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

[needastrongoneagain]

New thread.

All welcome.

oh no em 🙊

It’s been an absolute shitter of a week here. Oh well, nearly done.

Weight thank you re my TKMAXX bargains
l didn't realise what a steal the Susanne Kaufmann set was Rum
Need good to hear things are looking up for your Dh
Tayto so sorry to hear about your Uncle bless you all
Big your planned holidays sound wonderful well done on the job to your Ds too
Em what are they like
Happier sounds like a good bargain from Lidl well done on the smart meter too
Blinded have a great weekend hopefully you can have a break too
Weather beautiful here
spends today £16.85 for a Miracle Gro spray for Dh
£50 petrol
Home Bargains £33
Waves to everyone

I went down a rabbit hole of smart meter plans. I think I'll go for the one that is cheapest until 8am & is expensive from 5-7pm, I've a gas hob & most evenings I'm not really in that time anyhow. You could also get free units for Sat/Sun but I'm not always at my own house those days. I've to wait for it to be confirmed as active first.

DD's graduation mass today, the school made an incredible effort, it was lovely.

I spent €26 on a wood stain & paintbrush & painted my garden furniture

€5.04 in centra
€2.50 on a juicer for ds

€220 on car parking last night for our holidays just got ahead of the media declaring how busy it is there phew!

Thanks @Taytocrisps ... The kids are laughing at me .... And giving me their stress to look after.

@BigSkies2022 well done to your ds. Kids having jobs make a huge difference to family budgets. Sorry to hear about your uncle.

@ememem84 it is very fashionable ATM. DS has one and DD went full undercut for a couple of years.

I have had a spendy few days... Sewing workshop last weekend (£45) and a new pair of fell shoes (£63). Both good value... Neither really needed but good to finally buy things for me just for the sheer hell of it.

£40 in Sainsbury's today, a lot of it on ingredients for Nigella's white chocolate cheesecake, which is now sitting in the fridge. I seem to have eaten quite a lot of white chocolate, Breton cream cheese and cream in the course of making it, and am not feeling very much like a person who did a 30 minute yoga flow and a 30 minute ballet class today. Oh well.

£74 on Ddog's haircut - he looks very sweet and is a bit self-conscious and grumped off at present.

Hot weekend ahead, and did you hear the news about a 1 in 4 chance of a super-El Nino effect over 23-24? eek, super heatwaves.

It must be her kiwi and Aussie heritage coming through! Haha.

it will grow back. Ironically she said she wanted to cut her hair because she wanted long hair. Go figure.

The el Nino events don't necessarily translate into warmer weather. The last one I remember (2014-16) was really really wet. Having continental Europe, Jet stream and North Atlantic drift on the doorstep tends to make the effects more difficult to predict the weather outcomes in the UK.

Got home from my uncle's funeral yesterday only to get a phone call telling me that a cousin on my Mam's side of the family (well, second cousin really) had an aneurysm and was on life support. They switched off the machines last night. She'd been undergoing treatment for cancer but had a very positive, fighting attitude all during her treatment, so this has come like a bolt out of the blue. Don't know what to say really except that life is short so go out and grab it with both hands. It has put all things financial into perspective. That said, I did my budget last night for the month.

Dad's still here and I was planning to take him out for the day but he was very insistent that I finish off my painting while the weather holds . So I'm going to log off in a minute and get stuck in and apply the second coat. I had to go to Woodies (DIY store) and buy more paint. I've already opened the second can and I'll need 2+ cans to finish it off. I've only done one side wall and the back of the patio. The remainder of the back wall has my oil tank and shrubs/climbers growing on it. I can access the other side wall but my garden budget has run out, so I'll stop with one side wall and the back of the patio. I might add that these are the walls you see when you look out the kitchen window and the sun hits these walls. The other side wall is in shadow anyway. I'm happy with how it looks already, even though it's a bit patchy. My containers and plants really stand out against the white. The second coat will (hopefully) finish it off.

Dad is sanding down one of my doors which sticks a bit when you close it. He's also going to put in some wall plugs and screws so I can hang up some garden ornaments I bought.

Spends €52.99 on paint plus maybe €20 on groceries and parking.

tayto really sorry to hear this. Big hugs.

So sorry for your losses tayto, life is very precious x

Sorry to hear that tattoo

Tayto obv not tattoo

Spending day horseing around but worth it for a quality day with dd

Afternoon everyone 😊
Been out and about today, train spotting with DH ,visiting my Mum's friend and bit of shopping.
Happier your Dd mass graduation sounds lovely 😊
Well done on painting your
garden furniture too 👏
Tayto l'm so sorry to hear your sad news bless you 💐
Life it's lovely being able to spend time with the DC 👏😊
Unescorted Big am looking forward to this El Nino effect now 😊
That cheesecake sounds delicious 😋
Spends £60 on 2 PRS of shorts for DH and grocery in Morrisons.
Then needed to go to Aldi's for top up which was £40
A plant and paper £7 for Mums friend who we visited today 😊
Hope everyone is ok and having a lovely weekend 😊

Frugal sorting today has involved swopping my Tesco club card vouchers £30 for their reward vouchers. I’ve got 1x voucher for a friends and family railcard (will use in the summer hols), 2 x Disney plus 3 month codes, and £10.50 on Cineworld voucher which will cover a kids club screening in the summer hols.

Condolences to Tayto, I'm so sorry. What a rough time for you right now. Thinking of you.

Spends today £22 digital nursery photo of the kids, £8.50 on photo printing. However shop machine was broken so I have to go back in with the photo on a USB/phone whatever and use one of the other machines to get it printed off grr. Hoping to do that on Tuesday as I'm on AL that day.

Paid another £1999.99 lump sum off the mortgage today. I have to pay under £2k per transaction so they don't recalculate our monthly payments. So that's nearly £6k chucked on it over the last week or two. I reckon we can probs stretch to £10k in total. It would leave us savings-less but my DF is quite wealthy and said we could always borrow from him if anything unexpected happens and reckon it would therefore be better to chuck as much on mortgage as poss.

Well done on the frugal Tesco sort through Time you did really well 😊
Weight great stuff , get as much off the mortgage as you can 👏😊
No El Nino effect here yet 😂

Thanks for your kind words everyone. Brought my Dad on a day trip today, to say thanks for the work he did fixing my curtain rail and putting up my garden ornaments. We drove to Glendalough in Wicklow. It's a really scenic spot in the Wicklow mountains. It's famous for its scenery but also because it's associated with St. Kevin. You can see the remains of a monastery and a round tower that was built to protect the monastery from Viking raids. It was raining when we got there but the rain cleared up and we had a mostly dry afternoon. We had dinner in a hotel and then went for a long walk.

There's talk about thundery showers but they haven't arrived yet. I should probably go water my plants before it gets dark.

Spends today

Approx. €50 for dinner x 2

Approx. €50 for petrol

Approx. €10 for motorway tolls

€4 for parking at Glendalough

Big I’ve not been to the Dordogne. I hope you have a great break. France is lovely. I’m salivating thinking about your cheesecake.

Time I hope this coming week is better than last.

Tayto Sending you good wishes. You’re in my thoughts. Glendalough looks lovely.

Spending has been rather disorganised since my last post.

£35 ish on train tickets for work trip. Hoping I can claim it back.
£30 on drinks at the bar with lunch on Friday.
£1000 ish on management fees. The bill comes twice a year but I had forgotten.
£4.50 on groceries yesterday.
50CHF on a train ticket for my break.

When I get back council tax starts up again. Doing a mental audit of the freezer and cupboards I think I might be good grocery wise once I’m back until the end of the month.

Was expecting something from the court on Friday but nothing arrived. I think that might be a bad sign. Have decided to ignore that email address until I’m back, see if anything has arrived and then contact my solicitor.

So sorry for your loss Tayto

After the comments on here about offset mortgages I checked ours & realised they have been reducing the monthly payments on ours rather than shortening the term. So I've rung them and changed to a fixed monthly payment.

Loving the France chat, 3 weeks today all being well, we'll be I Brittany & I can't wait. We've had brilliant family holidays there & love it. This year we've got a week in Plymouth then a week returning to Brittany after 6 years.

Frugality in the kitchen has been paused for the moment due to the hot weather & general exam & health stresses. Not going mad spending on food but struggling for energy & motivation in the kitchen which is not like me.

Playing cricket this afternoon which looks like it'll be a scorcher

Ooh, north, are you crossing to St Malo from Plymouth? Dinard/Saint Brieux/Saint Cast among my favourite places in the world!

Tayto what a shock about your cousin. A garden/DIY project is just the thing to sooth and ground oneself back in the everyday, I find. Yours sounds great.

DS' birthday dinner was successful. I picked up DParents early in the day, took them to a garden centre to buy a hanging basket my mum had been craving and we pottered about at my house. DS got home about 7 and was an absolute delight with his grandparents, Moroccan chicken and cheesecake was very well received! DParents seem in better form, although whether they are just putting a brave face on - but, given all the advantages and necessities of moving to safer accommodation close to their children, I guess a brave face while they, hopefully, adjust, is what is required. My dad keeps falling over. He is seeing the GP on Monday, with my mum in tow, and I want them to try and get him some physio to improve his strength and balance, to keep them safer.

So sorry for your loss Tayto.

I’ll be back later for an update, just rather frantically baking for a bake sale today! I made some ginger and rhubarb slices but tbh I think they're a bit too soggy (new recipe, I’m not keen, probably better with custard than served as a cake) so I’m making brownies instead. And cheese scones. Vicky sponge if there’s time. Old skool.

It’s sooooo hot here!

tayto im so sorry sending best wishes your way xxx

north Vannes is one of my favourite places, as is Josselin (mum and dad's place is about a 20-30 minute drive from Josselin) and also Pontivy if you're in that sort of area.

when i was a kid i spend most summers in France at the house. So lovely. Other nice places are Mallestroit (sp) and concarneau (again sp).

Dh literally exploded yesterday when he saw the AMEX bill. £1700 for the past month. Couldn't work out why so after arguing the toss a bit i downloaded the statements for the last 3 months, together with the HSBC joint account and did an analysis. I LOVE a spreadsheet.

turns out in the last 3 months we've spent around £6k on the mortgage (which is known), around £1800 on the kids (kids clubs for holidays x 2, swim lessons x 2 swim camp x 2 lessons for next term x 2, dancing for dd, clothes etc) and £2700 on food. this was the big shocker for me if i'm honest.

so i'm keeping a spreadsheet now for June. and will be looking again at the beginning of July to see whether we can cut things down.

only looking at joint spends not personal spends.

Ahh would just love a trip to France, loving th French chat. I just saw they did the first ever Slam Dunk festival in France this year, and it was in Lyon, which is where DH and I lived briefly a few years ago. I would sooo love to go to that in future sometime...I can dream...

Spendy day eek. Off the top of my head think was about £75 in Poundland on clothes for kids and me, and toiletries for me, and photo frames. The about another £60 or so in Next on summer clothes for the kids. Eeeek. We just did a big clothes shopping spree for them about 4 weeks ago too but I just feel like they always bloody need something?! We get loads of hand me downs too but it's still never enough haha. They basically both go through one entire outfit each day at least - DS often more when he's at nursery, and then add on accidents/very mucky play/poonamis and it's more, I feel like I keep on top of the laundry well atm but still needed to get them more shorts and t-shirts for this hot weather or I'd be washing their stuff every couple days and that's just not feasible for me.

Eeeeek it was very thundery here as we left Mankychester. Shopping may have been very unplanned and not hugely frugal but it was a great day. I am a shirt, sketch book, pastels up... Also bought a jumpsuit, cosmetics and paper for DD. She came back for the weekend after a shocking stress filled couple of weeks.... £140 un planned but so worth it.

The queues were nuts... So that reduced the spends. We gave up in Urban Outfitters and ordered the shirt on line instead of queuing for the tills.

I so want to go to Europe....

Unescorted - you know what, sometimes spending is the solution. Glad you had a good day, and cheers to DD.

Frugal weekend here. Free festival yesterday, DH bought a beer and that was it for spends. Danced a bit in the sunshine and then hip joint, leg, knee, all the way down into my foot hurt like balls and I limped home. Need to consult GP, as I've tried the physio, the home exercises, the pilates, yoga, walking, ballet. This has been going on for years, is getting worse and doesn't seem to be going away. I don't think it's sciatica as the pain isn't down the back of the leg.

Walked with Ddog today on lovely common studded with lots of streams and ponds for cheerful splashing about. Leg now hurting again, so I'm going to get into a nice bath with a podcast, and get into my PJs after!