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.

Covering of snow here. Woke up at 515 to go to the gym. Went back to bed

Christmas shopping and food continues to be ££££

@MaryGreenhill I was wondering how many of us were buying carpet washers!

I have a carpet washer, aldi buy, I've washed my sitting room carpet once with it, mat at work with it and my colleague used it for her mat. I now only have carpet in my bedroom, which I'm only allowing socks/bare feet on. But it was only €80 and I've room to store it so I might as well hang on to it.

€162 on panto tickets for us and more family. I'll get some of this back, maybe €70
€415.50 on Charlie & Chocolate Factory Musical tickets I'll get about €80 of this back, but it's me who wants to go!

Yesterday we got our €1k Christmas bonus, I keep this for my car insurance which will be under €500 and normally buy myself something with the balance.

Em - kudos for getting on the bus, and to work. Feeling increasingly crushed by the hangover was a major reason for me giving up drinking! That and the despair, the weight gain, the guilt at the lost hours...

Happier your purchases sound way more fun than mine. Expenditure over the last few days: £32 on paint; £60 on posh 'antique bronze' radiator rings (because why not? after all this effort on painting); £126 on merino pillows in the Piglet in Bed 'sale'. DH bought one of those rechargeable stick Dyson cleaner things, which is light as feather after our Miele (which is starting to chug and whine suspiciously) and sucking shaming amounts of crap out of the carpets. Also have to spend money on a foldaway guest bed for Christmas accommodation.

Ddog getting his haircut on Saturday, and now that I have stopped colouring mine, his is now the most expensive haircut in the family!

I had a little 😁at your duvet cover purchase too mary

In exciting times here, I have Christmas duvet covers to put on the DCs beds whilst they are at school tomorrow 🤶

The AA overcharged me £44, so sorted out a refund. And got them to remove the auto renew for next year so they can’t just take my money next time!

Have to go to an event tomorrow which I didn’t want to go to. Dmum was very nasty and manipulative about it, and if I don’t go she will go on about it forever (when she wants to be nasty). Families eh?! Will try to do nice things afterwards to try and forget about it.

Snowed most of the day here. Just wet, not settled.

Evening all
@marthasmum You know me too well Lol . Me and my Duvet cover obsessions lol
@ememem84 Portugese steak sarnie sounds delicious that will sort you out
@lifelongfrugaleer tell me about the cost of the food Life it's ridiculous!
Can't blame you re going back to bed it's just too much to expect of a person!
@Happierwithouthim that Charlie musical sounds brilliant , l know the tickets are expensive but what a treat!
Buy yourself something lovely with your £500 you deserve it !
@BigSkies2022 those fold up bed are excellent , ours lasted years .
Fancy your Ddog haircut costing the most !
@Timetoswitch l know what am l like
Great you got your refund from the AA too
Glad your snow didn't stick although if it had you wouldn't have to go tomorrow then , damn & blast !
l am so sorry you have to go to this function , it just isn't fair , l used to be the same if l didn't want to go somewhere l was made to feel so guilty it just wasn't worth saying anything in the first place . Grin and bear it and do something wonderful afterwards
Only spent 60p for carrots today , heating just gone on it is freezing here .
Hope everyone is ok

@MaryGreenhill I think I'll earmark it for tv for my snug whenever it'll be done or one of those electric fires for there! But I don't really need because there's a radiator there, maybe I'll get a radiator cover to make a feature of it

Ooh time I don't have Christmas duvets maybe I'll buy in the sales for next year

Em waxing is no fun when due period or when hungover, not that it's great fun in normal times

Now I’ve put the DCs Christmas duvet covers on, I wish I’d been less frugal and got us one too. Now out of stock though. Will look in the sales for us maybe if there is any ££s left.

My feet have finally warmed up after spending 40 minutes stood outside this morning.

DH is currently in the loft getting out the Christmas tree. I don’t think our tree has ever gone up so early. Normally we aim for around the 12th December. I think a bit of early cheer is needed this year though? Or maybe we are normally just miserable 😁

Time my parents currently have no heating because their new boiler is stuck somewhere and they're in the middle of kitchen renovation, I can't imagine how cold it is there I did say this would happen, they were waiting for range to go before they'd replace it and I said it'll happen at coldest time of year

€130.05 on tickets for bf, for 7th Dec 24
Artisan chocolate I bought came today, with two lovely handmade chocolates as a thank you.

££££ spent but bar sweets I’m done shopping for Christmas

Oo no boiler that’s dreadful. life that’s seriously impressive. I can’t seem to get with it this year, feels like it will all be last minute. Football is cancelled due to the weather so maybe I need to do some shopping this weekend instead.
just realised the MOT is due earlier than I thought - which means I have less saved towards it so 🤞🏻no issues 😳

Good morning all -

I know what you mean about grocery prices Half. I was looked at tinned soup in Sainsbury and a can of Heinz vegetable soup was >£1.70.

Sorry to hear about the event Time. Hope it wasn’t as bad as you were anticipating and that you did/are doing something amazing. Well done on the refund.

Woo hoo life on having the Christmas shopping done.

Spending wasn’t too bad for the end of the week ~£6 on some mitten strings. There were left overs after meeting my friend on Wednesday so I had them on Thursday. Yesterday I was at a conference. It was a bit strange due to the location but when it starts to bother me I distract myself by thinking about the cheeseboard they had at lunch. I had a full fare cap as I was travelling peak time in both directions. First time in a while so a bit of a shock seeing the money came off.

The mediator has ordered/told me to tell him what I want to so so I will draft an email for that. Not feeling brave enough to do it now. Will sort out my tickets and things for Paris instead.

Today was meant to be an exhibition with flakey friend. She’s cancelled. Muttered something about doing something on Sunday instead. Reorganised my day to get errands done then had messages from DHL and they’re coming today and not Monday so am now pottering. Will look for some fancy laces for my walking boots. Being a French brand hasn’t managed to convince me.

Was meant to be a weekend of Christmas fairs but snow stops today.

spent a little yesterday but not much. Oddments left to get

You're doing great life for Christmas.
I've very little done, sent a card to Canada yesterday.
I bought a pack of Christmas greetings from my village cards on Friday, I'd the stamp bought a week ago.

Yesterday bought dd riding boots & socks €82, she's size 8 now! Her old boots are size 6 but not suitable for resale, I'm size 6 so I'll use them instead of wellies going outside at home.

€19 on McDonald's for the dc
€6.95 on my lunch, in a place that has won sandwich of the year two years running, it didn't disappoint. Sandwich element was €5.50
€14 on machine to wash dog
€1.35 posting my log book to change address, 3 years 9 months after I moved!

Size 8 good grief she must be growing like a weed. You need to stop feeding her so well 😂

nsd today as horse snow duties then getting my cook for stuff languishing in the fridge

ds out sledding ds revising

Yes & size 12 in jeans, I passed on a load of tops to her yesterday when sorting out my wardrobe!

€39 odd in Aldi
€3 parking for hospital appt

No snow here just damp and overcast.

Weekend spending was a bit more than planned. I bought two pairs (£40) of thermal leggings - they were on special with £5 off per pair - I thought I could wear them for walking when its cold. I got five pairs of pink walking boot laces (£17.25) in an effort to endear my new boots to me. Groceries came to £17.78 with a mix of Sainsbury, Aldi, Lidl and the health food shop.

I sent meter readings for the gas and electricity this morning so there will be a bill soon. Not feeling work today so am clock watching already.

Think I might use the Marks and Spencer gift vouchers I have to buy special groceries over the holidays. Not sure if that is a waste but I might feel more frugal.

Rum - I have never regretted the purchase of thermal anything. They make being outside easier, and inside more snug.

I'm expecting that this is the month that we will tilt from credit to debit balance with E.On, and that will deepen over the next three months, but I will catch up on it in the spring. I stuffed more rockwool insulation up the sitting room chimney on Saturday, to cut off the draughts that were getting past the enormous chimney sheep already up there. Next on my winter-proofing list is buying some thermal liners for the curtains in DS' bedroom, and insulating the loft hatch.

Had a pleasant couple of hours yesterday doing my cash flow and financial/personal objectives for 2024. Not sure where a holiday is going to come from next year. MIght just look expectantly in DH's direction, with the laptop open at the desired gite!

I concur regarding thermals! I was tidying up my wardrobe on Sat & discovered a thermal bodysuit I'd forgotten, I wore it on Sat night underneath a lacy top, the night was very chilly and I was so cosy.
Rum why 5 pairs of laces?

I don’t think it will be a waste having treats from your vouchers if there is nothing else you wants

i need more thermals.

I do a local lotto here for past six months or so, it's €2 a week, it would've been my campervan fund if I'd won it, someone won the €24800 last night
A few weeks ago 3 of my 4 numbers came up

€6.30 in local shop on a sad looking pepper, pack of pepper sauce & block of ice-cream. I got salted caramel melt in the middle puddings on 30% off from aldi on Sun and it need ice cream!

We need a new thread title.....

It’s still damp and overcast. It feels like it’s permanently evening. But at least it’s not cold.

Yesterday I paid the gas and electricity I think it was £134. Not too bad but I’m a very conservative user. Today I’ve spent £7 on some new underwear in Marks and Spencer and £2.49 in Aldi.

Happier I bought five as they had five pink laces I liked that were the right width and length. I wanted two, one to use and one spare, so I thought what’s five when you’re buying two. No not very frugal. Where would you go with your camper van?

You’re right life. I’m going to push the boat out with my vouchers. I saw a tin of some kind of Christmas pretzel mix yesterday today it was all gone. Was considering buying it to snack on while I watched the new series of Reacher.

Have a day off today so took a longer than usual walk this morning. It was rather muddy.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/cost_of_living/4957140-frugal-friends-facing-forward-with-fortitude

We don't seem to be filling threads as quickly as we used to so I left the month out of title!

Rum I'd like to do overnights/weekend trips around the coast of Ireland and then maybe longer trips to UK/Europe depending on what type of van, but I need to win a lotto first!