear our debt quicker.

Thanks

Sneaky can you speak to your support worker as I think this is going to be like the council tax.

From the nhs website in case it helps these are reasons for exemption

Income Support
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
Universal Credit and meet the criteria
If you're entitled to or named on:
a valid NHS tax credit exemption certificate – if you don't have a certificate, you can show your award notice; you qualify if you get Child Tax Credits, Working Tax Credits with a disability element (or both), and have income for tax credit purposes of £15,276 or less
a valid NHS certificate for full help with health costs (HC2)

There’s also this on the nhs low income scheme

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-low-income-scheme

Oh blimey I am eligible for free prescriptions

Can you ring them or get your care worker to ring them and explain you shouldn’t have been paying see if they will let you out of the payment

Have you had an “entitled to” benefit check sneaky? I think it’s the citizens advice bureau that do them, they would go through aaaall your circumstances and work out what you can get help with x

ACTUALLY I'm seeing her tomorrow, she can help me then!

Just done this thingy online

@moneyworries8 hi!

Have you had an “entitled to” benefit check sneaky? I think it’s the citizens advice bureau that do them, they would go through aaaall your circumstances and work out what you can get help with x

I haven't!

So when I pick up my prescriptions do I just tick the "I am poor am on ESA" box? No forms needed?

Welcome MoneyWorries

Sneaky - info on claiming a refund

How can I claim a refund
Ask your pharmacist, hospital or doctor for the refund form (FP57) when you pay for your prescription. You can't get one later. You have to apply for a refund within 3 months of paying the prescription charge.
If you receive Universal Credit and meet all the criteria to be entitled for help with health costs but didn't get a refund form (FP57), contact the NHS Business Services Authority. They'll consider applications for refunds on a case by case basis.
If you paid for a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC) and have become exempt from paying for prescriptions, you may be able to get some or all of the money back for your PPC.
An explanation of how to claim a refund for your PPC fee can be found on the NHS Business Services Authority website. You can also get the leaflet from the Department of Health publications order line on 0300 123 0849.

Thankyou for being so helpful everyone

Will they still refund me if I missed a payment??