Austere April continues with the Friendly Frugaleers! Join us as we discuss our direct debits, prattle about penny pinching and possibly babble about Brexit...

[Cagliostro]

All welcome!

Ok you are the experts - tell me, can I feed dd (adult) and myself for £100 a month ongoing? I am a good cook and know frugal recipes but it's been ages since I've needed to think that way. Dd is veggie. H has announced he's leaving - he's being pretty generous with spousal support but we won't have much (Im busy stockpiling in my wardrobe the £££ stuff like olive oil!)

Is it just food Stuck or is it cleaning and hygiene products too?

and how many meals a day is that

Oh, I've got a KitchenAid - I wonder if it will manage with only 150ml though 🤔.

Hi everyone! I've been reading the thread when I can but struggling to find time to post. I've been waiting for a new thread for a fresh start so I hope nobody minds me jumping back in after being AWOL for a while. I have been spending money like water lately so I need you all to help me rein it back in!!

Snugglyyyyyyy good to see you! How are you, I hope you are having a couple of weeks off for Easter now?

Cag I really wish you were a bit closer. Dd is so desperate to learn the piano but lessons at school are £30/week 😭 I feel so shit about it because all of her rich friends do at least one instrument plus singing and we can't afford any of it. I would also love to learn

Your can freeze double cream, you just need to wip it first.

Hey snug.

Ok stuck, what do you already have in your cupboards and freezer?

As others say which meals do you need to cover?

Which supermarket do you have access to?

Thanks Cag. Sadly the schools here don't finish for another week . Can't wait though. I love the Easter hols.

won £40 on the grand national. Yay! Sadly though one of the horses fell at the first hurdle and suffered a fatal accident. Poor thing.

I’ve sorted through things today. Well a little bit anyway. Clothes are moved. I’ve dipped into my toiletry stash and have found I have a veritable fuckton. So shouldn’t need to buy anything new for a while.

Frugally haven’t used the tumble drier today. Dried outside.

Ds has a bit of a funny tummy. But I’m putting it down to teething as his poor bumbum is all red. Poor baboooo.

Ouch that’s a lot of money wreck :( (I’m a bargain clearly :o) it really is inaccessible to many families! I know some places do group classes which you’d hope would be more affordable but even they can be prohibitive prices.

She sounds really bright from what you’ve said though, I would think with a keyboard and a beginner tutor book she would get a decent grasp quite quickly? Usborne beginner book is my usual go to, but you could look at the “keyboard from the beginning” (not used myself but I used the recorder equivalent and it’s decent). Personally I find books better than online/YouTube type stuff, maybe I’m old fashioned though :o

Hoping to try my gym programme out by myself tomorrow eeeek. The app has locked me out for some reason.

Hi all, somewhat spendy day here, not sure if I can remember it all:

£5 train ticket
£6 cafe
£3 for street musicians (3 different ones that ds and I enjoyed)
£12 Next for socks and adorable orange sunglasses for ds
£15 for vegan slippers (my old ones had multiple holes!)
£23 Boots for first aid kit and snacks
£26 dinner with DH at a vegan place where we ran into an old friend I'd not seen in 5 years! Was ace to see her.

Dried the clothes on the line today and really should do another load if it's sunny tomorrow. Hoping for a nsd tomorrow.

Thanks cag she already has her recorder which she plays badly (is it possible to even play it nicely?!) she spent most of yesterday writing the letters of the notes in her book to help her! Might consider the keyboard for her birthday then...

Spinning in a bit then a friends sons christening later. Need to go to town to get a card and gift. So unorganised no idea what I'm going to wear.

Wreck does she do Cubs/brownies? If so it’s be worth seeing if you have a Scout and Guide band, free instrument and lessons for a few pounds a week

Not piano though but might be interesting if she’s musically minded

Church this morning after diving.
DS has a party so £10 in the card.
I will go to the tip as it's nearby.
DS needs trainers, as does dh, and footy socks and strip.

I'm locked out of my back too

No she doesn't. We literally have no money spare for any clubs.

Cag there's a Yamaha psr e313 on fb for £75 with stand and two adapters. I know it's an old model but do you think that's worth it? That would be DD's birthday present.

Bank. I'm not locked out of my back.

I'm going to meal plan from my cupboard this month. I've stashed stuff but frankly my food bill is ridiculous. £160 per week.

Meal planning from the cupboards is one of my plans for today too Life. Also we've somehow ended up with a tonne of fruit that needs eating. I think I'm going to cook some of it to freeze and use for crumbles.

So far this morning ds has tried to smash various bits of the house, has texted his dad saying I’m a bitch and various other interesting behavioural moments. It’s going to be a bloody long day.

Need to go to the supermarket later to buy ingredients for his home ec lesson tomorrow. Life I too am planning on eating from stores as much as possible this month. I reckon there are at least nine homemade meals for two in the freezer plus a few frozen convenience foods and several fridge meals like paneer curry to make before I hit the pasta and pulses section of the cupboards

Welcome back Snuggly It is lovely to see you again.

Stuck welcome to the frugaleers . £100 pm is doable. We did £240 pm for 6 long years for 4 people.

If you don't already shop in Aldi or Lidl and Iceland - not because there aren't cheap things the other but because day in and day out it becomes harder to resit the temptations.

Meal plan - we did ours around the super 6 vege in Aldi. You will find you end up eating more seasonally - which has the added environmental benefits.

Learn how to make the "specialty" items - wraps, chapatis, naans, chutneys, beer, bacon, dressings etc. Which are all really simple to do but expensive to buy.

While you still access to the joint income I would suggest getting yourself to Indian and Chinese supermarkets & getting a really good store cupboard set up - that way you can make anything from really cheap ingredients. Google your favourite takeaway recipes and pick up those ones. If it helps I can list what is in mine (although I am a tad obsessed)

Keep a couple of store cupboard meals in - just in case you run out of money before the end of the month. I still do this (made easier b/c of the spice cupboard)

If you have room set up a vege bed / put part of the garden over to grow expensive things like herbs, salad leaves, radishes, beans, tomatoes and soft fruit. None are difficult or expensive. I just put all of mine in and around the garden.

If the £100 is to cover non food groceries we found it helpful to buy all of those at the beginning of the month. Obviously avoid branded items - if DD is picky you can decant them into the containers you already have.

wreck DS is busy teaching himself keyboard, sax and guitar from You Tube. Like all things - practice, practice and a bit more practice.

Oh - And don't buy lunch from the supermarket. Take left overs, make your own. £3 per day = 60-70 pm dependent on where the weekends are.

Thanks Unescorted.

We have just audited the cupboards and freezer and planned a whole week's worth of meals that involve very little prep which is just what I need in the last week of term. We've also consolidated all the frozen breadcrumbs into one ziplock bag and the same with all the odd frozen pancakes which has magically created loads of freezer space!
Found some frozen crumble topping so going to have it for pudding and use up some odd pears and rhubarb from the garden.

I feel frugal again! Yay!

Been to the dinosaur park this morning. Ds loved it. Don’t ordinarily go as it’s expensive to get in and is done in around an hour (unless we take a picnic and then do that) but it was a free day today. Dsis came along and paid an extortionate £21 for two coffees three pieces of cake and a cookie for ds. But 60% of the cafe goes to an African charity...

Anyhoo. Nice time had.

Probably home tomorrow unless I can sort out childcare. Dm has conjunctivitis really bad - her eye has puffed right up and she’s can’t see. Ddad marched her to out of hours. She has been given antibiotics etc. She’s going to let me know how it is tomorrow and I’ll call work if I need to. Am hoping to be able to just go in for 11. And she can have ds for the rest of the day. We’re getting wardrobes fitted tomorrow so it won’t be quiet here.

Dsis is coming round for dinner. We’d usually have Sundays with dparents but old stevie wonder Dm (so called because she’s wearing dark glasses to hide the wobeye) doesn’t feel up to it. We popped round after the dinosaur park (as had to drop dsis back) and were given a tub of chocolate brownies and a joint of lamb. Had already planned on instant pot whole roast chicken. But will use the lamb anyway - have to cook it then freeze it annoyingly... but kind of them.

Ds conked out in the car coming back. He was up at 6. On the go all morning. So no wonder he’s knackered now.