Jumping into July: Frugal Friends Financial Fun

[needastrongoneagain]

New 'Fred.

Very low spend couple of days.

£12 AdBlue but that's expenses.

Will be back to post fully later.

Spends on parking and lunch viewing a sixth form. Made me remember why I swerve fast food usually 🤢

£68 Sainsbury’s for half week shop

there were mini eggs and crème eggs in our local shop

Today was a NSD for me went to a funeral, came home and had a chicken sandwich with Pom bears & a rock shandy and watched two episodes of emmerdale then walked dog and visited my neighbours for a chat.

Fire on & dd wants to watch Hamilton

Tayto that's super annoying about your card, could you load it on your phone for emergencies?

Waiting for just eat delivery for ds's birthday very glad to get out to meet courier 1.5 hours listening to exh prattle on

€200 party
€62 food
€30 party bags & cake

Another day another flight. Off to London for the day. Meet with client. Lunch at nopi. Come home. Long day.

First black friday purchase, socks for ds on amazon prime €16.48
Ds didn't want to get out of bed this morning, I was six minutes late for work as a result, when we were already late he couldn't find his shoes

New plan: his uniform down to underwear, socks and shoes is going into a basket the night before!

There was one week childminder wasn't available, he was up and ready every morning and I was on time for work every day, but he's 10 and I'm slow to not have childminder, only two weeks ago the school was closed due to water main break at last minute. It would save me €25 a week.

Did quite well in the Black Friday sales, 2 dresses & 2 Jumpers for Mum, 20% off the dresses and half price the jumpers . Money off Juicy Couture perfume for my Dd2 , Dr Who annual and a game for Dd2 30% off.
Spends £70 Amazon
£40 Asda George
Been for a follow up appt with my Dr re my Illness , she is very happy with my blood results thank Goodness , having bloods repeated in 3 weeks after another kidney function test ....... Phew !
Just given the kitchen a good clean after getting the grout off the tiles and it is now finished ! Yay!
Excuse me not replying to everyone l have just lost a huge post
Hope everyone is ok

I’m looking at the sales but cba

annoying about being late happier

yeah on the results mary

Good afternoon everyone 😊
Thank you @life re the blood results 😊👏
Popped to the market (cake man) & spent £6.50 . Morrisons £42 they have Pringles for £1.25 , Terrys choc orange £1, Wispas, Quality st , Celebrations & Roses 300g pouches 2 for £5 if you have a More card .

I paid €2.50 for a Terrys mint orange the other day on special offer Mary I feel hard done by
€9.64 on two salmon fillets and a sliced pan, which I discovered was mouldy this morning and dated 17/11, have receipt and will return
€1.15 box of matches, must stock up in aldi, I'd say you'd get 3 packs for same price there.

On time for work today, I was up every two hours last night, my boiler started leaking yesterday evening , plumber can't come until tomo eve, so I must call home at lunchtime to empty bin gathering the leaking water. I should be able to stretch it out to be checked every 4 hours tonight.

Sold dd's back protector last week €50, I paid €80 for a second hand one for her so I was pleased with that.

Sold ds's bike for €20, I bought it for €50 so I was happy with that too, his new one was €220 though

Well done Mary on clean kitchen, I cleaned most of my house Sun morn but the kitchen dresser and ledges didn't get done, they're covered due to builder cutting trim for timber floors.

Thinking I might get some coal in Black Friday sales. I'm down to my last bag, I do have some turf & logs but I find coal gives the fire staying power and heat.

I'm on my phone so can't read back so apologies for the 'me' post.

Only Black Friday purchase so far is a new NutriBullet for £39 Amazon, the motor is failing on our very old one and we use it a lot.

The decorator had a very late cancellation for next week so is staying on to do the living room, but the cost is only being brought forward as I've budgeted for it anyway.

£100 shopping for the week and we've loads in anyway.

Hope everyone is okay!

It’s very quiet on here, I miss the chat! Happier is keeping us going, with a bit of help 😉. I am ignoring all talk of clean kitchens though as it makes me feel inadequate 😂. My Black Friday spend will be a white company winter diffuser - the smell of Christmas for me, but I always wait till there’s 20% off before I pounce! I am avoiding other stuff, even Christmas temptations, as we are keeping gifts small this year after all the building works.

I have two bake sales to bake for this weekend so it’s going to be quite full on. I wish it was better spaced out but one is for school and one is a local charity close to my heart…. I usually make at least 3 different things for each so the shopping bill is high this week. Phew. I don’t feel spending is under control at all, I think DH and I need to sit down and do a serious budget for next year and work out how we are going to finish off the house (a few things will be outstanding, like some furniture and joinery), replenish our general savings and also save for some bigger spends over the next 5 years (our car is coming up to 10’years old and we want to take a couple of special family holidays too). We may also have legal costs if we need to take action re. DS’s secondary school placement next year. Eek.

So I need to get a grip. I am also trying to work out whether we can afford to get a cleaner as our old lovely (pre-covid) cleaner is available again . It’s amazing how I felt relatively comfortable 10 years ago and now, on basically the same salary (career stagnation thanks to DC), I really don’t feel I can afford those extras. But I am finding it really difficult to manage a high pressure full time job, with on call, and kids with SN, and trying to feed my family well, and voluntary work…. I have become the mum who never has time to play cards when the DC ask or read a book or have any time for my own hobbies and I am becoming stressed and snappy. It’s not how I want my kids to remember me during their childhood. So we have to decide whether it’s a priority or not. It’s expensive here though, the cleaner is asking for £17.50 per hour. Will need to think hard.

I did buy tickets for the local panto, £75 so quite good value. And we’ve been gifted tickets to the Nutcracker so will have a few things to look forward to over Christmas hols. We are hosting on the day again so another big cost there.

Hope everyone is okay out there!

I’ve not posted for a while, work stress has been high but things will improve next week. DC has been poorly and off school most of the week, which has added to the work juggles.

Last weekend we had an embarrassing number of Amazon boxes delivered, but a few Christmas presents were sorted and we needed the loo roll 🤣

Half, my vote is you need the cleaner. You have so much on your plate. Does DH do much of the cleaning? If not, then definitely do it!

will be back again in a bit!

Hi all long time no see!

Jumping back on the frugal train for Christmas!

Things are good here, building work finally finished yay!

Frugaleering going pretty well I think. Vinted has been a lifeline both for buying and selling. We are having a simple Christmas but that's fine with us!

Hope all are well I'll ha e a proper read through!

Half how about a compromise of cleaner every two weeks? I'm hoping to adopt TOMM method after my extension is complete.

I was an you always say no or in a minute mammy but I've improved on that & we've started playing board games a bit more often & today we ate dinner together, they eat at their dads Mon to wed eve & Thurs are often busy and they're not hungry at same time so today was lovely. Simple Bolognese using Jamie Oliver jar & no peppers with yellow sticker dough balls!

I sold dds back protector for €50 last week and ds's bike for €20 today & school will take a helmet Childs hi viz and a school book which is brand new tomo, I feel physically & emotionally lighter with the decluttering.

Today I spent €100 on 200kg coal which will see me through until next winter I'd say.
€5.34 on peppers & Jamie Oliver sauce
€67 on fuel

Oh & I've managed to declutter excess wine too

€29 on toy show nibbles & 24 cans of soft drinks for Christmas. Offers in centra were very good.

It was actually €26.64 earlier I just checked my online banking.

I bought firelighters 40 for €3.50 then heading out the door I saw 60 for €4.20 so I went back & exchanged, proud of myself for doing so! I'd have left & been annoyed every time I looked at the box of 40 usually.

Time DH does not do any cleaning. He does a lot of the kid juggling and happily does laundry but he’s oblivious to actual dirt, dust etc. I do all vacuuming, mopping, wiping kitchen, cleaning bathrooms, cleaning insides of windows etc. We first got a cleaner when we bought this house together to diffuse the resentment I would otherwise have felt at living in his grot (his batchelor pad was shocking - he’s improved a fair bit 😉) . But we had far more disposable income then somehow. Sigh.

Decaff I seem to remember you were having quite a bit of work done - what did you have done? Great that it is finished!

Sorry, I hadn’t refreshed to see Happier had come back.

I think Fortnightly would be a great compromise, I’m not sure the cleaner would be happy with that though but I’ll sound her out. I could always look for someone else for fortnightly cleaning but I must admit, I struggle with having someone in the house scrutinising my life, whereas I like her and feel at ease with her around.

I know you are right about decluttering. I have to clear out a huge built-in cupboard that covers the entire long wall of a double bedroom by Monday as I have a handyman coming to rip it out. It’s going to be DD’s new room and she needs the cupboard to go, it’s very ugly, knackered and impractical. But it has swallowed a LOT of stuff, and now I have to rehome it or get rid. I need to be very ruthless with all the, ahem, yarn and fabric I have stashed in there. Eek. Mind you, I have found a few things that are suitable as Christmas gifts. And some wonderful skirt fabric I forgot about. And the calculator I bought for my A-levels 😂

Oh half please get your cleaner. You work so hard. I know what you mean about the kids…I just have DS1 and DS2 at home now DD is at uni and thankfully they are just ticking along at the moment (15 and 17). But I’ve been leaving the house about 6.30/7 and not getting back til 8 so I feel like one of those Mumsnet dads who never sees the kids. It’s very hard to keep all the balls juggling. DP works a lot less than me (and I am the breadwinner) but his saving grace is he cleans!!
I too am guilty of Amazon parcels. Did some moving round the accounts yesterday and the books are sort of balanced. I do save up for Xmas all year but always spend a bit more than I should. I have a little pot for a short break next year though that has £500 in and slowly growing.
happier sounds like you are really on it logging all the spends
time sorry you have the work stress too
decaff lovely to see you back. Good on you having a frugal Christmas (especially with teenagers).
it is DDad’s birthday today and I am going there for a meal tomorrow night. We are splitting costs with DMum, I need to clarify this as their idea of a meal out is a lot more expensive than mine 😳
DSis is also coming up, we are both having to start early and squeeze work in before we leave. A really old friend of ours from childhood is also dropping in with her DMum who I’ve known since I was tiny so it should be nice and DParents will really appreciate it.

I use YNAB to keep track of my spends, as I'm a single mother the running of the house & finances falls to me & when I was with ex it led to a lot of debt for me so it's a priority. I'm out of that & want to stay that way.

Hello all, and I keep dropping in to read, but not much to post.
Half - how many hours cleaning a month would make a difference to you? I guess you calculate that and take it from there. You have such lot on. Could volunteering be reduced a bit? Could DH take over a couple of the cleaning tasks - you say he doesn't see the task needed rather than cleaning refusal, so could he step up with clear instructions from you? The conversation about how the budget will work could provide a good opening for other new initiatives!

The discovery of the fabric stash sounds lovely, anyway. Could you get one of those glass fronted armoires to store it, and make a feature of your delicious collection? I was trying to find a photo (saw it recently on the Inigo site) but can't - you know what I mean. It comes off all vintage/French country house. Possibly means more expenditure though since flea-market finds take time and effort.

I have placed my meat order for Christmas and New Year. Last year I spent £180, which included £30 on duck fat (still have plenty, so that's this year's lot of confit duck legs taken care of) so I will be curious to see how this year's compares. It kept us going throughout January, and fed a lot of people (and Ddog!) . Have been doing much more veg this year - meat has become a weekend/holiday treat. Working my way through the Christmas catering shopping list, and have been laying by the non-perishables.

Painting the floors (and skirting boards) going well, and will be time and money well spent (about £120 on paint - tools will be used again, so don't count!) Niece from Australia has finally confirmed visiting dates with her friend - will be overlapping with DS for a week, so they will have his room, and I will have to finally commit to buying that guest bed so he has somewhere reasonably comfortable to sleep. And a couple more pillows. Have bounced this task to DH, and will send links!

Other spends: £18 at Dunelm on new bathroom bin and kitchen storage thingy for side of sink. £114 on wall lights and bulbs for DS' room. Having camped out for a week in there, I realise how rubbish the lighting is. The lights are from Lampsy, and can be plugged in, don't have to be hard-wired. So no electrician to pay, at least.

Currently sat in McD’s with a hot chocolate, waiting for it to turn 11am so I can order some 99p nuggets. Living the dream here 🤣

Amazon got some more of my custom this morning. I managed to get £15 off my order at the Lego store as I had some loyalty points and they have an offer on redeeming them this weekend.

Just collected the cuddly toy DD2 wanted and a cute Christmas outfit for her dolly (I had a £5 voucher to use before it expires).

Will stop off at Smyths on my way home too.

Half you’ve reminded me to pay for the panto tickets I have ordered. So many things to pay for…

@Timetoswitch I saw that offer today on the McDonald's app it's quite a good app! The Asda one is pretty good too for collecting points and then can get a voucher, I've been saving mine for a couple of months and have £40 built up so that will be useful in Jan.

What do you mean about Amazon and the Lego store? Which one has the offer this weekend please?

If you are a member of the Lego.com loyalty scheme (insider?) and have some points saved up, you can swop 200 points for £5 off decaff. It’s normally 800 points for £5 off. You can use the voucher in store and online. I used 3 vouchers.

Amazon just had an offer on some other Lego on the Christmas list 🙂

The car park at Smyths just now was manic!