Frugal Friends Facing Forward with Fortitude

[Happierwithouthim]

Here's a friendly space for new and existing frugal friends.

We have all different types of incomes and lifestyles but with a common goal of making the best of the money we have.

Many of us have experiences of becoming debt free or being in difficulty with money for one reason or another so there's no need for embarrassment, just join in, post as little or as often as you wish.

Some record daily spends, some record only spends that are unplanned, some don't record spends at all, the choice is yours!

Thank you Rum, I really appreciate your good wishes. Fingers firmly crossed.

Hackathon we put a wifi mesh system in after the building work. Cost a couple of hundred quid but now the wifi works all over the house, reliably and with a strong signal, without having to connect to different repeaters. It’s amazing and I’m still not over the novelty, two months on!

I cannot get my head round that pantry you’ve inherited. 11kg of linseeds! 😮

Happy new year all. Yesterday was no spend day. Hopefully today will be also

No spend yesterday, and another Vinted sale! Glad I stuck to my guns - I had a pair of fancy jeans on for a fiver, which was getting lots of favouriting, but then I was getting offers of £3 or £4 for them, So they've now sold for 5, huzzah! Plus I've been offered my first gig of the year (I call ceilidh dancing) - one of those a month is my aim.

we put a wifi mesh system in after the building work. Cost a couple of hundred quid but now the wifi works all over the house, reliably and with a strong signal, without having to connect to different repeaters. It’s amazing and I’m still not over the novelty, two months on!

HalfWoman That sounds good. I may need to consider that, despite the expense. Even if it's a couple of hundred, it's a lot cheaper than my commuting costs which would be >£600 per month with the latest increases (DH's are similar but he's having to go into the office x2 a week now).

We have a mesh system as well and it’s great. Want that expensive let me find it. It all depends on the size of your house.

This is the one we have and pays £99 for it in Nov 21

Aww sing so nice to 'see' you! Am really glad the caglets are doing well and that's a cute bunny! My dd is nearly 18 🤯🤯🤯 not sure how that happened!!

I haven't got off to a v frugal new year, spent £38 in fatface in the sales, got 2 dresses for that though and I used a voucher I got for my bday.

Have also just given dd £110 for her bus pass to college, should get some of that back from her bursary though.

My plan for this year is to buffer savings up which should be doable if I'm sensible.

I need to get through dds 18th which will be spendy (beginning of feb) but after that have a few quiet months in theory.

Does anyone know what happens to the single person council tax discount when your kid hits 18? I'm hoping I keep it until she finishes college in the summer?? It's on my to do list to ring them.

cc balance £4273. Just paid £35 to it.

lunch made. Coffee made. Ready to get to work.

Good luck with the return to work @ememem84

I made a couple of purchases yesterday though both items I have been struggling without since my exh took them when he moved out and I got all three heavily discounted. They were things I had planned to buy and need so felt justified.

On the not so good side I did buy some expensive hair oil which promises to work wonders on my barnet. I have been using a supplement which has vastly improved the thickness and the growth at the roots but the ends still look quite dry and straw like so I accessed a discount and spent £31.50 including shipping. 🤞

Credit Card 1 0% finishes this month
Balance: €1355.06 paid €141.21 today
Credit Card 2: balance €1000 approx paid €30 today.
I have Christmas money in cash so I will pay off 0% before it ends

Yesterday €1 donation to live crib as I didn't have my purse.

Today is the day my work returns but I've taken holidays until Friday, we're visiting & clothes shopping for dc today & then getting house in order tomorrow & Thurs

I’m going to the big city today so they will be lunch and spend and train fare. Will use my Christmas money and vouchers as much as possible

Wolf that's a bargain for starters for 6.

I've read the full thread but my mind is too busy with everyone's news & situations to tag everyone

Hope 24 will be a success in frugality & life for us all.

Some mentioned cars & money pits. My car is 12 years old & trouble free so far. I'm going to start putting away a car payment into savings in the hope to buy in 2027 & pass my car onto dd who will be 17 that April. That gives me 40 months of savings.

Enjoy life lunch & cocktails sounds great!

Welcome to all the new people and previous posters! Lovely to see a busy thread - like happier I’ve been reading along but can’t hold everyone’s news in my head to reply, sorry! However -tayto I hope you’re not too poorly.
Uni opens tomorrow but I have the rest of the week off which I really feel I need. I know it will be ok once I’m back but I’m really not looking forward to the busyness at the moment.
I’m on a train to Harrogate with DD to meet a friend and her DS. Planning a cheap meal out which even then I can’t really afford but it’s planned so 🤷‍♀️
On the frugal side DP and I got a free item of furniture from the local neighbourhood group - we’d been planning to buy something so that was a bonus.
My financial aims this year are to save enough to go on holiday and to buy minimally in January. There’s a particular pair of trousers I’ve got my eye on in M and S sale as they fit me well, but no new stuff other than that or things that have broken and genuinely need replacing. Have also bought a calendar today which was a need - 12.99.
I need to get on top of socialising - I don’t feel I go out much but end up committed to things that take me over budget (like today) but feel unreasonable to cancel eg I’ve not seen this friend for months. So maybe I need to save in other areas and have a bigger social budget.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies I think it's until they finish full time secondary education, but please don't take my word for it! Is DD planning on uni?
@Happierwithouthim your DD is a lucky girl to get given a car 🚗!

Weather is a shocker today but have to make a trip to the bank and pay in a cheque that the app wouldn't recognise.
Spends should be less than £20.
Otherwise not a lot going on, fridge and freezer being cleaned and tidied now the holiday season is over. Christmas decs being taken down and put away. May have a organisation session in the loft and/or the garage.

@marthasmum if you're consistently going over then I think it's best to do a true budget otherwise you just feel guilty. Friendships are important so I wouldn't begrudge yourself quality time if you can afford it by reprioritising the budget. At the moment, ts the worst of both worlds - you're overspending AND you feel bad about doing so.

Hoping for another nsd today. Last day off before back to work tomorrow.
Loads of food in to use over the next few days without any top-ups (plus enough for another week with a few fresh bits needed.
Homemade lentil soup for lunch and smoked salmon pasta for tea to use up some leftovers.
Also started the post-Christmas declutter (which I know probably belongs on another thread) so hoping to unearth some items (ends of toiletries, make-up, pens etc) that can be used up before buying more so helping with the no spend/frugal theme.
Might also find a few things to pop on Vinted too. (Don't worry, I've only made <£125 in the past 6 months so highly unlikely to reach the HMRC £1000 trade limit )

I think you keep the discount Girlie. I'm saying that based on knowing university students don't pay so I can't see why college students would. That's me assuming its the two of you as adults or having no other CT eligible adults. Good luck with your council.

Am doing some personal admin that I should have done over the holidays. I've paid my credit card ~£65 and paid for my trip insurance. The paraglide tripled the cost. At least I can cross it off the list. Hoping no more spending today. Though I want a glass of milk so I might go out later.

A walking friend messaged me and would like to start walking again. Hope we can work a few out and it is also a lovely frugal way to spend a day.

£75 river island. But had a voucher. And all sale stuff. All basics too (plain tees, a red maxi skirt, striped jumper etc…) and all stuff which will replace things I have and need outing.

also got points on my dept store app (river island is in dept store here so yay!)

The remainder of the week and next week will show whether I have a decent enough signal here for online meetings.

We unearthed up an ethernet cable which is giving me decent download and upload speeds for now. However,
as above for online meetings (very few this week)
it will take some time until everyone else is back online so I'll know what's going on with the local competition for bandwidth
now the recuperating family member is less mobile, it's likely there's going to be more programme streaming during the day so there will be competition for bandwidth at home.

If we're going to have problems, I'll look at the mesh (and thank you to PPs who report positive experience of them). One of the power cables for a laptop looks like it's going to split so I may have to buy a new one of those although I'd like to delay this as long as practical without running the risk of being left with a device I can't power.

You definitely won't regret getting a mesh. They are a game changer!

Hope I can join you? Had an unexpected frugal start to the year when some much longed/for boots that were heavily reduced in the JL dale arrived and didn't fit.. so they're going back tomorrow and I'll save the refund. Unfortunately a plant pot I bought in the same sale arrived smashed in two so have had to request a replacement
Trying to keep the NSDs down and cut down my takeaway coffee habit. Going from every day (or more than once a day!!) to 3 times a week would be a big win for me...

@Chile1978 I haven't told her yet & i do plan for her to pay €1k for it, €20 per week!

Been in town all afternoon with dc
Will post spends later
Collected my glasses & contact lens trials
Bought an ash vac in Aldi, my cousin has one she swears by, Aldi one has higher wattage hoping it'll be good

I think this will make her appreciate it more and also teach her how to budget.