Had a Spendy Summer? Join the Friendly Frugaleers as we Segue Smoothly into a Sensible September

[LivingInLaputa]

All welcome. Couldn’t see another thread!

Morning all.
Laputa, happy birthday to your ds. Hope he has a fantastic day.
em, wow you must be very happy with your teeth. And that is a good saving on the car insurance, well done.
happier, your h actually gave you some money?? Well fuck me! Hope the house sale goes well too.
unescorted, well done to your ds.
madden and snuggly, don't know if you have a typo near you, but they do deliver too. They have lots in their sale, from notebooks, water bottles, pens etc, might be worth a look for any new stationery you may need.
Welcome dorset and changing.

Today may be an NSD, or I may take DD to a play cafe so then there will be spends there for lunch or just for coffee for me if we go after lunch. She's not herself this morning, she's been unsettled the last few nights and not eating well the last few days either and this morning she cried a lot and then went to sleep at 9.30am and I think she's still asleep. Which is super unusual, she hasn't slept at that time in the morning for months and months. Not sure if it is teething, constipation or a cold. DH has a cold so maybe that.

I am going to the bank later to finally open a Help-to-Buy ISA! I am anxious as I hate banks they make me anxious (well, what doesn't tbh?).

Had my therapy this morning which was helpful.

Legoland sounds boss, DH would probs enjoy it as much as any child . I want to buy period pants, I made a thread about it a while ago, that and menstrual cups. I have best intentions for everything and never follow anything through, I am sure this is why I seem unable to build a career for myself . Dunno if I'm just lazy or anxious. Or bit of both?

Does anyone know where I could buy waterproof clothes for DD (15 months)? She is nowhere near to walking still and is a bum shuffler, I thought waterproof clothes would mean she get out more when the weather isn't amazing especially at nursery, she loves going outside and I don't want her to be left behind just because she can't walk.

Hi dorset and changing

Meadow hope the appointment goes well. Re waterproof clothes the only thing I can think is eBay? Or local Facebook selling sites. Or if you have a baby and child market nearby you could pick up a bargain there.

NSD yesterday aside from a loaf of bread. Got to do a top up shop later.

Welcome to the newbies, I haven't been here too long, but it's a friendly thread with loads of great advice.

Meadow - take a look at Muddy Puddles, they have good rainwear, I used to buy it for ds2 when he was small!

I also have a house full of moody teenagers, although dd's have been great whilst we've been away, I'm hoping they don't change back once we get home tomorrow.

Payday today moved money all over the place, but quite please with myself for saving into pots for Christmas holidays and a general one for things like insurances and emergency spends. I've also moved a huge chunk into our building fund, not enough for the roof but a good start!

Deffo recommend the cheeky wipes period pants, they are great value, dd1 and I both have 3 pairs each, I'm hoping to buy the starter pack of pads too but I need to buy a zip up type top either fleecy or jersey in the hope we can keep the heating off for a while, and also a decent rain coat, I ordered one from Protected Species a while back but returned it when we found out the builder had stolen the money for the extension.

Any recommendations at all?

Camden lands end are having a sale, but I think it ends today. If you use code DM30PC, it takes an extra 30%, even on the sale stuff.

Thanks curvy will check it out now!

No worries Camden, hope you find something.

Car insurance renewed. Switched providers and premium down from £304 to £212. Winning!

Word of warning re. Car insurance. Make sure you have the right level of cover for business use. (Ie travel to anywhere that isn't your usual place of business). I inadvertently left it off when renewing, (congratulating myself on a bargain) and when I got pulled over (broken brake light ) turned out I only had 'commuting' cover. As I was on my way to a meeting I wasn't covered. Now have to go to court and plead my case or I face 6 points and £300 fine.

@Dorsetcamping @SnugglySnerd
The app is called- Daily Budget, very original. It's icon is of a little piggy bank. If you want to have all the different categories for allocating spending too you do have to pay a one off, but it will do the basics for free!

Meadow Jojo Maman Bebe do excellent waterproof trousers - quite thick and lined, and would probably withstand some bum shuffling. She’ll wear through anything thin in no time. If in doubt size up as their stuff come up a bit small ime.

Welcome new people, nice to have some new stories!

Happy birthday LapDS, 10 is so big! I hope he really loves legoland, what a great opportunity. I can’t get DS into Lego but I haven’t given up trying because I want to play with it

Biggish spends again today, my last day with just DS this holidays. We went on the London Eye - I paid for his ticket (£22) but went free as his Carer (would have been £27 for me - but I took the DLA letter) and they also gave us speedy boarding. DS wasn’t great though - he was a bit scared (which surprised me as he loves the emirates cable car) and so he shouted a fair bit . I couldn’t really look around as DS was glued to me and shrieked if I stood up so was glad I hadn’t paid! Afterwards we went on the golden carousel on the south bank a couple of times - this time ds went free, only I had to pay. So that was a pleasant surprise. I don’t usually ask about disabled concessions because DS looks ‘normal’ (until something makes him anxious) but I should do it more often. His condition costs us a lot of money in workarounds /extra tickets /paying for things and then leaving immediately, so I may as well offset a little of the cost! I’ll keep a copy of his DLA letter in my bag for future days out.

Cup of tea for me and toasted sandwich for DS, £6. Plus tube fares. Job done and quite a good day, all in. I am really knackered though, it’s the constant hypervigilance that’s required on a day out with DS that drains me! Need to do some housework now, house is a tip and friend is coming round at 5pm. Also need to sort through DS’s clothes and remove the ones that are too small (lots!) as we can take them to PILs this weekend to pass on to DNephew. And I need to buy some more bits for him - I’ve done uniform and jeans but might pick up some sale shorts for next year, and also a few more causal bits. Also need to decide properly what I am doing about his birthday (cake design, presents etc) and order what I need. Time is flying so fast!

Happier I also meant to say, that letter sounds so sad but good that she tells you what’s bothering her so you can talk to her about it and reassure her. I expect the whole move is very unsettling for them but it will settle down once they are in their new ‘norm’. Good luck x

Hi seacow - have you heard about the hidden disabilities Sunflower Lanyard? There's a group on fb that gives loads of info. I think you would find it useful, I've used it when travelling with da2 who has a hidden disability- looks completely fine, but struggles with certain every day tasks.

Thanks changing and curvy

I usually get online shopping too madden. There are only so many hours in the week! Interesting about Aldi trolleys! I wonder why ours doesn't seem to have any?!

Why is food so expensive!
I have spent £30 on things that are cheaper than ocado, but even so my ocado order is close to £50 and only for 3 of us!

Checking in. I have a lot of catching up to do! Payday so paid myself first - from a tipi in the middle of a field

Slight overspend on days away but not horrendous. Slightly worse overspend on a naiice mug for me from a company I occasionally buy from whose stuff makes me smile. Oops moment in Lakeland £40 but to be fair things I needed - like a kitchen bin which I don’t have, kitchen tongs as last pair broke and a couple of cleaning bits

I have never bought groceries through Ocado..is it comparable to Aldi/Lidl? I need to start sticking to a limitl

Can I please share some very good news with you all?
As some of you know, I work in a nursery and I have always had temporary contracts, and it would have been the same this year, but a permanent position came up, I went for an interview yesterday and have just been offered the job!
I've accepted, having proper job security is going to make our lifes so much better!

Curvy congratulations that’s fantastic

Thanks wolf.

Ah great news Curvy, I know you like the place too so great to find a permanent role.

I do know about that sunflower lanyard though not sure where it is recognised, other than airports (have supermarkets started getting on board?) . I might get one, I’d have to wear it though as DS would never wear one, he won’t wear any stickers, badges, anything ‘extra’ to clothes, for some reason.

I can’t believe how little some of you spend on food. We are not especially careful about spending on nice ingredients (fresh fruit and veg, decent meat) but buy very little convenience food, or anything preprepared. And I buy a lot of own brand. I’d never spend less than £120pw for 4/5 of us (DM is here 2-3 day pw)

Dorset I’d say Ocado is more like Tesco prices. They sell Waitrose stuff and all the usual brands but their own brand stuff is excellent. I find it cheaper than Sainsbury’s, definitely, but it’s defo not Aldi /Lidl! It’s a really great app and their customer service is excellent too, so I find it very easy to use (and I’ve used lots of others on holidays, none compare well to Ocado in terms of service, picking good produce and decent dates on things).

Sea - the sunflower lanyard is recognised in Sainsbury’s

Yay curvy! Well done 😍💐

Not caught up yet but thanks for legoland advice etc ❤️

Been a good day barring my head being a mess as usual

Thanks Sea and Laputa. It is a really lovely place to work, despite all the government cuts. I can just relax now.

Curvy that's great news! Well done!

Wow Sea that sounds like a fab day out with your ds and yes, you should be getting everything you're entitled to!! It makes me annoyed that people have to be aware and savvy enough to get what they need and deserve sometimes.

Another NSD! I'm being super-good and am in with a herbal tea (rather than wine!). Dh has gone out to a work's social but decided to eat before he went and has cycled rather than taxis - think I might be getting there slowly!

Well done curvy you deserve it!

Top up shop came to £30 but £6 of that was some more polo shirts for DS2.

DS1 has a job! It’s not great but it’s a start. He’s doing a very small paper round. And whoever said £40, you could not be more wrong round here. He’s getting 20p per drop, so will be getting about a fiver, bless him. But he wants to do it, so good on him.
He’s also been schooled in lawn mowing this week, so DH doesn’t have to do it . We are paying him £3 for a basic mow, then a fiver for if he strims and weeds.