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.

Yep I relate decaff. Ours doubled from £200 to £425, I’ve now put it down to £325 as we’ve paid off a debit balance we had. However it will go up to god know what in the winter. And that’s with new windows and a new boiler, and not having the heating on much - there are 5 of us though.
DP and I were trawling through the bills last night trying to work out our actual usage so that if a switch becomes available, we can base it on actual figures. Is it me or is this really difficult to find? The bill had our projected annual spend and projected annual usage on but I’m thinking this may not be that accurate?

Do you not submit regular readings Martha? we submit ours the end of each month and then the same day we submit it we get a bill but at the moment we are using less than we are paying to allow for winter. In June we used 221kwh of electric I think and around 1000kwh of gas. Our electric stays fairly stable through the year but in the depths of winter we use around 4000kwh a month of gas.

6 of us here.

Evening everyone 😊
Yes the gas and electric bills are terrifying l find calculating the amount we use very confusing too 🙄
Spent 20 in Morrisons today 🤗

Evening all
welcome newbies
spends today £99 on a ring door bell we have bought a new front door moving the original door which is on the side of the porch to the front as nothing is straight forward with me the survey came back that the porch isn’t strong enough for the new door no luck getting a builder they don’t turn up to give us a quote so dh is doing it himself while dog sitting elsewhere sick of coming home to a mess and dust this also buggered up the timings of having the new garage door fitted but that’s been done so we didn’t miss out on the deal we got

Alfie it is so difficult to get skilled trades ATM and it is not even the traditionally busy time.

Utility bills are frightening. DH is working extra hours and all of it goes to them.

There are all sorts of gaps on shelves in supermarkets. We couldn't get lemons for love or money for weeks. I finally found some the other day but have forgotten why they were needed. I will just have to get some gin so they don't go to waste.

I am going to have a slow day to make up for last weekend. I had pencilled in deadheading and a little light weeding but it is raining.

I forget who is coming to Manchester... Pack your pack-a-mac. It is breezy at times so an umbrella on its own may not be as effective as you might like.

I hear you re the energy prices. I fixed for two years at the start of October luckily. It increased our monthly tariff but I'm hoping it negates the next 18 months of energy hikes. I turn our hot water off every other day too, if that helps? We've enough hot water in the system for our needs for that period.

Good builders and tradesmen are like gold dust for sure.

Hoping to have a quiet weekend. Just parking hopefully to pay for.

Off out for lunch today then the Elvia film

shopping with dd today returning some dresses we ordered for her to try on for her graduation we have narrowed it down to 4 out of a zillion ordered lol. And she needs some shoes for her new job that she starts on Monday then taking her food shopping so she can choose what she wants for her packed lunches

it was so frustrating with the workmen they either don’t get back to you at all don’t turn up when agreed or don’t send you a quote so dh is doing it himself I am not very happy with the front door people either as we had to ring chasing when they were fitting it and that’s when they mentioned the problem with the porch they should of contacted us about it when the survey was done but they have slightly redeemed themselves knocking money of and are now being very helpful

DH was a self employed tradesman. And throughout the first lockdown we just about kept our heads above water. Then he got offered the job he’s in now working in the commercial sector. We never advertised the fact but the phone did stop ringing from domestic customers as the pandemic went on, understandably. So I suspect there’s many like him who have left trades or gone to get employed by bigger companies.

I’m keeping tabs on our energy use and this last month we’ve done great, our balance isn’t much more than our direct debit and I’ve not changed it. So I’ll keep it as it is, submit monthly readings and make an additional payment as needed I think.

I have found food deliveries a massive money saver. Not only saving the fuel of driving to the supermarket (and time, I work full time).

I uses to get 'tempted' in store and spend £80-100 a week for three of us. Now I use my Tesco delivery pass (paid for with club card points!) I'm spending about £50 a week.

Also swapped from branded to own brand, kids seem happy with Tesco own brand for most things.

Hi
Can I join?
Currently paying £300 per month DD with Bulb in preparation for the winter.
We have worked really hard to get our usage down to £100 pm for 3 adults.
Literally by switching everything on/off via smart plugs-installed as new build.
Highly recommend these as you can see at a glance who has left things on.

Zero heating/ tumble drier, we plan our laundry around sunny, dry days.
Nothing is on if we arent using-DP a great one for having the TV on all day, no more!
Hot water is off/ no showers at home as we are all gym bunnies so use there and skip the odd day off.

Our employer also has really good cycling change facilities / Ds has to shower before after work due to the nature of his job so its employer provided anyway, so can use at work also.
Food-we could cut down but currently happy with £100 pw for 3 adults.
Have cut down on berries and swapped for in season berries only and apples, pears, plums depending on availability.

Its so easy to over spend on food so meal planning and list!

This is why I use the milkman so no top up shops.
Yes its more expensive per pint but no top ups mean no buying what I or DP fancy.
Also no plastic and its an old family firm who deliver to us.

Completely agree with empty shelves in supermarkets, it's definitely a thing at the moment. Lidl had lots of gaps. £86 lidl. Spendy weekend as we were down in London yesterday so hotel, food, booze and petrol to pay for £££. Put petrol in the car Friday morning and that was £76 for not even a full tank.

Also agree re worrying gas and electric prices. The price jumps are significant. Apparently fuel protest rolling roadblocks are planned on some
Motorways on Monday

Oh trades people namely electricians were having fun with at the moment, turns out guarantee they turn up doesn't mean squat. Well he's got one more attempt next week as I can't stand confrontation and then I'll get somebody else.

Have cut down on berries and swapped for in season berries only and apples, pears, plums depending on availability.
I buy all fruit and veg at our local market now. All seasonal, local produce and prices are lower and quality higher. Luckily the market is on my day off this year and I have noticed a big difference from buying at the supermarket.

Have cut down on berries and swapped for in season berries only and apples, pears, plums depending on availability.
I buy all fruit and veg at our local market now. All seasonal, local produce and prices are lower and quality higher. Luckily the market is on my day off this year and I have noticed a big difference from buying at the supermarket.

Just filled up on diesel for drive to Devon & it was £96. Crazy
Mines Gousto is great when you get the discounted deals. We decided to order at full price for when we get back from Devon & then got a message last night that a friend who I gave a referral code to has ordered so we get £30 off so 4 meals for 4 for £20ish
Have done well in our use up week, did a random tapas style tea last night to finish off. Went with dd to see Top Gun Maverick on Thursday which was fab, but £30 with ice creams. It is lovely cinema though with comfy sofas, tables for drinks etc
Dh & I both had better than usual pay months so will be able to boost the savings.
Just cashed out £68 from bet365 which brings my total to £150ish from an initial £10 bet which led to various free bets along the way. I still have £17 in free bet credits so will just go until it's used up and take advantage of any free bets. I am very disciplined with it.
Been getting my moneys worth from the gym membership the past few weeks & feeling good for it.

Lsd, other than 110 food shop, but that's breakfast, lunch and dinner, 4 people and the pup. I buy 14 cans of winalot for 16.50 from Morrisons, at a can a day, the dog gets a week of food a month free😀i am really trying to focus away from spending and mode towards free. So I have cleaned kitchen down, tidied the garden (pup destroyed it😅) and tried to make a nice space to read the 3 library books I have got for my work holidays from 18th July. Have 4 weeks to take as was pulled out all the way through covid. So I am going to volunteer somewhere nice for a week. Gets me out the house qnd seeing people for free and saves on my electricity etc. Just need some compost and seeds to finish garden. 5 quid tops! Hope all having a lovely frugal day. It's the air show in Swansea, the young ones are enjoying it!

**24 cans @ £16.50 vs local shop £1 per can, sorry that wasn't clear!

Hi snore 👋

I'm really hoping I won't need to spend that much extra in food shopping next week north, as £17.40 for 4 meals for 4 people (there's 3 of us) from Gusto will definitely give leftovers and I've tons in until then. Tried to choose the bulky recipes too! Interested to try it.

My biggest tip really re food is that a vegetarian diet, cooked at home, is a lot cheaper!

Only me and DS tonight, so have bulked up some leftover curry with extra mushrooms, and am making onion bhajis as a side.

Spends today were
£4 parking
£4 apples and oat milk (only items not available in Lidl yesterday).

Likely to need petrol this week, but have managed longer than I usually would.

Hi 😊

Spendy day here

Was our village summer fair today spent £50 but kids had a great time, it's always one of our summer highlights!

£110 in aldi but got loads of stuff and some will last more than a week eg crisps. Also about £20 of that was non food items they had some really nice sort of fleecy lounge clothes in so got some for the children for the autumn winter when we can't afford to put the bloody heating on

Also impressed that a online shop basket I had ready with teacher presents etc emailed me with an extra 10percent off code so every little helps

£35 lunch and £6 cinema. The Elvis movie is brilliant

Mrs thanks for posting about the cost of dog food. I was just going down a rabbit hole of rehoming a dog after seeing an article about people giving their dogs paracetamol. We cannot afford a dog. Wolf tell me how much vet bills are pls.... I need help to resist puppy dog eyes.

I am so tired today.... I have some lurgy that is just kept me under par.