Frugally Forward To Autumn

[Wolfcub]

New fred

Morning everyone. I got into a bit of a panic last night about money (been reading too much MN) and stayed up late revising my budget. I'm actually doing ok. But I need to keep a tighter rein on non-essential spending. And cut right back on eating out and takeaways. And go back to the library instead of buying books. I also need to start putting away money for DD's college fees in 2023. The course she plans to do this year is a PLC - a one year course. The fees were relatively cheap - €200 for the year. But if she moves on to a university in 2023, we'll need to pay €3,000 per year registration fee (tuition itself is free). My share of that will be €1,500. This amounts to €125 per month. I've added that into my budget.

I'm aware that lots of people have already tightened their belts and have no spare capacity at all. I'm sorry life is so difficult for everyone atm.

As it happened, DD phoned me at 1.30 looking for a lift home (she was in the pub with her friends) so maybe not such a bad thing I was still awake. At least I didn't have to get out of bed and throw on some clothes. I'll be tired later though.

I've a walk at 12 with my Meet up group. Fairly inexpensive - I might have to pay for parking. And a bottle of water.

Forgot to say that DD made two lovely burn marks on my dining table during the week. She was rushing off to meet a friend and left her hair straightener plugged in. A new dining table isn't in the budget atm so I may need to invest in another table cloth. The joys of teenagers!

Does anyone know much about 15 min wash cycles? Wondering if I can use it more with liquid detergent 🤔 it'll need to be a dinky wash with an extra spin...

Oh no Tayto, I've been up worrying about money too. Even when I think we're OK I still find reasons to worry about it. It's tight, that's for sure. And I need a cheap tablecloth too!

Was at a wedding yesterday. So much fun. Dparents had the kids (and still do!) we socialised drank danced ate lovely food laughed and cried a bit. So emotional.

I bloody love a wedding. I stopped drinking at around 9. Feeling ok right now. If a bit tired.

Why in 40+ years of life have I never thought befor to stand my cake tins on their sides inside the square tins so the don't topple over every time I open the cupboard. What an idiot

Epic frugal win here. We had a job quoted at £600 by a tradie but we also had B&Q vouchers to use.

And we bought what was needed with some of the vouchers. Costing £40ish and DH has just watched a YouTube video and done the whole job himself.

Saved us £600 and will stop the house from getting damp for the next few years.

We always ask for B&Q vouchers for Xmas and birthday so that regardless of our financial situation - we can always afford to do urgent DIY and decoration. Absolutely chuffed to pieces...

Dumbass fail: tried a 15 min wash and forgot to put detergent in lol!

wolf sorry to hear that about your ex. You’ve done well to take it so calmly, I’d be fuming.
collie I got a bit obsessed with researching washing machines when I last got a new one 😂 The very short cycles are the most expensive to run energy wise. I couldn’t believe how long cycles are for my new machine (eg 3.5 hrs for cottons) but apparently they rest a lot (!) so use less energy. And I think the short cycle can only take a small amount of laundry - mine is 2kg I think.

I'm really tempted. My saucepans are old and have been dropped once or twice so the lids don't fit properly and my frying pan isn't much better. End of the month book balancing on Wednesday so I'll see if I have any room for manoeuvre.

I think all the cost of living and energy price stuff is affecting my brain. I was sitting having my morning cuppa and I suddenly thought, "Why am I sitting here in a t shirt? I must go and put a jumper on." Then I realised it was warm, there was no heating on and no reason why I shouldn't be sitting here without a jumper.

I might need to calm down a bit.

I use 15 minute cycles for very lightly soiled clothes and it’s fine, no good for sweaty or knickers though,

that’s a brilliant frugal win collie.

wolf that’s face palm moment >>>> off to turn tins

sorry you are not sleeping collie and tayto.

lovely morning in my happy place at a poncy market in the sunshine,

Helloooooooo!

Wolf I have a stack of round and a stack of square. I don't have enough space to have a round tin in a square one.

em the wedding sounds lovely

need a gardener is an essential in the circumstances. As autumn kicks in you can reduce the time. Sorry if anyone is a gardener and you rely on the winter work.

I have been to the gym this morning ... I am down to £3 per visit. I am aiming to get that down to £1.25 before the end of the month. Reducing the £ per visit is the motivator - weight loss, strength and fitness are by products. The PTs face when they asked me what I was listening to for motivation b/c it looked to be working was priceless when he realised it was a true crime podcast & not some banging motivational tunes....

Free bus to town, returned library book, used co op vouchers, saved 75p, went to lidl spent 200 pound over month so got 10 voucher. Came home baked a cake using all stuff from cupboard, it's like those Mcdonald breakfast muffins. 5 pound in charity shop, 2 pound on white plates, 2 pound on towels and 1 pound on a saucepan lid for when.i boil potatoes. 2 lines of washing out, making chicken jalfrezi and chilli in the slow cooker tomorrow. Podcast, cleaning and a dog walk later. So grateful for a bank holiday tomorrow 🙌

Unescorted unfortunately my squares don't fit in my squares and my rounds don't fit in my rounds. But rounds library style in the squares is a winner

I use the 15 min cycle for dark clothes, and I stopped using detergent with dark clothes years ago.

Tayto can you get DD to pay a table cloth? Might help her to remember to be more careful with hair straighteners?

Glad you enjoyed the wedding em

Wolf you are not an idiot <gavel>

Well done for the gym unescorted 🤣 at PT reaction to your podcast

Not sure if we’ll spend anything today, DH is doing the steps in the garden and I’ve cooked 4 cooking apples to freeze. I have a sore throat, it’s brewing and today I have zero energy.

Love that motivation unescorted

having a break from stripping wall paper, sanding woodwork next

Enjoying reading everyone's weekend updates.

I was working yesterday, was a lsd, Dh took Ds to the airport viewing place to watch the planes, £5.

So far a nsd today and hopefully will stay that way. We've got home made pizza in the Ooni for dinner (husband's speciality and Ds' favourite), borrowed Dbil's gas bottle for the pizza oven as ours has ran out and hoping not to replace it till next spring now.

Been for a 5k run with the dog, hope I can keep it up as haven't run consistently since I got pregnant with Ds four years ago, I was a regular runner before that.

Working the BH tomorrow, bit rubbish but can't complain, I volunteered for it as it's double pay and no extra child care costs as Dh is off.

Happy weekend everyone!

Hello everyone I haven't posted in a long time but like everyone I need to tighten my belt to deal with the energy price hikes. My absolute biggest drains are my two teenage boys. They create so much washing and are constantly on devices. I need to find a way to get them on board that motivates them rather than nagging them.

DS1 has given up his apprenticeship and gone back to college to do something he's passionate about so he'll need to get a part time job to run his car. DS2 is also looking for a part time job that fits around school

north I'm sorry your having to go through such a tough time and hope the time goes quickly until you find out exactly what you are dealing with ❤️ Need I'm sorry about your dh too. Life can be a bit shit sometimes 💐

It's great to see the thread so busy but sad that so many people are in need of it. I have no idea how the people who have nothing to cut back on are going to cope. I was in farmfoods the other week and was shocked at how much everything has gone up in price. Anything that was £1 is now £1.25 and tins of soup are so expensive. I sometimes grab a tin of soup to take to work if I'm disorganised but over a pound for a normal tin of Heinz soup is just ridiculous. I got a pack of 4 in Aldi for £2.50. I should really stock up on some more but it's finding the room to store things.

I am impressed by the energy on this thread this weekend! I have barely done anything beyond the minimum chores (bit of food shopping, roasted a chicken, one load of washing, bit of cleaning). Have otherwise slobbed about reading the paper (obviously full of energy costs crisis stories) and watching Better Call Saul.

However, busy week awaits, with DH off work. We're going to head to the coast tomorrow, up early. And trips to galleries and nice lunches/teas/pottering around posh neighbourhoods planned for the rest of the week. Will be spendy compared to my normal week (in which I barely go anywhere!) but should be fun. And frankly, you have to do these things from time to time to remind yourself why London is still worth it despite the hassle.

Our frozen dog food comes wrapped in wool insulation sheets. I am using these to insulate the bottom of cupboards, so cold air doesn't seep up between the floorboards and under the doors, and to supplement insulation in the roof, up chimneys and basically wherever I can think of. We get one or two deliveries a month, so a consistent supply is assured. I'm repurposing materials and hopefully helping keep the house warmer. I'm going to put rugs down on the kitchen floor (from my mother's decluttering) - it's boards laid straight onto concrete and can get bloody cold underfoot in winter.

I've just started a frugal Christmas thread on the Christmas board if anyone wants to join. Just because the best way to afford it all is prepping early :)

NSD here! Collected my Sainsburys shop and the fridge, freezer and cupboard are FULL. My DH said "you're amazing to get this shop down to £59!"

Very pleased!!

All the frugal wins are brilliant!

Agree that it's a sad sign of the times that this thread is so busy and peeps are up at night 😕 I'll have a peep at the Christmas thread too thanks Collie

LSW here.
£10 ice-skating lesson for DD, within weekly cash spends. Got stung in the cafe for overpriced drink and crisps as her new lesson time means a gap between lesson and free skating but I'll prepare for that next week.
£3 on bags of ice for a party we went to last night. Free other than that as we'd included the drinks we took into our weekly shop. Was a nice family thing, I drove my DM and entertained her elderly neighbours.

£5 today for me and DD to swim at the leisure club, I get in under my membership. Like someone up thread, I'm planning to use the facilities regularly to justify the cost and get the results. I love the sauna and just reading a book by the pool in the winter, MH boost on dark days.

£36 on Amazon Fresh (will have to come from next week's budget but that's doable). Got £15 off a £50 spend so I've stocked up on meat and drinks in the hope they last most of the month.

Small frugal win. Finally downloaded the rewards onto the Krispy Kreme app (my email was wrong) and scored a free donut for DD after her swim, as it was a birthday reward. I not a big donut fan so happy to pass that on. Didn't have to persuade her that Lidl bakery is just as good!

Least you'll know for the future re the classes kessie.

I'm on your thread collie, fabulous list!

Weekends are about chilling too Skies, enjoy the week with your DH being off.

It's so hard at present isn't it born and thank you for your kindness.

Think of the money socathe

I'm another that uses the 15 minute program for clothes that just need a freshen up really.

wolf I've a few words I could use about your ex. I won't.

Awesome win collie, that goes some way to negating the £1000 cost you hadn't expected.

tayto the dining table I gifted this week had all sorts of DC marks all over it over the years. Pissed me off at the time, but sort of made a few memories too. And ❤️ re the worries.

I'm a bit of a phone addict too. But watch about two hours TV in total a week.

Spent a bit more than expected but some is coming back from DD

£10 Boots - only £3 mine
£40 shopping but £12 DD, and £12 was a huge bottle of cheap gin to make more Sloe gin with our foraging haul. Some to be gifted for Christmas but I've read it's even better matured for a year so double frugal.

Nsd.

today has been a hangover tired day. The kids have been on it today. Full of energy. Hooray.

spaghetti bolognaise stuffed pasta shells for dinner topped with mozerella and served with garlic bread. DH and I need the mega carbs.

picked 30 tomatoes from the garden today. Wooo.

have also cleaned out the fridge and after dinner need to do a cupboard/freezer audit. I’m not planning on food shopping until Friday maybe.

Had a bit of an adventure on our walk. We took a short cut (I know, I know) and ended up getting quite lost. I might add that there were no signposts at all - even on the main trail -- and we'd no internet signal. We were following mini trails for ages and then we'd find our path blocked by a fallen tree or something and we'd have to turn back. But we made it back to the main trail eventually. I've a few nettle stings from clambering through brambles. Anyway, the people were really friendly and we had a good natter - at least, while we were on the main trail. Hard to talk when you're climbing over fallen logs and dodging brambles.

Called into my niece then and gave her a card and some money. Lovely to see her house (at least, the downstairs - she said the upstairs is a mess with boxes everywhere). I've met her partner once or twice at family events but hadn't spoken to him much. He seems really nice. They'd make good frugaleers - lots of second hand furniture. They've a list as long as your arm of things they want/need but as I said, they'll get there eventually. They can take their time.

DD's gone to work and I'm going to heat up my dinner shortly. Can't believe its' Sunday evening already. Where does the time go?

I'm playing chicken with the impending rain, the atmosphere is definitely threatening but the wash could do with more time.

Managed to get two more kitchen cupboards sorted and my bedroom cupboard that is for dressing table type use and stores of toiletries. Mopped the bathroom floor, 3 loads of washing and shredded some more stuff. Annoyingly found three cheques I hadn't paid in which are now expired, two were received in covid and there are no banks nearby for me so never got done as it wasn't an essential journey. Luckily relatively small amounts but together would have been a skinny weekly shop!

Also had lots of sit downs as I'm feeling a bit off. Collected ds, having had another "disagreement" with his other parent about something ds has done which I am not impressed with.

Making the most of the airfryer and leftovers for tea, lots of salad leaves (would have been veg from the veg box but hey ho), a handful of leftover chips from Friday, a few onion rings that were hanging about and some chicken pieces which I've given a spicy coating. It would probably not normally be enough for ds for tea but I know he had a decent lunch so I'm chancing my arm

Born it's really nice to see you back

win. Found a box on bin bags from the old kitchen bin. Using these for bathroom bin. Thought I was out. But nope. 90 more yay.

have sorted airing cupboard and am letting 4 waterproof mattress protectors and sheets (cot bed size go). Kept 4.