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

Awesome news @Gensola 👏 🌟 🤩
Do you know what state/City you'll be in?

We've had a great day today - library, theatre, and then a cheeky dinner out for the girls.

Spends
£14 McDs on the way home

Ins
£5 selling

congratulations Gen! Can you say more? duration of contract? a promotion? what is your subject area? will you be in the thick of culture wars? or benefiting from humoungous philanthropic support for your faculty? How exciting. Friends of mine who have worked in the US (more for thinktank type places rather than universities but still, you know, research-y) have loved it.

Gen that is amazing news. Well done

Excellent news gen well done
That's for shape & tint. I don't do much regular self care though

Many congratulations, Gen!

Amazing news gen congratulations 🥂

@BigSkies2022 it’s a permanent job in the humanities, it seems like a very liberal place and there is a very well funded humanities centre 😄 just negotiating the practicalities now but assuming that all goes well we will be going there in the summer.

Thank you for Fred Happier.

Your description of the route of temptation made me laugh Nellie. I have similar with numerous food stores and am failing miserably to resist.

Have a fab time in Yorkshire Big. Jealous of your pain free knees. Mine are complaining loudly these days.

Sorry about the anxiety em. I know what that’s like.

No way Gensola. That’s great news. Congratulations. The summer’s not too far away.

Spending for me since Wednesday has been £15.05 on more random groceries. Mostly things to have from tomorrow with pancakes. Today is the remaining Christmas parsnips.

Work was odd this week. In not a good way. I’ve been there so long it’s not unexpected but it’s unpleasant all the same. Planning on having an easy afternoon to ease my recovery. And do some planning for possible extra days in France in the spring. My pocketknife arrived this week. I think it might be the last thing on the holiday list. Bit scared to update the spreadsheet.

As at yesterday 6/15 NSDs - that will change this weekend as the fridge, freezer and cupboards are looking decidedly bare. Can still rustle up another three or four meals without too much effort but could probably do more but feeling a bit lazy after a D&V episode earlier this week! Which DH is now complaining about - as have passed it on to him!!
The cat's insurance won't pay for her investigative scan 😒so that prompted a chat with both DH and the vet. The cat is more at risk if she falls pregnant with the added strain on her heart. But she is only six months old and trying to keep her indoors with lots of GCs coming in and out of the house is getting harder not to mention spring/summer is coming. Added to which it really isn't fair on her. So we asked if the vet would operate anyway and use extra drugs to bring her round and operate in the absolute minimum time possible - which she is happy to do with an anaesthesia qualified nurse to assist. It will be more expensive with the extra drugs but it will be worth it for a mad little cat who has wormed her loving ways into our home and hearts. We have always tried to be responsible pet owners and this seemed the most appropriate way to go if that is how it has to be. 🐈
TSB have annoyed me with an email upping our interest rate by 6% from end of April 😮- so have closed the card so we can keep paying at our current rate until paid off. As DH says even Dick Turpin wore a mask!! 👿
Reading back on the last couple of days posts - it's good to see people checking in - @Gensola sounds like an exciting time coming up for you and it's good to see that even if we are spending money - we know where it's going - we all need treats to keep sane at the moment. So enjoy them!!

Went to the Garden Centre to buy a goldfish to be a friend to Charlie, he or she, is the only survivor of three tiny ones we put in the pond 2 years ago. I feel very guilty that he is in there on his own, but on the other hand he is now about 4 inches long, and quite fat, so he's doing ok physically.

Anyway, the Garden Centre is not selling goldfish until the middle of March, so he'll have to wait a bit longer. I have no idea if goldfish are herd animals and need friends, or if he's perfectly fine as an only fish.

I do need new glasses, so I'm going to have a look at Glasses Direct, see how much that will set me back. It will definitely be cheaper than the optician ones I bought last time, as I recall they were nearly £300!

So NS today, but spends planned for next month.

Spend day
£100 prom dress, £37 dog food, £67 riding boots, £1.50 trampoline,

Quick check in. Think we're very close to the edge of the budget but have lots of work expenses that I need to reconcile before I can work out what is my spending I need to account for.

Spends
£8 Kids snacks

thanks all 😊
@Nellieinthebarn I might be wrong but I think sometimes the fish eat the other fish 😟
Spendy trip to London for my friend’s birthday but fun and making the most of having London only a short train ride away, won’t be the case soon!!
I have no debt now, DH has 2,500 on a car loan but apart from that we are debt free. We don’t have any savings as we spent them all on IVF (which didn’t work). What are people’s tips for building savings during the COL crisis with things just so expensive?
I have started a declutter and will try to sell some things but tbh I think most people aren’t buying at the moment. I decided to sell my peloton and the FB and eBay market is absolutely flooded with them.

Pay yourself first gen. Make it one of your regular direct debits.

€60 neutering last kitten, it's not tame so I didn't know gender, is a she so lucky escape charity pays €30 towards it my own time to get the benefit of that.

Must return trap to other vets now & get my deposit back

€54 diesel
€1.45 choc spread to use up last of pancake batter

£200 dress deposits
food shopping in a bit cba hate adulting

@Gensola
Agree with life to pay yourself first.

• Another interesting phenomenon is if you partition your savings (e.g. 1 spend account and 4 savings account - birthday, new bicycle, holiday, house) you end up saving more than you would then having 1 spend, 1 savings. The trick is to distribute simultaneously not sequentially. Happy to link the research if I can find it, if you want it.
• Another tip is ANY small saving, immediately put towards savings. So you walked instead of tube, immediately transfer 2. 80 to savings. You got a coupon or discount code? Immediately move over the saved amount to savings.
• Turn round ups on if you can, or do it manually at the end of the day if not.
• at the end of the month or week (believe most us firms pay fortnightly), were you under budget on food or travel? Move the remainder immediately into savings.

Ok, so none of those are big hitters but they'll add up more than you think.

@lifelongfrugaleer I know, can adult status please be returned for a refund?

Spends
£90 food
£20 swimming
£30 new photo frames (half price coincidentally as I nipped into the shop to price check against online prices!)

Ins
£15 selling (had 3 people not buy after requesting bundles very oddly. Maybe I've just been lucky before).

I wish chilli

food shopping was £81 Aldi, £19 M&S, £19 Lidl and £14 home bargains

I feel the same I've spent a good portion of the day in the shed trying to sort out rubbish & if anything needs keeping.
I'm the only adult in my house so if I don't do it it won't get done.

Primed a 4x4 kallax unit I've an 8x2 to do but I'll see if it works on smaller one first.

Wash Laundry
Washed dogs yard
Neuter cat
Empty ashes
Fold laundry
Hang out laundry
Do a click & collect shop

Think I'm going to go walk dog now so I'll have done something for me, will attempt couch 2 5k

@Gensola Oh don't say Charlie ate his brothers? 😨

When I get a friend for him, I will make sure its the same size so there shouldn't be any bullying, or cannibalism. The pond is about 10 x 4 feet, so more than enough room for 2 fish to live in and not argue.

I feel I am over thinking this, I have seen smaller ponds teeming with goldfish, and none of them seem to be missing any chunks.

NS day, and not done much at all. DH is having a falling over day, so I haven't been out apart from a quick dog walk. Which is free.

Menu for the day, cereal and avo toasts, chicken and veg soup and a meatball stew type of thing with rice. I might make a pudding as its raining and I need cheering up a bit.

Checking in. Thank you for the thread. I've escaped my life for a week and am on a running training camp in Portugal. Home tomorrow though - boo. It's an all inclusive resort so I think I've probably spend £40 all week on one lunch, a few coffees and some pressies for home.

That said - had a shop delivered for home today - £120.

I paid off the mortgage last night - we are due some inheritance in the next couple of months so I used savings and will top up. I'll take some champagne home, it seems a big thing I've really focussed on in the last year.

This is a 'me' post - I've lost track. Running and being normal has been so therapeutic this week.

Menu plan
Dhal - courtesy of DD tomorrow as I don't get home until til 7pm.
I've some beef mince so will make ragu and decide exactly what at the time.
Aubergine and black olive stew
Creamy broccoli pea and edamame pasta.
Aubergine, potato and tempeh bake.
Monkfish of some sort - I got it cheap.
Chicken and mushroom cacciatore

Sounds exactly what you needed need
well don on being mortgage free. It’s definitely worth celebrating

Enforced frugality here because the credit card was possibly compromised and we got it cancelled immediately. Replacement will arrive towards the end of this week. As we rarely use cash and the chequebook is just a distant memory, I'm digging into the farther reaches of the freezer and hoping the window-cleaner doesn't come.

Today I aim to do more in the office. DH and I talked it over last week to make sure we're both on the same page. And then he got a final notice about his parking fine. Which can't be paid until the new credit card arrives.

@Happierwithouthim wow, that's a lot done 👏

@Nellieinthebarn a pudding is always needed yum 😋

@needastrongoneagain congratulations 🎊 🏡 that's a big financial and life milestone

@ShortFatShambolicHouseElf is it worth having a back up credit card with another bank?