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!

NSD today, planned chicken curry with chicken from the freezer has morphed into chicken hotpot instead, but still using up things already in. Tomato soup again for lunch as I accidentally made enough for two goes, so double frugal points.

I have to travel to South East for a funeral in a couple of weeks, so I am researching the possibility of getting a coach to London and the train down to Eastbourne. Its a lot cheaper than the train the whole way, but slower, also cheaper than the car. And I avoid the trauma of crossing London on the tube which I find incredibly stressful.

@Chile1978 I got there in the end with an if, an or, an iferror, 2x X lookups and some conditional formatting. You Tube is the best.

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. I've just had a shower (my first of the new year!) so I'm feeling a lot fresher.

Doing a bit of life admin. from my bed. I've done up a budget for the month and also a Christmas budget. I'm great at doing up budgets - wish I was as good at sticking to them 😊.

Financial aims for 2024:

Save for Christmas (set up separate account for this). I've worked out how much I need to put in per fortnight between Jan. and Oct.

Save for holiday in Italy in June. The flights are paid for, but I need to save for Air B'nB Accommodation costs, spending money and wedding present (money). Luckily DD can pay for herself and also contribute to the wedding present.

Save €30 a month for a bookcase. I've had my eye on a bookcase the last two years. They reduce it to €300 each year in the January sales. I'm a massive book lover so I can't believe I've reached my age (51) without owning a bookcase. I've books lying around in piles everywhere and it makes the house feel really cluttered. 2025 will be The Year of the Bookcase.

House jobs to get done in 2024:

Get someone out to cut down tree in back garden. I rang someone before Christmas but he never got back to me. I need to chase him up.

Get someone out to nail down felt on shed roof. The recent storms/winds have ripped it .

Get someone out to look at house alarm panels. The alarm keeps going off and it's always the same panel.

Get someone out to sort out fridge. It's not keeping things properly cold and I'm having to chuck milk etc. before the best before dates.

Clear out freezer. I intended doing this before Christmas but never got around to it. Better late than never!

Personal care stuff to get done in 2024:

Declutter books and clothes.

Read more books (I may have joined a second book club).

Do more walking. I wish I lived in a country with a better climate. Seems to be permanently pissing down here. And I'm not a lover of walking in the rain. Roll on Italy!

@Taytocrisps . I have a border collie who wants to go out in all weathers. I also have clothes drying everywhere. 3 coats are hung in various places all with tea towels under them. We have got that wet in last couple of days.

Can I ask fellow frugaleers if selling on Vinted is easy? I've got a few good condition hardly worn and quite posh items I could sell.

Well not a NSD today - needed Cat Food, Foil and Tomato sauce - but at the rate my GSs go through the red stuff I bought price matched with Aldi ketchup so only 82p for that! But I fell victim to Tesco sale items and bought a king sized duvet set for £13.50 but we've not had a new set for 2 or 3 years so overdue really. Plus a new baby gift and card.
It won't be a NSD tomorrow as I have a dental appointment first thing but heyho!!

Tayto sorry I missed that you had been poorly.

Before you call out someone to look at your fridge try defrosting it for a week or so. We had one where the pipes are the back froze occasionally. Most likely because it was an indoor fridge that was kept in a porch. When the pipes froze it stopped keeping things cold.

Nellie no idea but I am going to stick about for the answers because I have things that need to go too.

Re the fridge also hoover the back as dust stops it keeping cold and clean out the over flow thingy at the back inside of any slime.

Spend today- 8 on bread eggs milk onions. 18 in boots. Fell into the 3 for 2 trap,instead of just buying what I went on for.

Selling on Vinted I find really easy-take photos, upload, then it’s a tick box to choose the category, condition etc. The buyer pays postage. The only faffy bit is packing up and taking to the yodel or evri point.

Spend today 2.60 on a tea while meeting one friend, then 25.70 meeting someone else I havent seen for a very long time - I thought we were just going for a coffee, but it turned out to be lunch and I ended up paying. I'd totally forgotten that historically it's always played out like this whenever we meet. Lesson (re)learned!

Technically another NSD here as haven't bought anything but do need to pay invoice for DC activities but I don't include those in my optional spends. I know clubs and activities are a non-essential expense but the kids really enjoy them and get so much out of them that I'd only stop them if we really had to.

Doing well with using up all perishable foods before they go off and making use of what we've got in the cupboards/freezer. Used up the last of the NY beef casserole and puff pastry tonight for tea. Made a huge pan of a Spanish style chicken, chorizo and pepper stew type thing to freeze into portions (x6). The chicken had to be used today and in the past I might have chucked it out or popped it in the freezer raw then never got round to defrosting and cooking. Finished off the end 1/3 of the chorizo too which again might have gone in the bin. Used up a few odds & ends at lunchtime too so I reckon I've saved/avoided wasting about £10 worth of food there with the bonus prize of some tasty homemade meals ready to reheat another time (and save on shopping that week).

I have to say I'm quite enjoying the sense of satisfaction from avoiding waste and unnecessary/frivolous spending.

Now debating whether or not we can justify going away for a few days over Feb half term. It's usually quite a miserable break weather-wise so usually get away to somewhere more scenic or a Center Parcs in the UK. I've found a few cheaper options that I'm sure I could save enough in January to cover but I feel a bit guilty and think I'd have "failed at the first hurdle" if I book something now. Holidays are my vice and our biggest "non-essential" expense and can easily spend £10k a year on multiple trips. I know this might not be a lot to some people but it's a significant proportion of our household income.

Tayto that's a lovely savings goal to have.
Glad you're feeling a bit better

Today was a NSD & pretty lazy too, except for evening walk with dog & bf

Paid off 0% credit card, that is due to expire later this month €1213.85, out of Christmas money, I get good Christmas presents at work
Paid €436.45 off other credit card which is approx half the balance.

Also, another saving I'm making is to only buy 1 bottle of squash and enough fresh fruit juice for a small glass each daily. Once it's gone, it's gone til the next big shop. DC are quite bad for guzzling large glasses of fresh orange juice, apple juice or squash and it all disappears by the middle of the week. DH then toddles off to shops to buy more...We must spend ££ every week. Encouraging them to drink more tap water which is better for them and my purse...

@Taytocrisps a lovely goal to look forward to. Loved reading your plans ❤️

Has anyone got any experience with calculating adjusted net income with sipp contributions (England)? I'm going round in circles and can NOT face ringing hmrc.

Spends
£7 gym

Yesterday petrol 36 but it’s for work travel so can claim it back. Small top up shop 20 fruit bread cheese and milk. Shouldn’t need anything else for a week.

I spent £22 in Superdrug, could have spent in primark but was on lunch break so tight for time. DS wants some joggers but he has vouchers so another shop trip imminent. He will also need a hair cut before Tuesday

I’ve booked prom dress shops for half term. Lord help me. Though dd is excellent at not spending tbf

life the 2nd hand bridesmaid dresses section of eBay is fabulous for prom dresses. DD got 2 @ a fiver each.

Haircut for ds planned for today too life
I've got book club at 7pm I've only 140 pages of the 410 page book read.
I need to sort out our wardrobes today so there won't be much more reading done, back to work tomorrow. I'm 16 years in my job today.

Roo that'll be better for their teeth too.

Supermarket spend yesterday on essentials and store cupboard as our favourite tea bags were on special offer ( I bought 3). I have a pot for ‘pantry’ on my banking app so I took money out of that for tea bags.

I have a prom dress listed on Vinted, there’s quite a few on there,

03.01 Spends: 99p Kindle book offer (part of a birthday present)

£65 for a heated poncho for the relative we're looking after who is rehabbing from recent fractures. They need to mobilise regularly to prevent DVTs and to start modified weight bearing on the lower body. The poncho can be disconnected, retains some warmth while they move and isn't so bulky that it gets in the way of the Zimmer frame.

Sometimes, you just have to accept the need to spend the money.

We are trying on for style and type. Dd loves vinted so will no doubt look there

Happy workversary happier

Went to Manchester yesterday to meet work colleagues for meal- a bit pricier than anticipated at £45 but I was drinking which I don’t usually do. DC picked me up at the station which was a lovely treat (DP doesn’t drive so until DD passed I have been sole driver for family or 5).

I’d splurged £63 on sale stuff for work in M and S earlier this week, but thought better of it so returned one pair of trousers. So have now bought trousers, jeggings and 6 pairs of tights for £44 which feels better. No more clothes spends now for some time.

chile you suggested upthread I need to have a bigger socialising budget as friends are important and I think this is a good shout. That means I need to keep in control of food budget. I’ve been sent a £12 off voucher for Tesco which is a good start - nearly deleted the email with it in so that was a pleasant surprise!

unescorted sorry to hear about your DMum. A and E with poorly older parents is stressful. My DDad is not an easy patient either and shouts at the staff due to his dementia. To their credit they’ve always been lovely to him. Hope she is on the mend now.

chile you suggested upthread I need to have a bigger socialising budget as friends are important and I think this is a good shout. That means I need to keep in control of food budget.

This is a conversation I've been having with DH. I've suggested that he needs to allocate a decent budget to socialise (good for his MH and to keep his job network current).

However, it's London prices, so the savings need to come from somewhere else. And they need to recognise that his commuting costs have just doubled and we have increased our expenses because we're caring for another relative. So, we need to find £80-120 a week to cover those costs as well as his socialising budget.