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.

Catching up on all the messages

I think I've already said welcome to most of the newbies but if I've missed anyone... welcome, pull up a chair and get cosy and frugal with us!

Hope the uni open days go well wolf north

em hope dd is doing ok today.

mines your meal plan sounds good, I often do a big batch of roasted veggies and use in the week too. Currently love roasted veg warmed through, chopped up chicken sausu, topped with a friend egg makes a lovely brunch. Or a frittata with roasted butternut squash and feta.

Myself and 3 out of 4 DC are poorly today. I went out for dinner with my brother last night and was pretty frugal £15 for a lovely handmade pizza at this tiny independent pizza place including a diet coke.and an ice cream 😁. Arrived home to find 2 crying children (with DH) with a fever and this morning another DC and myself have started. Fever, headache, emotional. Debating doing a covid test but no point really. About to get a hot bath.

Should be a nsd day today no plans apart from getting everyone in the garden hopefully. Older ones probably just stay in their rooms tbh. Ocado coming later but it's a tiny shop only just over the £40 minimum as I did a.big Lidl shop yesterday yay!

Gws decaf family
£25 stuff shop
going to bake and garden today before pil come And chaos decends

Morning and thanks for the extra welcomes.

Like the sound of that frittata, decaf. Sorry to hear the family feel poorly, hope they recover soon.

I've been there and done the many university open days, travelled all over the place in my time!

I did a huge Lidl shop a few weeks ago marthasmum; the fresh is obviously gone but tons of the store cupboard stuff and washing tablets, cleaning stuff, tins etc is left. Kids were astonished I'd spent that much at Lidl (they are students!) but my cupboards are full and I only need fresh stuff for ages now.

Up early and dogs walked, I've made veggie shepherds pie too, two big ones, so no cooking for a few days, or I'll make a chilli and we will alternate.

Household chores and then hospital for me. Maybe a run later too for headspace.

Enjoy the day!

@lifelongfrugaleer that sounds a lovely idea, think I might give it a go 🙂i am on maternity leave now, finished a little earlier than I should as my hands just don't work properly anymore (carpel tunnel) and I'm exhausted two more weeks 🙂

Afternoon everyone 😊
Just done shepherds pie for us all for tomorrow.
Trying to empty the freezer a bit because I want to defrost it ☺️
Chicago was brilliant last night , lt had Lee Mead in it who l really like 🤗
NSD for me today yah!
Hope everyone is ok and have lovely weather 😊

Took dd to a party. Fun.

also stopped to get petrol. It was a pay at pump one where you pay before you fill up. Previously it’s cost us around £45 ish to fill the cat (a 2009 Ford Fiesta we’ve had from new).

£50 didn’t cut it this time. Only just over half a tank 😭

Car. To fill the car. Not the cat.

I do not fill the cat with petrol.

I believe you Em 😃
It's unbelievable how much everything is going up day after day . l do think there's a lot of profiteering going on with the fuel companies and the supermarkets 🙄

I love a pic nic , drink in a flask and a people watch. Very restful

fill the cat 😁 poor catface

corned bees pie cooking, choc cake cooking , trimming make into cheese and potatoe roles, yellow label pie and wedges going on next

Fuel costs are extortionate at the minute. I've a wee mini and it used to cost less than £50 for a full tank from empty, now it's £70 with 100 miles left.

Spends were hospital parking and I bought DH an orange juice that he'd asked for.

Having a cuppa and filling out some online surveys after reading one of the threads on the credit crunch session!

Yellow label pie?

Found some mince in the local supermarket yellow stickered so I'm happily batch cooking bolognase and padding it out with lentils and lots of veg.

Brought dinner to the beach. Kids had a dunk. Now they’re burying DH. Oh well. 😂

Hi all, can I jump on the thread. I'm trying to learn to be much more frugal with the costs of everything going up. So far I have changed my habits so if I can walk I will rather than hopping in the car for convenience. Trying to meal plan and stick to said meal plan as well! And cut back on takeaways... Which I needed to do anyway!

Just rotted up what I've spent on food/general household shopping this month and I am in budget for the first time in months. Going to try the same again next month and see how we go. Sadly over budget on other things like ds needing new hiking boots, new trainers and new pe trainers (all of which bought in sales and with discount codes but spendy none the less)

Em great news on dd's long sleep

Great to see new faces on the thread
Uni visit was a great success, Nottingham is number one choice now, but 1500 applicants for 60 places....eek! Much hard work needed.
Advice needed on reward credit cards. I've looked on MSE today but it seems pretty confusing. Amex clearly the best, but not accepted as widely as Visa??

I'd love to join in please! I'm finishing work in the summer at the age of 54 after working in the same school for 21 years. My husband has a very good job, luckily, but I really want to start taking better care of our finances now we are losing my wages. I used to be awful wth money but really got it under control a couple of years ago using the budgeting app YNAB, so I keep a tight look at where we are spending. I'm trying to earn a few pounds by selling all my work outfits on Vinted, and by buying clothes I need for retirement life off there too. I'm off on a solo 500 mile walk across Spain in September, when I retire, so I'm saving on diesel at the moment by trying to walk as much as I can in training. I'm also trying to buy ahead all my beauty products off Beauty Pie whilst I still have income coming in. I'm trying to earn a few pounds using StreetBees, Appen and Prolific, which I'm getting addicted to! I think the biggest area I can save in is with food. I'm a very impulse led buyer, especially for snacks etc. That needs to stop, for my physical health and financial health! I found I have drawn the line at spending 2 pounds a time on Walkers crisps, and have just discovered Molly chocolate in Tesco at 30p a bar rather than 1.50 or so for Galaxy. We tend to bulk buy stuff like toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, dishwasher stuff, foil and washing powder in Costco which works out well. I could really do with some good cheaper recipes as we tend to have dinners made up of steak, salmon, chicken etc, and I really dislike pulses. I have started doing a jacket potato night once a week, and we do home made pizzas on a Saturday rather than a Dominos. We have turned our oil Aga off for the summer, and I think our hot tub will be next, although I do love finishing the night off in it!

Looking forward to learning lots and hopefully sharing a few tips.

north I have an Amex the BA one. It seems to be accepted most places.

althouvh my hsbc one (premier because mum used to be staff #legacyperks) gives me points and then I convert to either m&s or Amazon vouchers.

back from the beach. Hosed the kids off then chucked them in the shower. Thank god for downstairs shower. Sorted all swimmers out and they’re outside to dry overnight.

kids in jammies watching hey duggie. I’m in jammies too. DH making lunch for tomorrow. Chicken broccoli sweet potato. Chilli dressing. Mmm.

Which uni are you at today Martha's?

Good luck for uni place
yellow label pie was reduced sticker steaks and chicken quiche was full price

beach looks great em
hello more new people

that walk across Spain sounds amazing
great coming in on budget wolf - though teen = expenses

I have a 1.0 ,ford fiesta 2020 for £20 I got 70 miles. Redic. I used to love a day or two at the coast in the summer, to get to the closest one that doesn't have manky horrible sea would be £60 return at the moment I've flown all over Europe for less.

The fuel we bought will last around a month. As there’s not far to go here….20 mins to work. 20 mins home. 10 mins to the gym etc. we only do “big drives” if I’m desperate for dd to nap.

interestingly DH thinks our condenser dryer is plumbed into the drain. I’m not sure why he thinks that. Apparently if it was I wouldn’t have to empty the water things. Which I do when I remember (as in about 10 minutes ago!). Fil hooked it up apparently. So that would explain why it’s maybe not doing it?

Can I ask how do you cook raspberry jammed and dirt coked a gammon? Please, thanks. Sounds nice.

north we were at Leeds. Except I got the day wrong and it was yesterday!! So we wandered round the campus and the city centre anyway. We’ll have to go back for the actual day in sept 🙈
Glad you had a good time at Nottingham - I know what you mean about competition - DD’s first choice is Manchester and that is tough too for the course she wants.

I totes lost my mojo