Frugal the flip to make the festivities fun

[lifelongfrugaleer]

Wasn’t going to be flip but decided to be polite
46 days or so

don’t panic frugaleers

Up early to watch rugby final with dd then off to Birmingham with her on train for final uni visit.
Glad you're home decaff , fingers crossed for good results
Had lunch with best friend yesterday £18, £7 on weekend breakfast supplies (early morning women's Ruby & mens cricket World Cup finals) & £9 on a book for dh (christmas pressie).
Ds is home for the weekend which is lovely. We're going out with my parents tomorrow for an early birthday celebration. We're going to a local pub where I can use my Taste card (3 month free trial after buying multi cooker from Currys).

Glad to hear the surgery has been done and you've good support. Fingers crossed for positive news.

Tense game so far north!

Tidying up day planned here, only day I really get to do domestics.

But having a cuppa in bed first!

Good you are being looked after decaf and fingers crossed for you

jobs day here but gym first this morning

Hope you're recovering well decaf and glad you've got support around you. Hope you get some good news too.

Need your meal plans always look amazing, we really need to get more organised with cooking but we just can't seem to manage it! Are your recipes from any particular cook books? I think I'm in a bit of a rut with the same meals too and could do with some new cook books. I always need meals that are quick to cook though as have such limited time with work and the kids.

Took a black sack of stuff to the charity shop in efforts to get rid of stuff as we have too much stuff.Then went to Superdrug to get a few bits and bumped into DF outside who then came with me and paid for my £14 superdrug shopping which was very kind so there's a frugal win.

wishing you a speedy recovery from surgery decaff
meal planned mostly from freezer except for lunch tomorrow as we are having friends over.
Sunday lunch - chestnut soup with mini garlic and cheese breads, salmon with fennel pesto crust on roasted green beans, olives and tomatoes, new pots, winter fruit pavlova
Rest of week (all from freezer batch cooking!)
lamb tagine with kale and mashed squash/potato mix

pumpkin risotto with crispy tofu topping

pasta with lentils and root veg

tomato risotto with prawns

leftover chestnut soup with broccoli and pumpkin seed topping

a bit carby but need to eat up freezer stuff!

Thank you for the new thread Life l have been looking for you lot for days lol 😀

Glad you are being look after Decaf hope you fell better.

NSD

decaff sorry I missed your news. I hope you are being looked after. & Wishing you the speediest recovery with no signs of anything that can't be fixed.

weight I hear you. I have started at the gym which means that 4-5 times a week I need a really quick dinner or easy enough that my kitchen novices can get it ready. They try but we have a supply of pizza in the freezer just in case. Cheaper than an emergency takeaway.

gen what time did you say you wanted us to arrive?

I forgot to get the frozen ducks.... I have no brain.

Dropped 2 bags at the chazza yesterday and got 2 lamps for £14 to finish the front room, £50 petrol and £11 take away
nsd planned today, gonna make soup and meal plan after sorting pony clipping this morning

We used to have to sedate Dpony to clip him 🤣

Menu plan sounds good gen

I love cooking weight, along with running it's the thing that zones me out. Also the DC are not fussy and grown up, so that makes it easier. I usually pick from one recipe book, plus a couple of standard meals like pasta and pesto or veggie sausage and mash that doesn't need a recipe to make. The list below is an amalgamation of a few books though - The Green Roasting Tin, East, India Express and Mowgli Street Food. We love spicy food too!

Yesterday I spent a bit more than expected
£15 Home Bargains stocking fillers for Christmas
£81 fuel (will claim back though)
£60 Sainsbury's on loose clothes for DH

It's 6 months today since DH went into hospital so I'm going to mix actually resting and keeping busy when I need to.

unescorted you’re welcome any time 😁

Did a lot of the prep for today’s lunch last night so just need to make the pesto crumb for the fish and sling it and the veg into the oven. I highly recommend the green beans - its a Jamie recipe and so easy, basically just blanch the beans then put into an oven tray with cherry tomatoes, olives, lemon juice, olive oil, 10 anchovies if you like them (they melt and disappear, promise it isn’t weird!) and roast for 15 mins. Transforms the beans.

Ah ha found you.

todays frugal wins. Turned towel heater in bathroom off. I’m not sure it’s working. So until I know that it’s off.

have also turned the timer for the water heater down a notch.

saving money this winter (because we’ve spent a fortune going to nz) but haven’t bought winter clothes or coats for anyone. The kids don’t need new coats this year. Will buy new next year.

kids don’t need new trousers etc (can buy in feb if they need it).

Also laundry is outside on line and airer. I’m getting shit done today

Your old pony need 😂

didn’t have to go in the end so filled the garden bin with leaves, front to do

need ❤️ hopefully dh keeps making progress

Great going em, too damp here for line washing

Hi all. My first post here. Following with interest

For my family we’ve decided to spend up to £20 only for Xmas pressie’s. I’d normally spend around £100 each . My son’s are in their 30’s so don’t need much and no grandchildren yet.
My great nieces and nephews get loads of presents so I’ll find a silly game to play on Xmas day for us all.
It’s actually been fun choosing within the budget tbh.

Xmas dinner is at my niece’s so I’ll just get an Aldi frozen turkey crown for us after Xmas day. I’d usually buy a fresh free range turkey or goose.
I’m not getting loads of chocs etc cos me and DP are dieting and we never eat them all normally. But ….we will spend a bit more on a few decent wines and a yummy tawny port 😆And ….. after reading a thread just now about T3 Cura hairdryers I’ve ordered one for myself Sssshhhhhh 🤭

Welcome lily

Sheets are out on the line, and second wash is in the machine. We have sunshine, although I will probably need to finish off in the tumble dryer.

£54 in Tesco this morning.

Not feeling great today, so might have a nap after lunch. Fortunately I got what I needed to get done this weekend yesterday.

6 months is a long time need

£17 primark on duvet set for ds

Hi Lily, all that sounds perfectly sensible stuff to me, nice to have you on board, we are a very supportive and friendly bunch.

Yep, it's a very long time. Life is definitely not an easy ride now. I'm a bit scared for the future but living a day at a time.

In exciting news, I've spent the day defrosting the freezer and clearing leaves!

£3.00 coffees at the hospital.

In better news, our energy use was £185 last month. We are still on a cheap tariff for another year and being very careful. We are £500 in credit, so hopefully that'll be a buffer for winter.

That's a large 4 bed house, but mega efficient.

That’s great going need. I’m 337 in credit but haven’t looked at my usage

Welcome Lily

Good going with the energy bills need, do you feel like you've been cutting down much from last year? I've found I haven't been putting the heating on anywhere near as much between the times it's due on but then again it has been very mild so that might change.

£8 in coop today topping up on some food bits.
£25 on some toys from FB marketplace for DS for Christmas, he loves his toot toot track and keeps saying Santa is going to get him more of it for Christmas (he's 3 so only just understanding the concept of Santa this year). It's the one thing I know he'll play with time and time again so went on FB and found a good bundle which is in really good condition so I'm pleased with that! It looks like a lot for the price so he'll be very excited on Christmas morning. Definitely frugaleering for Christmas this year as his main present is a second hand bike (his first ever pedal bike to follow on from his balance bike). Think it was only about £40 and it would have been £300 new! My husband's into cycling so he'll clean it all up for him and make it look like new.

Actually quite enjoying the challenge of Christmas presents on a budget this year so far. I've got my eye on something for DH which I'm hoping will be in the Black Friday sales.

Evening everyone , Welcome Lily
Spends today only £40 had an M & S Sparks card offer for tickets to see My Fair lady in the Millenium centre in Cardiff for £20 a ticket , myself and DH will be going on the 23rd l can't wait! l love My Fair Lady.
Life did you get the beautiful Robin one ? l love it
Dried the washing on the line today never been able to dry clothes on the line this time of year before , bit mixed feelings , pleased because it wasn't in the tumble but worrying because it's an example of climate change .
Hope everyone is ok have a lovely evening everyone

Welcome lilly

no plain navy jersey duvet cover