Amigos actively attempting austere actions August 24>

[Happierwithouthim]

Link to last thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/cost_of_living/5007277-familiar-friends-in-frugalityfeb-24?latest=1

All welcome, the vibe is frugal life to make the things that matter possible, which is different for everyone, some of us have overcome debt, separations etc. All are friendly and we're sometimes chatty, sometimes quiet.

Don't lurk, join in

Oh that’s is a bargain em

i was discussing making pastry with the Aldi checkout guy yesterday. He used to be a chef so make 7kg worth. Life is too busy imo to make pastry and pastry products.

I’ll come back with spends but it was slot. Somewhere around £150

Oh em, someone like that (fil gf) is not what you need right now. Can DH only visit them now (as little as possible)?

Had a bit of fall out with the Dparent since the latest scam. Becoming someone’s financial POA is not easy and rather relentless.

Not feeling great today, weird feeling head, can’t decide why but had same thing maybe last month, so am wondering maybe peri so now making a note so I can pinpoint it next time.

Spends-
£35 new trainers- my fabric sketchers leaked in the torrential rain on the school run
£7 hair brush for DD
£18 on a Christmas duvet cover 😂 I bought the DC them last year, but not us

em blimey she sounds fun to deal with not! I know what you mean about people who like to be involved with sick people, avoid avoid! Nice that your MIL is on call overnight ☺️ and enjoy the croissants

Chilie hope you get through the week okay, especially if you feel a bit rough. Work sucks at times! Same for you sorted countdown sounds good!

Need ah fences...next door sale is proceeding and new neighbours have a dog so think they'll be itching for a new fence as we reduced ours from 6ft to 4ft to reduce storm damage risk as we've had some bad ones. It's around 50ft long. DH built ours 12 years ago so it's done okay but I can say now in his late 50s he won't want to do it again. They have asked about boundary responsibility and we've all said ask the council as DH and his friend from two doors along just built them! Hopefully a 2025 job...

Spends Friday / Saturday
£99.99 on a covered electric clothes drier. Hoping to save on heating bills as we don't have a tumbler drier for washing.
£37 farm shop butchers including a get well card and present for a friend.
£33 Home Bargains
£12 Asda
£37.98 present for BIL birthday, also making him a cake and going out for food later.

Today so far has been £19 DD activity.

Yep. DH visits with the kids on his own. Has done for ages. I turn up for Christmas. That’s it.

croissants were yum. I love a pastry. And strong coffee.

raining and blowing an absolute hooley here today. Yuk.

In the midst of a really busy fortnight here. Fortunately stress levels have eased slightly after peaking last weekend. DS is safely in his lovely shared rental in Somerset. DH and I shared the transit van driving which involved Lancashire to Plymouth via Somerset then Plymouth back to lancashire via Somerset, all in a day!! We transported 2 sofas, a bed and allsorts of other furniture. My dad paid for the van the fuel and gave us a bit of extra money on top which has gone a long way towards easing our financial stress.
I am slowly working through all the stuff, legal, medical etc that I need to sort for mum & dad. It's not easy, but they are very grateful and things seem to be progressing.
Am taking DD back to uni to her new house on Thursday, then our house will seem very quiet. DD has had some health problems, but has a plan on how to go forward once back at uni & I am trying to take more of a back seat!
I haven't kept track of the thread but will catch up tomorrow.
This weekend has been mostly at the Radio 2 party in the park using free tickets from friends who can't go, so very frugal. It has been great fun so far though wet today.

Sounds like you needed the weekend away north, enjoy the rest of it!

Crap weather here today too em, and thanks for the recipe, it'll be used this week.

Agree re fences kessie, DH was super handy round the house but he wouldn't have tackled the fence. Luckily our neighbours are lovely and given the house isn't that old, we all knew they are shared responsibilities. It does look good but it feels less satisfying than spending that much in the house!

Don't envy being POA time

Hope the working week isn't too bad chile

I've actually spent more than I anticipated and have hardly been out

£120 clothes for holiday, including a new pair of trainers and some bits from Vinted.
£40 on a retro vase on a Facebook site I use who sells fab stuff. Slowly updating some of our interior decorations when I see things I like.

Menu plan

Butter cauliflower!
Kimchi fried rice
Mediterranean chicken and veggies
Haddock with orzo
Aubergine dhansak
Something easy like wraps, chilli etc.
Prawn and fennel risotto

Nice vase

I love that vase! Super!

baked up a storm today. House is full of chocolate chip cookies. The dc both wanted to help but they fight over who does what. So I tripled the recipe and gave them a full bowl each.

now have about 100000000 cookies.

dropped some off to dsis. Some to my dfriend who sent over a bag of M&S meals for us after she heard my news.

some will go to the boss tomorrow - who is meeting me after my nail appointment for a coffee and lunch. He’s off tomorrow and I haven’t seen him for about 3 weeks.

some will go to doarents.

Gf sounds like something else em. Sorry you have that nonsense too. Thank you for the recipe.

Was thinking curry need so will try em’s recipe. That’s a rather handsome vase.

Long drive for you north.

Spending yesterday was £4.84 in Sainsbury and Asda (gift card), £8.70 in Lidl and Aldi on fruit, vegetables and a box of matches and £3.88 on a card from Etsy. Today was just under £10 on a drink and a cake.

Weekend feels like a bit of a wash out. Felt ill yesterday so spent most of it in bed. Met Flakey for coffee today. Can’t believe how much a glass of lemonade and a cake cost. Managed to book a few things for Paris. It’s heritage weekend there too so all free. The two places I really wanted aren’t taking part this year so that’s disappointing. Will have another go booking things as so many if the links weren’t working.

That’s a Lot of driving north

pleased there are settled and have a plan respectively

@ememem84 can't believe her cheek . Demanding your medical notes. So so inappropriate
that curry recipe looks great.
picked up our new dog today 🐕🐕🐕

You know the rules. Pictures of new pets please.

Coffee with the boss today. Really good to see him again. awkward hugs - we’re not huggers. Realised we’re not huggers then awkwardness over.

also £48 new nails

hapoened to walk by my hairdressers and saw my lady there. She’s on mat leave officially but in for training. I asked her if she’d be free in 2 weeks to cut my hair. It needs a tidy and I think having it shorter might be easier to manage if it falls off. So she’s going to come in specially. She’s a legend.

Went to 'the poor man's waterstones' ie my local chazza bookshop, got 2 books for £3.50. I think books are meant to be read and recycled, which is why I never got into kindles and the like.

Pup tax due please @Sortingmyselfoutdayatatime

That sounds exhausting @northender but good to see them settled in

Thanks @kessiebird

💯 agree on pastry @lifelongfrugaleer

Contemplating Christmas activities - panto, fireworks, light shows, santa grotto, markets etc. Sounds like though OH may be getting a pay cut so everything is on hold until we know what that might be. It wouldn't take effect until January but they should know by the end of the week what the figure is going to be.

Happy with Lidl plus again today, I'm managing not to overspend when going in for these things.

I put on the heating for 20 mins this evening

Hi All. Hope it’s ok to post. Recently joined mumsnet again so I can get hopefully get some support/encouragement from this group! Although, I’ve been a ‘reader’ for ages.

I have a bit of debt to pay off and, if I stick to my plan, I can do it by Nov 25. Would like/need a new car by the end of next year so if I could do it any quicker, that’d be great.

I’m an emotional spender so always think I ‘deserve’ a treat but just end up spending money on stuff I don’t need. Hoping this thread will keep me accountable!

Hope it’s ok to post. Recently joined mumsnet again so I can get hopefully get some support/encouragement from this group!

The more people who are working towards clearing debt and getting their finances under control, the better!

Welcome. I think a number of us would nod in recognition at the description of "emotional spender". A simple financial example that's helped me a lot is
If you buy a £5 coffee a day, that's @ £2000 in a year.
If you spend £27.90 on mindless stuff a day (apparently, that's an average estimate of how easily we buy bits and pieces that aren't necessary or a treat rather than a 'must have'), that's just on £10K a year. Did you know you had £10K a year to waste?

Good luck!

Currently sat in Costa with my £3.90 hot chocolate. Can’t remember the last time I went to a coffee shop though 😂

It’s my first day off without the DC in months where I haven’t had to run around after Dparent or sort out an issue they have created (touch wood)

What a rare and much-needed break for you!

I'm sure you're savouring every moment.

Welcome Readers.

Hope you had a good day Time.

Last two days spending has been £3.49 in Sainsbury (gift card), £1.17 in Aldi (grapes that were less than the shelf ticket) and £7.99 in TK Maxx on a (disappointing) panettone.

Had the heating serviced today and all is good so phew. Need to get some correspondence to the solicitor. Considering watching the debate tonight/tomorrow morning to see what the fuss is about. I keep hearing people say Harris and thinking they are saying Paris.

NSD for me today, first one in a while.

£20 in marks and Spencer on a black polo neck. Also £90 on a locksmith but I’ll get that back. Yesterday £62 tescos