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

Welcome @MissMarplesNiece
LSD 👏 @lifelongfrugaleer
@Rainbow1901 so good of you to be regular childcare- sounds like you have a great relationship with GC
@Happierwithouthim there's not much I would copy from America but mandatory/legal automatic deducting of child support/maintenance would be one of them. Way too many men get away with it. The 'single mother' conversation needs to be reframed as the unaccountable father problem.
@Nellieinthebarn j'adore a good cassoulet. But with a bit of kick 🌶
@RumBananaSundae glad you had an excellent time! Would having a daily budget help in terms of cutting back impulse spends?

Frugajobs: car back from the garage - £600 but that's the last payment and the parts should be good for another 10yrs. However have started a long term car fund for replacing in 10yrs time (I hope) [it's currently 8years old); last bank switch bonus finally in, has been stashed for our final summer holiday trip; stuck to the list when shopping except for a chocolate cheesecake that threw itself into the basket; secondhand bike we bought for dd birthday needs to have a service (still a great saving to buying new); continuing freezer clear down.

£50 petrol

pleased you had a good break rum.

4/5 NSDs and being frugal I have prepared the ingredients for an oddments curry using leftover roast lamb, the last couple of potatoes in the fridge, broccolli and peas from the freezer. Also have two 2 frozen soft pitta breads which I can stick in the toaster. Along with Basmati rice - that's tea sorted.
Did another credit card shuffle to take advantage of a 0% offer and have one card gone and another card to bite the dust very soon. Can't believe how much we have paid off in the last few months. Just hope we can keep it up.

Apart from a £50 direct debit for pet insurance I’ve had a totally no spend month so far. It’s a good feeling!

Spent £22 at a garden centre today. £15 of it on PYO strawberries!! They only had big baskets so I chose that. I knew it would cost a lot.

Starlight** yummy I hope you got loads

€30 dinner
€26 boat trip
€80 spa
€100 hotel
€12 3 pk knickers to match my bras meaning I've now 3 to each bra.
€3.50 delicious chocolate torte
€14 backpack for my day trip
€2.30 toll
€8.90 meal deal & toothpaste

€50 diesel got 3c off per litre & will have a further 4c off per litre through my fuel card

Well done @Rainbow1901 👏 How much/long have you got left to go?
NSM - wow @DonnezDonnez
🍓 😋 @Starlight40
Sounds like a luxurious day @Happierwithouthim 🚢

Similar trip for us today, off to a country estate for pils birthday. They've had a good time when we've taken them to Michelin restaurants before, so I think they will like today too as it's set in beautiful countryside 🤞 for nice weather. Maybe some wouldn't call it frugal, but appreciating family and friends is important and, to me, worth it.
Frugajobs: get washing on the line, bulk cooking meals to be boxed up for the freezer, and that's probably about it.

Things throw themselves into my basket too Chile. It’s such a hazard. I’m not sure about the daily budget. I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve never one. I think impulse might have been the wrong word. It’s not that I see something and buy it straight away. I’ll see, or think about, something and then not be able to stop thinking about it. I wait a while and sometimes I forget or get distracted.

Congrats on the No Spends Donnez.

Spending for me has been £3.50 on toilet roll yesterday (didn’t use a voucher) and about £15 on lunch today as I met a friend.

Does anyone know how to switch to ebilling from their Virgin Media online account? Google has not helped nor have VM’s instructions.

Thanks, you are all so inspiring! I’ve just spent £70 on an ocado order, which is rather a lot for one person and is almost double the usual amount. I’m stocking up on some freezer food and cleaning supplies.

@DonnezDonnez we use ocado every week we find it really good. And especially now they price match Tesco. Alot of the own brand things are really good

Low spend day today...."free" day out at national trust place that the grandparents get us membership for. £15 spent on bird seed but we needed it.

It’s only my second Ocado order since they parted from Waitrose, I’ve definitely sulked for long enough now. Plus they gave me a 3 month delivery pass and money off for coming back.

@Decafflatteplease sounds like a great low spend day 😊 NT membership is such a thoughtful gift.

£29.74 in Iceland and £20.35 in Home Bargains and a running total of 4/6 NSDs. But a fair chunk of that was cat food so she'll be okay for a few weeks now.

I think the point of being fruhal, or one of them is you get to keep
more of your money to spend on nice things.
love PYO & NT

Have chased carpenter to come about a few small jobs as I think I have enough for half a day's work or more. I'm hoping it's much cheaper than the loft job we had done (£1k).
Had to buy new underwear - those of fuller busts will sympathise with the cost 💰
Dinner was lovely and enjoyed by all. Cost within the pound what I had budgeted. Another dinner out on Friday for a friend's 40th so we're a bit gluttonous this week.
A few yellow stickers picked up. Was first discount so only about 10-20% off but some pork shoulder and some lovely chicken in prosciutto with asparagus oven meal.

BT have been taking estimated payments rather than direct debits, I changed to Direct Debit, got £187 refund and reduced the order so the monthly amount is £20 less going forward. Pleased with that.
I offered to pay for teens to have a day out, but they said they’d pay so I’m very pleased with that!

Bought two books and some wire brushes on Amazon (£31.04). Am a tad relieved that Italian mapping is not as good as the OS and IGN. Am considering a visit to Stanfords for a map but their staff are rude and it puts me off buying anything.

Only one day at the office this week so am not spending as much as usual on commuting. Am cupboard eating too so hopefully outgoings will be lower than they could be.

Have spends to catch up on from start of this week but todays spend so far
€50 at dentist prsi covered most of cleaning only €15 myself

Earned €55 on mystery shop yesterday, not sure how long they take to pay out but I've got loads more emails of mystery shops so I'm thinking that might be a nice side line.

Got paid today & it seems I've another pay check from last employers, forgot about my week in hand!

Just got approved for a bank visit & it's one on my journey home from camping tomorrow. Hoping I'll get a Lidl one as well and can do the two, bank is €50 and I'll look for some travel expenses, Lidl is €13 plus €3 spend reimbursed

Pub visit is €20 plus travel plus reimbursement for a pint

Spending on the hotel tonight as everything is going ahead, as far as we know. Of course, we need to leave soon and the procedure for DH is late afternoon, so we'll pass the cancellation window at 14:00. I can only hope that all of the relevant staff and equipment are available.

We might spend on a lunch or dinner tomorrow, depending on DH's frame of mind and how well he's recovering.

But, no regrets. This is why we need savings, to smooth out life's hiccups. We're fortunate we can travel the distance (nowhere more local, it's OOA (out of area)), book the time out of work, and afford to stay over to make this all easier for him.

Hack hope all goes well for your DH

€14 car wash, really good place that's over an hour away and I was passing today

€11.95 lunch

My bank card is cracked so I'm talking my cc which still gives me the willies even though all the spends are budgeted for

Goodo on the mystery shopping Happier. I think I might look it up. Hope your new job is fantastic. Laughed at your willies - I get them too when I use my CC.

Hope everything goes well for your husband Hack. And that you’re OK.

Spending today has been £95 on two gift cards. £50 each for Marks and Spencer and Asda. I saved a little and they should last a while as I only buy milk and odds and ends there.

Not heard from my solicitor and it’s been a week so think I might have to chase. Keep thinking it’s Friday.

£1.95 on milk, its a bit more because its local farm organic whole milk. Its only about 40p more than the co-op though, and worth it because it makes lovely creamy yogurt, and I like supporting the local farms if I can.

Not entirely unexpected but there was an equipment problem so DH's procedure was delayed. I'm doubly pleased that we've opted to stay in a hotel tonight as he won't be released for several hours beyond the original estimate.

In other news, we'll need to do this again within the next 2 weeks. The lack of the right bit of equipment meant that they used something else. And that isn't graded to perform a particular removal that was necessary so we'll have to return to have that done.

Expenditure we hadn't anticipated but it's money we need to spend. We'll be very fortunate if this turns out to be

• benign rather than malignant
• the only unanticipated expenditure related to this.

@2024Hackathon Hope all went well with your DH and that you both had a comfortable night in the hotel.

Hi signing in late to the thread.

I was doing quite well money wise but then my oven has just died 🤦‍♀️ I paid £125 for a bloke from British Gas to come out and tell me I need a new oven so that's annoying.

So need to sort that this weekend, it's already been over a week without one and it's hard work!