New year frugalling commences. Save those pennies for January

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New Fred.

Welcome newbies!

Dr was good. Luckily (if you can call it that) Ds had a massive coughing fit while we were there. Dr could hear how horrible it sounded. But his chest is clear his throat is red (probably from coughing) and no temp. As a precaution she gave me a prescription for steroids (as he had croup last time and sounded the same) and instructions to get the prescription tomorrow if he has a bad night tonight. Fingers crossed he doesn’t need it.

She’s also put him on the list to be seen ASAP tomorrow if he has a bad night tonight. I just have to call the surgery and they’ll get him seen.

We3kingsoforientareandabump I really need to do a big shop in Lidl. I keep saying it.... only problem is ds is autistic and such a pain in the arse with branded food and if it isn't the foods he eats he literally starves. Do you mind me asking how many people that £64 will feed and roughly for how long? Sounds so reasonable for a big shop. May drive to Lidl Wednesday instead of Tesco

On the way home from 4 hours of karaoke. Bit drunk. I just finished with Wuthering Heights, which a bold choice but no one actually cried.

I seem to spend at least £120 per week on food. dS also autistic, I mostly cook from scratch but he does have a thing for berries, which costs me a fortune.

I am not excited about taking DD to ballet for 9am 😫

Spendy day.
Lunch with friend £23.27 for both of us
First takeaway of the year - pizza for the others (inc gluten free) £10.99
Curry for me and ice cream we shared £13.65

Cagletini had a settling in session at nursery and it went quite well, she was upset at first but loved the garden so we made a quiet getaway for an hour. Starts properly on Monday! She suddenly seems so much more grown up 😭❤️

BTW the bullies I mentioned - the main two weren’t in until Thursday this week. It seems they had been suspended, and they apologised to DD and her friend on their return 😱😱😱 wow. I hadn’t even done anything so this would be the Senco who helped them report something to HOY in DD’s first week. So I’m feeling a lot more chilled. We will see how things go, we have a meeting booked still anyway (mainly to talk general settling in stuff but it’s good to know we can discuss this too).

I’ve been writing a list of all the things we need to buy and pay for soon. Will discuss with DH and put into priority order, decide when to pay and whose account they’ll come out of. Some are small like nursery wellies for Cagletini, others are much bigger like club fees.

@LaneBoy, that’s fabulous news and long may it last.

@danni0509, my DS2 is also autistic and when younger was a devil for brands. So I started to decant as much as I could. Cereals and dry goods into Tupperware type containers, ketchup etc. into dispensers that looked like tomatoes etc. For tins I had a couple of the desired tins in front and then everything else behind and as he wasn’t in the kitchen when I was cooking I just took the cheap tins and used those. Sandwich fillings like jam and Nutella I’d just fill up the labelled jars with the cheaper alternatives.

If he noticed a change then I would go out and buy the brand and mix a little of the cheaper into it and next time a bit more of the cheaper until I could just buy the cheaper. He’s 14 now and generally eats most things except from mushrooms and prawns.

For those of you who have older kids I’ve started to send mine out to get milk or bread if I run out mid week as they won’t pick up odds and sods and spend more than I need.

Thanks for everyone’s thoughts on the lottery, I’ll have a good old think about things and your suggestions.

I’ve just checked my little savings account and there is £7.38 in there made up of the bank rounding up and me at the end of the day putting any pennies in there. So I’ve moved £7 across to the Help to Buy ISA. I’ll check when I’m on the laptop tomorrow how much is in there.

Yesterday 40 tesco and 32 fitness club. Annoyingly butter man hasn't been yet. Still at least means haven't spent that money.

£13 Morrison’s yesterday for fruit bread milk and checking reduced aisle- that’s been dp’s strategy all week- going there at tea time and scanning offers to freeze

Only had a toastier for dinner the other night so that was cheap then had a spaghetti bolognaise but with potato on top like a cottage pie rather than with pasta- just for a bit of variety

I'm up ready to do the 8am swim lesson sea but thankfully no karaoke last night!

Ystd £5.50 coffee and cake £14.52 top-up (at corner shop as I desperately needed bread for this morning, but did manage to get quite a bit)

Driving to visit friends for the weekend after swimming so will be some spends.

Happy weekend all!

I ended up spending £89 pounds in Lidl yesterday and I don’t even go near the isles of doom. I bought quite a lot of baguettes and cold meat as ds1 has decided he’d quite like a packed lunch for a change so I thought I’d try making them up and freezing them with the idea that I could take one out every morning and it would be defrosted by the time he goes to eat it in school. I also noticed last night that they charged me for 3 packs of gammon steaks instead of 2. It’s not a lot of money but it’s the principle of the thing so I will phone up this morning and see what they say.

ImA good idea about sending the dc in for bread and milk. It’s a rare day when I go into a shop and only buy what I went in for.

Mrs you’ve just reminded me that I bought reduced Christmas decorations last year in Aldi and put them in the garage and totally forgot about them 🙈 Oh well they’ll do for this Christmas I suppose.

Sea good luck with the ballet at least it’s not tap 😜

Sounds like you had a good time sea, I'm going on a karaoke night next Saturday with work colleagues.
Had a night out with dh last night. Was slightly more expensive than it should've been as dh somehow dropped his wallet in the taxi (with £100 cash). Luckily he realised pretty quickly and managed to get the taxi to come back, so it cost a £10 tip, but better than a £100 loss. Night out was live music at a pub & good fun. I only had a couple of drinks for weight loss and frugal reasons, and no takeaway at the end of the night, which is good on both grounds.
Another day of sorting, tidying etc planned for today. Exercise class booked at 9

sea bold choice re wuthering heights indeed!!! My go to karaoke song is Jolene.

Today could be spendy. I have my first therapy session at lunchtime. I finally remembered to throw the referral at my health insurance yesterday so fingers crossed it’ll cover it. I will have to pay for today but hopefully I can claim some of it back.

Also riding at 3. So £32. Plus £30 to instructor for jodhpurs.

Yesterday my new bookshelves arrived. Yippee. So I put them together and hoofed the old one upstairs to dds room.

I also put in my acupuncture invoice to health insurance so fingers crossed I get this back.

Need to get cat food today. Been meaning to all week but forgot the other day when I was in town. Will be near the pet shop today though so must get it.

Morning! I’m up and feel okay now I’ve had a cup of tea - think I was mostly dehydrated. DH has taken DD to ballet in exchange for me tidying the house for the architect’s visit at 11am. So I have a couple of hours to get self and DS dressed and tidy up - there’s a lot of laundry about etc so I think I’ll need it!

Wuthering heights is just an occasional event. As is Je T’aime... moi non plus ( with DH). My usual ones are more 80s and 90s pop classics. My task before next session is to learn a some form the last decade. Honestly, I can hardly even name one, let alone sing one

Slattern you’ve given me hope. DS isn’t especially fussy about brand but there’s a very limited range of what he will eat at all, mostly pasta, pizza, roast potatoes and carrots (plus he eats a lot of cherry tomatoes, cucumber and fruit). I really hope his range expands as he gets older because, while it could be worse on the balance front (since I can hide veg in sauces) it is terribly restrictive for eating together as a family.

Right, best get dressed and tidying up. Will be no food spends today as I can hardly close my fridge and cupboards (literally!) but I will be buying yarn as a friend has requested a cowl like the one I made the other day. I also need to look at baths and sinks again.

Morning.
Today will be a bit spendy, dd2 needs some new bits, I really wish she would stop growing, just for a little while!
I would like to get a shorter smart coat and a pair of my boots have had it, so will see if I can get some that are similar.

I bought a fair masque from Superdrug that my hair hated and felt 100% worse for using it, I have the receipt, can I take it back?! It was £7 so worth it imo.

I sold the dog crate this morning so £20 up, the dog has decided he's far too grown up for dog crates 🙄 I also need to take some bits back to Next that I bought in the sale.

I realised Ystd that Borrow my doggy have automatically renewed my subscription, I bloody hate companies that do that!! Have sorted it now but a waste of £12 as obviously don't need to borrow a doggy anymore!!

NSD for me today. Years and years ago I read a book called Not Buying It, about a woman who spent on nothing except food/fuel for a year. It was really interesting and infuriating in equal measure: I mean, she had a book deal so she had an incentive, but she also mused a lot on how much she actually had already and how society was organised so we consume more and more and more despite being fully stocked iyswim.

This Christmas I had a look around me and I thought, over the years I have accumulated SO MUCH. I have enough toiletries for a year. I have enough books to read for a couple of years at least, real books and ebooks and audiobooks. I can do multiple hobbies for several years based on the stuff I've thoughtlessly bought off Amazon and not used (DH the same) I have so many clothes I cannot wear because I've put on a few stones The exercise I like, I have all the equipment for. I don't need anything.

This is absolutely NOT to boast but rather to say I am ashamed of what I've amassed without really trying. I don't have expensive tastes or anything, we aren't talking piles of designer clobber and diamonds, but I buy with a plan and then don't end up doing it. I'm feeling really motivated to stop consuming. (Not food )

I'm the same with kindle books and hobby stuff Nib. I found some knitting the other day that I started so long ago I can't remember what is was going to be. I am a terrible knitter but I love all the pretty yarns. I realised a long time ago that I never do any of the craft/sewing type things due to lack of time so I have stopped spending on them but I now buy lovely craft things for the dcs who pretty much just daub paint randomly on things or snip things into millions of bits!

I am trying not to buy anything new this year though in term of clothes. Second hand is ok. I'm trying to reduce waste. I have just bought myself a jumper and a lovely book for dd in the charity shop while I was dropping off a bag of stuff. That was £6. Then another 20 quid in Aldi on a top up shop.

We are short of money this month already. Need to rein it in.

£10 beauty treatment. Heavily discounted

£2 bacon and sausage sandwich

Need new work shoes but have weird feet. Went to recommended shoe shop and there was literally not one pair that fit. I now feel like gigantaur.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies is it's a superdrug own they have a 100% happy guarantee. Or at least used to.

£75 Sainsbury's and also to go yet but lots of fresh stuff was needed.

Aldi not also

Morning - where has today gone?

I have been catching up on housework ( glam life) taken the hound for a walk. Did I say we are looking after a friend's dog for the next few weeks? He is a smooth lurcher type and soooooo adorable. He is the laziest dog ever.... he doesn't get out of bed until mid morning and then only to swap sleeping place. I took him out for a walk this morning and we managed about a mile before he gave me the "are you on drugs woman" look and decided to stop.I think we may be getting a dog when we give him back. If you don't see me for a bit it is because I am researching dogs.

I also need to sort out this months shopping list - we ended up with not enough bacon, butter sausages, cheese, bread and snackage but too much chicken and mince. Going back to the monthly shop has saved about £200.

Spends £16 in pet shop for food for catface.

Returned socks to M&S for dh and got a credit note
Returned gym stuff for dh and got a credit note
Exchanged ds’ swimsuit which I accidentally bought size 5-6.

Booked beauticians appointments.

So far resisted all clothes shops. Including my faves which have their very very good sales on! It’s like a torture. But I’ve got a lot done.

My appointment is at 1230. I’m just killing time now with a flat white and a brownie (£4 something).

Oooh also cancelled now TV movies.

Life no not own brand...

Unescorted getting a dog has been hard work, my house is messier, my purse lighter but I have absolutely no regrets!! I've been quite shocked at how much I love him, he's def my second baby 🤣

Dd is currently trying out a local gym and I'm sat in the cafe waiting for her. Mum life.

£1.90 on a cup of tea.