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

Sorry to hear you're not well @RumBananaSundae hope all is ok.

Spendy weekend here booking some days out for the summer hols. But it's taken us into the overdraft 😔

We were hoping to be able to book a holiday for Feb half term but it's not looking likely as each month there's not enough spare money and anything spare gets eaten up by something "unexpected" but not really unexpected eg yearly car service/insurance etc. I thought after the summer hols we might be able to put some aside in September/October/November towards a Feb holiday but of course any money from those months needs to go to the Christmas fund.

I know it's a first world problem but I'd really like a holiday just getting us away for a bit for a break. Only in the UK DC have never been abroad

Ho hum

Have you considered doing a house swap with someone @Decafflatteplease? Might be a way to avoid extra costs? Or stay a few days with family somewhere else?

Are we all burying our heads in the sand & spending because it's summer

Renewed Disney subscription €109.90 I had a clubcard boost for 3 months but it was out of date got my points back, but I had only €80.90 put away in my YNAB category because it wasn't due for 3 more months.

Still spending very modestly and living off the pantry inheritance.

We're thinking about a 2 day break during Autumn to have something to which we can look forward.

"Are we all burying our heads in the sand & spending because it's summer "

There's a bit of this at play @Happierwithouthim , How did you guess? . And also a bit of, "Sure, I'll have lots of money coming in when I start the overtime". Clearly a few weeks of overtime is going to net me millions.

I didn't escape Prime day unscathed, I had a chair bed in my wish list for a while. Its for DGD2 who is too big now for her cot. It had £40 off, so I went for it. Its nice, folded up its a square ottoman type thing that you can sit on, and unfolded it makes a bed that's just slightly smaller than a single bed.

I spent £90 on prime day for stuff i need
food is stil £££

I didn't look at Amazon for Prime Day
Tayto I should be spending less because I'm taking a little paycut when I move jobs and I'll have a small bit of a wait for Working Family Payment also but it's summer and I've opportunities to do things and I've got savings, I'm not being extravagant, everythings still got frugality at the core.

€16.35 on groceries at local shop, €2.50 for a bag of sugar, but I'd visitors coming and they'd want it for their tea. I made brownies yesterday and finished off my demerara, golden caster and granulated sugar in the making of them. I need a bakery press restock, finished my plain flour at weekend making pancakes at airbnb.

€10.50 on Covid tests 2 negative so far
€110 on childcare, ds wouldn't go to my parents for the week, I was off one day his father had him another day so this is one full & two half days cost
€7.30 local shop on ice creams & jar pasta sauce

£70 airport parking
£££&more food

Yikes at the parking 🅿️

Test negative

Must stop off at shopping centre, might get ds back to school runners there. Getting him spray paint & frog tape to continue his kallax revamp

£19.15 in the Co-op on potatoes, salad bits, apples, yogurt and dried yeast. I made the mistake of taking DH with me, so we also bought a couple of apple danish pastries, because its Saturday and we need a treat. I am very easily influenced.

Extra money in!!! £40 refund from Inland Revenue. I know its my money anyway, and I have lost out on interest if I had saved it, but it still feels like a win. 😁

I've been avoiding the thread a bit as this month has definitely not been frugal!

I'm reigning it back in now though 🙈

The big spends have been booking flights to Paris for sept, I went for the cheapest easyJet option so for dd and I it came to £120. We'll have one tiny bag each though 😬 I'm not too worried but dd is already worrying about hair straighteners and make up.

I booked a hotel for £550 for 4 nights, it looks like a nice one, good reviews and very central.

Ive had lots of bdays in July including 3 close family members and I reckon in total that's added up to nearly £100 in gifts/cards etc.

I've spent loads on food this month but am going to avoid the supermarket this week and eat what's in the freezer.

Need to save up spending money for Paris now.

Hope everyone is well, not caught up but will read back now!

Spendy day at the supermarket/butcher/fishmonger. I wasn't around much last weekend, so I didn't get to a supermarket. I seem to have run out of everything. I stocked up on extra meat and fish, so I'll stash some of it in the freezer. DD is heading away to Portugal on Friday and will be away for a week. So I'm hoping for a cheap groceries week next week, where I eat out of the freezer as much as possible.

I recycled what seemed like a million plastic bottles and cans and got all of €2.50 (or thereabouts) for my efforts. Do you have the plastic bottle recycling scheme in the UK?

I've a rare Saturday night out tonight 'cos I'm meeting up with two old school friends. Looking forward to it in one way, but I've had a busy few weekends, so I was hoping for a quiet weekend this weekend. But one of my friends lives abroad and only gets home once a year. So I couldn't really say no.

The sooner I start the overtime the better. Extra income and less time for spending.

On a positive note, I steered clear of any Prime Day offers😇.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies I've been to Paris three times over the past twenty five years or so. The last time I went, I couldn't get over how busy and crowded all of the attractions were. I would book ahead if possible. If you just turn up, you probably won't get in. Or you'll have to endure hours of queueing.

I think my niece might be getting married abroad next year. She's considering a few different locations. So I'll try and stash as much of the overtime money as I can, to pay for that.

steered clear of any Prime Day offers

I've belatedly discovered that DH bought 2 powerbanks that were on Prime Day offer. Replacements for ones that were lost earlier this year…£45.

I've got to admit that I was tempted by an Eufy offer (reduced to @ £600) but I know that if I really need a replacement for our current robot cleaner, I'd need to be confident that people can keep the floor clear enough to be useful. (I don't mind the current one bumping all the time as it was very affordable at the time and round 8 years old.)

I’ve been off the thread and not been frugal. Looking back across the spends, lots on Amazon, two lots of theatre tickets and my professional fees are the causes of some of the spends.

I’ve been very busy with Dmum, she’s a lot more mobile now but has become very reliant on me to sort almost everything 😩

Accidentally pressed post….

I’m quite worn out by sorting everything for Dmum. However, now it’s clear she is leaving it to me, I’m gradually sorting things so it is easier for me. Yesterday it was sorting getting her prescriptions delivered. Each job like this is one less for me! I’ve also made some changes to my working hours which should help with managing life and having a bit more time (but sadly less £s).

@Decafflatteplease great idea from happier. Maybe friends or family you could swap with?
@Girliefriendlikespuppies bon voyage for September 🇫🇷 - sounds very reasonable

Well done those who avoided prime day, or did only needed shopping.
Sorry to those I've missed, just trying to catch up
Blockbuster of a week here - party went really successfully! About 70odd guests in total so we were absolutely knackered by the end of it. As were the dds.
And then dd has come down ill so sleep has been absolutely awful here. So it has been takeaways a plenty here and convenience shopping.
Birthday night out with sibling too - about £150 and then £65 for present.

Don't think I have anything even remotely frugal to report, except using network railcard.

Bless me father for I have sinned......

£19.99 on Amazon for a new pair of kitchen scissors, the old ones just collapsed in my hand. The handles just disintegrated into a million - well 5 - pieces.

Very annoyed as they were expensive and only 2 1/2 years old. Out of guarantee, but for 50 odd quid, I thought they would see me out tbh.

DH asked me why I couldn't just use my big fabric scissors, he got a hard stare.

😂I hope you got your money's worth!

Don't think I have anything even remotely frugal to report, except using network railcard.

I'd booked some business travel in advance with a network card. I remembered on the day of travel that the card had lapsed the day before. I scrambled to renew it before I started travelling. Now to check the claim is paid in a reasonable timescale.

I would write to the company anyway for that price Nellie.
confess thy sins tayto

££ more food