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!

Also spent €30 on a floral jumpsuit but had gift card for that, I never wear patterns so this is a big step for me. I felt good in it though, it's summery and will be nice with heels, thinner people would wear it with trainers also I think

Yesterday's spends:
£11 supermarket

Would love to see the floral jumpsuit if you can link @happier?
I am very tempted by this uk.monsoon.co.uk/view/product/uk_catalog/mon_1,mon_1.7/6500110708

I need to get to work on my super strict May budget too.

I've been reading your posts over the Easter holidays but didn't manage to catch up until today.

DD had two weeks off and went back to school yesterday. We had a few days out over the two weeks:-

An indoor waterpark with slides followed by McDonalds (spendy day).

A picnic on the beach (it was a lovely sunny day but absolutely freezing at the beach so we didn't hang around for long!) and then a walk around some gardens with a butterfly house. We got a super cheap rate of €6 at the gardens as it was after 3 p.m. when we got there (should have been €7 each).

A shopping day at a big shopping centre (DD had her own money and bought herself some clothes) and lunch at TGI Fridays.

Cinema to see the new Avengers movie (just DH and DD).

I agree that holidays are an expensive time especially when they hit their teens. I can remember when DD was small and would be excited about a visit to the park/playground and choosing new books at the library. Or posting letters in the post box.

I was off work last week but I'm back in tomorrow. I'll be kind of glad to get back into a routine again. I may well think differently tomorrow morning when I get into work and check my Inbox!

It's really dismal today. It was raining earlier but seems to have stopped.

Anyway, onto your news.

Happier do you think it will take long for the house to sell?

em how did the chat with your assistant go? That's so cute about DS and his doll. Reminds me of my nephew. My sister got a baby doll and buggy for her younger DS when she had a new baby and he loved it. It meant he didn't focus on the baby so much as he was busy with his own 'baby'. So my sister could get on with feeding and burping and nappy changing etc. without him constantly wanting to help her. He was equally gentle with his 'baby' .

Cag the board game club sounds perfect for you. Hope you can muster up the courage to go. Poor DH is going through a tough time - that medication sounds really severe!

Wolf really annoying about the hob! A pity your wage has gone down but I think you were expecting a much bigger drop? So I guess it could have been worse.

Seacow congrats. on the new job. When do you start? DD certainly took a shine to her ballet class

Floral Jumpsuit

tayto I just don't know, a similar house in next parish sold within 6 weeks, and ours would be more attractive location so who knows.

Sounds like you'd a lovely easter holiday with your dd, I was working all of the holidays so I really made the most of the weekends with dc. First weekend we saw A Dogs Way Home in cinema, had lunch out and shopped for dd's communion
Second weekend we'd dd's birthday party, went to a show that night and went to a family fun day out on the bank holiday
Third weekend, we did a scenic drive, ate lunch and dinner out, and finished communion shopping off.

They had their longest spell away from me over Easter holidays too

Nice jumpsuit

Nsd today. Need to take some stuff back to Sainsbury which I might do tonight and pick up some strawberry as the British ones are coming in

I've had a nice day, been at a wound care conference in Torquay, it was interesting, the speakers were good and the free lunch was lovely!! Got loads of free pens as well 😉

Spent £1 on parking but no other spends.

Ooo I like that jumpsuit happier

Nice Jumpsuit, that’d look fab with a denim or little leather jacket on a breezy day too

£54 diesel, filled up near the office as weirdly it’s cheaper than at home
£160 ocado order being delivered later

Slightly irritated as I’d got myself in gear to apply for a job but after making enquiries with the recruiting department it turns out that the bit on the spec that says you can work from my office is basically tosh and it’s actually based in London for 90% of the week.

I need to pay df for the balance of our holiday cottage this month, the money is already put aside but I really do hate seeing account balances go down. Maybe this frugal lark is rubbing off on me

Spent £2 on Boursin for dinner tonight/tomorrow but that’s it! Nothing like my normal payday...

Ooh v nice @Happierwithouthim
Well done @happytobemrsg

Spends today:
£12 dressmaker on alterations
£8 supermarket mostly on food for work, my supermarket spends have shot up after a great start to the month.

£18 refund though from a return to Next.

Mmm I love Boursin! With French bread 🤤

Nsd today. £31 yesterday for swimming lessons.

You'll be proud of my frugaleering yesterday. My step mum asked me to help her find tickets to a west end show. I searched loads of websites (they all have the same available seats as it was a specific day she wanted) to find the cheapest price for the seats she picked. Problem is the seats she asked me to get were a row of three and of all the websites the cheapest wouldn't let you leave a lone seat so I couldn't book the two she wanted. So, cunningly, I went onto one of the other sites and added what would be the lone seat into my basket thus making it disappear from the available seats on the cheaper website so in the end I managed to book the two seats at £55 each instead of the £63-£68 they were on the other sites. Pretty pleased with myself tbh 😂

Our wee cat has been to the vet and it's bad news, her heart is failing and causing fluid in her lungs, but she seems well in herself apart from her breathing. We have been given some tablets to help, and the vet will see how she is 2 weeks from now. She is 11 years old but still often runs around and acts like a kitten (albeit less than she used to) so it's a bit of a shock. I've had her for longer than I've known DH. But vet did say she might rally with the tablets and she could live another 5 years - which I really hope is what happens!

Spends today:
£40 Vet
£4 taxi to vet (but I walked home with her)
£6.95 food at work

Payday here too and I've transferred a decent amount to savings. Despite having a lot in my account now, I need to be careful with spends as we're travelling quite a bit in the next two months, including to Edinburgh this weekend. Must stick to charity shops for a nice jumpsuit!

Congratulations Sea and I hope your ds continues to have fun playing with the doll em. You are all making me think I should take ds to ballet...he loves dancing (has even tried to moonwalk tonight! 🤣). I'm torn between that and gymnastics (which I did) and DH wants him to play tennis. But there's no Saturday classes nearby so I suppose there's no rush.

I use it in a pasta sauce Wreck! Super indulgent but after the day I’ve had at work I deserve it 😋
Well one on finding the cheaper tickets! Your mum will be pleased.

So so sorry moimichme I hope your cat does rally. My two cats mean the world to me so I completely get it

Oh moi poor cat - 11 does seem like a spring chicken (cat?!) so I really do hope he rallies.

Wreck I love that sneaky frugaleering! Such a clever idea! I find this kind of thing with online booking extremely frustrating anyway. I'm sure in most cases if you could get through to a person then quirks like being able to buy 3 seats together wouldn't be an issue.

I've started moving some money around this morning and the talk of clubs and classes had reminded me of another expense that creeps up on me every month 😂... dd1 needs gym and Beavers subs put aside and dd2&3 need forest school and cash for toddler groups. I have a feeling this budgeting lark is going to leave me feeling very poor 😬!!

Sorry moi just realised dcat is a she-cat... wishing her a speedy recovery x

Wreck that's genius.
Sorry about dcat moi.

Lunch out today for a leaving do. £12 ish.

Catching up a bit.

happier love the jumpsuit!!! 👍🏻

tayto the talk went ok. Not great. But ok. There were a lot of excuses made (like he had too much work to do....) so I challenged it. Could he let me know what he had to do. It was basically a days worth of work. But spread over a week. So not too taxing.

I’ve spoken to my boss. And I’m going down the horrible micro managing route. I’ve set tasks for when he’s back next week. And have set strict deadlines. I’ve worked out how to send emails and put tasks and reminders on them for his inbox as well as mine. #learning so will see if this works.

Have also coincidently been offered a place on a management course (a one day thing) entitled “effective delegation - how to get the most out of your team” it also focuses on how to motivate and encourage people. Not till June though. Although that’s not too far away.

Nsd yesterday. Woo.

Must get control over my bank account. Will work on this this weekend.

It’s May!! How did that happen?!

I may also have slipped up and put myself on the wait list for the urban decay game of thrones eyeshadow pallet. It is so pretty. Feelunique sent me an email about it. And put it on their Instagram page. I don’t need it. But ohh I want it.

Ps. Yay game of thrones!!!

Moi I hope the pills help dcat

Wow I can't believe how many of you clicked on the link to look at jumpsuit! Thanks for that idea about jackets too wolf I'm hopeless with fashion and styling.

Winter Work Wardrobe - hoodie & jeans/black trousers
Spring/Autumn Work Wardrobe - longsleeved tshirt with short sleeve layered over it/light knit jumper with jeans/black trousers
Summer Work Wardrobe - tshirt with jeans/black trousers
See what I mean!

Out of work is similar, except days out/nights out I make a bit more effort

€2.50 on cat food yesterday and had a lovely free evening out exploring the sand dunes with dc lucky to live near the beach, in the countryside in a beautiful county

madden they're still the same expenses just that you're aware of them now and not wondering where your money is disappearing to
wreck hopefully that example of excellent frugaleering is enough to entice @fluffycloudland back?
girlie free pens

Oh moi hope the meds help, we lost our boy cat nearly a year ago now and it was heartbreaking 😪 he was only a young un as well.

I'm at the dentist, have just given them £40 to have the pleasure of a filling 😒

Hope fluffy is back, the threads not the same without her!! Where's cag gone?

& @justanothermile too girlie

Filling was awful 😫 now have a numb mouth and am feeling generally very sorry for myself! Must stop eating sweet stuff and brush my teeth more.

Am sorting out more riding lessons for dd, have just paid £22 for a lesson today so am hoping she enjoys it as much as her old stables.

We seem to have lost loads of posters now I think of it, snuggly, meadow and sneaky are also all MIA (presumed frugal as fluffy would say 😉)

Ahem. Spendy day.

£1170. On a new bed and headboard. King size. Ottoman bed. Exactly what dh wanted. I wanted an ottoman bed. But wasn’t fussed on the style. Dh had a particular style in mind. So it was a done deal. Winner.

I also tested out the temper matresses. The one serena Williams advertises was super comfy. So comfy I couldn’t get up.

Also possible frugal win. Re GoT eyeshadow pallet. I commented on feeluniques insta post and asked for a free one.

They’ve replied. And said they’ll see what they can do and will email me to sort something out.

Eeeek