Familiar Friends in Frugality(Feb 24>)

[Happierwithouthim]

Frugal Friends Facing Forward with Fortitude http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/costoff_living/4957140-frugal-friends-facing-forward-with-fortitude

New thread

Thank you Chile - this is really helpful. Good to know it's more a question of finding out what there is available than having to be on one's mettle in a negotiation. We're both in good nick, make efforts to keep ourselves so, and the genetic outlook is positive, but you never know.

In other news, have just spent £78 in the Rococo chocolate store on Easter gifts. That included a 10% new customer discount, and I'll be picking up instore to save shipping fees (and guarantee arrival).

Made my Easter catering and general shopping list last night and about to start on the relevant supermarket/butcher/greengrocer runs today. It's going to be spenny, but I am justifying it by it being Easter, and also my parents' wedding anniversary, my mum's birthday, niece's birthday, DS home, all kinds of celebrations rolled up together.

Painted dining room ceiling yesterday, looks alright, might need a second coat. That is the finishing touch to the repair which began before Christmas. Sigh.

Ddog is looking very shaggy. Was thinking I would push his haircut into next month's budget, but he could really use a haircut. So that will be £74.

very busy week here so am grateful for wfh today. its a couch office day while i'm reviewing accounts. sigh.

payday on 28th

will find out by 27th the extent of my promotion and payrise. then i can figure out money stuff.

i'm in london for work on 1 July - so have had to book flights and hotel for me - total £230. this will be expensed back.

Not good about the Sketchers Happier. Or your poor daughter. I hope she’s a little better today.

With our benefits Big you can pick from different health cover packages but you can’t negotiate. I’ve not taken any so don’t know anything past that. Death in service everyone gets and is a fixed multiple of your salary. Critical illness/long term sick we don’t have but we get five months full paid sick leave. We get gym subsidies and discounts for various store gift cards, stores and services. There is an information booklet that has details so maybe you ask to see that as Chile suggests.

Spending yesterday was just under £100 on my travel card and £6.50 on a Too Good to Go bag. Today I bought a friend a bar of chocolate (£5.99), spent about 70p on postage (added to a stamp I already had) and got a few bits in Poundland at a total of £2.60.

I swallowed my dislike of John Lewis and bought some Euros from them today as they had the best exchange rate. Had a letter from the solicitor and something alarmed me but I couldn’t work out why so I’ll take another look and then think about it.

what a day. i've been busy as hell and am very tired.

both dc are full of cold. so i've told a little lie and told dd that gymnastics wasn't on today -mostly so i dont have to go out again.

dd is now on the couch with a drink and snack and her duvet. ds playing legos.

em - My DD had to be picked up from school unwell today. This means I now don’t have to do the evening activity run for her 😁Poor thing is just run down, tired and coughing. I hope your DC feel better soon!

Had to go to the bank with Dmum today to sort various things, but I thought Dmum would be more difficult than she actually was so that was unusual 🤣 Money and family is not an easy mix!

Then once I got home, I had to collect DD from school so the day just disappeared. I don’t think I’ve spent anything today, as Dmum paid for parking.

Get well soon DC @Timetoswitch @ememem84

Have caught up on budget and have £18 for family dinner this weekend 💰 so I'll be over budget for March but going to try and keep it to £35. Feeling positive and that I'm keeping overspending to a minimum. Importantly I'm being intentional about how I spend the underspend instead of them being subsumed into daily spending.
This month I was able to buy a pruning saw and contribute £150 to my pension using the underspend.

Just back from a lovely week away. Saw friends and family, and had a really nice time. Sadly also quite spendy, what with petrol there and back and for trips out seeing friends, and a meal out with my son and his partner.

Also the car started sounding very throaty on the way home, so it looks like it will need a new exhaust. But that will have to wait until April.

Big how bigs your dog that it costs £74 to groom him?! 😳 that said I spend more on getting my dogs haircut than I do on my own 🤦‍♀️

I've managed to keep it a fairly low spend week, need to email the college as dds bus bursary seems to have dried up and the bus costs a fortune. I've emailed the council tax people about dd turning 18 but haven't heard anything yet.

I get paid next Wednesday but need to do a food shop and get some Easter eggs this wend, I've got around £80 left in the bank so will stick to that.

Dd determined to go to a party today. She’s full of snot and her throat is red. She’s coughing. She’s not going.

it is a beaut day here. Sky is clear and blue. Is is cold. But wonderful.

im off riding in a bit. DH is at golf currenrly. He has approx 5 minutes to get home before I need to leave.

It's gorgeous here too @ememem84 and I'm working on the garden though I'd love to go riding! Dh took dc to London transport museum as our annual pass expires next week. They took a pack lunch so a wallet-friendly outing as long as they avoid the gift shop!

I picked up some yogurt, strawberries, bread and tomatoes (7.20) until our food order comes tomorrow. So very low spend these last few days

Got very wet. Risked it with no jacket. Mistake.

soggy

Spending has been £13.29 on groceries at a combination of Lidl and Asda. Most of that was vanity shopping (truffle Brie and Amarena cherries) in Lidl. I paid £76.70 for a day trip to Giverny when I’m in France. There are no trains on the line while I’m there. The tour is more expensive but at least I’ll get to go. I also bought a ticket to the book fair for 5€.

Feel I should be doing something practical like decluttering but I’m on the sofa. Have reread the solicitor’s letter and I’m back to thinking that I’ll be leaving with next to nothing. It’s just started raining so I’ll not take an afternoon walk. My purse will be happy. I’m not sure how I managed lockdown and months after buying nothing but groceries.

@RumBananaSundae - can you get to Rouen when you're in Normandy? There's a mouthwatering article in the Guardian Travel section this morning (free online! you don't have to spend) about the Impressionist 150th anniversary today, and what exhibitions the city is hosting.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies - yeah, his haircut is expensive. He's not huge - a cocker spaniel. I used to pay less to a smaller business, but they never bloody had him ready after the 2 hours they promised. This groomer is bigger, more professional, timely - but VAT-rated, so incurs a 20% uplift on price. But at least I know that my dog will get a decent cut, and they will return him to me at the agreed time.

Just back from a nice walk with Ddog, in fact. Ready to curl up and spend the rest of the afternoon on the sofa, but have a bit more cleaning to do. Am decluttering as I go - just getting rid of socks with unmendable holes, pants I don't wear. Decided that I CBA with Vinted, and took my Converse trainers and a couple of skirts to the local BRC shop.

Well, today did not go quite to plan. Thunderstorm ⛈ and a surprise visiting friend. However did get the fence painted first thing which was great before it chucked it down. Managed to squeeze in 3 other errands, DD club, and the shopping so don't feel too bad. Pruning saw has still not arrived so will be emailing tonight to find out where it is.
Tired now and motivation is low to do chores this evening. I'll join you on the sofa @RumBananaSundae

Spends
37 diy
65 food (much more than I was anticipating, not even really sure on what tbh), and need to spend about 8 tomorrow for fresh ingredients

Am now beyond budget and still need to pay one bill I think. Not sure yet what the overall total will be.

Well, today did not go quite to plan. Thunderstorm ⛈ and a surprise visiting friend. However did get the fence painted first thing which was great before it chucked it down. Managed to squeeze in 3 other errands, DD club, and the shopping so don't feel too bad. Pruning saw has still not arrived so will be emailing tonight to find out where it is.
Tired now and motivation is low to do chores this evening. I'll join you on the sofa @RumBananaSundae

Spends
37 diy
65 food (much more than I was anticipating, not even really sure on what tbh), and need to spend about 8 tomorrow for fresh ingredients

Am now beyond budget and still need to pay one bill I think. Not sure yet what the overall total will be.

£1.60 on a jar of pesto. We had pesto pasta with roasted veg for lunch, I could've done something else tbh, but I just fancied some pesto. Planning on a fairly frugal baked potatoes with coronation chicken and a salad for dinner.

First mow of the season yesterday
did some baking for a buffet and spent about £20 on drinks at the party
spending some stuff for mil as she is in hospital but keeping a tab

That sounds yummy @Nellieinthebarn and glad you had a nice trip away too.

@lifelongfrugaleer thankfully we have some booze in so it was only one bottle needed. Have fun.

Weather looking better today - dry if not warm. Got the chickens marinating, and now getting ready for DDs club, a trip to B&Q , and the shop. Need to also get some work done this evening.

Will check in with spends later.

Yet again I've been awol from the thread over the past couple of weeks, haven't even been reading it so will try to do better....
Since I last posted, the car has been taken away & we got £265 scrap value for it. One of my aunties has been giving some of us nieces/nephews money from an inheritance she received. She gave us £2500 to put towards a car which was lovely and very gratefully received, so at the moment we have £2765 in the car pot. Dd is now home from uni so we do need to move fairly quickly to get a replacement. I am currently juggling budgets to free up some more money so that we avoid taking out a loan.
We go to Paris in 11 days so I have meal planned up to then. Just spent £63 on a shop which should see us through this week.
Still making all my own sourdough bread which is great. Had a coffee morning here yesterday to raise money for the charity I support. Have raised nearly £400 so far and am going to take the leftovers into work tomorrow to try to get some more. I did a fair bit of baking, but a few other people did too.
2024 has proved a very expensive year so far so our aim by the end of it is to break even, but hopefully also to have established a car savings fund for future replacement as needed.
Hope everyone is doing okay and seeing some much needed sun today.

Finally a sunny morning, and I got to spend some time in the garden. Cooked for the freezer in the hope of not having to shop (or cook) in the school holiday. The microwave and one-pot stews are my preferred method.

I had resolved to use the car as little as possible locally, but it doesn't look as though that will work for TeenBoy, who has started needing dropoffs and pickups almost every day. It's nice to have a chance to chat and relax before TeenGirl arrives home. I have to turn my thoughts from the time, money, pollution aspect as he really needs this help just now.

I've ploughed through a lot of the old finances and now having a break from feeling guilty over every unnecessary spend. I can't find much from the year everything went wrong after I fell down the stairs and was out of action with very reduced mobility. It doesn't matter much in the great scheme of things, but I find the lack of continuity alarming. I think a lot of the muddle started from there. It certainly underlines the importance for me to be more independent.

On the positive side, I found some paper notes that I forgot to change before the deadline That'lll help with all the April birthdays.

Thank you for the pointer to that article Big. I’m not sure what I’ll get to do. Nothing seems to want to play ball. Would love to see some of the events they mention. I think if I’d had a refundable/modifiable hotel I would have changed the trip.

Sunny day here. Back from a walk. We sidestepped the pub so it turned into a no spend day. No decluttering or life admin done. Had a lovely walk though so all was not lost.

Have avoided the shops this weekend which wasn't difficult as I just couldn't be bothered. I did go out last night to watch GD in her showcase and was treated to a packet of skittles and bottle of water so no spending there either!
We had meat in the freezer so I did a roast for us and my neighbour next door. I still had a cauliflower in the fridge from a community food bank shop ten days ago. So had that as one of our veg plus made a cauliflower cheese for later in the week. DH is now tucking into a bowl of tinned fruit and ideal milk for afters - also from the cupboard - might go for a lolly myself or a handful of marshmallows I found in the cupboard for hot chocolates at Christmas.
Did two machine loads of washing and didn't hang it outside - but really should have done!! 🙄
But did plant up our potatoes to see if we can be as productive as we were last year. Didn't even have to pay for the potato seeds as the end of last years harvest had chitted themselves - so a saving there too!!

Finally managed to wrangle DH into a financial discussion. We came to a decision that we're using some of the money in the offset mortgage savings account to increase our ISAs for the year.

We'll take a ghastly hit for the first 3months (the mortgage payment will double) but we'll be able to whittle it down from there as DH and I each have an RBS 7% account that matures (his in April, mine in June), so we'll have around £7K between us to transfer as lump sums to the offset account. After that, we'll just need to keep saving as much as we can to build it back up again.

We spent about £20 on a screen Echo from Amazon today. It's a combination of the current price drop, combined with trading in a current device for a voucher, plus a 25% discount, plus a voucher that we already have. The screen Echo will make it easier for the family member we're looking after to use it like an intercom and call into other rooms.

Paid out £850 for the car insurance in a lump sum (I still can't believe it).

We ended up with a low-cost weekend. Did 2 too good to go bags, and both had croissants/pain au chocolates for nice breakfast treat. Other one also had a huge sourdough loaf and a foccaccia so very sorted for bread. They were £3 and £3.50.

Also took my long winter coat to be dry cleaned as I feel it might be time to store it away now! That was £14.99. Other than that, we got a food delivery which was £109. It did have a fair few wines....not a huge amount of food as we are going away for Easter, but enough fresh stuff for 5 days and some pantry items

This morning I'm working at a cafe so £3.30 on coffee. We have some bigger purchases coming, like a garden table, but everything seems so expensive that I'm just putting it off.