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.

Morning all just catching up

Happy anniversary em
**
we love the library too, often my toddler loves a book so much we end up buying it so we can "keep it forever" as my toddler says ❤️

Does anyone elses DC do the summer reading challenge my teens are far too cool now apparently 😂

It's been a spendy few days here, lots of meals out with friends and family but as I've been driving I've been on soft drinks so slightly cheaper.

Also had to do all food on ocado as no time recently to go to Lidl etc.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Hello everyone!

I love the library - that’s a good idea for Monday with Dc. Happy anniversary Em. It was indeed Seacow who always wore her tiara, I know her well 😉. In fact, I believe it also got an outing at her jubilee street party recently, prompting her ndn to rush in and get hers too 😂

I’ve been MIA again, after returning once or twice from a long break. I lost a. Couple of long posts and then lost the will a little with the new-look mn. But I have been lurking though, and hi to all the newer posters (I am an old returner).

frugal life isn’t going so well - I have realised I spend an absolute fortune on baking for friends, bake sales, charities etc, as well as the time commitment. Might have to dial that back a bit, as the grocery bill is enormous. Food is definitely our biggest area of discretionary spending and a lot is for other people - we have friends and family round quite a bit too. I used to spend quite a bit on craft stuff (yarn and fabric) but as I’ve had absolutely no time lately I’ve spent nothing for months! Luckily we don’t use the car much, other than on holidays, so a tank of petrol lasts us at least 6 weeks. We are above average users of gas and electric though so that’s really going to bite in winter. And we got our pay award news this week (public sector) and it’s really not great 😡

Big spend this month: I have to pay the balance on our holiday soon - 2 weeks in wales in an air bnb but it’s quite expensive as we need 4 bedrooms (we take my dm and my DC don’t share - SN and not a good sleeper). Sigh. We might try to go abroad next year but 3 of us need passports - must get on and sort that.

I went to the ABBA Voyage show last night at the abba arena in London and it was incredible. The technology far exceeded what I thought was possible - it really did look as though they were up on the stage! And a fabulous venue, lovely happy crowd, I am still buzzing!

currently in the garden in a food coma after having a. Barbecue with my sisters. I am full of pavlova, just finishing the Pimms before resting my eyes 😴

of course jubilee = tiara, it’s obvious

spendy day , not worth it for the location but worth it for the company

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4595835-how-much-did-this-little-lot-cost-then?latest=1
Have we all seen this thread ? Quite illuminating 😱

Intesting end to the evening. Ds slammed my wrist in the door. Threw his fill force against it. DH doesn’t think it’s broken. But it ducking hurts

Ouch Em, get it xrayed just in case

Oh no em, I hope it feels better this morning.

Unfrugally I dropped, lost and then got back my phone. It no longer works 😩 Tried resetting it, screen is still black. Fortunately I’d never got around to getting rid of the old one. It’s hard to justify using savings to get it fixed in the current climate, so think I will have to do a new savings pot and save my pocket money up

I love that the tiara also got a jubilee outing too!

We went to visit friends yesterday and the new car journey spotting game is now spot the cheapest price for fuel. It’s nuts the differences. Annoying after losing my phone, we didn’t have time to stop at the cheapest one.

Wrist sore and bruised. Not broken. Annoyed though because despite the fact I was seen quickly for a Sunday morning all the questions were to do with why ds was allowed to slam the door and why he felt he had to slam the door.

Evening.

Hope you've all had good days. We've had real rain, for about an hour. Everything is brown here so definitely a good thing.

Sorry to hear about the phone time, you can get some great refurbished ones when you do buy one. We get them for our employees.

Sorry about the wrist em

Spends today - parking (too wet to park on a street and walk to hospital, no coats)
£7.99 on some downloads for DH, the Wi-Fi is grim at the hospital so the media apps not working.
£2.95 Too Good to Go, a good haul again from Greggs, especially with a 22/21 year old in the house,

Meal plan.
Tonight - veggie Shepherds Pie (will make double)
Golden Halloumi with fruity cous cous and salad
Tofu, chickpea and harissa casserole with rice
Bhaji burgers
Veggie mince Ragu with feta mash
Sweet potoato dhal
Goats cheese and red pepper pizza
Fruity biryani
Chickpea and (whatever veg we have left) curry.
Roast veg and pesto pasta.
Frittata and salad.

Haul from Greggs was

Tuna baguette (huge, easily two lunches)
Tuna salad sandwich
Chicken bake
Two yum yums
Belgium bun.

I guess they were just trying to safeguard you em as frustrating as it is
hope the wrist feels better soon
£30 on spooky pony event that I haven’t actually paid yet

Morning.

Will be a LSD rather than a NSD, We need coffee, toilet roll (either have a years supply in, or none!), ibuprofen, oat milk. And nothing else.

Have a great day all. Quiet one here.

Done a survey for 50p.

A cba does day today and a nsd planned

Hi sorry I’ve not been around. Reading but not posting. Hope the wrist is feeling better soon @ememem84

Not much going on here, food shop this morning, work this afternoon. It’s ds1’s birthday on Friday and I’ve no idea w

Oops accidentally hit post!

yeah, no idea what to get him. He’ll be 17. He’s paying for his own driving lessons, doing an intensive course as soon as he’s passed theory.

the best I’ve got right now is some of his favourite beer ( I know he’s 17 but he’s very responsible). Couple of T-shirts. And some Canadian dollars for when he goes at the end of next month.

anyone got any other ideas? Possibly driving related? He will be getting his own work van when he passes.

Not frugal at all but could you pay his insurance? Or a % of it?

basics box for the car - first aid kit, charger, etc.

I have paid the balance for dds party today. And have spent the last hour doing party bags. Party is Sunday. But time is scarce.

Sorry I have been awol for a bit & haven't been particularly frugal either.
I have finally had the gynae investigations I needed & have surgery planned for the end of August. It's inconvenient as it's the day before ds' 21st do and a week before he moves down to Somerset, but it needs doing. It's been a worry (and still is) as it may be a cancer, but the signs are good & I'm taking the lack of immediate urgency as a positive.
So frugality has been replaced at times by a "What the hell" attitude, but not too much. I've paused my study for now as I just want my free time to be free. I will need quite a bit of time off work afterwards which will be strange, so I will be posting more regularly then I reckon!
Need to do a bit of budgeting between now and the op.

Went shopping today . Bought a pair of sandals for my Dd1 £13 and pants for Mum £7 from Marks .Food Shopping from Tesco 53 and Home Bargains toiletries 18 and Aldis 16. Had to stock up a bit on things that were getting a bit low , car was full to bursting! Purse was much lighter too 🤗
Hope everyone is ok 😊

North wishing you a very swift and safe recovery sweetheart 💐

Em glad your wrist isn't broken lovely . I thought about the questions re your Ds and l wondered if they were just discreetly trying to gently probe to rule out DV . We all know that isn't the case with you but it's good they were being thorough and doing their job properly 💐
You hear so much of it going on these days 💐

North hope everything is ok and wishing you a speedy recovery

All the best North, I hope your surgery goes well and especially that you get the all clear. Hope you’ve got some good crafting projects lined up for your recovery too.

Spends today: £280 to have our patio jetwashed. We have a huge patio (our huge 3m long garden table barely makes a dent 😂) and a decked balcony along the width of the house as the house is higher than the garden. It’s not been cleaned for about 5 years and has all come up really nicely (though I now fear the patio needs repointing, argh). We’d put money aside to do some maintenance jobs though, so all budgeted. Tomorrow someone is coming to fix our sliding patio door which has dropped and won’t open without a massive struggle, £130. Sigh.

No food spends though, I’m trying very hard not to do any top-ups if at all possible!

I am up late working again. Am really suffering from insomnia these days, which I suspect is perimenopause. Had hardly any sleep last night and then I’ve had a shocker of a day at work today, someone has really upset me, so I am worried I might not sleep well tonight (when I eventually get to bed). Just need to keep plodding!

north wishing you all the very best for your surgery and recovery
half sounds tough, I slept badly last night and it’s horrible when you have a busy day ahead
non frugal here as I’m just back from a trip to Edinburgh with friends. Had a lovely time and thought I’d budgeted but I’d somehow forgotten we hadn’t paid back my friend who had booked the air B and B. So, £150 more than I thought which is not good in my current budget.
£124 on a massive Aldi shop which will feed all the teens at home during the holidays for at least a week

Sending you lots of good vibes north

jobs worth doing half. Our paving needs repointing but will do it when on leave

nsd yesterday, cleaner today

what about advance drivers lesson when he passes, do they still do those?