Advancing into April - Frugal Friends still being, er, Frugal.

[needastrongoneagain]

New thread.

All welcome.

Thank you for all the welcomes everyone. No spends today, we went to the park but other than that I’ve been in the flat with a hyper toddler and a baby who isn’t sleeping at all.

Payday!!!!!

Gosh, need, that sounds like a very tough day, but also one that you all got through with grace, and can hold your head high. Pizzas absolutely the right thing!

Have been managing to keep spends pretty low this week, using up fridge and cupboard contents. Will grab some good sausages from the butcher today for dinner tonight, and then take a look at planning and shopping for the rest of the month tomorrow.

Etsy belt arrived, v. nice and a bargain at £18 - CamdenBeltMan if anyone is interested. Put some trousers in for alterations yesterday - £13 when they're ready.

DS still ploughing through towards his deadline.

About to go and record myself speaking French for five minutes - it's a speaking skills practice that I'm going to try. You speak on a topic of your choice for 5 minutes, review it, note down vocab and sentences that you struggled with, review them, repeat all steps again until you are comfortable with that topic/story. Then you do another one. We go to France in just under 6 months, and I haven't done much speaking practice since my exam in, erk, 2020.

Afternoon everyone 😊
Her that sounds like hell l hope it's not as bad as it sounds 💐
Big well done on eating out if the freezer 😊
Je m'appelle Mrs Mad ☺️
That takes me back ! 👏
The weather is dire here 5C and raining 🙄
Heating is on and I am still frozen 🥶
Spends today £27 in Home bargains,frozen stuff mostly . Their McCains Chips ,their Haagan Daz ice cream and their big prawns are the cheapest l can find anywhere .
Hope everyone is ok 😊

Hope you are ok need after your rubbish day. I must have missed that post through not reading properly. What a horrible year for you all and what an achievement for your DH. So hard to speak at the funeral of a loved one.

im on the train now going to Birmingham for the weekend to see some old friends I went to school with! Two of my best friends from sixth form (the other one of of our group is in NZ and we’ve lost touch sadly). I’ve seen one of them a couple of times over the last decade but one not for about 15 years! We’ve all been whatsapping and are very excited to meet up. Going straight out for a curry so won’t be cheap. Ticket £62 and accommodation £120 for two nights. I’m also going to London next week overnight which is all paid for. Then, no more spends for a bit as I have been supremely social recently compared to my usual level.

Sounds lovely marthasmum

No maintenance in my account today, has only happened twice in 5 years. I'll hold my fire until next week & if it's missing again then I'll say it. Last time was a banking glitch due to a European bank holiday.

Joining if that's ok? We aren't able to afford any treats (holidays, takeaways etc) so thought would try and find a cheap way to satisfy the urge to have a treat! Here's too good to go bag we picked up today ...

star from the jars in the background you look like a baker. I wish were had places nearby that did TGTG bags. Welcome to the thread.

Mrs I am ignoring anything king or coronation shaped.... He has stolen my birthday and now for evermore it will be the anniversary of his shindig.

happier you are nicer than me.

I am so glad it is the weekend... It has been a long week.

big I love Etsy. I get a lot of jewellery from there and the vintage kids toys/books for the kids’ birthdays.
mrs it’s been a bit of a nightmare having 2 under 2 the past 3 months. DD’s just turned 2 now and I always need to have an eye on her and now DS seems to be not sleeping. I keep reminding myself it’s just a phase and things should be a bit easier again soon. Then I remember soon DS will be crawling and then I’ll need eyes in the back of my head😂.
martha enjoy your weekend. You’re in my old stomping grounds 😁.
happier I hope the maintenance gets sorted 🤞🏻
star that looks delicious!
Spent $28.14 in the cafe for breakfast. No other spends today.

Welcome new frugaleers

2 under 2 is brutal but it does get better, mine are delightful teens

tgtg is hit and miss here sadly

hope you get it sorted happier and dd had a good birthday

i shall have an unescorted party instead while I volunteer at the community pic nic so won’t be watching anyway

spend few days but lots of shopping for others so will get some cash back

I won't be going without it just don't want it to overshadow dds birthday, I'll expect double next week.

So three additional kittens last night & the moms are sharing the feeding between them & I checked remaining cat & she's expectant too!

£134 (again) for swimming lessons for dd. Paid ds’ earlier in the week. Originally it was just ds who was taking lessons as the time offered for dd wasn’t going to work. But they had some cancellations and did a switcheroo and we now have one at 230 and one at 3 tomorrow. So have taken the slots.

£24 at coop. Milk (which annoyingly we already had - I couldn’t see any cartons in the fridge) so have put my milk in the freezer. Grapes (because the kids just eat them like sweeties) and a present for ds’ friend. He’s got a party at 1230 and I forgot to get anything when I was in town earlier this week.

NSD here. DH and DS2 are going to watch the football, but that’s not my spending. Just over £20 on a top up shop yesterday.

it’s a gorgeous day here, DH is currently outside painting the shed. I’ve got all the windows open and going to be cleaning downstairs shortly. I’ve suddenly got loads of washing to do as DS1 has realised his clothes do not automatically migrate from his bedroom floor to the wash basket.

Morning all, I was up far too early for a Saturday as had to drop dd to her work experience, she only needs to do a couple more shifts thank God as it's a ballache getting her there.

Payday is the end of next week and I've still got £100 in the bank which I'm feeling pleased about all things considered. This month seems to have flown by.

That said I'm looking at some DM boots that I've been lusting over for months as they're not in the sale. I do need some decent boots as my current ones are falling to bits (not DMs) and DMs will last me forever right? They are now £120 down from £169....

Need I'm sorry people are so unkind, I always think funerals can bring out the worst in people. I was talking to my friend last night who's grandmother has just died, she has written something beautiful to say at the funeral and various family members have managed to find fault with it 🙄 its pathetic really.

Congrats and good luck with having a teen happier 😂 for me the teen years have blown the rest of the parenting years out of the water but I'm sure yours will be fine 😉

Do any of you bake bread? I had a go last week to use some yeast and flour up but it didn't rise well, the yeast was years a bit out of date, would it be because of that? We still ate it mind 😂

I’m so very glad I found this thread. It really is nice company.

Yesterday I had a fantastic time in Paris. The book signing was fabulous. The author was lovely and wrote a very nice message in my book. I also went to the Degas and Matisse exhibitions. No spends there though as they were covered by one of my memberships. Spending yesterday was €36 on two postcards and two bars of chocolate. I had some French stamps and remembered to take them so some pennies saved there.

@BigSkies2022 How are you learning French? I am making a very poor attempt. I would like to be better but find it hard.

Mother called last night. It was better than expected but I had a bit of an unpleasant email from my sibling but now I’m not sure I have headspace to take it on.

Unescorted you must be very relieved at the leak not being yours.

Martha I smiled at you giving the finger. I find myself doing uncharacteristic things these days. Hope you have a lovely weekend with your friends.

Need well done for the funeral. Some people are just unpleasant. I hope I can follow your example and keep quiet as I’m expecting much of the same. I agree with Girlie about the worst in people.

Spending today so far has been £1.29 in Aldi. The items I ordered from Boots were finally ready to collect so I can now cross them off my list. When I got there there were two to collect so the lost package had turned up too.

I’m meeting a friend in town to go to a matinee so will probably spend something later on. The tickets include champagne, ice cream and snacks so hopefully we are set for the actual show.

Afternoon.

Thanks all for the kind comments. You are right @Bornlazy, I'd don't need anyone's approval. The family crap has added so significantly to the stress of the last, horrible, year. I don't think I'll have to be in the same room as them all for a very long time thankfully.

We are having a coronation street party @TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans but I think we are having pizza 😁

Welcome @HernamewasNOLA and @StarDog, everyone is lovely on this thread, it's a fabulous corner of MN.

Fair play for learning French @BigSkies2022!

Enjoy the meet up @marthasmum, isn't social media a positive in situations like keeping in touch with old friends.

Boo to lack of maintenance @Happierwithouthim and 😳 to more kittens!!

There's 18 months between my two - so tough but you get the benefits of the close age gap 'relatively' quickly (doesn't feel like it at the time!).

Vinted any good for DM's @Girliefriendlikespuppies? Worth a try?

I'm really hoping the funeral isn't too bad for you @RumBananaSundae and Paris sounds awesome.

Spends
£10 oat milk.
£7 wine

Batch cooked soup while DH watches the football with two mates, I've got loads done, bless them.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies get the docs. They’re the most comfy boots. And will last.

am at adventure play park with dd. £5 for two ice creams and a water because I forgot to bring ours.

£45 riding

That's a street party for the coronation rather than for the soap opera 😂😂

More kittens! Wow

knackerd here catering dm 70th but she loved it so worth it

Morning all. I had an early start 'cos I had to attend a funeral at 10 o'clock and it was a fair distance away.

I stopped off at a cafe afterwards for coffee and a pastry and to use the loo.

Then I did my shopping.

Spends today (figures are approx. 'cos they're not showing up on my banking app yet).

€7 coffee and pastry
€13 parking fees
€70 shopping
€6 Motorway toll x2

I took the motorway (two motorways in fact) there, due to the early start, but I took a longer route home and dodged the motorways because I could take my time.

I'd parked my shopping trolley in front of my car at the supermarket car park and I was carrying my shopping around to the boot. I came back to the trolley at one point to find it sailing towards another car . I caught it with inches to spare. That could have been expensive!

Quite tired now. I have my niece's engagement party tonight so I might have a quick nap before it starts. I'm driving so drinks will be soft drinks only. And the engaged couple are having a barbecue so I'll save on buying dinner. It's raining again so not really barbecue weather.

Cute cat photos Happier and Em. I'd post photos of mine but the last photos I tried to post didn't show up.

Girlie sounds like a nice night out with your friends.

Rum I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through a difficult time. Bad enough to be suffering the loss of a parent but to fall out with a sibling makes it so much worse. On a happier note, reading about your whirlwind trip to Paris made me smile. Books (and Paris) are worth a splurge. Who's the author?

Mrs I'm very happy to hear that your Mum has settled in the care home and is happy there. You devoted so much of your time to caring for her and I'm glad that burden has been lifted. Having said that, I'm sure you're still visiting her regularly and helping out. Is the nursing home far from where you live? Fingers crossed for a clean bill of health when you get your medical test results back.

Welcome Hername

Unescorted you must have been so relieved to discover that the leak was coming form your neighbour.

need condolences to you and your family also. I'm sure your DH was glad of your support. I'm sorry his family were so nasty to you. Why can't people pull together during difficult times instead of turning on each other.

Right, off to my bed for a bit of shut eye.

I've completely fallen off the thread, did a reasonable update yesterday which I lost gah!

So nice to read all the updates and sorry to those frugaleers with tricky family situations, funerals and general adulting woes. I had a nasty cold last weekend, breast cancer screening this week for a small lump (totally fine I'm just getting old but always worth checking) and strange politics with a work friend. I'm feeling much better today, weight lifted after the scan on Thursday, been to the gym, meal planning and bought myself a book on Kindle as a treat.

Today:
£132 new phone for DD 😳 her battery is dying so emergency account used. Worked out cheaper to stick with PAYG or move to SIM only on my account so kind of frugal 🤔
£16.98 phone case. Saved £100 by refusing an expensive model (she's only 11) so compromised on a case she liked.
£7.49 Kindle book
£5.96 fruit and veg

I've spent £428 so far of £500 food budget. Much easier to track on the credit card and pay full balance. Better than last month but need to reign in this next week.

Lots of little spends today that have added up.

£8 gift for colleagues bday
£10 The Works on notebooks and cards
£7.50 primark socks and leggings
£12 Wilkos on various bits
£12 Wickes on tester paints for the fence and a new paint brush.
£12 co op on milk, bread and chocolates
£28 pets at home dog food and bird food
£10 Dun Elm new wash basket and other bits

Went to buy the DMs and it wouldn't take payment 🙈😂 I think that's Gods way of telling me not to spend money I haven't got.

Happier more kittens and more to come 🤩 I am so excited for you. Bet the kids are loving it.
Hope the lack of maintenance was just a glitch.

need it's great that your dh still has such good friends. You'll have probably noticed yourself that sometimes when patients are in hospital for such a long time people fall away a bit. It's testament to how well thought of he is that his friends are still on the scene.

Kessie what a relief for you enjoy you kindle book.

Tayto enjoy your party tonight.

life glad your mum enjoyed her Birthday party and well done on the catering.

I'm working the weekend so no spends for me 😊

SUPRISE date night with DH tonight. Dsis babysat. I literally had no idea until she turned up. DH planned it. He paid for dinner (yummy) and I tooted the bill for post dinner cocktails at my favourite swanky bar. £54 for four yum cocktails. I had one which was local apple brandy, vodka, cinnamon, and black butter (which is a local thing - cinnamony apply jam) so delish.

home now. In bed. Lots of water. Fingers crossed feel ok tomorrow!

Morning.

Thanks, @Bornlazy. You're right, there are so many folk that are still visiting or supporting us pretty much weekly, testament to DH.

Lots of small spends too here @Girliefriendlikespuppies. April has been a bit of a disaster spending-wise, so a reset from Tuesday (payday). The money is there, just I have a budget I like to keep to and I haven't 🙃.

Glad the scan was clear @kessiebird and boo to work stress.

Hope you feel rested now @Taytocrisps after such a long day.

Glad the catering went well @life

I've written off April so bought a few bits to set us back on track financially for May...hopefully..

Menu plan
Vegetarian lasagne
Roast ham.
Leftover use of ham (pea and ham soup, pie, sandwiches etc)
Halloumi Waga Wagashi
Cannellini beans in tomato sauce, crusty bread
Carrot and coriander soup
Sweetcorn and cauliflower chowder
Spring greens frittata
Samosa tart.