Frugal Friends, planning, saving and considerate spending through July and August

[Wolfcubisthefemalenominal]

New Fred frugal friends

Gah so what I thought was a pack of two pairs of school trousers turns out only to be a single pair so I’ve had to order another pair - £15 plus postage.

em my maternity goal was to get out of bed and get washed most days.
That is irritating wolf I dislike online shopping for that very reason. My other trick is ordering the wrong size.

Well that stage of the tour was very dull.

Right ladies I need bright ideas for cutting back. H has resigned which means no child support for my income will reduce by £73 per week. Not entitled to any benefits.

First thing will be not upgrading phones when contacts end in November
I think I can cut the gas and electric bill a bit
We don’t have sky but do have now tv and prime (use Amazon a lot for deliveries)
Christmas and birthday budgets to be cut

That's tight wolf.
Ok given you are Uber frugal this will need to be little bits.
Back to basics, where does your money go? Are you on the best deals for everything?
You don't need now TV and prime, cute one if not both. Can you get a work mobile? How often do you use your personal one? Sim only deal for £5 a month.

Meal plan, declutter, sell stuff.

How stressed are you?

Yy to total Xmas and birthday cut back. You are a single parent now in effect.

£550 initial divorce fee. Fecking spendy day

Jeez wolf. When does the money stop?

How is DS after visitation as well as you?

Ds fine they’ve had a good time.

Money will stop at the end of this month and I will need to pay for a solicitor for a consent order plus court costs for that probably before Christmas. I’m fine it’s just process there’s nothing emotional about the divorce itself for me at the moment

Phone in contract until November or December but will look for sim only after that. Might let prime go on renewal next month will just have to be careful about postage or ask for membership for Christmas.

Pleased they had a good time.
It's about value for money though. If prime saves you in the long run, keep it for now.

Can you WFH more, save commute costs. Then go in the office in the winter to Dave on heating.

Time to eat all the random shit in the cupboards too. Or is that just me who has food with good intentions.

We got you Wolfie

That is a challenge Wolf. I agree with life - lets take it back to basics.

Dig out your bank statements & work out what exactly you are spending on.
Make 3 lists - 1 = essentials gas, electric, mortgage, water, council tax and insurance. Shop about for the very best deal on all of those. Remember to clear cookies from your browsing history before you start and again when you have chosen your best deal. Also have a play about with your job title... I can be either CS or Construction with huge difference in quotes.

List 2 = essential but can be cut drastically if needs must. Car, petrol, food, clothes, public transport, dry cleaning, Go through all of these with a fine tooth comb - are there trips you can walk instead of the car, can you shop in a budget supermarket, can you cut out the ready meals, go vege a couple of times a week, make pack ups, make expensive ingredients - I make all sorts of "posh" things from buttons (fresh pasta, all sorts of spice mixes, flat breads, preserved things), buy a couple pots of fresh herbs and split them into a couple of pots - it saves loads compared to the packets, only wear clothes that need dry cleaning when it counts. The art of it is to make lots of little changes so none seem to awful. Even though we don't need to do many of these we still do... If I give you an expensive bunch of flowers you can be guaranteed that they are 2 cheap ones bundled together, cut short, wrapped in their original plastic & brown paper (from a shop suppliers) and re tied using raffia.

Cost it all up and work out the monthly total.
Make a sinking / saving fund. Finance is expensive - start saving for when you may need it in the future.

List 3 = discretionary spends. Cost them and rank them. Cancel any that are only there because. Do not spend any more on these than you can comfortably afford.

Check for in work benefits - tax credits will all be payable to you if you work more than 16 hours and you no longer live together.

Right I’ve managed to cut £50 by reducing gas and electric payment (it might have to go up again in winter) and some personal bits
Nothing I have is dryclean, even my smart work dresses will wash and I don’t wear suit jackets it’s either dress and cardigan or skirt and cardigan (super stylish middle aged woman me )
Life insurance is super high because of h, i have some quotes for insurance on my own which are better (still shite due to own health) but need to check whether I can do that whilst he is still named on the mortgage and deeds
I will have to take over scout payments so need to work out what they will be
I already put money aside for emergencies (although just reduces by 550) and annual bills and will still budget for those
I don’t want to give up Pilates as I’ve been more mobile since starting so need to take a look at the shopping bill, which is definitely not as low as it could be

Thanks guys for the support as always, you’ve been my rocks. Any other tips gratefully welcomed

Can I come back from the wilderness please.

Things have been tight here, although not as tough as your situation Wolf

DH is working his socks off and I’m starting a part time job tomorrow. I’ve had to buy clothes and shoes. About £110 on clothes and will be £40-ish on shoes. I’ve ordered a few options to choose from off Shoeaholics. Now I just need to not wibble in the morning

Spent loads visiting Uni open days with DD1, train fares and petrol

DD2 had a frugal win yesterday, tried to buy a pastry as the coffee shop was closing but they had already put the last one on the ‘waste’ pile, so they couldn’t charge her 😁 She’s been working for the last few months, just at the weekend.

Good going already wolf.
Welcome back Adora. Are you fully UK based now, all settled up in chilli? That was you wasn't it. How's teddy dog these days?

Agree wolf get rid of now tv if on subscription. If you time it right you can buy passes for movies/entertainment etc. This is what we did for game of thrones. A 2 month entertainment pass from amazon for £10.

No phone upgrades. Sim only on best deal possible.

Dry outside as much as poss.

Switch broadband if you can.

Are you overpaying mortgage? If so can you stop this and just go back to basic payments?

Don’t give up Pilates. You need something just for you.

unescorted some days just getting up and showered will be the goal but with ds around too might actually have to do something with him!

Catface went for an adventure earlier. She left the garden. I couldn’t find her for ages and panicked. But she came back. Yay!!!

We’ve had a busy day. Pottered around this morning then took ds swimming. Found out that his Sunday swim session next term has been cancelled so I need to choose a new session for him. Luckily I have more choice because I’m on mat leave so can do a midweek one if needs be.

Also found out that as a parent of a swim academy member I get free gym membership...so that will do for while I’m on leave.

Went to dparents at around 330. They were heading out for a sea swim so ds and I hopped in the car with them. Dh stayed at theirs and watched cricket. Ds and I splashed in the waves while they did swimming. Then we shared a pack of Pom bears. The mn fave

Back to theirs for dinner (lamb tagine with couscous). We flicked between cricket and tennis.

Ds absolutely exhausted. Fell asleep on ddad while they were watching fireman Sam. Managed to get him into the car home and to bed before he woke up. Good work dh.

Just pulled laundry in sorted another load (towels) to be done by 7am. Emptied dishwasher and reloaded with some dishes.

Just eaten half a ridiculously juicy orange. And am now heading to bed.

Dropping dh off to work tomorrow and then ds At dparents. I’m heading for breakfast with them as well and then will come back here and will do a bit of tidying up.

Wolf, do you need life insurance? What's your death in service benefit? Or is this for the mortgage?
I've just got my pension statement last week.
Are you doing single person council tax already? Or does h need to be off the mortgage.
Don't give up Pilates, your health is important.

I’m Already doing single person council tax.
I don’t own a tumblr drier - i do have a heated Airer which is 1p per hour to run I think.

Definitely not overpaying the mortgage - that’s an aspiration for the future if I manage to get promoted at some point
Life ins is just for mortgage purposes, death in service wouldn’t cover the mortgage plus other costs and I want ds to be ok if anything happens to me. My death in service is split between ds and dm as she would need to care for him until he reaches majority and df and dm are both pensioners.

I might ask for a contribution to the Pilates classes from granny for Xmas - that should pay for a month or so. I still have most of my birthday money put away so that might pay for 15 or so sessions if necessary and I can’t think what else to spend it on as I don’t need anything

I’m due an annual performance bonus so hopefully that will cover any other solicitor and court costs and I will have a bit of TCA to soften the blow for a month or two. It could be worse!

Hey adora! (I’ve

Adorable pic em he has the cheekiest grin! I’m wondering if the next pic you post will be him with his baby sister 😍

Oh wolf :( I’d let prime go TBH, most things that are prime eligible can be had on super saver delivery thing, if it’s £10 minimum on books or £20 for anything else. So if you plan and combine a few things you don’t have to pay anyway.

Just had to clean my piano keys thanks to my lovely toddler getting scribble happy. FFS.

NSD for me, had to increase my beta blockers and felt proper shit after taking the higher dose so didn’t go anywhere! I have my second therapy session tomorrow, after which I’ll sit down on my own and write it all up. Then getting a train back rather than the bus, normally I wouldn’t do this because my bus travel is free (disabled pass) but DH has a meeting and the bus times don’t work out (I’ll have to bear this in mind when booking next time). I really don’t want to cut my therapy journalling time short, my memory is shocking ATM so I have to write everything before I have a chance to get distracted 😳

Agree that wfh can make a big saving, but it is good for social interaction.
Pilates is good for your head - check through your work package that you can't get it cheaper. I don't know if yours is the same but we get all sorts of CS discounts (4-6% off supermarket on pre paid cards, gym savings)

Just been in to check on ds. He’s roasting hot. Temp of 39!!! Have given him some calpol and made him drink water. He’s just in his nappy now and is lying on bed with me with his sleep bag draped over him.

He’s snuggled in but man he’s warm. His breathing sounds fine. No rashes. He’s been fine all day.

Have made notes of his temperature and when I gave him calpol and how much.

Not much else I can do for now is there? I don’t want to call out of hours doc now. But obviously will if his temp doesn’t go down.

hes Been a bit snotty today and had his fingers in his mouth loads. Just thought it was teeth.

Yep life that’s us. Teddy is beginning to show his age, big dog and 10 years old. The kennels said they would expect large German shepherds to live 8-10 years. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

Right, I’m off to bed as I have to get up for work 😱

Oh no Em! I hope his temperature has come down overnight

Adora lovely to see you

Good point Unescorted will have a look today, I pay £6.30 per class at the moment

Need to put my expenses in today too - too busy last week

Laputa definitely make room for the journalling time, you’re investing in you. Hope your session goes well today

Thought so, welcome back Adora. Ah bless teddy dog.

Wolf I get ya re v making sure everyone is ok. Not that you are going anywhere like. I don't meant to sound arsey btw just hopefully helping you see where savings can be made.

Lap, defo get your journal time. Hope today goes well.

You did everything right em. How is he this morning? If C can tolerate it ibuprofen can also be given for temperature.

em hope he has chilled down now & you got a good night's sleep.

laputa I have kept a "day book" since I was in primary school ( I went to a very hippy school). It makes such a difference being able to give all my thoughts a place. I credit it with my ability to compartmentalise my life and give me space to think. Some days it is just a to do list. Others it is a rerun of what I should have done to stop it churning through my thoughts. If I have something difficult coming up I use it to visualise what is coming up so I can run the options. It is the single most important thing I do.

Adora - hello. good to see you again. Hope your Shep is OK.

I have to get going - I need to pack for our staff conference. I soooooo cannot be arsed. Which is why I have left it until this morning.

🎵🎶there were three in the bed and the littlest ones said “hey mummy shove over will you we haven’t got nearly enough room here....”🎶🎵

Bit of a broken sleep for me (but it has been for a while anyway so it made sense for ds to be in with me and not with dh (were seperate rooms at present due to my lack of sleeping through!

He (ds) woke up at 1230 shaking. Took me a while to realise he was probably cold because he was just in his nappy and the windows were open. Popped him back in his bag and he dropped right back off to sleep. Temp 38 something then.

I woke up again at 430. Took his temperature while he was snoring away 36 something. So it’s come down.

lap I’ve never done journaling but my sister does it. Good for the mind apparently to empty it onto paper. Absolutely make sure you find the time.

Another maternity leave goal for me. Practice a bit more mindfulness.

This is a bit of a bad selfie. The sun was in my eyes etc and I couldn’t really see the screen on my phone. But look at where I live. I forget sometimes how lucky I am to live in such a lovely place. A 10 minute drive from the sea in any direction. And the backdrop to my photo is one of my fave places to be. I took the pic yesterday while dparents and ds were having sea swims.

Anyway.

Day one of leave. So far no baby.....

I am glad he is feeling better.

I know that feeling of having to pinch myself because of where I live... hills and countryside are good for the soul.

OK I need to go to work.