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

Cake is fab. Ditto hack. I make a mean sponge but he would be sponge bob splodge heap if I tried to decorate it

€4 on a substandard roll from deli, I'll be bringing my lunch anymore it was definitely not worth it

€33.66 in Lidl I really only needed 3 packs of chicken for ds's lunch & decided to check out their small suppliers section & use my Lidl plus

€550 to mechanic

Business travel for the next few days which means I'll be out of pocket until my expenses are reimbursed.

I let a couple of subscriptions lapse recently without renewing them. I'm missing them but I'll wait another couple of months and if I still feel that way, I'll see if there's something else that I could give up instead. That or sell something to cover theire cost.

I'm contemplating buying some new thermals. The ones that I have are between 8-14 years old and they're not working well enough. I've read good things about HeatTech ones but I'll see if I can find a discount code somewhere or wait until Black Friday (unless it's very cold before then).

Happy belated birthday to son of em. And what a lovely cake.

Do you mean the Uniqlo HeatTech thermals Hack? I bought some bottoms last year (I’ve never had thermals before so can’t compare) and they are good. The sizing is odd. Their guide told me I was an XXL but they didn’t have XL so I bought XL, they were too big so I went back and got L and they are too big too but I figured I didn’t want to buy another pair. I got them when they had an offer I think it was £5 off per item (tops and bottoms). People were buying basket fulls.

Spending has been - Sunday £5.43 in Asda (GC balance £22.84), Monday £2.90 in Marks and Spencer and today £5.75 in Aldi and £1.50 in Marks and Spencer (GC balance £18.03). There is also a £20 in there as I changed my Eurostar dates.

Was planning a stroll to a local place I have membership for but as soon as I’d finished the house bits I wanted to do the rain came. Think I might try and do some proper menu planning. My eating from the freezer has lead to more in the freezer than when I started.

Lost count of NSDs in September because everything was so hectic and then spent a small fortune topping up new fridge freezer with a meat delivery and Iceland shop. Good thing is we now have plenty of food and I've written a list of everything in both inside and outside freezers. So apart from 'little' top up shops we should be fine for October and hopefully some of November.
So called 'little' shop today cost me £43 in Iceland but did contain snacks and bits for GCs when they are here for breakfast and after school. Need to check tins and things next but much of that is tomatoes, kidney beans and the like which supplement the meats when I make stew, chilli, curries and throw together meals when I'm feeling inspired!
On the plus side had some extra hours which I've already been paid for which will go towards the new fridge freezer/savings.

Treated myself to a pumpkin spice latte today , lordy it's getting worse, £4.65 in pret. I do enjoy a coffee out but not at that price. Recommend the Meerkat hack though, buy a one day insurance eg travel and get 25% off at Nero for a year, brings a coffee down to a more respectable £2.70 or so.

Also bought some lamps/ lights for the study as getting too dim to work in there and only have a horrible basic desk lamp, so £40 but kind of essential.

Also got a suede brush to resurrect last years boots but at £5 far cheaper than buying new. Will also need re heeling.

Bills mostly gone out and need to update budget with changes as dd is at college and will be learning to drive from next week

£25 farm shop for horse

NCT passed with just an advisory on the only tyre I haven't changed this year so happy with that - our MOT

€4.90 on bottle of Coke & a bar for ds

Petrol ran out when I'd one strip of the lawn left so must get some tomo and finish it

Life how did that happen already dd learning to drive!

Budget day here

£30 topping up the car to full prior to going away. £40 in Aldi on bits and pieces and stuff for going away such as picnic things for on the way, and breakfast on the first day. Also bought the first christmas present of the year. Its a toy for the dog.

£50 Amazon on Granddaughter's birthday present, coming today.
£15 on a multi pack of knickers for me.

£80 on dog food, its a months supply, he is fussy, large and has allergies so this is quite steep. But cheaper than him needing medication because the cheap food has upset his tummy and skin.

Quite a spendy day, but all justified, and budgeted for, apart from the dog toy and the knickers, but I have budgeted £50 a month for miscellaneous, so it will come out of there.

Ds birthday. )53 Asda (he wanted a car’s birthday cake) he’s 15!!
£98 emergency vet bill stupid Labrador
££ on birthday dinner out

I know happier. It’s a dear do though
please on the car passing

Happy birthday ds!

birthday twin! It’s my big birthday today. Thoroughly spoiled.

sadly ds just stacked it on the tiled floor and we think might have sprained his foot.

€10 petrol for lawnmower
€3.30 on a 2 litre bottle of water for work because I forgot to bring 5litre drum I filled at home this morning I took that out of groceries rather than spending money
€2 Broderick's protein brownie from Aldi, they're very tasty

Em happy big birthday 🥳

Happy big birthday em. Hope you were thoroughly spoiled. And ds foot is ok
£75 dinner out & £14 wolverine v dead pool streaming

Had a spendy day yesterday as went out with a friend for dinner - £30 for 2 courses inc booze which wasn't bad and as she wasn't drinking I got a lift there and back saving around £14 on taxis. The restuarant I go to has a deal where if you pay £6 a month you get 40% off in the week, so I usually go there and feel like I'm getting a decent deal .

Took car in for MOT but luckily as I know the owner of the garage and he needed some HR advice he waived the cost of the MOT so £55 saved! Unluckily the car does need some work doing to pass so that will be a few hundred but can't be helped. May have to see if I can get some more consultancy work out of him - certainly it looks like they may need me in future if not at the current time.

I also found a bargainous white stuff dress on Ebay - I had the same dress before but it's gone a bit shabby so I know it will fit - only £8 plus delivery and with tags attached so I couldn't really say no to that.
Aiming for a few no/low spend weekend as I'm off to London next week which will be expensive. I have a cinema pass so will probs go there on Saturday and just do boring housey stuff to make the weekend go faster.

You could say I'm a bit of a bargain hunter!

Only one NSD so far this month - had a trip to B&Q £11.58, Home Bargains £16.63, Lidl £11.95 and the Builders Yard £12.50
Been busy in the garden doing jobs that cost nowt!! But need to buy new gate handle as some lowlife has stood on it to look over our gate - no doubt to see if there's anything worth nicking. There isn't!! But they snapped the handle so need to replace that soon.

Urgh lowlife
nsd yesterday
food shop coming in a bit

Still only one NSD so far. Spent £11.35 on new gate handles at Amazon. 😡

Few Friday spends yesterday. £120 Sainsbury’s, £11 kfc, £8 aldi

Fairly frugal Friday.. succumbed to a maccys breakfast deal as long journey, £2.79.
Then medicated shampoo ( essential as bad scalp problem)£7.50 and cotton wool pads £1.79.

Won £100 on premium bonds. I have a 'rule' that I spend any small winnings on whatever I want and don't save them. So that will go on a furry gilet thing I've been eyeing up abd the rest to go towards my day/ night out in London next week.

Belated birthday wishes to life & Em ds and happy big birthdayEm. Great cake for ds Em. I'm with life and hack I can bake pretty good cakes but my decorating attempts are decidedly amateurish!
Martha so sorry to hear about your father, sending love. My DD has moved into a shared house this year too & keeping us regaled with all the ups & downs.
Car MOTs (and Irish equivalent) can be such nerve wracking times as you just don't know what is going to be flagged up & the potential cost. We have one upcoming in November so will be keeping fingers crossed.

Our holiday has been well and truly consigned to the memory bank. Spent Thursday in A&E with dad who is becoming more frail but has little insight. Had an interview on Monday for a job. It's the same grade as now but a new team, different trust & much more clinical with complex patients. I was offered it & have accepted but it'll be early 2025 before I start due to my notice period. I'm very excited but it's scary too as I've been with this trust for 20 years 😮
Gousto box arrived on Monday and has been fab £35 for 5 days of main meals & leftovers for lunches.
I have meal planned for the next few days & shopped very specifically, keeping costs down. DH has a football bet most weekends for about £2-3 and yesterday won £26 so we went out for a few drinks to celebrate my job news & his team winning yesterday!
No other additional spends this last week

Update from me.

ds sprained his foot. Took him to a&e on Thursday morning. X ray and conclusion is it’s a sprain. nothing more serious. Phew.

£48 riding yesterday. Glorious.

we have to take ds to a party today then do a food shop. Aiming for less than £100 for the week. We shall see.

Just getting into paying for 2 new cars on finance and my son’s old deputy head has said he has been in contact about his ucas application, which was news to us. Fast forward 2.5 weeks and he has a place at uni and his accommodation and student loan are confirmed!! Just waiting for his loan to come through and he can move. It’s all happened a bit too fast for my liking as I’m a planner but he won’t be able to do this course in September as he hasn’t got enough ucas points. Taking him to Dunelm in a bit to get some things he needs.