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

Wow star that is fast but good on ds. That his email from uni for the student discount

Had an unplanned night away with bf, to attend a funeral of a family members sister. Not someone I knew at all but I was glad I went.

€49.90 on food Fri night
€42 on food Sat
€4.60 on tolls
Bf paid for hotel

Went to junior parkrun this morning & after to mr price & Aldi
€35.21 in mr price approx €25 was ds's pocket money
€93.38 in Aldi. We do have enough for the week but I'm wondering if I need to up my grocery budget again. Going to stay out of the shops for the week.

Wow star exciting times for ds

Cheapish weekend for me. Prime video hire, £3.50, card and present for mum birthday £15 and my new toy, a soup maker from Aldi for £20
.
I tell a lie, I won £100 on premium bonds and my rule is to spend any small winnings on exactly what I want and not put them back into savings. So the soup maker came out of that, plus a Mongolian fake fur gilet from next (£36) a cheapo seat to see Grease at thd theater next week (£17,) and a ticket to see another show in November (£30). Yeah so I spent those winning in warp time. But it doesn't come out of my budget so that's ok.

I pad keeps logging me out. Had to order a new dishwasher.coming Wednesday. Ouch

Frugal win (eventually) - checked bank account and found that it had been credited with £1500. No idea what it was for. Reference NHS.

we don’t have nhs here so I had no idea what this was about. Went to the bank (HSBC) told them I didn’t recognise a transaction and asked them if they could find anything about it. The lady I spoke to said “it’s obviously your salary from the nhs”

no help at all.

transpires it’s the insurance refund from my Disney flights. I suppose that the insurance people have sent a letter but it’s on its way to me. Sigh. I only worked it out by popping nhs into the search on my emails. And the insurance emails pooped up.

Not meant to be spending much on clothes this year but succumbed to 2 long thick night dresses from m and s. Usually my nightwear is an old t shirt and pj bottoms from a million years ago, it's the last thing in my wardrobe to be considered. Also a cuddle- jacket ( like a cuddle robe) which is ridiculously soft and fleecy. Came to £68 but had a £20 voucher . So £48. Oops.

Still only one NSD so far. Spent £1.60 on Bread yesterday as GCs were coming for breakfast this morning. Today I spent £39.21 in Home Bargains but that included Washing Pods, Fabric conditioner and Cat Litter none of which are weekly regular buys but had all but run out and then £18.31 in Lidl on small top up bits and pieces.
Still extra hours at work are clearing the cost of the new fridge freezer - we only owe £30 for that now. 😊

DH told me that he was submitting our meter readings every month. Letter today from suppliers to say that we've not submitted any for 8 months.

First he told me that the supplier was wrong and he had. I then said that I expected to see the previously submitted readings on the app when we're both home. So, now the story's changed to him doing it "ad hoc". Because that's what you can do with suppliers, you can ignore their schedule and substitute your own ad hoc version…

I've checked the joint account and we've been paying a fixed amount. I can only hope that Summer means we're in credit rather than behind. I'm worried that we've been using more because we've been looking after MiL's DP so had the heating on more and been doing a lot more laundry etc.

Just quickly popping on to say my Dmum recently hadn’t submitted her meter readings for a year, and the difference wasn’t too bad once it was processed hack 🤞 for you.

€4.63 on stuffing carrots and buns yesterday, I forgot to ask bf to bring carrots on Sunday, he's got homegrown ones and buns because I was visiting a friend.

Approx €37 at beauticians this eve, dds first time doing brows so not sure what that'll cost

€30 beauticians dd was free of charge

£12 on a wicker storage basket... my study area is full of crap and I need to organize it!
Saved £££ on a cup of coffee out as I have m and s rewards vouchers and get 32 free coffees a year ( you pay a monthly fee but get it back in vouchers , coffees are on top)

(10 prescription, )117 train to London at Christmas, £6 eggs flour bread & milk

Spendy day yesterday, 2 drinks out (although Weatherspoons so cheaper than a normal pub) delicious roast pork sarnie and tram fares came to £22. Also bought a perfume decanter, much cheaper than buying a actual bottle of the stuff as I have some samples I will decant. £4.

Off to London today with a planned budget of £150 to last the weekend. Most of that will be with my in-laws so meals provided etc. But I have an evening and a day out, and £150 will evaporate in London.

Been busy trying to deal with oh paycut and what that means in terms of job responsibilities. New contract has been signed but still waiting for the hours confirmation so we know what day will be affected (as it could change our current childcare arrangements).
Also got covid fairly badly so haven't been online much.

I guess I should report Frugajobs!

• managed to get a cheaper deal on a hotel by ringing them directly (this was even after using booking.com with a 10%off code). £172 versus £186. Even penny helps.
• have finalised main budget for summer holiday, so now to plan out trips and incidentals.
• need to purchase travel insurance for next year too and check when our current policy expires. Will get quote and then weigh that up against getting a premium bank account with that included
• half term trip is booked. My aunt is turning 80 so will need a physical gift (the other main gift will joint with my siblings), but accommodation is free.
• house project 3 (hard landscaping) materials have been paid for (checking for best price across suppliers saving £220 and then using discount code for 5% off saving £190) and installation happening next week and the following week.

Was over budget in September by £225 due to increased food spending. Have Amended the budget for November to increase the grocery pot. Have also increased gym pot as both my class and oh class have gone up in price.

DH and I both had dental hygiene visits and a check-up. We've paid £500 combined for those although we'll get about 30% back through insurance.

A lot less into the savings this month (savings account that offsets the mortgage). And we need to budget for another hotel stay for when DH has a follow-up procedure in 2 months time. Before all this started, we'd had a 3 day break in July and planned to have one this Autumn/Winter but we've had to use that money to sort the logistics for DH's treatment. However, it's made all of that simpler. I'm hoping that he won't need another follow-up for 6 months to a year after this one, so perhaps we can start saving for a trip in 2025.

Oh dear. No spend day turned into a high spend day as one of husband's rellies is going to a live music event I REALLY want to see. In a seize the day moment agreed to go, train tickets to where they live + event ticket came to £90 but life is for living and it'll be worth it. Just need to not spend too much on other stuff that weekend ( ie food/ drink) .

Back from our hols, had a lovely time seeing friends and family, and the weather was wonderful. We won't talk about holiday spends, but bank balance is in the black, and with luck it should stay there. I don't predict much in the way of savings this month though.

Not too much of a spend weekend as didn’t get very far £95 on logs

I did a dunnes click & collect €60.43 no other spends this weekend

Shower gel is a great way to pour money down the drain. Two tips:

1. Use a shower scrunchie thing. Make your own peace with cleaning it.
2. Buy bubble bath (Lidl has a litre for about £1) and put that into a Lynx/Axe bottle.

While we're on shower-related stuff: Shower caps make brilliant covers for plates and bowls in the fridge. If you don't go to hotels then ask your posh friends who do to bring them home from the bathroom kit. Much less faff than cling film and at zero cost.

I use shower caps for bread making and covering the bowl

Managed a frugal day despite being in London. Mainly seeing friends and family. Spent £4 on a coffee and £5 on some chocolate. Still crazy expensive but fortunately didn't need to buy anything else. Catered for and MIL made us a picnic for thd train. Also took a flask of tea so managed to avoid buying anything more.

Glad to be back home now! Need to do a good few days nsds and quiet/ frugal weekend next weekend.

Did you go abroad @Nellieinthebarn ? 🌞
Sounds fiscally organised @2024Hackathon 👏
@lifelongfrugaleer nothing nicer than a real fire
@IDontHateRainbows hot chocolate or the eating chocolate? There is a wonderful African cafe in London that does the richest hot chocolate imaginable! Or at least pre-covid it did.

Frugajobs
-stayed on track shopping this weekend and bought to the list (just 2 treats sneaked in for the dc)
-tallying up finances of the various big spends. It's been put over 2 ccs, 1 is 0% and the other will need to be paid immediately through other savings but amount is recorded of what I need to pay back.

@Chile1978 No we went back down South UK where I come from. We stay in a cottage that backs onto a beach, its lovely, we catch up with family and generally have a nice relaxing time. And the dog loves the seaside. We go twice a year, in March and October so he can go on the beach.