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

Took DH to the bank today, so spent £35 on petrol because the filling station in town is cheaper than our local one, but only if I'm going that way anyway iyswim.

DHs car needs a new clutch, so that will be quite expensive, but he has a separate car fund, so it won't be coming out of the general account.

3 days till payday. Should just about make it without going overdrawn, fingers crossed.

This thread might interest some folk here.

What is your overlooked low effort, high-ish impact weekly meals http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/amiibeingunreasonable/5084312-what-is-your-overlooked-low-level-high-ish-impact-weekly-meals

Reel from an Irish budgeting star
www.instagram.com/reel/C0JXH8Ps8Jc/?igsh=MWUweGtqbjU1OHVsbA==

Thanks for the links @Happierwithouthim - the Irish lady is hilarious, have started following her.

We have achieved a lot this week clearing the house - it’s looking absolutely lovely, but no luck yet getting a new buyer.

I’m back at work tomorrow for the first time since my operation, it’s a long day so slightly apprehensive. I’m back for a week and 2 days before I have my final operation to complete the treatment, he had to do it in two goes for best results.

Ystd spent £74 on paint and painting stuff to decorate my bedroom in Wickes, used Wickes own brand paint and am happy with it so far.

My friend came over to help and we've got the first coat on already so pleased with that.

I'm going to order some picture prints from Etsy later to go on the walls. All my current pictures are a random collection that have mostly been gifted to me. Will be nice to have some pictures that I have chosen and actually like! £34.

Also spent £10 on fat balls for the birds Ystd that was for a big bucket of them so will last a while hopefully!

Gen she writes a column in a mag that I subscribe to, and is full of joy. She's also a separated single mother of two and has a dream of a house with a yellow door in the country. She was recently diagnosed with ADHD too. She's doing something she calls the clearing, and gets up at 5am to get her skipping and cleaning done every day. I really enjoy her page.

Hope your first day back goes well.

Girlie it will definitely be nice to have pics of your own choosing on the walls, well done on doing the painting yourself, it's not my forte.

NSD

Also contacted my own bank about mortgage switch because I'm not making great progress with my broker, 20 min phone call during my 30 min lunchtime forgot to ask about topup for extension must check that out tomorrow.

Need to complete my click & collect order before bedtime

Looked amazing in the video

Been off the thread for a while so just catching up, everyone looks very busy! Sorry to hear about your dad big , and gen I think I had missed that you’d had an operation. Well done on the run happier I am trying to train for a 10 mile but can’t seem to get past 12k!

I think I shared on here that I’ll be looking at a pay drop of around £300 pm in Sept following our restructuring at work. I managed some frugal things yesterday. We have Sky and have been basically enslaved to Sky sports for years. DP and the DSs watch it a lot and I don’t begrudge him as he doesn’t go to the pub etc. But you have to be tied into other packages to have the sports and it’s crept up to £143 with TV and broadband, which is ridiculous. So we’ve cancelled the sports and fancy tv for a couple of months which has gone down to £72. Does anyone on here have Now TV packages? I think we’ll give those a try to get the sports back when the football re-starts.

Also got a Santander credit card which gives me cash back of 2% for a year and going to use that for food and petrol and pay off monthly. Does anyone else have a Santander bank account - or would want to swap for an incentive? I picked this offer up from Martin Lewis and it looks good (I don’t work for Santander ha ha).

I’m off work now until Tues which is much needed after the recent shenanigans. Really enjoying chilling at home. Also going to buy a prom suit with DS2 which is another expense. On the negative side DS1 got a notice from the DVLA that he’s driven in the wrong lane/ done something wrong at a light so we’re waiting to see if that is a fine or points which would put the insurance up again!! He is definitely a less steady new driver than dad was, which is a worry. When I used to take him out as a learner I thought he was pretty good.

DDad not so good either and possibly will need admission again so I feel you big. My mum has found someone to help out a bit and keep an eye on him so she can get out though which is good.

Sorry for the essay…will try to keep up more now things have settled a bit.

Saw a Santander letter to DH and asked him to upload the dividend cheque. Anyway, I took the letter to file the receipt for HMRC and I noticed that it said he hadn't cashed some previous cheques. Let's move on from the fact that, over the last few years he told me he'd been uploading the cheques and resisting me when I'd asked him to switch to automatic.

It looked quite straightforward for him to log in and switch to automatic payments rather than cheques. While we were there, we had the option to get the previous payments he'd not uploaded from the past 2 years.

It was just under £300. I can't think how much money he's literally thrown away and lied to me about over the past few years. But, at last, it's automated and I can't think about what's lost but that it's fixed now. I just wonder how much more I have to find out. And this is one of the problems with people who lie about everything, big and small. You can't be confident about anything even when you think you're beginning to pull together.

Oh hack that’s rubbish. I’m sorry to hear that. I would be upset and angry in your position. I had some similar issues with DP early in our relationship. They haven’t recurred but that’s because I took full control of the finances. I’m not suggesting you should do this because it’s a bit crap to have to. It must be hard trying to keep everything together and hold someone else to be financially accountable whilst having to pick up what they haven’t done.

Hack you are saintly. How are you not at screaming point? Little fires everywhere. I really hope things are taking a permanent turn for the better.

Martha - we have the basic Now TV package, £10 pcm. I like it because it gets really glossy expensive drama series like Succession, White Lotus Hotel, The Last of Us, and also does a good line in back numbers - right now, I'm working my way through Silk, which is probably about 15 years old and has absolutely everybody in it, but still has that slightly vintage air about it. DS/DH occasionally buy a day pass for a big football or boxing match.

I am back online after a couple of days where my laptop wouldn't reconnect to the internet (Virgin) after an overnight broadband outage. Spent hours on the phone to Virgin on Saturday, had an engineer come over on Tuesday, eventually plopped off to the nearest Apple Genius bar and thankfully they were able to restore it, no charge.

Rum - if you are still in the market for outdoor gear, can I recommend Findra? I road tested my new trail shorts on Sunday - lovely fit, and I shall definitely be trying their merino base layers when I come to my autumn/winter shopping.

Thanks for the good wishes and sympathy re. Ddad. We had the matron visit yesterday, she's organising further visits from the falls and incontinence clinics, and I'm waiting to hear from social services liaison to discuss home care options. Dmum still resistant and raging, but we're hoping that she is coming round to the idea - or, at least, beginning to understand that things aren't going to get better with Ddad, and that if they don't accept some help in the house, then nothing is going to change for the better in their situation.

Yesterday was a busy day financially!
Paid my house insurance €438.63 almost €100 jump from last year, price of rebuilding has increased significantly in the year.

Paid dd's bus ticket for next year €75 still subsidised by cost of living measures luckily, must budget for full ticket next year I guess.

€59.48 Dunnes €10 off voucher used, lots of special offers applied, loads more compared to when I went instore last Saturday
€20.22 Lidl €1.69 reimbursed by work, used 20% off coupon and bought lots of crisps/snacks equivilant of a 6 pk of crisps free.

After shopping the pets are well looked after, changed ratio of their food so now 1kg of beef mince with 1kg of frozen veg in slow cooker, hopefully they'll enjoy that, plus got 3 bags of cat nuts and 1 10kg bag of dog nuts.

€51.89 on a gallon of weedkiller, this should do a couple of years.

€8.95 Dunnes lunch used ReTurn voucher to reduce cost
€12.58 Centra ds getting bits for his school tour today

Spoke to my own bank on Wed as communication with mortgage brokers is very sporadic and I'm in communication with them since Feb to organise my mortgage switch. My bank says it'll be completed in 4-6 weeks, and I've already had several emails with requests for further info when I asked if it was possible to top up mortgage for extension.

I didn't sleep well Wed night so had a nap yesterday afternoon and then a friend called to go for a walk and she was tired too so we just had a natter over a cuppa instead.

Hack I would have major trust issues if that was my dh, but understand you can't get bogged down in what is done and move forward from here.

Martha are you locked into a new contract with Sky now, I got rid years ago and definitely don't regret it, bf has it and I don't see that he has anything better than what I have but no sports heads in my house so I appreciate that's different.

Payday at last!! May was a very long month, with two birthdays in it. But wonder of wonders, I was actually able to transfer the princely sum of £27 into the savings. Every little helps, as they say.

We have no birthdays in June, July or August, well only the dog, but he is the most easily, and cheaply, pleased in the whole family.

So I am hoping to put a bit more by in these months.

Good luck everyone, may June be prosperous and abundant.

happier we are in a new broadband contract but that’s ok because I’m happy with that. We’re out of contract with the sports (hurray!) and I’m hoping if we give Now a try to get the sports, we won’t have to be locked back in.
Did a big Tesco shop today - £136 with my 10% off. Thats for two weeks’ worth of meal planning ingredients which takes us up to DP’s payday. Will need fresh stuff in a week or so. I did well at not deviating from the list! I’m going to Ilkley tomorrow with a friend - have been recommended a shop there for running shoes. I need to avoid getting too tempted by the fancy charity shops there!

Martha what about if you gave yourself x amount to spend in fancy charity shops but don't go over it rather than ban yourself completely and feel bad if you fail?

BigSkies - Hackyou are saintly. How are you not at screaming point? Little fires everywhere. I really hope things are taking a permanent turn for the better.

I'm somewhere between realising that there are still things like this out there and overall things are better and thinking I'm being very foolish rather than otherwise (my mother had a favourite Saint Jude - lost causes amongst other things).

Hack I would have major trust issues if that was my dh, but understand you can't get bogged down in what is done and move forward from here.

I do have trust issues that flare up again every time that something like this happens. And I wonder if it's an improvement that I have to take responsibility for so much. I'm seriously wondering if I should just pay off the mortgage while I can so that I limit how much harm he might do in the future. (I keep fretting that he sees the savings and ISAs and thinks of them as savings rather than the sum we need to make the final mortgage payment.)

After Santander, I did say to him that I realise he's been lying to me about uploading the bank dividend payments (a separate thing) so I expect to see more tickety-bit credits turning up in the current account. If I don't see them by Tuesday, we shall need to have words again.

Spent another £80 in dun elm on new blinds (they were half price) and a few other bits.

£11 ish on fresh bits in the co op, I'm trying to avoid a supermarket this week and just eat what we have.

My bedroom is looking good, worth the effort and the Wickes paint went on really well.

I've got a friend coming over later to help me put the blinds up and a new shelf.

I rang the tax credit people, they said I would have to pay the over payment back late summer time, annoying but at least I can budget for that £184.

I'm confused about council tax as I told them dd is now 18 and finishing college this month and they have only increased payments by £1 a month 🤔

Will see if I get another bill later in the summer.

Need to sort car insurance, they want £440 🙄 ridiculous for a small, cheap car when I've got 20 plus years of no claims!

I've cancelled dds allowance, she doesn't need it now she's working a fair bit, if anything she should be giving me some house keeping!

Well I spent £35 in charity shops but that included an item I was definitely looking for (denim jacket) plus a dress
and pair of trousers that fit me really well. So I’m pleased. Running shoes were spendy, £140 but I had it put aside and basically running is otherwise free and is good for me in all sorts of ways. I spent £60 on my last pair and they only lasted a year so hope these will be better.

girlie the home improvements sound lovely.
hack I hear you. I think it sounds like you are the best judge of whether things have improved enough. It is really difficult when you find out things about a life partner that are less than ideal and have to decide how much you will put up with. I can see why you’d be tempted to pay the mortgage off. Out of interest what is stopping you from doing that?

hack I would definitely pay the mortgage off, I wouldn’t trust him with a penny. I have a backstory here which some old timers on the thread may remember which is I joined these threads in 2012 to pay off £17,000 of debt my ex ran up in secret.

Sorry everyone, it's been a crap week. No hospital this time and still hasn't fully gone, but feeling better - wondering if it was covid possibly.

Sorry to anyone I miss, I'm just catching up on this most recent page.
@2024Hackathon that is difficult. I also wonder what is stopping you paying the mortgage off? I appreciate it might not be the most economically rational decision (savings rate higher than mortgage rate) but it sounds like it would give you peace of mind. Sounds worth it for a few hundred or thousand pounds.
@marthasmum sounds like a good bounty! And fingers crossed for the new running shoes.
@Girliefriendlikespuppies really seems like you're making so much progress 🏠. Would the council tax be because the educational term doesn't finish until July?
@Nellieinthebarn £27 is not bad at all considering it was a 5week month with 2bank holidays 👏
@BigSkies2022 sending best wishes. Sometimes it just takes some time to accept - I'm sure your mum might still see him as the man on the day she got married.
@Happierwithouthim all very organised your end. Good luck on the mortgage switch.

I'm afraid I can't tally the spends but only £127 over budget which isn't bad at all considering. Payday shuffling done and hoping to make a decent chunk into cc1 tomorrow. Have restarted putting a bit into dds savings - it will be part uni part car fund depending on what they want to do. Then it will be restarting pensions savings next month too.
Frugajobs: resist the siren call of a takeaway and continue eating the freezer (sadly no new yellow stickers yesterday); get all the bedding on the line whilst oh takes the dds out (using the softplay passes); find tax reference for hmrc; and I moved a savings account for an extra 2% interest and have requested to shut the old one.

Freezer box is out and defrosting for tonight; one load of sheets is done but don't think I'm up for doing another atm; however have found the automated number and so have made the big payment towards cc1.
Cc1 -1215

Now to sitting outside in the garden with a fizzy pop.

And it's Monday again, thankfully wfh. One load already done and on the line.

Frugajobs: used airmiles and booked holiday, freezer meal out and defrosting, bought a birthday present for dd from vinted (saved 35 from new), and need to research other present which will be bought new but check best prices.

Spends
£1146 holiday (£300 airmiles used, £268 left to pay for accommodation)
£35 vinted
£95 food

Did the big monthly shop in Aldi, £141. It's all the non perishables, house stuff and toiletries for the month, and fresh for, hopefully at least 10 days.

With luck and a following wind that will mean just 3 top up shops this month.

My shopping is being done in bits and pieces, almost daily, because it's just me and DH until DS returns for the summer, and I CBA to note every bit of expenditure. But we're eating lots of fruit and veg at the moment, and working through the pantry, so fairly frugal.

On that note, I made a cracking salad yesterday: bought 3 cooked beets from Lidl, (who are still doing Puglian EV olive oil at under £6), cut them into chunks, tossed them with lemon juice, olive oil, chunks of lemon and about two teaspoons of ground coriander seeds and baked the lot in a hot oven for about 20minutes. Chucked in some walnut halves towards the end to brown them. Mixed the lot with a few handfuls of spinach leaves, made a dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, a good pinch of sugar and salt and a couple of teaspoons of tahini, and tossed the salad with some dressing. Topped it with about 30grams of crumbled feta. 'Twas delish! and felt super healthy. I have some left to add to more spinach and dressing for tonight, and will have it with an omelette and some asparagus (huge bundle from Lidl, £3.49 - lovely fat spears).

I have to get the dishwasher repaired. I can get a Domestic and General engineer here on Thursday - do I pay £150 for the repair or do I take out 12 months cover plan at £16 per month, which will come to £192 over the year - I can get them back if the machine breaks down again, yada, yada, they'll replace it if it's uneconomic to repair. The machine is not very old - maybe 3 years, - but it's not that great, tbh. It's a Bosch, but integrated, and I often have to run it again to get stuff clean.

Will need to top up work kitty by £10 this week.
Nothing on PB this month 😞

Frugajobs: managed to get offered the chase boosted savings account (5.1%) so have opened that and moved money in; closed 2 old accounts; changed standing order amounts for childcare

Spends
£6 work lunch and some biscuits for the team