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.

Sunday spends
€12.40 McFlurrys
€61.95 Aldi
€27.70 Chemist - ds got stung by a bee so got an antihistamine & bite cream, salvon cream as his sister pushed him into the door of fireplace & tore his side and plaque disclosing tablets because teeth brushing has gotten slack.

Alfie Hope you're ok, sounds like a lot on.

Need Thinking of you too.

NSD today, been WFH. We are all sick here. DS got a bad cold virus and we all now have it as he is recovering.

Very stressed atm with all the health worried I have going on about myself, DM and DS. I'm still awaiting appointment letters for two scans and a hospital appointment. DS still awaiting an update call from GP as well as two hospital appointments. Just spend so much time atm in appointments, making appointments, chasing appointments...!

I'm WFH tomorrow again so should be an NSD. Although I need to order some bits for work which I would then claim back tho.

Oh half you seem to do so well, but it must be hard going at the moment. I can't believe it's seven years? I'm sure I remember you finding out.
Sorry things are so tough need
My big frugal win of the last few days was a "too good to go" box of fruit & veg at our local Booths supermarket for £1.50. Best value ever!

€13.95 goats cheese salad nearby hotel
€30 eyebrow tint & shape & bikini wax

Couple more days to get through and holidays will be here and kids can rest.
Look at that fabulous box of goodies
Balancing appointments and health is tricky, no wonder you are stressed.

Great fruit and veg box north

weight I always find health appointments tend to hang over me until sorted, much as I try to keep busy etc. Hope those dates come out soon!

£1.99 Macdonalds got a breakfast roll on the way to a workshop thing with work incase there was no lunch, which there was not. Offer on the app.
£9 Lidl for essentials
£2 piece of rocky road at inflatable Place while waiting for DD. It gave me heartburn and was not worth it!

I feel like that too life four more days for DD and the 6.30am alarm goes off. DS already finished college. Work will quieten off as we work with schools.

Pity about the weather, I don't like hot hot but a bit of settled weather wouldn't go amiss 😕

I’ve got 9 working days until my summer hols. I’m definitely not 100% on it now, DC are dragging but 3 more get ups for school! 🤣

Three drains unblocked. Lovely mushy leaves

Big your mention of London clay had me reading about geological formations. Have you found anything interesting?

Girlie hope being back at work hasn’t been too bad. It had never bothered me before but this year I’m struggling to move from the not caring step.

Weight sorry you’re all unwell. Sending you get better soon vibes. Hope your appointment dates are with you now.

North what an amazing fruit and vegetable box.

Was trying to spend no more than I had in my purse for the rest of the month (bills aside) but the initial £15 is now at 90odd pence so that’s gone out the window. Not sure what I’ve spent it on. A birthday card, some cottage cheese and a few grocery odds and ends.

NSD but did price new electric showers, plumber said I need to get a particular one which is a like for like replacement of current one. I'm going to call manufacturers tomo because I'm keen to get something a bit stronger if possible

I'm always amazed at how late your schools break up. The secondary schools here closed in early June and the primary schools finished up at the end of June. I'm not saying our system is better or anything. It just feels like we're a good way through the summer holidays but you're still waiting to start yours.

I ordered some new runners yesterday (you probably call them trainers) and they cost €80. My old runners had holes in them, so they're definitely a need rather than a want. I get Asics because I need an arch due to my plantar fasciitis.

I was clearing out some old handbags yesterday, prior to disposing of them and I found €55 in notes and approx. €5 in coins . Always check the pockets!

One of DD's friends has passed her driving test so she's been driving the girls around. They think they're the bees knees ..

One of my school friends is home for a holiday here (she lives abroad) so I'm meeting her on Friday and we're doing some touristy things where I live and going for food at some stage. Can't wait to see her! I don't think she's too impressed with all the rain.

I hadn't heard back from SUSI (college grant scheme) and then I got a letter to say that they needed proof of the separation. I'd already sent them proof of the separation but they didn't accept it for some reason. So I had to make several phone calls to my solicitor and then get a letter off her. Sick of bureaucracy at this stage.

So glad I found this thread! Frugal me is very happy

North what a fantastic veg box! We get Earth & Wheat every two weeks. The Wonky Variety Bread box and it's always got enough flatbreads/pitas/crumpets/pancakes to keep us going. My favourite monthly spend.

Highlight this week was selling some Liz Earle skincare on Vinted and buying my toddler autumn winter dresses with the proceeds.

Lowlight Was all the crap I needed to buy for potty training. I hate Amazon sometimes.

Rum no interesting finds, alas. But the digging is almost done, and DS has saved my back. We've revised the way we're going to do the seating area, and will be building up slightly with a small parapet wall to get the required level (sloping site, sigh). More advanced building skills required, but much less grunt work. Don't think we can get away without a skip, so that will add about £350. I'm still hopeful we will be finished by the time we go away to France. And then I will have a planting plan to implement - there's going to be a lot of borders to fill, and I am very much uninspired at present. I might try and find some budget to get a professional in to help me design it - I've made a lot of mistakes in what is quite a tricky plot, and I"d like some help to get it Right First Time, this time around. We'll see! I might get inspired again when the place isn't full of building materials and piles of clay subsoil.

Blake Morrison at the British Library tomorrow night, on Emily Brontë's poetry. DH bought me a complete poems yesterday, bless him. Then Romeo and Juliet at the Almeida on Friday. So it's not all digging and grubby fingernails.

Delicious frugal recipe from Rachel Roddy this week: tomato and bay leaf sauce with spaghetti. I can see this being a go-to for some time to come, 'twas gorgeous.

Afternoon.

Welcome @JennyWren87. I've never heard of Earth and Wheat, but I've had a quick look at the website and can see me ordering forthwith 😁

Boo re the extra paperwork @Taytocrisps. Result on the found notes!

Still on the frugal trail. I used a click and collect voucher for Sainsbury's that they sent me today for £10, and spent £90. Apart from one or two of our regular branded stuff, I stuck exclusively to the Aldi Price Match stuff, the Nectar price promise or worst case, Sainsbury's own brand. There was three bottles of wine in the too and a treat of fresh tuna for Friday night tea. I got loads for that, and no subs at all. Definitely worked for us, but I know @Colliewobblerr23 got subs.

€16.10 in lidl on 2 bags catfood & some bits for ds's lunch for camps.

No weekly shop necessary for the coming week dc are going to their dads tomorrow lunchtime, might do dinner out with them this evening as it'll be almost August when they're back with me.

Guy coming to look at my water pump this afternoon
Will pick up my prescription too €145, all budgeted for!

Hello everyone, I'm trying to be more frugal as money is so tight right now so I thought I'd join this thread.

DH got paid yesterday so that's when we 'reset' our finances and budget for the month. We're off to a bad start as this morning I smashed our kettle (it's glass). I've just ordered a replacement as with a combi feeding baby I need it asap, so that's £30 I didn't want to spend

Hello all, and welcome to new joiners. (I'm quite new, too, don't mean to sound grand with the 'new joiners' bit!)

DS back to university city today, saving a few quid on the cheaper Thursday railfares. Taking with him a jar of peanut butter, packet of gruyere and some sausage rolls, from our cupboard, as these are things he has noticed are expensive, now that he is watching his money carefully. Proud frugal mama face! He will get paid next Friday, so will finally see some serious inroads into his overdraft, and plans to contact the bank and limit the facility to where he lands post-payment, so he's not tempted to dig into it again. TBH, if this overdraft is the worst financial mistake he ever makes, he'll be OK in life! However, I am hoping (and working actively towards, and cajoling around) that he won't have to spend too long getting financial decisions wrong before getting them right, as I did!

£40 on a takeaway last night, which was a nice treat from DH, and probably one we all needed. Having an adult child living away from home, and struggling, is not easy. I try and be chilled, and think, 'life will teach these lessons, you don't have to!' but I'm afraid I can't walk that walk, and feelings run high.

Welcome MrsTwiggy
this is a do as I say post rather than do as I do post
Create a category for appliances and fund it little by little so there's money there in case of accidents like this. I had one I don't anymore but I do have a small emergency fund so maybe I still have it covered

BigSkies I think of you as a regular poster now
Good on ds, working towards clearing overdraft.

Hi all, welcome to newbies!

All a bit stressed here and not very frugal. We had been saving to have some necessary work done on our house and thought we had enough but during the work it's uncovered another issue so it's way more than we thought it was going to be so we've had to get a loan. So annoying so now we have to find loan repayments month to month. Plus increased mortgage costs. Uurgh. Feels like it's getting harder and harder to make one salary stretch 😔

Plus it's summer holidays and teens are already requested bowling and cinema. To be fair these are rare treats and we can get the Asda pizza deal cinema vouchers and look for deals on bowling so not too bad. There will be plenty of other free or low cost days out aswell. Already booked some activities for our little ones and paid for so don't need to think about that. Plus a blue badge saves us on parking, every cloud has a silver lining hey!

@JennyWren87 I love vinted!

Evening.

Welcome @MrsTwiggy and boo to the kettle. We are a friendly bunch here.

Ah well done to your DS re being money savvy @BigSkies2022, university living certainly teaches them that the fridge does not magically restock itself for sure.

Oh no re the building work @Decafflatteplease, can only imagine the stress you are under with the upheaval and extra cost.

So today £15 on a recipe book that I didn't need but have wanted for ages.

Woke up to half the house having no electric and the circuit breaker having none of being flipped back over. ONE MORE THING!. It's fixed now, as by chance, our electrician was calling to fix the underfloor heating that has never worked but I did feel like crawling into a cupboard and telling the world to bugger off this morning.

Aubergine, mushroom and tamarind curry on the go, with basmati rice and DD home for the weekend, not many plans so frugal at least. Payday next Tuesday too, feels like it's been a long month!

Evening everyone
Hope everyone is well
Have had a terrible time with my new phone l have lost all my log ons and passwords hence not been on MN l miss you all too !
Anyway had to get the old laptop out tonight to sort out some insurance
and logged on to post
So house Insurance today £197
Tesco £5
Tesco yesterday £82
Aldi 14
Wilko bird seed 30
Iceland 15
Weather was lovely yesterday but not so good today it's been cold BRRRR!

€50 call out fee to clean pressure switch on water pump, €60 but I'd only €50's, I'll give it to him next time.

€18.80 on icecreams for mine & my friends family, she's been collecting dd for camp all week

€37 dinner out with dc, they're off to their dads tomo for 9 nights

€8.25 shop bought dessert
€14.25 on American candy for ds & few bits
€3 chocolate milk at farm shop

Didn't collect prescription so €145 deferred spend

Hi everyone!

Food spends continue to be out of control, I don’t even really know what I am spending on a week due to the ridiculously small fridge and frequent shopping situation. TOO MUCH. Just one more week in this flat though, yay! DH and I are both working next week and DM still isn't well enough to help out as planned (still has a bad back) so I’m not sure how we are going to entertain the Dc. Makes me realise how privileged we are in our normal life to have a garden we can chuck them in.

DH has spent the evening passing a kidney stone while I tried to return the wrong sized Velux windows. Hard to say who was enjoying life less 🙄😂