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!

Not a nsd as ordered some new people scales as ours broke some time ago and I am fat!
On the plus side today is the first day I've driven the car since NYD
Butchers shop did us well as I got (portions) four brunches, four lunches, four dinners and I've ham for two more lunches (just need to add two bread buns) and three eggs left.

First proper food shop of the year coming Wednesday although I don't reckon I've actually saved money in the end by cancelling last week's shop

Oh goodness all - finding it hard to keep up. Will be going back to read people’s posts. Not sure where time is going.

Spending hasn’t been bad: Last Wednesday £90 on my travelcard, Thursday £14 on a pair of trousers in Marks and Spencer, Friday £1.78 in Lidl, Saturday £7 on some jogging bottoms in Marks and Spencer, £1.38 on two avocados in Aldi, Sunday £33.52 on two books on preorder. Today it went wrong and £1k went to the solicitor.

Any Uniqlo shoppers here? Tips on sizing/quality? They have a new line/items coming in that I’m eyeing up.

I just lost a long post. 🥺
@HalfWomanHalfChocolate leave it uncovered. Even a lose cover will prevent the yeast getting in. The airing cupboard is the traditional place to keep it so I doubt it is the heat that is the problem. We would die before most yeasts.

@RumBananaSundae I love Uniqlo... Their dresses have pockets 😍. The cashmere is good quality at budget prices and my favourite baggy trousers come from there.

The sizing guide is based on the returns data. You choose the item, put your measurements and ease preferences in and it tells you the best size for you for that product.

@HalfWomanHalfChocolate I will take pictures of mine as it comes back from it's neglected state... It does look sad for a while but then suddenly comes good.

Thank you @Unescorted . The page doesn’t have size information and I’m having flashbacks to buying thermal leggings and not being able to return them as they as underclothes (or something). Maybe the sizing will be added later.

@RumBananaSundae I find their sizing guide pretty accurate. Enter your measurements and the fit you prefer and buy their suggested size. It hasn't gone wrong for me yet - I've tested it by buying the sizes above and below and I've always picked the fit they said.
The quality is decent - I particularly like the deisgner collaboration collections. In fact I'm currently wearing a 20yr old uniqlo hoodie! 🤣

Healthy eating plan has gone out of the window with this horrible weather- my body wants hot, stodgy carbs, not refreshing salads 😉

Under the sizes use the size assist option

my fave t shirts are Uniqlo. When I get round to it I’ll order more.

@Unescorted @Chile1978 is there a separate page for the size assist? This is the info panel from the item page.

Have you chosen the size? The size assist is underneath the product listing before you choose the size.

It looks like the size guide isn't there for all products... Which is a bit rubbish.
There is a link on this one...
www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/product/airism-ultra-stretch-sleeveless-dress-457012.html

I’ve actually had a NSD! No doubt because I’ve been back to work with my bottom glued to the chair and working from home, so I couldn’t even splash out on a coffee. But it’s just as well because looking at my accounts, I’m bursting at the seams everywhere and can’t do anything fun for a bit.
good to know the parsnip cake works with brown sugar, I will give that a go as I’ve no maple syrup. I’ve got to start on blood pressure meds and threatened with them for diabetes as well which I really don’t want, so need to give up carbs as well as spends!
north that really sounds tough. I appreciate how reliant I am on my mum being currently well enough to be my dads carer, and having my sister to take turns. It sounds like you have worked extremely hard to build up your NHS pension, pay off the mortgage and save for uni fees - it’s great you can reap the benefits of this and you deserve to.

Morning - @HalfWomanHalfChocolate I will do 2 things...Sourdough refresh of my usual one and I will start a new one so you can see how sad it looks without being dead / unviable.

The picture in the jar is my starter... The liquor on top can get to black and the starter is still viable. This is was last refreshed sometime in November/ early December.

The second pic is of it refreshing... I 80g water, Plain bread flour and water. The kitchen is 16 Deg but that is cold as the heating is only just turned on.

The line is to show where it all came up to.

This is the new one...

This is the new one... It is going to live just there without a hat . 100g flour and 100g water out of the tap.

Yesterday £22 horse feed. Budgeted for. New front door ordered . Not budgeted for. Ouch

Yesterday £500 transferred to holiday fund! Not a spend as such, but a reminder of something nice to save for.

We’ve woken up to snow. Which is strange. Because we never get snow here!

I hear you on the horse expenses

ooo snow day em?

Happy Shnooooooowww day @ememem84 😁

That's exciting em. I left the house early, to allow extra time to defrost my car, but it's a relatively mild 3 degrees.

Ooh em how exciting! Is it the dc's first time to see snow? Snow itself is beautiful, it's when it freezes and you've to travel it the next day isn't so nice.

North glad that you can see a way of making this work and sorry that it's necessary.

My kindle paperwhite bought secondhand arrived yesterday, I had hoped to finish a book I've been reading on kindle app on my phone last night with it. Tesco came with shopping, I had dinner, took boxes out of attic to dechristmas the house and when I had all that done and put back into attic with dc's help I went to bed and slept without reading

Off to google parsnip cake, assume it's similiar to carrot cake, I don't need cake however
I achieved 3st weight loss before Christmas, and reflected on losing 32.9lbs in 12 months with the realisation that where I am now, has always been the heaviest I've been in the past

Hotel I stayed at Sat night has charged my card 3 times totally €743, one of these transactions needs refunding, I emailed them when I noticed this morning. I like to keep my current account balance around €1k mark, it is very close to this at the moment

Have some returns to do to Smyths, ds got 3 of the same Lego, I can return the one I bought & exchange, plus a polaroid type camera that the big man forgot to leave out for him.

Dsis got me a lovely regatta jacket which is rather snug, tried to exchange but as she bought it at 70% off I couldn't, I'll put it away and try it again in the summer.

My car isn't very clean either life

My google nest hub wouldn't connect to my new wifi last Feb, at various times during the year I tried resetting etc, no joy, then I started a query online before Christmas, and last week I tried it again and it worked. She's more receptive than my Alexa so I'm pleased with this. Sceptical though that following raising a query it now does what I wanted it to do

Nope. Kids are at school. Have just walked them there. Everything is open - which is very odd here because we usually close if there’s one flake of snow.

im off work anyway today. More decluttering. But I’m probably going to just sit and watch tv.

I could do with a sit in front of the TV day. I have been run ragged over Christmas and work is eyes on stalks for the nex 3 months. Enjoy it Em

I have been rashly unfrugal and started a trip to Hull without bringing lunch, coffee or hot water bottle. My resolve to stay out of cages is going to be sorely tested.