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.

I can’t bet into the Christmas spirit but spent £££ today and have more earmarks for dd
ds is more tricky

£££ on food. Work has been stressful so bad meal planning. Next week will be better

great to hear the building work went ok Camden
get the cleaner half. Best money I spend every week.

good luck clearing the cupboard out

I was in a city today on my own so went to rituals l'occitane body shop all the places I wouldn't go with dc, bought nothing. Regatta had great sale on but I don't need another jacket!

Toy show last night and ex sent on ds's list it's really reasonable to be fair!

That’s good happier. I cannot get out of my dc what they want

driving back from Birmingham having spent ££££ at the food show

I think ds just wrote a list at Halloween because his father made him, there's stuff he's mentioned loads not on it. Luckily they're happy with most things they get. Need to talk to dd about hers.

I was at Christmas markets yesterday
€4.10 on tolls
€5.70 on buses
€5 on sea salt & Parmesan fries
€4 on Reese's nutrageous & a drink
€10 3 Lego mini figures for ds
€5 candle for dd
€10.50 on waffle & marshmallow cone from chocolate fountain

Ds also got blendy pens set for €20

We had a lovely evening there.
However I drove up to meet friends, got someone to mind dc while I met them, arranged for 3-4pm, they showed up at 5:30pm & I'd to leave at 6:30pm which they knew. It's a 3 hour journey. I'm fairly cross about this. I didn't say anything as it would ruin the hour we did have.
When I mentioned how I had passed the time one commented that it was nice to get time to myself, I could've done that without all the driving

Did enjoy my chat with dc's sister in law so it wasn't a complete waste.

My broadband bill is €35 monthly signed up in Feb, bill just came for €81, there's no live chat option for this, I'm going to have to call them.

Apologies all - I’ve fallen off the thread. Things have been pretty pants. Mediation related. And it’s not even started yet. I can’t think of a word offensive enough to describe the mediator. My stress/anxiousness hasn’t been great and my poor digestive system is complaining and that compounds the issue.

Have gone overboard with spending. At this point I don’t care. I splurged on some lovely mittens from Rossignol. Along with a rain jacket, soft shell jacket, down jacket, tights, neck warmer, hat, T-shirts, hoodie… I bought some mountain sunglasses for my trek next year (10% discount) and a shopping bag, hat, scarf, gloves and socks from the Anya Hindmarch/Uniqlo collaboration. I’d planned on giving the latter a miss but I was at the office so went to the store.

I joined a gym. They are having a special offer as it’s new and my work subsidy covers the entire amount so I thought there’s no harm in trying.

Very sorry I’ve not read the posts since my last visit so I’m being selfish and just talking about me. I’m going to go back and read to catch up. I hope people are doing as well as they can be.

Rum be as selfish as you like you are going through a tough time

oof that’s a hike happier and I would be pissed off to

had a sorting cooking list day

Another selfish post here.

I was offered a new job. I didn’t take it. I spoke to current work told them the position and they have matched it. Wahooo.

spends today £119 black flat knee high suede boots - Clarks.
£165 next - coats for the dc, Christmas T-shirts for dnephews in nz, gloves for dm and dsis.

£113 Waitrose. Half and half bits for Christmas and for the week.

That’s good news em

Great stuff em

€5.50 on a bin bag of rubbish, rest of what filled the rest of car was free to dispose of!

Hello all.

@RumBananaSundae do not even worry about being selfish, Not one bit. What you are going through sounds awful. The gym offer sounds just the ticket and may even help with your mental health too.

Hope work has settled a bit @lifelongfrugaleer.

@HalfWomanHalfChocolate get the cleaner. I agree with @lifelongfrugaleer it's the best money I spend by a country mile. Do,it every other week if that's a better compromise.

Seasalt and Parmesan fries sound bloody lovely @Happierwithouthim!!

I'm in Christmas shopping mode here and have spent some allocated wonga getting the DC sorted, £150 each, vouchers for DS and Doc's for DD. A few sundry items too but that's their main pressies done.

Other than that, about £100 Amazon on cleaning products, said stocking fillers, a huge tin of extra virgin olive oil, oat milk etc.

£130 Ocado but that's the weeks shop done and included wine for a pizza night we had Friday night (friends paid, we take turns).

DD has been sensible and opened a Chase account for the cash back and interest rate as her stipend is paid termly.

Menu plan

Beef and black bean casserole, mash, veg.
Prawn curry
Veggie chilli
Shakshuka
Aubergine parmigiana
Miso brothy beans
Coconut dhal with kidney beans
Mexican soup

Need - impressive progress on Christmas shopping. Mine is - well, pretty much where it was last week, although I am making progress on food and drink. What's your coconut dhal recipe?? Always in the market for a new one!

Rum - I take it mediation is a hoop you have to jump through before you can crack on? Does it help any to think of it as just a bit of admin, a preliminary which only requires your polite attendance? I'm not speaking from experience, I imagine it's hard to detach yourself. In the meantime, spend on! sounds like you need it.

Em - that's great about your job. But doesn't it make you think that even the most benign organisation will take you for what it can?

Wet and gloomy here, but Ddog needs a walk anyway, so off we go.

I did click & collect this morning but they never gave me my freezer stuff
Came in again to take advantage of smyths Black Friday sale & saved €15.
Will collect frozen stuff now

"Service Announcement: Unfortunately, due to a system issue, some Vodafone Home customers are experiencing issues with their latest bill. We are working to fix this and want to assure affected customers that the billing amount will be rectified prior to any payment collection. No further customer action is required."

Hoping this is why my bill was more than double its usual amount

That’s great on the job front em.

Have missed your menuing need. Shakshuka is on my Christmas break menu. I’ve never had it.

You’re right Big. It’s a hoop. In theory, if it works, you can save on legal fees but it just feels like a license to bully. I haven’t worked out how to detach yet. Rationally I’m not sure why I’m finding it so difficult.

Wet here too but at least with the cloud it’s not too cold. The highlight of my day was my iPad thinking my gorgeous new mittens are a chow chow. I love my mittens.

No spending today but will need to top up my travelcard tomorrow. Think I’m on -20p.

Been busy so not had two mins to post but starting to wind down now thankfully.
Spends today Tesco £55
Home Bargains £50
Argos £35
Congratulations on your Job matching the pffer @ememem84
@RumBananaSundae hope things get a lot better for you very soon
@Happierwithouthim bound to be a blip with Vodafone fingers crossed it's sorted now
@needastrongoneagain Fab meal plans thank you so much for continuing to post them it's much appreciated
@lifelongfrugaleer hope work is less stressful
@HalfWomanHalfChocolate if you can afford it then do get your old cleaner back , it's going to relieve you of so much stress and give you back precious time to spend with your DC
Hope everyone is feeling ok and not poorly , appparently there is a nasty Adenovirus going around making ppl feel just dreadful , hope no one get it .
Stay safe everyone

Nearly forgot , 12 months car tax £180 expensive old day !

Thank you Mary.

Today has been quite a spendy one. I bought some new hiking boots. They fit and are comfortable but I hate them. I’ve bought the same brand (Scarpa) for for about 25 years and these are a different brand. And I didn’t notice that the tags were all already off (I have a thing about tags - I used to buy two of everything so I could keep the tags on one). It’s rather discombobulating. Hoping I’ll get over it as I don’t want to have to buy another pair. I also put £90 on my travelcard.

At the office tomorrow. Meeting an old university friend in the evening and am looking forward to that.

I’m in bed. I’ve been out for “lunch” with a client, his partner and his banking team. 5 of us. We got through so much food and all the wine. All of it. The restaurant gave us each a huge panettone to take home. I’m tipsy drunk and so happy. Tomorrow when I have to get the early bus in to make it to my waxing appointment before work I might not be so happy…..

Sorry to hear things are stressful rum.
congrats on the job em, sounds like the best outcome.
glad you are having a bit of a break mrs
My Black Friday excitement has been purchasing a carpet washer that I’ve had my eye on for a while . £239 instead of £329. DP was not impressed but we’ve done all the carpets now and OMG the filth that came out!! Football boots and dogs. And at least it will last. I’ve decided I’m going to have a low purchase Year next year, haven’t decided whether I’ll make an exception for charity shops as I do like a mooch about. But I’m fed up of feeling like I earn a reasonable sum but still always scraping about at the end of the month. I think it goes in little things like coffees and social invites I find ot hard to say no to.

im also considering handing the bulk of the food shopping to DP. He is much more minimalist than me. I really like doing the food shop but I spend too much. I thought I’d get DP to do a basic Tesco order every week for the boring stuff and I’ll do a top up for the treaty stuff. If I go to do a big supermarket shop I just end up flinging loads of stuff in.

Rum I knew someone once who used to buy two of every CD and keep the cellophane wrapping on one of them so it was pristine!

I did a top-up shop in Sainsbury’s on Monday and it came to £75 😳. I did stock up on some stuff like loo roll, olive oil, big tub of peanut butter, small tins of those beans with little sausages in (£1.40!) but I am shocked at how it all racks up so quickly now.

In the new Year we really need to get serious about grocery budgeting. I’ve always been able to buy whatever we want really (we cook from scratch so not paying convenience premiums and we don’t go out much so it has all balanced out okay) but it is insane now.

i bit the bullet and the cleaner is coming today for the first time. You were all right and I appreciate the encouragement, genuinely! I have managed to tidy up downstairs but due to bedroom decorating and displaced furniture and boxes upstairs the bedrooms are a dead loss for now. Small steps!

I need to buy skirting today for the bedroom that’s being gutted and also an Uber to get to a demo i am going to after work as I have absolutely no idea about where to park. Have saved some leftovers for dinner so won’t be tempted by convenience afterwards when it will be late and I will be VERY COLD!

Sorry to hear things are stressful rum.
congrats on the jobem, sounds like the best outcome.
glad you are having a bit of a breakmrs
My Black Friday excitement has been purchasing a carpet washer that I’ve had my eye on for a while . £239 instead of £329
Evening everyone
Thank you @marthasmum your carpet shampooer sounds brilliant and such a bargain too! Good idea getting Dh to do the shopping
@HalfWomanHalfChocolate l am so happy for you , it will lift all the stress for you , wonderful news
Food costs so much today , l don't know how some ppl are managing tbh .
@ememem84 hope you have recovered sounded a smashing time was had by all
@RumBananaSundae hope you have a nice meet up with your friend it will do you the world of good
Shopping today Asda £25
Primark for new cotton knickers & a fleece tartan duvet set £30
WhSmiths £19
Petrol £50
Card factory £17
It's so cold here today only 3C in the day and -C tonight Brrr!
Hope everyone is ok

Please ignore my first 5 lines God knows how l managed to do that

I wasn’t happy on the early bus.
I wasn’t happy at my appointment for a bikini wax. Tip for you - don’t do that with a hangover.
I had to grab some crisps and a coke before work.
colleague took me out for a Portuguese steak sandwich for lunch. Yum.

it’s been a LONG day. 🤣🤣

totally self inflicted.

Ha ha your day sounds more exciting than mine em. This has been a work day I just want to wipe from my memory 😳
You and your duvet sets mary 😂
im sat in the car waiting for dS2 to finish football training. Tbf I’m not spending any money and I’m wearing last year’s Oodie from Costco and am actually warm. But it’s flipping freezing outside.