January Frugaleers thread brings no judgment just friendly banter & advice for like minded folk

[Happierwithouthim]

A place where all are welcome regardless of income, level of debt or reason for being in debt or debt free.

We're friendly, full of good advice and open to new ideas where to shave off expense and how to live your best life on the income you have.

Over the years we've celebrated debt payoffs, babies, leaving jobs, getting different jobs, bonuses, and we've been there for each other through difficult times.

New posters welcome always & I hope posters who have fallen off thread will rejoin too

@Christmasgonk CI? Channel Islands? Me too!

£41 boots on things for holiday. I stuck rigidly to my list.

haircut today too. Hairdresser did not charge me.

Expecting our tornado warning later on hopefully it won't wake my daughter!
I refused to go to the supermarket and ordered myself an Indian for tea.
Pretty satisfied with my spending this week.

Oh bless her that's so kind of her that does that , it makes you feel like they care 💐

I think that’s a thing with a lot of cancer patients Hairdresser don’t charge

€65 on groceries, though €15 of this was stocking up on easter chocolate as it was a very good price.
€66 on removing my BIAB and getting my eyebrows and eyelashes done. spendier day then i had planned. I'm meant to be going out tomorrow night but who knows what state the place will be in.
Storm prep is mostly done. Devices and rechargeable lights sorted. Soup made, water bottles filled and later i will fill the bath with water so we can continue to flush the toilets.

Hello all. I'm going to use this thread as a way to remind me to keep spending on my children's toys in check. We shall see how that goes. And to also save up for a future deposit for a mortgage? Or just general savings.

How is everyone?
Also storm? There is a storm coming?

Pistachios sounds like you have done some amazing prep there! Hope it doesn't effect you too much regardless, is it this weekend?

No big grocery shop today, though much is needed, just too knackered. Best double check the shopping list though. Add oil.

Paintandpots I’m hoping bring prepared will mean we skip the power cuts but we’ve been warned to expect significant damage to the electricity supply.

all schools are closed so the 5 year old believes this means watching movies and eating chocolate!

our main worry are the trees on our property. We lost a couple in storm Darragh and a big limb off another during the snow. Both times it all worked out fine as they fell away from houses. Fingers crossed if anything comes down this time it won’t be destructive.

€59 diesel
€95.40 dunnes incl €25 wellies for ds & approx €30 on T-shirts for bf
€25 local centra incl €8 on alcohol for me
€100 Virgo boutique influenced by insta on jeans, trainers & two tops

Dd did two hours sorting all loose stuff outside while I was at ds's basketball game . I'm just after building kitchen extension so there was a lot to do. I think I only spent ten mins checking and gathering any little bits.
Storm is gathering momentum already

Don’t you love it when a 10 minute school drop off leads to a clothing change?! I’m soaked. The wind direction meant the rain got my front soaked on the way to school with the kids and my back on the way back home. Yuk.

pre op appointment today. Will then probably have to do a food shop.

Em least you weren't on the way to work good luck with appointment

I'm in the thick of the red warning area too in my corner of Scotland. Nearly shit my pants when we got the government text yesterday! We're as prepared as can be, it is so so loud outside, our county was issued a 'stay at home' order and all business shut etc. Stay safe everyone! And I'm desperately hoping for no power cut this time. @pistachiosanscream hope your power stays on too.

Thoroughly depressed myself yesterday by finally pulling my head out of the sand and making a list of our debt and adding it up...

16,500. Where's the vomit emoji?

Not in the red warning area - but a third of our shed roof just blew off!! But landed in our garden - just have to hope the rest stays on until the wind drops and we can do some repairs. 😟Can't do anything while the winds are so strong - it's pretty scary out there!

Oh God hope everyone is ok. We are fine here in Monmouthshire thankfully.
@Em good luck with the pre op 💐
I am waiting for biopsy results and the not knowing is excruciating.
No spend today so far but have to buy a nice gift for my Step niece and send it to her .
She's a gorgeous yummy Mummy and l am so far removed from being a yummy Mummy. l have no idea what to get her 😁

We survived the storm with no power cuts and very little tree damage. I think darragh took down quite a bit. So far it seems that whenever I prepare well we escape the power cuts!

@NessaSmith well done on calculating that. It’s an amazing first step and so important. Look into the snowball method of debt payoff I always found it worked for me as it gave me little highs rather than seeing it as a big slog.

Bought the wellness box from M&S for my step niece
£33.99 delivered . Just her cup of tea l think . Great value .

I keep getting recommendations to buy things I've never heard of on this thread! Just looked up the M&S beauty box!!!

I'm really hoping those folk that are in the areas where the storms are at their worst are safe. Sorry for any damage folk have incurred,

Hoe you're okay Mary re the biopsy.

You've confronted in Nessa. That's a positive start. Stick with this thread and that debt will reduce. Might not be easy, but it will reduce.

Any scope to buy second hand toys Paint?

So it's payday today and I was up very early, so I closed off last month's money and transferred the coming months to my various spending pots. Really pleased to be able to fund my mole issue from the general spending pot rather than 'unforeseen extras' and have £100 left from the month, in addition to the usual savings.

NSD so far but having a takeout with friends tonight as it's my birthday on Sunday. Going out is a bit harder these days re DH, so it'll certainly be cheaper than booking a restaurant.

Booked my boiler service (we have a contract) and changed my utilities DD. Broadband will be my weekend task .

'It, not in.

Hope you're all managing in the storm, especially Irish Frugaleers and in other affected areas.We are North East and it's been very windy but all okay so far. DC (13 and 19) are out with their mates, fearless at that age!

Nessa second sticking with the thread. It helps on a day to day basis.

Its the end of my credit card cycle and I've spent £464 less than December. It does get paid in full and is my main variable cost - the less it is the more I can put aside for bigger spends. Only spent £8.60 on groceries and non groceries since Monday.

Need a big food shop tomorrow though but I won't go mad. Lidl and Home Bargains only!

Lost count of my NSD tally but it has actually been pretty good this month. The last time I spent anything was on the 20th but I had a few NSDs before that when I killed it with booking a holiday!!
Did an audit of the freezers and dug out some Tandoori chicken which I did with a couscous mix in the cupboard. In the same cupboard, was a Lidl version of Angel Delight! That was a blast from the past!! There are quite a few packets in the cupboard so could do a sort of declutter by actually using them when I do a menu plan with the contents of the freezers.
At the moment, the shopping list consists of coffee and butter. Let's hope it stays that way!!

Happy birthday for Sunday need

i agree, that hardest step is confronting the reality. Everything from here will chip away at it

fingers crossed for the biopsy results Mary

£30 Sainsbury’s as thought getting extra people for dinner with no power but it’s back on. Well use the stuff. £80 dd and I hair

Pre op done. Hoorah. So I’ve been given even more info for my op. Which I may or may not read.

mary best of luck re the biopsy. The medical results wait time nervous is as I’m reliably told “scanxiety”

pizza for dinner. And DH bought me a bottle of bubbly. We’ve cracked it open and I’ve had a glass.

am now in bed. The post chemo body aches and fatigue have kicked in. 😠😭 but this is the worst ill ever feel chemo side effects wise.

nsd.

Sending you hugs @ememem84 The cumulative effects of chemo are the pits and so tiring. Look after yourself and hopefully you will be feeling much brighter very soon.