Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

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

1000 replies

needastrongoneagain · 02/04/2023 09:29

New thread.

All welcome.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
74
SootspriteSearcher · 09/04/2023 11:05

@Rum we all have spendy weeks, and life is for living so sometimes you have to buy things that bring you joy. The annual membership is a great idea, it's nice to know you have something to do even if you are having a tight week/month. Also usually attractions have different events on for holidays, so at least you know you will have a Halloween and Christmas day out sorted and depending when Easter falls next year that too!

Thank you @Mrs I think dds will indeed cherish the ipads, they need them for school work plus both do enjoy a bit of gaming!

@kessie we love nachos and tacos, definitely putting that on next week's meal plan we haven't had them in ages!

@unescorted my dd is currently in the jekyll and Hyde teenage phase. Somedays shes an absolute joy and we have a real laugh, then suddenly it's screaming, crying and door slamming 🙄 bloody hormones!

@coffee the NT day sounds lovely, we like a national trust place but rarely visit as I dont drive so have only ever been with friends. M&S meals are lovely, think of the mobey you saved not going in the cafe and on the entry fee, that usually makes me feel better. What I try and do when we go on a day out is stick something in the slowcooker or buying a cheap pizza that I know I can just chuck in the oven when we get back. But it doesn't always work out that way!!

@bigskies our Easter holidays have mostly been errand running and sorting out, but sometimes that's good! That's very exciting about the sofa! Enjoy your roast chicken! We had gammon yesterday as dh is working today.

@mrs that cake looks lovely!!

@girlie I'm sorry to hear about your friends grandma.

I also couldn't find mini eggs anywhere. My local tesco only had 1 lindt egg and a couple of reeces mini eggs yesterday! What happened to the loads of eggs left that I could buy heavily reduced?! 🤣

@wolf oh no, dc can be moody at times. Did you still manage to do your activity? I hope you enjoyed your wine and fakeaway!

@north that's a fantastic amount to raise! Who are you going to see? There's alot of free things to do during the day in London, so you should be able to keep it fairly frugal!

@need that meal plan sounds amazing! Getting hungry reading it!! Some days are harder than others to find the joy, sometimes just having a really nice dinner or hearing a song I love come on the radio can make me feel happy and content even if only for a moment. You should definitely get the bathroom you want, I usually find it's better to spend out on what you actually want rather than a cheaper alternative. Also I'm sure it will be better quality and less likely to have issues down the line.

lifelongfrugaleer · 09/04/2023 11:08

Your life has changed in unimaginable ways need, if you can afford the higher price bathroom do it,

one foot in front of the other is enough for now,

diy day today putting up ds new wardrobe and sorting dd work space for study

Easter egg hunts are lame apparently but she smiled and won’t give up her chocolate from the Easter bunny, oh to be 15!

Bornlazy · 09/04/2023 11:44

Happy Easter everyone 🐣

What a lovely thing to do Mrs you are always so thoughtful and kind.

need it's such a big adjustment for you all. If finances allow I wouldn't stress too much about the food budget just yet. It'll probably settle down a bit soon once you get used to having dh home. I hope you find your joy again soon ❤️

Hoping for another nsd today and that'll be three this week. Unfortunately the other days have been spendy. I've been stocking up on deodorant and shower gel in Asda whilst I still get my 10% BlueLight discount. The amount we go through is shocking.

Alfiemoon1 · 09/04/2023 12:33

Happy Easter everyone

Timetoswitch · 09/04/2023 13:09

Happy Easter everyone!

We were out promptly this morning, so we were the first people there for the Easter activity at our local NT place 🤣 Had a lovely walk too. £6 for the activity.

DC have got a few eggs, cash from grandparents and the Easter bunny also brought them both a book. They did well!

Fallen off the thread a bit. Yesterday was a write off as I had a terrible headache, think this might be hormonal so need to keep an eye on it.

Need to get off the sofa and do packing and cleaning as we’re away this week. Cannot wait! Due to be rainy though ☔️ but change of scenery in the rain is still a break 😁

Timetoswitch · 09/04/2023 13:10

Big hug need

Gensola · 09/04/2023 14:28

Lots of love to you need your meal plan sounds gorgeous as always.

we went to our allotment for first time today, got started planting. Lots of the seeds we paid £££ for were mouldy in the packs which was really disappointing.

DH is making leg of lamb with lots of veg and a mint yogurt sauce. Need to meal plan for the week ahead but DH has his surgery on Tues so not sure what he will feel like/how much cooking I’ll be able to do.

RumBananaSundae · 09/04/2023 14:30

Happy Easter to you all.

It’s a very sunny day here today so I used my attraction membership this morning. Had a special (no) queue to join, had a lovely stroll and took some photographs. Felt quite relaxed as I didn’t feel I had to see/do everything today.

Haven’t spent any money today. Have cracked open an Easter egg.

@needastrongoneagain sorry things are really hard. I hope some brightness comes to you soon. Any chance of a link to recipes for the spiced butter bean and late summer corn and tomato curries?

needastrongoneagain · 09/04/2023 14:59

Thanks all, you are all really kind. I think I've a lot of processing to do about the life I thought I was going to have and what I might now have but I'm sure I'll get there! Had a short run in the sunshine and feel better for it.

And the dc, dogs and friends are of course wonderful so it's not all shit 😂😂

Recipe number one - I'm a bit obsessed with Anna Jones!

thespinoff.co.nz/kai/14-03-2021/recipe-late-summer-corn-and-tomato-curry

I'll hunt the other one down online - hang on a second 😂

OP posts:
needastrongoneagain · 09/04/2023 15:02

app.ckbk.com/recipe/mowg94003c04s001r006/spiced-butter-bean-curry

Another favourite set of recipe books - Nisha Katona's Mowgli series

OP posts:
needastrongoneagain · 09/04/2023 15:15

And @Bornlazy - you are right. I'm adding extra stress to my life re the food. I've gotten this idea I need to survive just on my wage, in case the business starts to fail but in reality, we are nearly a year in and making good money still so I need to be less pessimistic and more confident. Thank you ♥️

OP posts:
TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans · 09/04/2023 18:55

AW thank you for all the cake love they all loved it l was so pleased with it Smile
The home is wonderful to the residents , they had baby goats and lambs there for them yesterday Smile
NSD today well that was easy lol no shops open Grin
Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Smile

Advancing into April - Frugal Friends still being, er, Frugal.
Advancing into April - Frugal Friends still being, er, Frugal.
lifelongfrugaleer · 09/04/2023 18:57

Sounds like a lovely care home and well done you on the cake. I ran low on bread and milk but passed a spar garage on the way to the farm £3 ish

TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans · 09/04/2023 20:00

Life thank you, it's a wonderful place like a home from home , mum is so happy there l couldn't be more pleased .
Hope the snot is doing one Flowers

lifelongfrugaleer · 09/04/2023 20:32

Sadly not , I feel abx May be in my future

WeightoftheWorld · 09/04/2023 23:12

Hope everyone having a nice Easter BH weekend. Haven't read back much but thinking of you especially Need. We are having a nice but spendy weekend. DH doing most the spending for us tho. Today just spent £1.50 on animal feed at the farm so a LSD for me

BigSkies2022 · 10/04/2023 08:53

Hi all. What a cute idea for the home residents! - who could fail to be cheered by a lamb? I like it when you see them jumping around the field.

Rain today, so tax return it is. Got lots of weeding done over the sunny days, so the garden, although not completely done, is looking a bit more cared for. DPs enjoyed coming over yesterday, pottering around the garden, playing with Ddog. They brought chocolate cake and lemon tart, the leftovers of which I have thrown away because, dear god, I have eaten so much sugar over the last couple of weeks and I have to break this nasty little habit and shed the 3kg that have crept on in the last few months. There's some ice-cream in the freezer and that's going in the bin as well. Sorry, frugal friends, for the waste, but it's in a higher cause.

Girliefriendlikespuppies · 10/04/2023 09:12

Sending a virtual hug need I think that adjustment from the expectation of a future to the reality is really rough and it's similar to grief. I think trying to accept however you're feeling is okay and honestly don't worry about spending more on food or stuff that will make life easier - it's okay.

We've had a nice Easter so far, dd got me s lovely lindt egg which I cracked open straight away 😂

Ystd was a nsd.

We're off to Devon today so the weather has obviously nose dived ☔️ 🙄 the car is so loaded up and completely rammed, somehow need to squeeze my niece in 😬😂

I have £50 cash from selling a few bits so am hoping that will last a few days...

Vibing · 10/04/2023 12:05

Rejoining after quite a few years of having fallen off the wagon. Im an ancient mumsnetter who used to have a different username but it changed a few times with all the christmas, easter, halloween name changes and then the posts where i didnt want to out myself in real life in case people i knew were on mumsnet too. To people that know me, some dilemmas would be outing.
That was then this is now.
My DS's are now 20 and 22 and both doing the uni thing. They were merely about 5 and 7 ish when i joined probably younger.

Im back to join this thread and get a handle on being frugal again and get a bit of life advice and for a giggle or two and to give a bit of support where i can.

So helloo Smile

Happierwithouthim · 10/04/2023 12:06

Welcome back vibing

Vibing · 10/04/2023 12:22

@Happierwithouthim , cheers! love the username Smile

Are the word threads still going? Cant remember what they were called but will have a mooch through the threads

Happierwithouthim · 10/04/2023 12:48

5 years on from making that decision but best decision ever Grin

Taytocrisps · 10/04/2023 13:31

Hope everyone is having a nice Easter break. We had a nice day yesterday. We went to a local hotel for lunch and met up with family there. Dad was really looking forward to his lamb dinner. Unfortunately, they were all out of lamb (even though it was relatively early) so he was very disappointed. I got a half leg of lamb in Tesco today (it was half-price) and we're having it with potatoes dauphinoise, carrots, and asparagus cooked with brie and breadcrumbs. Followed by chocolate. Yesterday was cold and rainy so we didn't get to go anywhere after dinner. There was rain this morning but it's sunny now, so we might go for a stroll after dinner we'll need a walk after consuming 5 million calories this weekend. Dad has digestion problems and really suffers if he eats late in the evening, so we usually have an early dinner when he's staying here.

DD was off yesterday but is back in work today. We're having a day together on Thursday - we're going to a castle with gardens and llamas. The castle isn't open but we can walk around the gardens and see the llamas. DD has been raving about the llamas since she went there about two years ago with Ex - she's a big kid at heart.

Not much news with me. Tomorrow I need to check my budget and lodge money into my savings etc. But for now I'm taking a weekend off frugal stuff.

lifelongfrugaleer · 10/04/2023 14:16

Welcome back vibing

£38 Hollister sale for 4 t and a hoodie for ds£16 Sainsbury’s £10 cinemas plus snacks dd and dh,

sorting dc bedroom and got stuff for chazza, toying with trying vinted

BigSkies2022 · 10/04/2023 15:18

Mmm, your lunch menu tayto. Red meat is a tricky one here, as we all like it done differently. I can manage that with steaks or chops, but our extractor fan arrangement is a bit crap, so I risk billowing smoke and attendant smoke alarms.

Have submitted tax return, walked Ddog, done a wash, FaceTimed DH and family in Australia and dumped all the sugary foodstuffs in the house. Now I think I will make a grilled cheese sandwich, a big pot of tea (no biscuits!) and settle in for some sofa time.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is not accepting new messages.