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

Chile - just seen your summary. Well done! What a collection of achievements.

Just checked my account, I've around £500 left for the month which isn't too bad.

Budget for rest of the month.

Dds bus pass £100 although I'm going to see if her paying for a ticket per day works out cheaper.

£48 pilates

£45 fuel

£100 food

£30 massage for me (decided I deserve a treat 😉)

In theory that still leaves enough to get through the month okay (in theory!)

Afternoon.

@Chile1978. That's some financial achievement there. Well done. I love the focussed, specific goals. I'm sure a lot of work has gone into paying down so much.

Bloody well done on the runs @northender. Glad you are enjoying Paris, how's DS's legs post marathon?

65 years @BigSkies2022 - some achievement that!

Hope you are okay @lifelongfrugaleer ❤️

Been an expensive month (all budgeted though) as we've had two bathrooms ripped out, some new radiators fitted, and the decorator is here! That's it now - everything I'm going to do for a couple of years at least (probably more) will be done. The kitchen will need doing at some point in the future but I'm saving for that. I wanted all the mess and upheaval done in one go.

Saved some money at the weekend by cooking a chilli for friends rather than a takeout.

£25 Amazon subscription
£50 protein powder subscription
£220 trainers for this weekends marathon, a splurge but I used to buy trainers for fun and have hardly bought any since DH's illness.

My menu plan will be very turkey based this week as I cooked a large turkey crown yesterday!

Turkey gnocchi.
Turkey chilli
Turkey pasta.
Turkey dinner.
Turkey curry.
Anything else turkey I can think of! 🤣

Milano vouchers didn't get used as they'd some issue with their system and could only take us if we had a pre-existing booking, I was already on our side of the city at that point so didn't fancy going to the other Milano in city centre to see if they could take us, of course dc had pizza in their heads at this stage so we found another pizzeria, they had a deal on for a pizza, fries & drink for €17.50 pizza's were €17 approx so it made sense to get this, couldn't get either of them to share with me so €52.50 spent & I still have Milano vouchers for another day.

Dd did buy clothes in Penneys so I must find out what she spent so I can reimburse her, she had birthday money but I don't want her to spend that on essentials like socks!

Need sounds like you're making your home lovely & that's exactly what you need when you're spending almost all of your time there now, good luck for the marathon

Girlie might be interesting to work out bus cost for a month? I got dd's bus ticket renewal for school next year and it's staying at the lower rate of €75 which I'm delighted with.

Decided on adding extension cost to mortgage to avail of the cheaper rate, but I can overpay by up to 10% in the year, so I might aim to pay it back in the medium term rather than longterm. It will mean I've only one debt payment rather than two concurrent ones.

Shame about the vouchers happier
marathon trainers are a need need. And good luck

£102 matalan but £70 is for fil. £25 Sainsbury’s but £47 refund, £7 Farmfoods, £12 cinema plus snacks

I agree on the TGTO bags being hit and miss life. This one was from a Turkish bakery and was full of spinach and cheese.

That’s a lot of work need. It sounds like you’ve put a lot of consideration into getting it all just right. Good luck for your marathon.

Spending today was 79p in Lidl on yogurt and just under £37 in Uniqlo on new underwear. I’m not sure if it fits properly but it fits better than what I currently have and was much cheaper than Bravissimo. Wasn’t really planning on buying any now, though it needs to be done, but was rather unhappy after trying on what I have now.

€5.60 deli counter lunch
€50 horse riding, she missed a week about a month ago due to vomiting bug and it hasn't been on since.

€55 dunnes click & collect order, must go somewhere else for fibre one bars for ds because they're not on offer in Dunnes

Have a few Return bottles/cans so will use them in Aldi when purchasing fibre now bars. Must get list off dd, she's having a sleepover on Sat night this weekend and Friday night next weekend for her birthday so will need to organise food/treats.

Ds is going karting today £30
no other spend needed.

£15 hair cut, £27 riding cancellation, )6 sweets

Thank you @2024Hackathon and @needastrongoneagain . I'm fortunate enough to have choices about money and recognise I'm in a privileged position compared to many others. I've made some positive changes (within the choices I have) that I'm hoping will lead me to better financial security. It has meant some sacrifice relatively speaking so I am pleased with the progress.

It's been a busy week back at work with leaving drinks/party for a close colleague and friend. Will need a top up milk and fruit tomorrow - must stay disciplined or send OH! 🤣

Spends
£6 tube
£45 drinks/nibbles
£45 dd1 school club

Ins
£4 selling (could have sold for £15 but hoping it's gone to a family in need)

Bit more spent than I’d planned but not too dreadful.

Tuesday was £2.75 on groceries (just remembered I bought a lassi that’s still in the fridge), £24.90 in Uniqlo on underwear and £200(ish) adding Euros to my money card. Today has been £24.09 on my credit card and £4.75 on dinner. Actually that’s more than I remember spending. Glad I have this thread to keep me somewhat accountable.

France tomorrow. I’m not sure why I’m feeling anxious. It’s not as if I don’t know where I’m going. In one way I really feel I need the break but on the other hand I know I’ll be coming back to the same situation so feel what’s the point.

Because sometimes we need a break that helps us cope with the grind rum. Enjoy France x

o other spends yesterday. Hopefully nsd today

Agree with @lifelongfrugaleer . I hope France provides some respite and inspiration @RumBananaSundae

Lots of life admin to do this week and sleep is at a premium 😴 (especially with dd2)

NSD

I have spent about a million pounds. Well, obviously not really, but it feels like it. We went to see my family over Easter and just go back; with quite tight finances, my parents bought us flights, but there were still costs like train tickets to airport, breakfasts and snacks at both airports, car hire (for a few days), and one dinner and two lunches out. I also went shopping, although it was thrift stores so felt ok, and got DC lots of clothes, and a few things for me. DC also got a few other treats, and we paid for a few experiences too. It was lovely to see family but I'm too scared to tally up the cost!!

Looking for very low-spend weekend now, and feeling exhausted from travelling. Back to work and back to school on Monday! Will start keeping proper records again next week, and aiming for very low spend for rest of April

Quick drop in on way to click and collect at diy shed ready for hopefully a dry weekend *she says in a whisper as not to jinx it!!!😶

Spends
£97 diy
£9 milk fruit

££££££ on food for the masses.
£25 on stuff for mil but fil will repay. £40’on new to me freezer
urgh work Monday. Wish I had another week off

£300 on emergency dentist appointment!! unexpected to say the least. Got about £150 to last the month. Still not had exhaust done.

I too hope you get some respite @RumBananaSundae. I hope you are enjoying France.

Riding cancellation cost @lifelongfrugaleer? Boo! Just at the hotel now, bit of a nightmare build up week with work and life but I'm here and will make the start line at least.

Sounds sensible re the debt repayment @Happierwithouthim, it will you some flexibility to increase payments, or not, according to how life is working out at the time. You are right about the house. I'm in it so much more than I thought I would be, we've some money coming from an inheritance anyway and I love the work we've done. ❤️

Stupid spending this week.

£60 bedding
£100 excess for insurance claim for the vet (the dog managed to eat a cannabis joint on his walk, hence bedding spend above....high as a kite too he was....looking back having a stoned dog was funny now he's absolutely fine...)
£26 gardening tools
£20 Boots.
££££ usual food spends. Too many spends and not enough planning, which I need to get better at.

I can juggle some monies so it's fine, but we need a steady rest of the month too and me to be better organised. I'll menu plan while I'm chilling now. It's much easier when I'm not plate juggling, which I seem to often be!

Boo re the dentist @Nellieinthebarn. ☹️

Haha 🪴 @needastrongoneagain .

I am juggling too. The new decking has required pre-jobs (the jibs before the actual job). Having to pay an extra 350. Frustrating. I wonder if we could get a cheaper estimate but we've used this man before and he was clean, tidy, and professional.
Also trialling a new gardener to help us deal with some of our larger trees/shrubs. We have an arborist for our TPO trees but he's a bit specialist for some of the other maintenance.

Wanted to pay off acc2 in full and make significant chunks into cc but think the aim is now to pay off acc2 in full and make a 300 payment to cc.

Spends
£150 food
£20 garden

Good luck need.
bless stoned doggo but ooo I can imagine the mess.

that’s irritating chilli. Defo best to have good trades though even if it’s a bit extra

nsd today

Having experienced some bad trades totally agree @lifelongfrugaleer . Not worth the mental, emotional, and financial headache shoddy and unsafe work causes.

Enjoyed the 🌞 yesterday and cracked on with gardening - lots of weeding. Party later, Gift already sorted; so some general errands this morning. Currently listening to the birds with cup of tea and chocolate buttons 😋

Acc2 -639 (used various small amounts and round up account)

Sorry about the dentist Nellie. I hope all is well now.

Hope your dog is OK need.

I’d also go with tried and tested re the tradesman Chile. Enjoy your party.

Thank you life, Chile and need. Last night in France. Can’t believe the time had gone so quickly. The weather has been great and I’ve managed to wind down a little. Planning a quiet evening and making full use of the waterfall shower, hot water and heated towels and robes I don’t have to pay for.

Spending wise I don’t think I’ve done too badly. I’m not sure exactly but all in I think around 150€. I saw some cups I like so I might go back for them tomorrow.

That sounds bliss @RumBananaSundae ! 🚿 👘

Spends
£37.50 clothes (managed to rip a hole in my thick gardening jumper. Did get £13 off and free delivery)
Probably need to get some new gardening trousers too as have gained weight and the existing ones are now uncomfortably tight. Still living in denial about that though 😕