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

[needastrongoneagain]

New thread.

All welcome.

Yesterdays spends:

£83 Waitrose for the week.
£58 petrol. Should last around a month.

taking ds to the park on a play date this morning. Might grab a snack whilst there.

Menu plan.

Leftover chilli from today probably.
Gobi Manchurian
Big Batch tomato sauce.
Courgette and cashew curry
Carrot and coriander soup.
Fiery jerk inspired pork, home made 'slaw.
Harissa spiced veggie lasagna

A few of these recipes are from Spice Kitchen, by Sanjay Aggarwal. Think you might like this one @BigSkies2022, nice mix of veggie and non-vegetarian options. Lots of spice!

Strawberry update.....mum trimmed & froze 4 pounds for us!!!
Girlie we were in Plymouth but had days out as wide spread as Harlyn Bay & Dartmouth. It was a good week but very spendy and too much driving really. Now in France and having a much cheaper week, just me & DH. DH trying to get a job application finished. Deadline is tonight, wouldn't normally bother on holiday but it's one he can't really afford not to apply for.
DD came with us on the ferry to Roscoff and then we dropped her off at Morlaix station to set off on her travels. It was a bit nerve wracking as her first destination was Lyon. Anyway she arrived & is ok, didn't see any of the rioting but could hear it in the distance. Last we heard she was safely in her hostel for the night.
We're off to a sculpture park type thing today, just a few for car parking. Taking food with us & will eat here later

Martha totally agree re student placements, physio is exactly the same, maxed out already

Martha I've not had a look at it in detail yet but I suppose anything that encourages more Drs and nurses is a good thing. I feel like they need to bring the student nurse bursaries back that would make a big difference imo.

I'm scared to start looking at student finance for dd 🙈 she wants to take a year out so I'm staying in denial for a bit longer!

Ystd I managed a NSD, I had to pick up a gift for a work colleague who is unwell but the team had all chipped in a fiver each on Friday.

Dd is off to watch a band later and I'm designated pick up driver, it's an hour away and I'm not looking forward to it tbh.

But off on holiday tomorrow, need to pack and get sorted, looking forward to a quiet week of lovely walks and pretty beaches.

Dropped off the thread in a massively busy last two weeks of term, marking a lot of exams and assessments. Currently trying to lose half a stone very quickly to get back into a dress for friend’s wedding where I’m MOH, she was too organised and sent the dress last year and it won’t zip up at the moment 😨
We are trying to clear some small debts - have £125 on a 0% exercise equipment and £1000 left on my plan 1 student loan, currently paying £200 a month but would aim to have it done by August or Sept to save on interest. Then we have £2000ish left on ivf loans, once we have cleared all this we will have more flex in the monthly budget.
lots of travel for work coming up - portugal then Greece. In both cases will be inside conference hotels 9-4/5 but hope to get outside for walks in lunch break and evenings.

Thanks all for the thoughts on student finance. girlie a year to save will give you a bit of a cushion, plus you will be able to put the money you’d normally spend on her at home (food etc) towards it. If you’d find it helpful there are tables you can look up online to see roughly what she’d get based on your income.

north you do amazingly well juggling work and DH’s condition too. And I always think you are very frugal with food!
life you did well in sainsburys! I sometimes find Tesco as cheap as aldi
north respect to your mum for the strawberries! Hope you are having a lovely time in France, sounds like it.
Was it you kessie with the pink trainers…I’ve just had to scroll back …sounds fab. I’ve got a pair of yellow sandals my friend bought me in a charity shop - they have got a few compliments!
gen how annoying about the dress, you’ll get there. You must be doing well at work to be going to a few conferences 💪
em what do people do for uni where you are? Do some people go abroad?

Martha that would be useful, have you got a link?

4lb strawberries wow

Have a good time in France
Pleased dd got away ok

Hey gen, great news on the debt pay down. You will totally get the weight off

https://www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/maintenance-loans.html
Oo that tested my phone skills girlie 😂 hopefully that has worked?

Sorry - another thing to bear in mind girlie is that they ask for your income from (I think) 2 years ago - or at least the previous tax year. And you give them the figure from your P60 which has pension contributions taken off. So when I looked at this based on gross income, I thought we’d get less than I’mhoping to get now we’ve actually submitted the figures, if that makes sense.
Like all big govt bodies Student Finance can be frustrating to deal with though! The individual people I’ve spoken to are very helpful but the system is complex.

Thank you Martha that is helpful, the figure suggested for my income doesn't seem very much, it wouldn't even cover tuition fees - or does that come out separately?

If tuition fees are separate then I guess it would probably cover a year's accommodation and I'd have to help with food/living costs?

If tuition fees are included then I don't understand how anyone affords it.

Sorry probably should start my own thread 🙈😂

girlie I learnt a lot on a recent thread in higher education called ‘so how the hell do I afford uni for my kids?’ (Sorry don’t know how to link to a thread).
but to reassure you, the tuition fees are separate and everyone gets a loan for this no questions asked - not income dependent.
Our income worked out to be about £56000 I think and that means hopefully we might get £5000 ish. In subsequent years I think it will be the minimum which is £4600 ish. For context DD’s halls work out to be £6800 for 45 weeks. She is autistic and wants an en suite so that bumps up the cost
.
one thing that I took from the thread was to think about where your child might go on the basis of accommodation costs - some places are a lot cheaper than others. DD is hoping to go to Manchester and though you’d think it’s cheap for being northern, it’s not the cheapest.
Sorry for the slight thread detail - just happy to share my newfound knowledge!

@Girliefriendlikespuppies there's two parts to the loan, maintenance and fees, don't worry! One gets paid direct to the university and one to the student.

Winning at admin today
New savings account opened
New cc opened for 0% and reward vouchers

@BigSkies2022 Hope you enjoyed the ballet class.
@CurlsandCurves @needastrongoneagain I love my new trainers. I think my bank balance had a lucky escape. There were quite a few sparkly pairs but most of them didn’t have prices or sizes.
@Girliefriendlikespuppies Any plans for your leave (sorry if I’ve missed)? The weather here is meant to be nice so I hope it is for you too.
@lifelongfrugaleer Well done on the admin. It feels good to get things done.

Spending for the last few days:
£1.45 in Lidl for some custard. Made a cupboard/leftovers trifle. There is still some left. Am improvising and using squirty cream.
£21.50 for a ticket for a musical my friend is helping at on Friday.
£39 on dinner yesterday with a friend. We went for a walk then to a new(ish) rooftop bar and pizza place.
£5.99 for a map of Aim and Haute-Savoie.
£1.25 on cottage cheese in Aldi.
£19 at Photobox on printing out some of my holiday photographs. Plan on putting them on the wall and by my desk so when I feel like frivolous spending I am reminded of the prize.
£2.99 on some nougat in TK Maxx.

Now lazing on the sofa. Think work will be a car crash this week so am bracing myself. Am looking for a film to watch. Nothing is grabbing me.

But the total debt has to be paid back by the student? Say 10k a year tuition fees plus 8k a year loan x 3 years 😳🤢

Yeah that’s right 😳
Apparently it works out at a fairly small amount per month but still. Martin Lewis has spoken quite a lot about this I think.
plus even more good news…I think rules change this year so that they pay back at a lower threshold and (I think) pay more interest on it.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies. You pay a percentage back of the money that you earn ABOVE the threshold for repayment. So, if the threshold is £25k, which is circa where it is currently, if you earn £100 over then you pay only on this amount. I'm not sure what percentage the payment is, I'll Google. So, yes, if you benefit hugely from a university education and end up earning £100k, then (quite rightly) you pay more. You decide to work in say, a caring profession, you might pay nothing or very little. It's wiped after a period and the tax payer effectively picks up the tab. Martin Lewis says the name Student Loan is incredibly misleading. Its effectively a progressive taxation.

DS is currently part time to help with DH, has a maths degree and hasn't paid a penny back yet, if that helps? But obviously, that's not what was in mind when he got his degree.

I think the current percentage is 9% once you hit the threshold. So for a basic rate payer earning more than whatever the threshold currently is, your effective tax rate for the extra ££s earned over the threshold would be 29%. And for a higher rate tax payer, you'd pay (I guess) extra on both the earnings charged at the basic rate, and the earnings charged at the higher rate. (Which is when you find some FT readers getting huffy about their/their offspring's marginal tax rate. Big boo-hoo.)

Nice weekend - excellent new haircut and colour, and at around £40 less than my previous salon was charging. Scoped out building materials for the garden landscaping project that is taking shape (DH very much lead on this, I will be assisting with the grunt work). DParents over for delicious lemon and fennel pork belly roast. We've decided to limit meat meals to once a fortnight (a roast chicken/piece of pork then whatever leftovers we have), at least over the summer months (until France!) Caccio e pepe for dinner tonight.

Hi,

Food shop today, still within budget thankfully.

New tenant has moved in, deposit moved into the protection scheme today. Also received a cheque from our original tenant’s estate for the outstanding rent, so that’s a door closed.

Just one more payment on one part of our mortgage next month and we will be £180 a month better off. Well, we won’t because I’ll just use it to overpay the rest of the mortgage but it’s all progress.

I really feel for students starting now, it’s all so expensive. Manchester is a fab Uni.

bigskies when are you off to France? We are cutting back on meat too, partly for health but also because it’s so expensive.

Did an hour and ten mins on spin bike today. Really frustrated as weight stubbornly staying the same despite a lot of changes to diet and exercise. I think this weight has become my “set point” as I keep returning to it and don’t seem to get much above it but struggle to get below it. Sigh.

I'm also trying to lose weight, got a stubborn half stone to shift. Its been an ongoing battle since DD was born in 2011. I know it doesn't sound a lot to lose but its the difference between clothes fitting nicely and not feeling comfortable.

Yay for the haircut big

All positive about the tenant and the progress with the mortgage curles

£7.06 Asda.
Mad use of the slow cooker with sweet potato thai curry and a bolognaise sauce which I had with courgette spaghetti earlier, as I'm trying to avoid pasta and bread.

New 'Fred

Will post fully later.

Jumping into July: Frugal Friends Financial Fun http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/costoff_living/4841407-jumping-into-july-frugal-friends-financial-fun