Frugal February!

[Psychoticbreak]

I failed in January but definitely need to reign in Feb or my mortgage will not be paid. Best of luck to us all!

£15 on a birthday card, a couple of birthday candles and some bird food. I can't really begrudge any of it, it had to be done. One of my greatest pleasures is watching the birds on the bird table when I am washing up.

It also gives the dog a hobby, chasing the obese squirrels who steal the bird food. They are in no danger of being caught, its a quick leap to safety, and the dog is not very swift.

Banana pancakes for breakfast nicely using up a soft banana, bubble and squeak with fried eggs for lunch and I have made a veggie lasagna for dinner.

I nearly bought a tunic from Hush that was in the sale, but they declined my 15% discount code, so they can poke their tunic.

After shocking myself rigid with how much I spent on DCat and adult DC in January, I was hoping to do better in February.

You know what they say, when people make plans, God laughs. One of my DC is moving back home next weekend. Although I won’t be bailing them out financially, I will be spending loads more on groceries etc.

I’m trying very hard but I just have to tell myself the overall situation would be far worse if I weren’t making efforts to stop unnecessary spending.

F

No spend day but easy as no need to go out. Sticking more or less to food plan so when I think do we need food it’s like oh I need some greens on Friday that’s it. Instead of pottering around and spending £15 on stuff you don’t need. Hope everyone had decent weekend.

2 NSD followed by a spends weekend. New term of swimming lessons were paid for, trip to pharmacy for some OTC stuff we’d run out of and a chipper dinner yesterday.

today then we did the big shop. I cut it down massively to just what we needed and was on offer and it cost €100.

hoping to have a quiet, cheap week

We're saved from ourselves because we don't have a single reliably adequate takeaway in my area. I'm not only referring to edible or tolerable food but something that will reliably not give you food poisoning.

We used to order an occasional Dishpatch. They're restaurant meal kits that are excellent but costly. They were only worth it because it meant we wouldn't have to travel into London for a meal (which, even off-peak, for 2 of us would be >£30). They used to offer occasional discounts and I'd jump on those. They haven't been around for 8 months and I can't begin to justify their full prices.

https://dishpatch.co.uk/menu

@2024Hackathon I've never heard of that company. I quite like Simply Cook. I think, without the offers, it's £10 for 4 sets of spices. They're quite good really. People on here sometimes put their code so you can try for free, but they won't let me use the code as I already have an account. And they're not THAT good- I prefer shwartz ( sp ?) packet mixes. 4 for £2.50 !

I spent £20 on Friday night - wine, beer for dh, snacks. I'm ok with that - it's only once a week.
Yesterday, NS and today, NS.
But only because I've not left the house.

Still, I've had a lovely weekend. Lots of cuddles with my new granddaughter and that, my friends, is priceless ❤️

NSD yesterday. Bought milk, eggs and bread today, I saw lots of things we were out of and could have stocked up on so I’m quite pleased to have avoided unnecessary spending. Need to pack a lunch tomorrow morning to make it another NSD. I batch cooked today, with less than ideal results, and couldn’t face preparing more food and cleaning up again.. I’ll do it in the morning. Looking forward to subpar meals over the next couple of days but we’re sticking to the meal plan despite DH’s moaning!

February so far hasn't been much of an improvement on January! I've reined in my purchases an awful lot from last year, but I'm still not properly organised with packed lunches which means we're stopping at a bakery or cafe too often. Today (Monday) would have been a NSD except I bought some little reusable pots online so I can batch prepare the fiddlier parts of my child's packed lunches (nut butter - it's too messy to decent in a hurry). I also sent a gift to my friend who's just been discharged from hospital.

Up to now I haven't tracked NSDs but I think I'll try for the rest of February to see if it helps.

@SunMoonStarsTune just keep trying. It's good you've not written it off and are still keen to spend less. I don't have dependents so it's a lot easier for me to have NS days.
My last 3 days ( obviously including the weekend, when I lived like a hermit ) have been NS.
Dh wants to go out for Valentine's Day but I'm not too keen. It's the middle of the week, I'd have to meet him after work, I don't want to drink and tbh, I'd rather wait til weekend. If we're going to spend £60ish, I'd rather make a day of it.
Spending wisely here - a new thing for me !

Well done everyone we are nearly half way through the month.
I'm not seeing huge amounts of savings in my accounts but when i think about it i have cashflowed some irregular expenses. I've also been tempted by good bargains on runners and a dress on depop but ive held off as they arent a need.

Today i am in the office and as i forgot my milk ive had to spend €1.60. AS its pancake day i also plan to go out for coffee and get a pancake.

DH and I bought shoes for the Peloton. If we take to it, then it will save on DH's current gym costs and give me access to the range of classes as well. But, even buying 2nd hand (me) and off-brand (DH), it was almost a £100 between us.

We're eating a dinner of leftovers from the Lidl splurge on Asia food that DH had last week (he bought it to eat with friends). However, one of the leftovers was a rack of ribs so it's better than it sounds.

Oh i love good leftovers @2024Hackathon

Last nights dinner was christmas dinner leftovers. i packed up the leftovers into aluminium containers and popped into the freezer. An easy and delicious meal.

Tonight will be pancakes! im in the office today so i will try to find somehwere selling them. otherwise i'll have to wait until i get home to make them

Hey everyone. it's great to hear all the updates, and that we are all being accountable for our spending.

Last weeks spends we £93.40 budgeted for by a certain degree, but nothing I hadn't planned for. I did earn some extra money last week which helped cover it.

This week I've had to put £15.00 petrol in the car, not budgeted for but was for an appointment so it couldn't have been avoided. Today I've spent £3.00 on a Valentines card. I 'could' have saved money by using my clubcard vouchers at Tesco, but I'm going to use those on Easter eggs later this month.

Hopefully a low spend week, it's half term, some of the kids are in holiday clubs, but will have a few days to fill in with fun. I have a free national trust family pass so will try to do that for a free day out. Unsure of any other plans yet though.

Tonight will be pancakes! im in the office today so i will try to find somehwere selling them. otherwise i'll have to wait until i get home to make them

One of the lucky finds in the freezer inheritance is Aebleskiver (Danish pancake balls). We have 5 more packets of them and they're delightful with some cherry and berry jam we have.

How are we all doing? I’m keeping budget but shocked at how fast cash is going. Like £40 spend 17 is £23 left when it’s all in notes and coins it looks tiny. Before wouldn’t have even thought about it, Probable just me!

March with Easter and Mother’s Day is something hadn’t done on my budget. It’s surprising how many yearly things there are. I mean usually wouldn’t give a second thought now I'm Like dam messing up my plans. Least I'm getting a realistic view of my
Normal spending.

@Akire same ! I decided to take dh out for a pub lunch. We had to cancel in the end because of the rain, but I was glad I'd saved £50 ! Romance is dead chez amdone 's 🤣
I also know what you mean about money just seeming to disappear though......
I just took £15 into tesco, spent £12, but remembered my vouchers for £11.50.
Result !
February is easier than January - I'm now really getting into the swing of this savings lark.

Oh well done that is a lot for one meal that’s half decent shop of treats instead. I wish more self service tills took cash. In Sainsbury’s only one side has cash so you get people complaining when you are waiting for the right side. Far more people want to use cash now, much to the annoyance of the worker who’s pointing to the empty card side. But this area isn’t very well off so what do they expect.

I started the month with £448 left after bills but before food and fuel to last until the 24th.
I chased a refund from a service that was never provided last year which gave me an extra £50.

So with ten days to go until payday I am left with £79. Car has plenty of fuel and I’ve got enough food (just me at home until the end of the month).

I’ve worked out next months budget and I will be able to start saving again for emergency fund, Christmas and holiday and won’t have to be quite so tight.

@Thehamsterthatcametotea that sounds like a good plan.
I found January tight, but looking back there were times I enjoyed it. And it was worth it, looking at my accounts.

@Akire I feel you! When you are being mindful of your spending you see how expensive life is, every day there is something else to buy! I’ve only had 4 fully No Spend Days this month but also only 4 days where I’ve had unplanned/unbudgeted spends. But I still feel the money stress! DH is still not on board with the low spend lifestyle so I feel we are still spending more than I like. But we are making progress and even if just one of us is being frugal, we are still saving money!

Yesterday was a planned NSD, but I did end up buying a snack, my packed lunch was not sufficient! Same thing happened today - I’ve been so hungry recently, eating two lunches and two dinners, as well as really really tired, not sure what is going on with my hormones! Fortunately you can get a sandwich from Boots for £1.50 so it wasn’t really a frivolous spend at all, just sheer necessity! Today I also bought conditioner with a voucher I had, and paid for a prescription. Again all essential spends. NSD planned tomorrow, it’s my WFH day and I’m going to do some baking and upload some stuff to Vinted.

Well half way through February, and not doing too badly.

Had Grandchildren over today as its half term, but managed to not spend any money at all!!

Spent the day looking at mini beasts in the garden pond with the aid of a small net. DGC young enough to be impressed with a few water skaters, some beetles, snails and a newt. Also spotted our solitary goldfish Charlie. We also made chocolate rice krispie things, went to the park, walked the dog and watched Shrek whilst snacks were consumed and Nanny had a sit down. A lovely frugal day.

Breakfast toast with avocado, lunch macaroni with hidden veg sauce and some chicken nuggets and cucumber, it was just easier to have the same thing. Dinner h/m bacon and cheese turnovers with some salads. And we opened a bottle of wine as we deserve it.

@Nellieinthebarn sounds like a lovely day ! ❤️

It's so true that when you're being mindful of spending, you realise how expensive things are. I never thought about it before - I've never been rich, but when I look back, I've wasted a lot of money. Still, this thread is actually game changing for me. Better late than never.

Nothing like a parking charge notice to completely ruin your efforts!! 😩😭

Any chance of a hefty discount for swift payment?

It's not something you can contest?