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

Sounds ace rainbow.

i think today was a nsd. And sold a coat on vinted

€55 to podiatrist for ds
€25 Lidl
€14 butchers
€5 lotto (passed through a village yesterday with a gaa lotto jackpot of €15800 so bought 3 tickets for tonight's draw

Sent receipt to medical insurance immediately so should get 50% back

Sounds lovely @ rainbow
Fingers crossed @Happierwithouthim 💰
@lifelong Well done on vinted

1 switch through +175, 1 switch rejected which I need to redo.
Cc1 -1679
Got a decent quote through so that will be next significant expense.
House projects always seem to take on a life of their own!
Oh has had their lower salary confirmed now which will be in place from January 1st. Not quite sure yet what we are going to cut but it will probably be long term savings and pension. I'm hopeful however of a small pay increase (maybe 3%) which might help offset a bit.

Sold a few more bits on vinted.
budget redone with pay rises and price rises.
£5.25 coop

Yes I'm trying to work out @life whether it's worth buying an annual rail ticket before prices rise or to continue buying flexi/daily tickets.

Should add to my earlier post that we saved £550 off the quote by a) doing a portion of the work ourselves (it was hard work and took about 3weekends and a few evenings) and b) getting 2quotes

More vinted stuff sold and some trainers bought for DS Christmas

The car has been in for an MOT and needs £1300 to bring it to spec. I feel a little like this.

I feel your pain @2024Hackathon Our car had its first MOT which it passed the other week but had an advisory for brake discs and pads. As we have a long journey coming up at the beginning of December decided to book it in and get a service done too. I expect to be hit with a bill tomorrow of £400/500!! Ouch!

I feel your pain @2024Hackathon our newish car went in for a service and needed work doing and ended up costing nearer £1000

Ooof hack.

£5 on gamer headset stand for DS

DH only reported the £1300 for replacing and fitting the NOX filters. He forgot to include the cost of the actual MOT and service.

So, that's a big wedge out of this month. I doubt we'll be able to save anything at all.

Well NSD tally so far - is/was 3NSD but the car has just been serviced and brakes/discs done so £436.52 but was necessary and with winter on its way - I would rather it was as ready as it can be.
I noticed the wind is definitely chillier now on the walk to the garage - might need to switch to my big winter coat now!! Must find my woolly hat too!!
Christmas shopping has started in earnest now as we will be transporting pressies at the beginning of December so planning on a Christmas Movie over the weekend while wrapping gifts!! 🎅🌲

£71 Sainsbury’s
£32 Mia tui
£21 boots

Commiserations @2024Hackathon . We had 3years of multiple thousand fixes and are hoping we are finally at the end.
@rainbow 🥶 weather has turned this week. Have fun wrapping 🎁
@life sounds like you're making good progress on the Christmas list

Exhausted here. World events and plus the unexpected news that OH paycut may now be 35%(with an increasingly real risk of closure in the next 5yrs).
Think getting another bug/covid 🤧 . Apologies for the downbeat update. Going to catch up on bake off and generally try and take care of ourselves.

£12 on vinted for a wallet that would have been £60 new
£8 on vinted nativity outfit (about £12-15 new but importantly reusing and not buying new) Won't immediately sell as have dd2 so she might need.

Ah sorry to hear that chili. Hope a bit of bake off helped.

i told my brothers I wasn’t buying for them off my SIL so chopped 5 people out straight away. Smaller list and more frugal

Just popping on to say hello, this month has been okay so far as got a nice backpay from the nhs pay rise. Thank you Labour government 😊

I saved half and spent half on a night in London for my bday at the end of November.

First time in 18 years I feel like finances are in slightly better shape 😬

Dd is working lots and also saving money, she's got quite a lot put into savings already.

Thanks @life ❤️
Sounds really positive @Girliefriendlikespuppies . Do you think it's your pay increasing or DD paying most of her own way that has made the biggest difference?

Cc1 -2009
Next month the plan is to divert a decent chunk into paying this off mainly for mental anxiety reasons - sometimes it's the best money decision if not financial decision.

Chile it's getting to the top of band 6 and increasing my hours at work. Also helps that dd is now independent so the only cost to me is food (and council tax.)

It's only taken 18 years to get here 🤦‍♀️😂

£75 in Morrisons, its a bit more than normal because we have guests coming at the weekend, so I've bought extra and nicer things for when they come.

£30 on a birthday present for DGD, she will be 4 in December, so still quite easily pleased! £16 on a Christmas present for DH, and £200 on a new mattress for the guest room. Sorely needed, we couldn't remember when we bought the last one, I think it was 2 houses ago.

Still not sorted out a cooker, might wait to see if Black Friday actually has some bargains, or a is giant con, as I have long suspected.

So quite spendy, but still in the black.

I'm sure you appreciate it all the more for all the hard work over the years @girlie
@nellie sounds like you've made canny spends and I'm sure your guests will sleep soundly 😴

Fruganews: Still dealing with the uncertainty over oh job. Not much to do except wait to hear more.
Good news is that project #4 is all done ✔️ Original quote was £2200+ - managed to get it done for £1250 through a mix of doing a significant amount of labouring ourselves, getting multiple quotes, and having to take a risk using an unknown subcontractor (but who was recommended by the lead worker) and fitting in with their schedule.

Now focusing on paying ccs off (cc1 -1800) and slowly 🐌 creeping to 5k savings target (now at 4808).

Had a few NSDs but forgotten how many!! Never mind!! Another card has bit the dust so still heading in the right direction. Still a way to go yet but we will get there - still managing to save a little - pay off a little - and another positive - found the winter coat and woolly hat - I need it now - my turn to collect GCs from school but it can be a chilly wait. ❄🐧

Well done rainbow

£65 Sainsbury’s yesterday

Well done @rainbow how many cards are left? Are you doing the snowball method?

Fruganews: Had a much needed tax overpayment rebate so cc1 -1250. Charity donation made also. Need to think about this year's Christmas donation too. Otherwise I believe I'm on track to pay off cc1 in December. Cc2 is chugging away as well.

Too many @Chile1978 but thankfully due to improved credit ratings all bar two are 0% and the other two are 5.9 and 6.9% but also on long terms. At one point our debt free date was sometime 2029 but with our recent efforts we are now looking at early 2027 and I'm hoping to do better that. But just seeing that huge figure go down is a driving factor. So snowballing, avalanching and shuffling cards according to what fits at the time is definitely the way to go. But life is for living even while we are both retired - we deserve a little fun at times.

Even shaving a bit off is excellent rainbow

spend day at family Christmas market
£20 on 2 burgers, £45 petrol, £15 other food.
but I did like it and have lots of decorative inspiration

also now doing Boxing Day instead of Dmam so need to plan that