Summer savings support - be frugal

[ememem84]

Running out of space on the old thread so here’s the new one. Everyone welcome.

for background this is a slice to share your No spend days, your big spend days your savings your situation. We all help each other out with advice and tips etc. but it’s mostly for friendly accountability.

Thanks Em. It's too bastarding hot

On a slightly more relevant topic after the news this week about gas and electric price rises I'm glad I fixed last week. I had been in two minds about it. Also used the Martin Lewis code to open a Wealthify account, as he says if all you end up with at the end of the year is the £50 cashback you've lost nothing. I've decided to put all free money in this, so payments I get from complaints etc, then I'm effectively not betting "my" money while the market is volatile

Need to get a grip on food shopping...the fussy toddler and lack of meal planning are meaning waste. I'm veggie so feel the 65 quid a week I spend for 1 adult and 1 toddler is excessive!
Got a 1.50 to good to Waste veg box thing from lidil that was exciting as I made a giant veg curry and salad from it.

We are due a cheque today from the insurance company of £374 to cover the additional electricity consumed by the dehumidifiers in the cellar. According to the E.ON bill, our consumption was nothing like this - more like £70 extra. DH says take the cheque and bank it. What should I do?

Aldi today. Will buy extra pork and beef mince and batch cook chilli and ragu. DS' summer job has got off to a good start, but long days on construction sites mean I need to send him off with a good breakfast inside him, (eggs or porridge and yoghurt), a bacon roll for mid-morning, and plenty of protein at night.

Oh I posted on the old thread before seeing the link to the new one!

To summarise, we've fixed our energy, bit of a gamble as it's higher than the variable rate but lower than the predicted price hikes. Bit of a gamble. Will go from £125 to £299 a month.

I'm having second thoughts about paying for extra nursery time, trade off between the bill sending us more into the red but then I get more time to sleep in the day as I barely get 5 broken hours a night, an potentially more time to go to cheaper shops eg Lidl in the week.

I'm too hot!

Happy houseversairy happier

is the laminate glued down or the click stuff, if it’s glued then its a bigger job

pay the nursery fees then review, quality of life and sleep are important, you can always go back down again.

Take the cheque. It’s not just the electric it’s the faff

I’m pleased we fixed last year and ignored the advice

booked a summer activity using some last account credit £94

Agree @Decafflatteplease pay the nursery fees. get yourself feeling better. you can't pour from an empty cup as they say. even if you review in a term or so time it'll be worth it.

working from home today. have done three loads of washing already.

cleaner is coming at 1030. kitchen people at 3. glass person at 1 to measure up for splash backs.

its dm's birthday today. her and ddad are using a voucher we bought ddad for his birthday last year for our most wonderful michelin starred restaurant. they are going for lunch and having the tasting menu (all 7 courses) plus wine. they will be squiffy later on when we go to see her for cake. she's an absolute legend though as had spent her birthday morning making a lasagne to feed us all. (I had already taken dinner from the freezer for when we get back but that can be saved to tomorrow).

overcast here. need to reinstate my coffee subscription too as had the last of it just now. {sad face} just got the (admittedly nice) instant stuff left now. its not the same #coffeesnob

Hi, please can I join? I'm due on maternity leave in December. I work for NHS so have a good mat pay package but want to save enough to cover some of the shortfall and be able to take the full 12 months. Money is there to be saved but it burns a hole in my pockets, it just gets frittered somehow, "essentials" and birthday presents and food. I need reigning in!

I also want to be able to hand my car back in January (3rd year of 4 year finance agreement by then) and buy something second hand with 5 doors - and more practical for manhandling car seats in and out.

Looking to get most baby stuff cheap or second hand - I'm picking up a free changing mat later from a local facebook selling group.

Just thinking of other areas I can cut back - certainly taking my lunch to work instead of buying it and making sure there's food in so we're not on a last minute takeaway. A bit more forward planning is needed but it's hard around our very busy and chaotic lives at the moment.

Hi two and welcome.
there are loads of tips here. I will dig them out. First step imo is track spending and try to cupboard audit , meal plan before shopping
inhear you on chaos = spends
is this your first baby. People are usually generous so don’t get more than vest, sleepsuits, nappies, Muslin squares, feeding stuff if bottle feeding. Pram, cot and car seat.
review after baby comes

Thanks @lifelongfrugaleer

We're due a food shop so I will cupboard audit at lunchtime before we go later. I do sometimes do one but I've got out of the habit.

It's my first baby but my DP has two girls who come to us half the time. I think we will get a lot bought for us and passed down.

We've both got full time jobs, I'm always studying towards my next exam, we run a big farm and milk round and with the kids - it's a lot to manage and convenience is sometimes key but you do end up paying a premium.

Hoping to get into better habits before we add one more to the list of responsibilities!

@TwoBulletsFiveZombies welcome!

you will get loads of tips here!

a tip of mine is instead of food shopping every week of a month, skip one week and do a week just shopping from the cupboard - to stretch things out. this does take practice and reqiures meal planning and portion control (something that i'm not brilliant at!)

Welcome @TwoBulletsFiveZombies we are a lovely friendly bunch over here all with the same goals.

I hear you on the busyness of life, we are a large family here with a disabled dc who I'm a full time carer for.

Are you planning on using cloth nappies at all I've used cloth nappies and wipes with all mine and it saves loads plus looks super cute!

Thanks @ememem84 , I do tend to drag it out to ten days-ish and just do top up shops for fresh stuff, but I think meal planning as well normally helps me as I forget what's in and just buy something else. Plus if I get home and don't have something in mind, it's easy to reach for a takeaway or chippy tea.

@Decafflatteplease I have considered cloth nappies, thinking maybe a mix of both would be good - cloth for at home and disposables for out and about. Are they a lot of extra work/laundry? Do you know where to get them cheaply as all the ones I've seen are quite expensive?

Yes we started off doing cloth just at home then went full time cloth once we got the hang of it. Our first we did cloth from around 4 months, 2nd around 6 weeks, 3rd and 4th from birth.

You can hire nappy kits (from newborn) from "the nappy lady" but I think you have to book quite far in advance. I think little lamb nappies also do a trial? We got all of ours Preloved but I know some people aren't keen on that.

Even just using cloth wipes for wees saves loads. We got a kit from cheeky wipes but any small flannels do the job tbh!

There's also nappy libraries around where you can borrow nappies. Just search for nappy library followed by your area

Thanks for the new thread em, not been posting much. Feeling a bit meh at the moment with life and bills, nothing awful, just a bit fed up!

Welcome to the newbies

I hear you on convenient as time pressed. Definitely reusable wet wipes, just like doing a towel load. I think cloth for just one baby isn’t cost effective, sorry unless you hire or get secondhand. And I used cloth for both of mine with disposable interspersed. Definitely disposable for the first few weeks

frozen veg is a game changer onion, garlic, peppers, ginger, herbs etc fresh and easy

Thanks @Decafflatteplease I'll look into those.

@lifelongfrugaleer We don't have much freezer space at all so I'm looking for a second hand chest freezer on facebook - will be able to stock up on frozen veg and a bit of batch cooking then.

Frugal tips from the hive mind so far....

Check your outgoing-are they essential, are you on the best deal
Loyalty cards for stores you regularly shop at
Meal plan
Annual budget rather than monthly for those, well annual, expenses
Second hand is fine for 90% of stuff
Sign up to money saving expert emails
Insulation at home.
Close curtains at dark and tuck behind rads
Foil behind external wall rad
Turn the heating down . Tropical houses are not necessary
Use the washing line when you can
Look out for food recycling scheme- bread and butter thing, company shop, too good to go type things

Do you have to buy that Christmas/ birthday present. Can you give time instead
Eat less meat (tho I’m rubbish at this)
Have a on toast day. Or baked potato weekly
Double up while the oven is on for a reheat meal or a bake. Save electric running the oven less.
Branded goods are not always the best
-Walk those short trips if possible, instead of using the car (I am the worst for doing this). Saves petrol, good exercise too.
-Combine car trips better too eg dropped DD off at an activity tonight, which is next to the supermarket.

Cancel sky, if you still want the programmes switch to Now Tv for a fraction of the price
Cancel any subscriptions you don't need. Check direct debits to make sure you're not paying for anything you no longer need by accident
Check all your bills, insurances etc are the cheapest you can get for the cover you need (the last bit is important)
If you can get a voucher, use a cash back site or have some sort of work discount (nhs, bluelight, Tesco, student etc) check before paying
Meal plan before you shop. Make extra to freeze for another day as it's often cheaper per kg to buy bigger packs of meat
Go veggie a couple of times a week
Aldi and Lidl are great but not if you're going to get sidetracked by the aisle of doom
An annual budget is essential but pay yourself first each month so money into the annual pot, into savings, off debt before anything else happens. Make sure there's a line in your budget for fun money even if it's a tiny amount, budgeting can be a grind otherwise
You will have patches of spendiness and demotivation, don't give up just start again from wherever you end up

Take your own drinks, snacks, food, picnic - Invariably cheaper and nicer

Make your own if you have a stocked baking cupboard and spice cupboard. Cheaper and nicer, tho building said cupboard can be ££ (costs can be reduced by a visit to your local international supermarket)
Aldi for baking stuff it’s fine.
Work out of season for clothes as it’s usually cheaper
i switched to a coffee subscription (coffee is my weakness) - so our local shop delivers me a 250g bag of ground coffee every 2 weeks (i have 4 in the cupboard currently) and i make my own morning coffee. the subscription is for 6 months and costs me £58 i think. a takeaway from the same shop is £2.80 a pop. so it is a money saver. I bought a Contigo cup (spendy but worth every penny). so take my coffee hot to work with me.

I'm also a fan of using it up. so tings like toiletries, stationary (i am also a notebook hoarder) food etc. not replacing until it's all gone (or all of one thing gone).

my Lloyds account does "save the change" so it rounds up a purchase and then moves the pence to my savings account.

I also pay myself first on payday and am trying to use the things we have- zoo membership - use it loads so worth the £160 a year cost. same with my gym membership i use it so get my moneys worth.

Also what you can save/be frugal on can be inversely related to your means. If you have more "spare" money per month it's easier to buy in bulk and choose things that are cheapest per kg. If you have less or no spare money this isn't possible to do and then you're looking at cheapest price per item rather than per kg.

Agree re taking own stuff although I do often forget but a good coffee cup and water bottle is a good investment if you can afford it

If you have a dog use something like all about dog food to work out what the best food is you can buy based on what you can afford to spend per day
I also give the clothes an extra spin in the washing machine before they go in the dryer, and dry outside whenever i can - currently not living at home, so limited to a washer dryer (which is crap) and an airer next to a rad which i hate.

im a big fan of using the freezer and freeze anything i can. we buy reduced items (like bread and keep it in the freezer as it saves it going off - we maybe get through a loaf every couple of weeks).
I know that credit cards are sometimes seen here as the work of the devil (on MN specifically not this thread) but if you have one use to to your advantage. Mine gives me money back in the form of M&S or amazon vouchers every quarter depending on how much I've spent. and as long as you pay it off every month it works.
Top Cashback for all internet purchases.
Join the library - many have free access to Audible, Libby (for magazines and newspapers) as well as having an amazing selection of books.

Consider how you cook things - residual heat cooking works really well for rice and any slow cooker recipe.

@ememem84 the mention of your squishy mum and dad has really touched me and long for days gone by.

Happy Birthday to your mum and here’s to lots of love and laughter for all of you squiffy or not. 💐

Grow herbs and salad leaves on a window sill
Grow soft fruit - your local allotment / neighbours with a raspberry cane/ strawberry / current / gooseberry will be more than happy to give you a cutting.

Look for local food pantries
If you need credit use a Credit Union. If you are saving support your local credit union by becoming one of their savers.

Useful websites
Money Saving Expert especially the 90 ways to survive the cost of living crisis

Independent Foodbank Network There are some things that I wish we did not need

eat in season, pick your own is fun and freshers but can quickly add up, pick on eat one…. Snack included

CAB

step change

cooking on a bootstrap

Thrifty Lesley

In a very non frugal use of posts I’ve put the hive mind tips back up.
Looks like loads but do what you can