Frugal Friends Forging Forward Toward February and Further Financial Freedom

[Wolfcub]

New fred

Sorry I'm struggling to keep up. Will try and catch up over the weekend.

Happier that sounds really tough to balance home and work right now

Girlie lovely to hear from you. Sorry dd is still struggling. I hope there's light at the end of the tunnel for you soon. If there is anything at all we can do just shout.

Unescorted I am jealous of your working hours. I compress 37 and that extra two hours less would be amazing

All cleaning done top to bottom of house. Meters read. Boiler leak found so I can point it out to stupid gas man who can't see it. Plumber arranged to replace radiator. On second lot of washing and the mid week lot out away. Making a curry for lunch

£15 farm shop stuff brought by df

Taking ds to his dads in a bit

Before I rang house insurance I read it carefully and I'm at lowest rate possible already. No discount but used my balance on Christmas bonus prepaid credit card to pay most and paid remainder in full from sinking funds so frees up €10.58 a month and 17% apr!

Wolf how's things with ds now?

Help!!!! My dishwasher is blocked - it was full of dirty standing water but when I pulled out the filter and the basket thing inside they were clear and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can feel in the hole in the middle. Blockage further down?? It’s an integrated machine so I can’t pull it out to get to the pipe at the back easily.
Can I use drain unblocker on it or will that kill us all/wreck it? Argh why why why 😭

Just thought le yum when I saw this and lots of slow cooker fans here too

Hello mumsnetters, can I join this thread please? My life feels like it's fallen apart and I'm trying to spend my way out of it, which is a really stupid idea. With the covid vaccine it feels like a light at the end of the tunnel and it's about time I started putting myself back together.

@AmberItsACertainty

Hello mumsnetters, can I join this thread please? My life feels like it's fallen apart and I'm trying to spend my way out of it, which is a really stupid idea. With the covid vaccine it feels like a light at the end of the tunnel and it's about time I started putting myself back together.

Everyone welcome here amber * Gensola* not sure, probably blockage in pipe unless motor isn't working?

Welcome amber

mrs, that sounds like a tough day

girlie

Things still not good with Ddad. One of the team said to me earlier that we might almost be at the end of how he can be helped in the community. I felt relief tbh, which sounds awful to say in covid times. I’m exhausted by emails/calls/texts about it all, I don’t know how my mum does it.

Welcome Amber. I've definitely been through stressful patches where 'throw money at it' has been the answer. It helps for a time and can be worthwhile e.g. convenience food, getting a cleaner, going out for dinner, extra childcare for headspace but there's a nice sense of control with frugaling. Sometimes I may take that too far like I just went for a rummage in the fridge and really wanted to eat one of the falafels left in the packet but as there are only 4 left, which would make a good lunch for tomorrow, I made myself eat a carrot instead 😂 - good for my waistline too!

Welcome Amber Settle in.

Happier we got that with ours. Turn your electricity off / pull teh plug out if it is accessible. Pop your kick board out using a large flat head screwdriver or some such ( swear profusely) - some are screwed together - follow the unit run around until you find a screw cap. Open the dishwasher and you will see some clips that screw the dishwasher to the bench. Undo those and then pull the dishwasher out. Empty the dishwasher out as much as you can and tip it forwards. Under the d/w you will see a narrow plastic drainage tube. out Pull it off and clean the manky fat out. Reattach (easier if you soak it in boiling water to soften it). Push the d/w back re screw to the bench and put the kick board back. Don't tell my DH that I know how to do it. That and boiler fettling are the 2 things he doesn't realise I am capable of doing.

Love It must be so difficult . Frankly I dreading when (if) my parents get to that point. I can understand the relief, which does not sound awful. Carers are specialist professionals (even though they get paid buttons) and will be best placed to support him.

wolf they are lovely hours....although I can't remember a week that I didn't over work them. At busy times I can work them by Wednesday.

Welcome Amber! Are you spending money to cope with things like Madden said or is it retail therapy? I am using a bit of online retail therapy too at the moment. In part because there isn't much else to do. We are saving money in many other ways e.g. no commuting for dh, but I need to rein it in a bit!

Shopping Friday. Was feeling really pleased with my £58.05 spend but then realised once I'd got home that I'd forgotten wine (that has never happened before 😂), need to get a bottle of bubbly for a zoom celebration over the weekend and think we'll get a bottle of red for roast on Sunday so will pop back to Aldi tomorrow.

January:
NSDs: 10/31
Groceries: £308.46/400
Everything else: £164.68/350

Welcome amber. I echo what the others said. Tell us a bit and we will be able to help.

Love being relieved at hearing that's doesn't make you a bad person. Hard as it is it's a safeguarding issue to for all of you. X

Nsd here. C&C tomorrow about £104.
Want aldi chocolate

unescorted thanks it was my dishwasher being a prick all sorted now. Manky fat it was indeed!!

Didn’t do my spin class as too exhausted from week. Minimal spends on cat food, a cat brush (seeing a theme?!) and some dishwasher cleaning stuff, but about to buy pizza for me and DH and tbh am having a glass of wine

Plumber will be £130. Bastard gas man has cancelled so another couple of weeks with leaking boiler pipes and dropping pressure.

Need petrol tomorrow (must remember petrol not diesel ) also bread buns probably.

Ds dropped at his dad's. I am enjoying the peace. It's a mixed bag Happier, no where near as bad as lockdown one, in fact one might go so far as to term it normal ratty aggro teenager but there's definitely been a notable deterioration each week so hoping we can get on top of it.

Welcome Amber

Unescorted I know what you mean, it's very easy to rack up the hours

Friday evening! I am curled up under my blanket with nice chocolate for Winterwatch to start.

Pleased this lockdown has been a bit better with ds so far Wolf, I hope he doesn't deteriorate.

Also pleased to hear you are getting more support for your dad Life. I understand if being a relief.

Glad dishwasher is sorted Gen.

Apparently we might have snow on Sunday which would be fun for the dcs. I'm not holding my breath though!

Thank you so much for the warm welcome everyone

For those asking, it's mainly retail therapy . Lockdown and Brexit stress got to me. I figured it was a short term thing so had a 'whatever it takes to survive' approach.

It's been complicated by having nothing growing up. I have a poverty mentality about 'everything' running out, I don't feel safe unless I'm surrounded by supplies. This is what my head says.

In my heart I'm a minimalist and naturally frugal, so I'm basically constantly at war with myself to some extent. My problem right now is I'm running out of space, boxes I can't unpack because I have nowhere to put the contents. It'll be ok. I just need to stop buying stuff!

The rest of my life falling apart can't be fixed by anyone on the internet, so I do what I can and try not to think about the rest. I was reminded this morning to have faith, trust the universe and know that everything will be ok. I know I need to get out of magpie mode and get back in touch with my heart, too. I'm anti waste, including money. So when I saw this thread I figured I'd join. I've only read the first page, but you seem like a sensible group of people. I'm hoping to learn some more frugality tips and if I can help anyone else along the way then I will. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.

The past two weeks I've been selling not-needed things online and made £235 so far, regaining some space in the process. I'm pleased about that.

Yes amber. I concur with the stockpile in case there isno money left to but it when it runs out. I grew up in poverty.
Great going on selling stuff.
No need to think k about the rest here but likewise we don't mind a vent.

Amber I find I start baking when I am stressed by things I can't control. For some reason in my head I think that if the world is ending then people calling round won't notice if there is cake with their tea. I was in a proper state when I couldn't get flour in lockdown 1. I resorted to flourless baking.

gen glad you got it sorted - to avoid having to do it again run a hot wash with a table spoon of washing soda / drain unblocker in it every month or so. I prefer washing soda b/c I know that it is not going to poison me.

I have had a lovely circular day.... with all the bits just softly melding together nicely. I like days like that.

Evening everyone 🤗
Thank you all for your kindness and support so kind of everyone 🤗
Unescorted l am so sorry to hear about the loss of your Mentor , things like this do have a habit of creeping up on us when we are least expecting it bless you 💐
Girlie it must be so tough for you both lovely . l so hope you get the full support you both need from all the services that are available 💐
Happier l had no idea Aldis had a savings card l must investigate my local one what a great idea !
Love it sounds so worrying for you all with your poor Dad , so stressful l am so sorry Lovely 💐
Amber welcome to this lovely group 🤗
Spent £45 in Lidl and 10 in Home bargains.
Hope everyone is ok , this is a really hard time for everyone take care all 🤗💐

Amber that is great news about selling - that could become addictive!

I know we've talked about that poverty urge here before... my mum had, and still does have, the same urge. Cupboards are always full to bursting, despite having lived on her own for a long time now; she has two full freezers as well and was devastated recently when one broke and she didn't realise and had to throw away all of the food. She's been having a clothes clear out during lockdown and recently handed down a bin bag of clothes to me. I'd mentioned that my one long-sleeved, stripey t-shirt was getting a bit old and that I would get another for Christmas. In the bag were at least 20 long sleeved stripey t-shirts in every imaginable colour and all mostly unworn.

I've gone the other way in terms of 'things'. I'm better now with food after getting caught out once when snowed in with 3 young children and empty cupboards, but as I said below my excesses are on convenience, time-saving, feeling I 'deserve' things to counter a busy life and, embarrassingly, probably a bit of 'keeping up with the joneses'. The past year has helped with this as in the first lockdown we had an abundance of time and no-where to go! But we have in that time decided to buy a bigger house which is the ultimate in 'joneses'!!

Morning everyone 😀
Off to MumBobs, roads are lethal forecast snow tonight and tomorrow so have done a huge shop for them just in case we can't get there tomorrow.
Hope everyone is ok have a lovely day everyone 😊

@Happierwithouthim

Just thought le yum when I saw this and lots of slow cooker fans here too

I read the recipe and saw chicken and cream. Sold!!!

amber welcome!!! I’m a classic emotional/stress spender. It took me a while to recognise but I’m slowly getting it under control.

I’ve made £113 this week eBay selling. Although 80 of that will go to dsis as it was her things. The remainder will be chucked against my credit card.

Tax rate arrived yesterday. 16%. Bastards. Must fill in tax form ASAP. We can claim £10 a week as a business expense for wfh so work are giving us all a letter to state the dates.

Nsd yesterday. Postage for eBay things but that was covered in the sale price.

Took the dc to the zoo. We’ve now made our money back on the membership so it’s free from now on! Wooooo.

Riding today £40 (owe instructor £5 from Thursday). Making Chinese tonight. Crispy garlic brocoli, veg chow mein, special fried rice.

We have snow.... it is due to last all weekend. So it is as well I did a "I am never setting foot in the supermarket swamp again until COVID does one or the wine runs out " shop. I think it was because I was listening to yesterdays press conference of doom as I was driving to the supermarket.

I am walking today - somewhere over the hills. With the weather I am glad that I am going with my friend who is a navigation instructor. When the clag comes down even the familiar turns into an unknown space. It will cost me slice of home made cake and a take coffee at the cafe down trail. Not bad for a one to one winter nav course.