Friendship and Falling Leaves, Frugal Autumn Continued

[Wolfcub]

New fred

Ooh that cake looks yummy @tayto!

Im just about to do dance fit and yogalates. Then I’ll have a late breakfast and hit the supermarket.

Buying ds1 some new clothes and also some more jeans for me has really hit my bank account hard. But the jeans are so hard to get hold of in my size and length that I felt I had to grab them while I saw them online, only a couple of pairs left. One pair might go back I reckon. So my plan is to not spend any of my own money this week and possibly next week as well. It’s a flat month shift wise as well so payday isn’t going to be exactly amazing either when it gets here. Time to batten down the hatches again.

I’m planning nsd today. And hopefully tomorrow too. Def need to do a food shop on thurs though.

My nsd isn’t going to plan £53 charity shop for 3 jumpers and these leather chairs
but dh wanted a hideous sofa for £210 so I consider it a win as less savings spent

Well done swerving the hideous sofa life

Spendy day here. Groceries £73, dentist for DD1 £65-ish. £10 on sport socks, trainers are half a size too big so I can’t get by with normal socks.
coffees before and after dentist £10-ish 🤦‍♀️.

£20 under shopping budget, happy with that.

The jeans I ordered arrived. 2 out of 3 pairs going back do that’s a bit of cash clawed back.

£100 winter logs stock up. Energy bill in. £107 for the month. I pay what I use on a variable direct debit and save what they are predicting I'll use. Their prediction is now over £200pm. It will go up but we are being careful so far.

Need a red onion and pepperoni from the coop for pizza toppings, less than £1.50 I hope. Homemade pizza again.

Chairs and three jumpers a bargain Life. I'd consider that more of a win that you've swerved the hideous sofa. 😉

We are also buying clothes Curls but we really can't hold out much longer. Needs must for the winter.

Sold a coat on ebay for £5. Likely underpriced it as it went on buy it now immediately. Will start adding some more things.

Decaff you'll find the cake recipe here www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spiced-toffee-apple-cake

life that might be the shortest lived no spend week ever! Love the charity shop bargains though.
Might have to try that cake tayto I have lots of apples from my mum
£100 food shop today.
Covid negative now so went for a walk with ds & then we had lunch out with my parents. I ended up paying for it all £60. Shouldn't be much more spending this week

Morning.

Brilliant bargain re the fab chairs life.

Cake looks ace too, tayto. There's an unbelievable amount of apples this year isn't there? We made a huge crumble the other day and stuck it in the freezer. It'll be ideal when family are over.

🤣 re drunken teens, been there done that! Mine don't drink all that much these days at 21/23. I drink more in truth!

Pah re the car door kessie

Hooray for the negative test north

Keep going on the frugal trail martha, although it does feel relentless at times.

Hope you are okay rattle. Endo sounds terrible.

Keep posting your recipes laska, you give me inspiration.

Popped into Lidl yesterday, bought some non essentials and that pushed the cost up (sweets for Halloween etc, couple of branded items, chocolate for DH), so I will have to be more careful next time as it was £40.

£7 local shop on things I can buy there to support them and a couple of tins for the local food bank, who are desperate.

Got a TGTG bag from Greggs and it was amazing value - cheese salad sandwich, Mexican chicken wrap, egg sandwich, steak bake, two yum yums, 2 donuts. Both DC are at home today so I'll take a sandwich but my fridge won't be empty when I get home at least!

Right, off to get sorted for work.

Keeps dropping to £15 bargain
Deal of the day for Prime Members: Hotel Chocolat The Large Chocolate Hamper amzn.eu/d/7SMPEi9

A few Amazon spends today- de-icer for the car and a t shirt and tote bag for DD to tie dye at guide camp.

i can’t remember when I last posted but £28 in primark on 2x fleecy pjs and 2x joggers for the DDs. DC loved the PJs so might get them a 2nd pair each to get through the winter whilst the heating is on less.

About £8 something on two pairs of period pants, one in tiny size for DD and one for me. Cheeky wipes have 2 for £10 today, but I seem to have free postage and credit on my account so very frugal.

I’m trying to cut back the spending as I think my job/role is likely to be made redundant next year. I can’t look for another job at the moment for various reasons, so need to get more of a financial buffer in place.

@needastrongoneagain that tgtg bag sounds fab, you got a good deal there!

@Timetoswitch sorry to hear about the possible redundancy. But it’s great you’re being so forward thinking and taking action now.

I had a review at work today. Lots of changes happening which hopefully will be awesome for the company if it takes off. There’s also a colleague retiring soon. So thinking ahead I was asked about what I’d like in terms of hours in the coming months when all the changes take place. Obviously everyone is being asked the same so I put my ‘bid’ forward and it’s fingers crossed. All sounds really positive tho.

£29-ish in Sainsbury’s, mostly on T-shirts for me. I had trouble finding them in my size this year so I’ve bought to put away for next year. Also bread, chocolate biscuits and fruit juice.

@needastrongoneagain , DH cooked the black pepper and fennel prawns and the puy lentil, peanut and broccoli stir fry this evening from the Rukmini Iyer Indian Express book this evening.. They were both fab . Definitely recommend.. we used coconut oil for the stir-fry abs next time we will definitely add some crunchy garlic slices.. ( she doesn't add garlic to the broccoli dish but I think it would enhance it) .

NSD here, we were hedge cutting, and went for another swim... I have been 4 days running now 👍

@Taytocrisps that cake looks delicious!

@ememem84 love those calm, quiet mornings especially when it's cold and fresh!
@lifelongfrugaleer good success in the charity shop (and avoiding the ugly settee)
@CurlsandCurves great on the cheaper food shop 👍 food prices are insane right now.
@kessiebird homemade pizza is the best (I'm gluten and dairy intolerant so can't eat it now, boo)
@northender glad your COVID tests are negative again

I'll catch up on the rest shortly.
Period has finally arrived d and I had no choice but to clean the bathrooms this morning so I'm currently in a lot of pain. I'll be glad when my gynaecology appointment finally comes through. As soon as DD is asleep, I'll be heading to bed with my hot water and cocodamol. I really want to start a new book but in a slight reading slump at the moment.

Yesterday spends:
£44 on new shoes for DD (desperately needed)
£18 on kids' vitamins and cream for me
£2.94 in B&M

Today was £5.67 in Lidl (apples, cucumber and chocolate) and £20 on petrol

**hot water bottle

Spends today: just £2 bus fare to work. Frugal win was getting a lift home from DH so saved my return bus fare. Also resisting the temptation to buy a coffee before work - the bus times mean I get there really early, before anyone staffs reception, but I still don't have my pass to enter the building, so I have to awkwardly hang around outside until someone else turns up to let me in. So was really wanting to sit in a cafe with a coffee instead but saved my pennies and didn't.

Absolutely exhausted this evening. Sleep deprivation has caught up with me. Working 4 days this week instead of 3 as well. Both kids have colds too so I feel bad carting them off to nursery each day especially with that extra day, typical timing.

@needastrongoneagain great deal on the tgtg bag! A decent selection. I'd love to try it but have too many food intolerances/sensitivities 🙄
@Timetoswitch sorry to hear about the uncertainty on the job role. Well done on thinking ahead and preparing financially just in case. Cheeky Wipes are great - we bought wipes when my eldest was a baby and still going strong 5 years later, plus the menstrual pads are great!

Great joy chez Warthog as I have found my Kindle charger (lost since August) and can start to but cheaper books again. Yay.

@Gingerwarthog yay! I’ve had a kindle for around 15 years now, I’d be lost without it. Enjoy!

Joining 👋🏻 mortgage is going up, new baby on the way, one still in nursery and I’ve got expenses coming out my ears. Going to be quite a grim winter I think.

Welcome @Cuppasoupmonster fab name!

We've also got expenses coming out of our ears! DC are losing uniform left right and centre so am having to replace but luckily most via vinted but it still adds up.

It's the prime early day sale thing if anyone interested there's some good deals.

In a frugal fail I was rushing to order a present online for DNephew before I had to run to school and I accidentally sent it to our house and I meant to send it to Thiers so now I have to pay postage twice uurgh

We also love cheeky wipes some of their wipes have done all 4 of my DC and are still going strong. We also use period pants but haven't tried cheeky wipes ones we use Wuka from babipur.

Need to decide how many (if any) unpaid leave DH will take after my op. Really can't afford to take any tbh especially as we are paying for extra nursery we just can't stretch it that far. Ho hum.

I'm also in a bit of a reading slump not surprising really. I have a Kindle and love it. Going to head to bed now with hot water bottle and try to settle with kindle 😊

Text from the guy I rent car park space from. Cost is going up to £450 a month. Which is insane. So I’ve given notice on it.

😱 what is it currently? Eg if you already pay £400 it's not a massive rise but that sounds alot anyway to me. Being nosy, why do you rent a parking space?

@Gingerwarthog yay on finding your Kindle charger! I finally dug mine out a couple of months ago and I'm finding it great to use when I'm eating or need to lie on my side. I will always prefer paperbacks but Kindles are great too. Do you ever use your Library? Even cheaper than Kindle 😁

@Decafflatteplease sorry to hear about your upcoming surgery. Sounds really tough if your DH has to take unpaid leave to help. Do you have anyone else who can help?