Friendly frugaleers as the leaves fall our bank balances will rise, hopefully!

[lifelongfrugaleer]

Couldn't see one so took the liberty of starting a new thread.

Stop talking about flapjacks

All of dh’s clothes have been washed and dried to his instructions. Against my better judgement I chucked his jumpers in the tumbley. He asked me to. Some have come out ok. Some not so much. I’ve not put any away.

Been to the gym this afternoon and met with my trainer. We set some goals. My main goal is to get stronger and tone up. But small goal is to be able to plank for a whole minute by Christmas. I can currently plank for 10 seconds. Then I lose it.

Nsd.

Sausage carbonara (Jamie Oliver recipe) for dinner. Yum.

Tomorrow I’m going vegan. Eeeek.

Glad you’re going to be okay Lap, though everyone should be okay! I really am so angry with the way the benefits system is leaving people hungry. It shouldn’t happen. There was an article in the guardian today about the publication of a new children’s book about food banks. Says it all really

Tayto I lived in Scotland for a few years as a child and trick or treating was big there too. And we sometimes got monkey nuts - i’d completely forgotten that! I reckon I gave out about 230 mini choc bars last night.... it’s quite popular in my suburb and the population is quite dense so if you do join in then it gets busy! The kids only ring on the doors of the decorated houses, which I appreciate. There’s a wedding /funeral car business in the next street and they always display their beautiful hearse with a ghoulish body and decorations inside. It draws quite a crowd!

DH is out at Octoberfest tonight. I am collapsing after getting the DC from school /nursery, fed and to bed. It takes ages doing them in series due to too many stories - usually DH and I do their bedtimes in parallel. Phew!

No lie-in as DH will be hungover and there’s baby ballet anyway. Dd has already told me she wants to ‘go wiv mummy and do dancing and then go to the cafe and have a babyccino and a pain au chocolat pleeeaaaase’. Honestly, I adore her and this is my absolute favourite age, she’s delightful company and actually able to have a reciprocal conversation now. I get up in the morning just excited to see her. I am a soppy cow....

Vegan for a day em or forever?!

Aww seacow I remember feeling like that when dd was small and cute, it's not quite the same with a stroppy teen!!

Wolf well done on sorting the bedroom, we had a major clear out of dds room a couple of years ago. I think 11-13yo is such a transitional age and she suddenly outgrew 90% of her stuff!! Hope you're okay, your ex is talking shit re contact.

I'm off to a conference up north next week! It's all paid for by sponsors, I'm a bit nervous as I won't know anyone but I am looking forward to 3 nights in a posh hotel 😁 It includes meals as well one of which is a posh do.

Going to miss dd and the pooch though. My saintly mother is moving in here to manage my life while I'm away.

Wow that’s depressing about the children’s book 😰 it’s an awful system, we were also discussing with the advisor how DH gets the entire lot now, so I lose child tax credit. Which makes zero difference to us - we both use the same online bank and can instantly transfer between us when needed - but what about those with a financially abusive partner? Apparently you can ask for special arrangements under circumstances like that (she also said for example if the main claimant has gambling issues) but it makes me really worry for those who maybe don’t even realize they are being controlled or are unable to report it.

I’ve not done anything else today really other than finish the Inktober challenge. It’s made a huge difference to me, I love drawing again!

Tomorrow I must return my library books or I’ll get fined. Some of them I’ll reborrow but I’ve had them so long I need to have them actually “seen” as I can’t renew anymore 🙈 I had such good intentions when I borrowed them...

Ironically one of the ones I can’t find is about ADHD 😂😳

wolf I am going to echo the others. The police cannot intercede into custody decisions. That is the remit of the family courts, who may hear evidence from the police regarding him having a caution for the offence.

Lap be careful with UC - they calculate rents on a 53 week basis, so ask your HA to stipulate on the tenancy all the different rent term equivalent so annual rent is or. A per calendar month, B per week for 53 weeks, C per week for 52 weeks, D for 48 and E for 52.12 weeks (if we have had hand in its development). Most HA have wised up to it and changed their tenancies because DWP took the weekly rent x 48 /53 leaving tenants in arrears.

Also never ever mention any money you get as gifts eg from your parents - even if it is to bridge a gap created by a change in UC... do not have it go through your bank account. Because they will include it as income for the next payment,

I have been abandoned by my family - trips away and parties. So today is a clear the washing backlog and create a freezer store cupboard. I bought a freezer last week so I can save time by freezing home made ready meals. This also gets me past nobody wanting the same thing for tea.

I plan to make up pots of rice, pastry, biscuits, crackers, pizza sauce, pizza dough, bread dough, curry sauces and pasta sauces.

Any suggestions on what to include are gratefully received.

girlie for November. Vegan November. Or in reality for as long as I can take it. I suspect I’ll last a week or two.

Coffee with soy milk this morning. And toast for flora and jam (flora - or the one we buy anyway) is dairy free).

So breakfast was easy....

unescorted mashed potato is a good one for freezing. Also soups. Dh went to Iceland in the week and bought loads of frozen veggies. Stock up on those too.

ohhh - soup. Forgot about that. It would be good for lunches too.

I saw a recipe for roasted broccoli & cauliflower the other day made from frozen. I was thinking of doing a big batch and then refreezing. On that note does any one know if roast carrots freeze ok? I have loads of carrots that need using.

I have just thought the mash could then be used as topping for cottage / shepherds or fish pies....

Lap you can renew your books online

Good luck with the Veganism Em
Laputa well done on sorting the benefits though I echo Unescorted's words of caution having heard so many bad things about it

Unescorted sounds yummy. I generally always do campfire stew, some sort of ragu, chilli, sometimes Bolognese sauce but ds isn't so keen, casseroles and stews, braised beef and onions, swede and carrot mash, meatloaf (frozen uncooked), white chicken chilli and curries. If you store your frozen items library style you will increase the capacity of your freezer.

Em glad to hear you got an instant pot, I must have missed that one. It does chickpea and spinach curry very well

wolf we’ve had instant pot for ages - but is just never used it - it was dhs thing really.

unescorted have a look on Pinterest/google for spicy carrot and peanut soup.

£34 boots on nappies and soap and glory stuff for dsis for Christmas.

£8 M&S bananas satsumas apples.

I took ds with me. We walked there and back. It’d usually be a 10/5 minute walk. But it was a 45 minute round trip. Luckily we avoided the rain.

I couldn't go vegan, I think apart from anything else I couldn't be doing with having to forward plan what to eat all the time. My friends are vegan and food seems to be the number one topic of conversation, I admire the commitment though and I think ethically they are right.

Have just checked my bank account and am feeling depressed now! I've got £350 to live on for the month. £160 of that will go on food, approx £50 petrol.

What's left is going to go a small way towards Christmas, will need to seriously dip into the savings though. A conservative budget for all Christmas presents still to get would be £250 but it will probably end up being more than that 😕

Anyway I need to up my frugal game!!

Wreck in WSCC you can only renew them five times online/by phone, then you need to actually take them in and return them before borrowing them again :o so they are “seen” by the system and then you start over at zero renewals. I might take a day’s fine and go Monday though as I feel like crap.

Ugh that’s scary unescorted I don’t really understand it. They didn’t say anything about bringing bank statements to the interview whereas we’ve had to do that for the council before. My parents gave us a significant amount over the last few months when the council stopped HB as we were completely screwed otherwise. And have been getting a regular small amount from them for a while. We did tell our benefits advisor all that though (she was filling in the form for us in our house and just asking all the info).

Did a little bit of shopping on the way to Dad's house. I got some bargains . I had my eye on a Hallowe'en light box in Carraig Donn. I decided if I still wanted it when Hallowe'en was over and if it was reduced, I'd buy it. There was 50% off so I got it for €12.45. DD asked me to pick up a Yankee Candle for her. I headed to the till with a medium sized candle and the lady at the till told me I could get a large one for the same price (€21). Happy with my purchases.

Just taken DD2 to out of hours doctors. After getting the appointment, she decidedly perked up and her temperature dropped a bit. So once we were there she looked significantly better. This doctor thinks she has a throat infection, and as long as the temperature stays down it just needs to run its course. She pretty much ran out of the room. She’s now back to lying worn out on the sofa and demanding stories. Kids!!!!

Love I think that’s always the way when you take them to the gp, they automatically look fit as a fiddle. Hope she feels better soon

£10 beauty treatment
£2.10 hot chocolate for ds
£15 (I think) card and little present for ds’s grandma and a couple of Christmas decorations
£23 ds school rugby kit

I also noticed em's mention of instant pot during the week. I use mine so little, I'd say possibly 5 times since I got it

Love they always are

I went to recycling place got 10 bags for €20, took them home & filled 4 of them & 6 bags of regular waste, then discovered battery was flat in au pairs car (7 seater so huge boot) so only brought recycling bags in my boot. Waste will cost €4.50 per bag when I bring them in, au pair might do it during the week.

€15.00 Tesco on 2 Milanos pizzas & 2 lunchables, half price, baking powder, scone, rolls, newspaper

€41 Penney's on 2 sleepsuits for dc - super cute, dd's a reindeer & ds's a lion, late late show pjs for ds & pack of lace thongs for me to make modesty panel for my dress

Parking free as someone gave me their ticket & I passed it on to someone else when I finished

Evening all! Feel like I'm really behind on thread due to half term!

We're supposed to be out tonight but due to unwell children (who also miraculously perked up for the 2-hour wait at the walk-in centre 🙄) we're now in for the night.

In frugal news I've decided to cancel my Audible subscription. It's only for dd really and as she listens to every book over and over and we have 25 titles there seems little point in adding a new title every month. I've spent some time returning and reordering some new things for her to listen to (does everyone with Audible know you can return titles at any point? Even if you've listened to them). So that will be a saving of £8pm.

Glad it’s not just my DC madden . Hope they feel better but sorry you miss your night out

DP spent £120 on the hire car. We have a 2019 version of my car, which is much nicer as it has a touch screen

Kids. They are so good at making liars out of us

I did not know that about audible!!!

Wow I didn’t know that about audible either - ex H and I still share an account because we built up about 100 titles and neither of us could easily replace them. Luckily we are very amicable and he is happy to get things I want and vice versa.

Money moved into regular saver. I'm pretty pleased with how disciplined I've been about this this year. It's not actual savings it's annual expenses money but I've tried to maximise interest and hopefully two more payments and I can collect the interest bonus.

Well done!
That reminds me I need to set up a regular payment to my help to save acct. DH set his up as soon as we heard about it but then we couldn’t afford for me to as well. I then remembered and set it up literally on the last day we were eligible for it (before losing WTC) 🙈

Credit card final payment is this month too! So DH will have an extra £125 a month. Debt free then other than his overdraft which is seen regularly at the moment.