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

IKEA does suck you in and shake you down doesn't it.
Well I've survived to payday in the black so I'll take that as a victory.
See you all on the Feb page?!

We usually just carry on until the thread is full chips
I have another week to payday 😞

Ha! I have 16 pence left in my personal account until 2 Feb; and our joint account, for monthly bills, household expenses and food, is overdrawn by about the same amount that I overpaid the energy bill this month. That one gets topped up on 31st of the month. So, January is running bloody long. But I did budget for and cover off a bunch of annual expenses this month, so it's all good. Will do some more Prolific surveys to top up!

£3 on an interlibrary loan for a book that, for some reason, costs £17 secondhand on Amazon. (Library fees sit on my account, and I pay them when I hit £10).

Thank you for this- made me stop and think. Discussed it with DW and we've decided it makes sense to keep it this time, as I would inevitably have bought it at some point. But a good reminder to really not put myself into difficult situations, and to really work on the impulsiveness.

I saw your comment as I was thinking of going to town, and it made me decide against it. Would have cost for parking, inevitable coffee and probably cake, bits from here there and everywhere. So I decided to stay at home and had a really nice afternoon doing crafts and listening to an audiobook. Thanks

Large shop at Lidl yesterday. £127. I had some coupons on Lidl Plus which was having technical issues (I lost around £12) so I sent a query to customer service and they've added 2 x £12 coupons to my app plus I still have the 10% off. Next week's shop will be cheaper!

£99 on a Ring Doorbell. Lost patience with DS (19) having friends coming in and out on Friday night. I do lock the door but then he opens it and I don't realize etc etc. I want to relax in my own space!

£7 on bubble tea for DD as she got a postcard sent home from school.

Mary I hope your results come soon. Did you use to post under a different name and liked bedding? I've been off the thread for around 6 months so kind of lost track...

I agree bigskies January has been so long.

IKEA gets me every time Nessa need to get spare wheels for the dishwasher rack this week and I will not come out with just that! Not that I'm encouraging this lol, just you are not alone!

sits back down

Yes , that was me lovely, l do remember your name . l have a thing about duvet covers it's under control atm l was MrsMadEvans from Monmouthshire ahh thank you so much that is so kind of you . I am bricking it tbh
That was a great win from Lidl fair dos to them !

Well done Nessa, once the purse opens it can be very hard to close it again.

yesterday €50 on a boots order. My nails are so soft after BIAB, they were always crap but worse now. So I got some nail strengthener and base coat and I needed new razor blades. Then €51.50 on a takeaway as we had my mum for dinner as her power was out and she loves a curry

today I spent €29 on groceries that included a gift for friends we visited for brunch.

I’ve also decided to reduce my food stockpile. I built it up first when DH was out of work and it was a type of savings for me. Then there was the pandemic and then Ukraine. Today at our friends I realised how much more stuff we have. It’s definitely time for an edit and I’ve realised that I don’t need the stockpile I had. I now have my own car and we live close to a shop so I can easily pick up something if I run out. It will also hopefully be better for our health to have less food in stock as ultimately that includes treats.

£60 over budget for Jan - it's been a long one. Hoping to even out as of February.

Weekly care package for £18 Inc. Postage
Then need to locate some easy puzzles/entertainment for other family member who will be in hospital for at least another 3weeks

Frugawins

• new trousers reduced from £150 - managed to get them for £90 using Google shopping to compare the best prices. They'll be worn once a week minimum and my previous ones lasted 10years.
• as new clothes/shoes for the DDs on vinted saving probably around £20

Sounds like a lovely Sunday nessa
Well done Lidl. That’s the kind of cos you need

the trousers sound like and investment

£25 for horse thing and DD smashed it

Have listed my wigs on eBay. One has sold for £35. So need to pop her in the post.

€5 parking yesterday as it was lashing rain so parking was a worthwhile expense.

Have booked in a Tesco delivery for Tues to don't usually get delivery but it'll probably work out cheaper then going into the store

The start of another determined week for me! DW finally gets paid tomorrow, this has felt like the longest January ever.

£30 for new school trousers for DS today plus the bus fare. Can't be avoided, he's sprouted up.

£6.45 on Prolific, brings my current account balance to a princely £6.71. I have other stashes squirrelled away, if I really really need to spend, but I'd rather just stick with my NS plans this week and let loose again next week.

I have been marking my diary with the '52 micro-actions for financial well-being', as per the podcast. So last week, I wrote down my key financial metric for 2025, which is my emergency cash fund. I'm aiming to increase it by 500% this year, having run it down somewhat last year, and I have set up my spreadsheet to show me what to do each month to achieve that, while also meeting my other commitments and priorities.

This week, the task is to set down your 'financial catch-phrase', which is a sentenced designed to pull you back towards your strategy. So in my case, that's something like 'Would I rather buy this thing now or put the money towards my emergency cash fund goal?' I need to find a more inspiring version of that, maybe with specific quantities attached, but that's the gist.

Anyway, nessa, maybe this approach would help slow you down when confronted with the urge to buy? You already know your metric - debt - and the level. Have you determined a monthly plan (a realistic one! not one that excludes all pleasures and expenditure, because no-one can stick to that while they have access to money).

We lost a couple of roof slates and had a roofer over this morning to replace them. It's now blowing a storm, so that was timely. The invoice will roll in later this week, and can be paid out of February's joint account. February will be blessedly short.

Shopping in Asda £56
DD2 paid for the Costco joint membership for DH birthday , so that was a saving of £33.99
He asked for it 😁
Bought a lovely Daffodil Single duvet cover for my Mum's birthday £8.
It's gorgeous. Hehe my duvet cover addiction is alive and well by the looks😂

• Big Costco shop yesterday so need to start batch cooking to see us through to mid Feb at least before we start on ready meals and takeaways again
• was planning on a city centre visit yesterday before Costco to spend gift vouchers, but like PP thought of paying for parking & drinks and thought better of it. It was vile out anyway.
• essential spend - new inner soles for walking boots. I took some stuff out of the amazon basket - leather cleaner - for purchase next month

@BigSkies2022 - I like the idea of a financial catch phrase. I must think of one.

Evening.

@Chile1978 I'm so sorry to hear about your family members. We've extensive knowledge in the Need household of long term NHS care, DH was in a rehab hospital for 10 months. Also on ICU initially - sending warm thoughts,

I'm not sure what my financial catch phrase would be, but it's a great idea and I'll have a think.

Well done the your DD @lifelongfrugaleer

It's been relatively quiet here spending-wise. A large supermarket delivery and veg box delivery (bi-weekly), £35 on my roots doing on Saturday, but very little else. £6 today on teabags (normal ones, we all drink decaf etc) and DH's Tangastics!

We've nothing much planned socially either, so I'm hoping February will be a quiet month financially and we can fund some work that needs doing in the garden (trees need thinning). I've a guy coming round tomorrow and I've no idea re cost. We've lived here 13 years and the already very established trees need tidying (we'd never get rid). We will see.

£270 refund on an activity we are postpone. That win go back into savings

My catchphrase will not be polite. Probably something like stop spending money you don’t have you stupid twat.
on a serious note it’s a great idea

😂😂@lifelongfrugaleer

Travelling for work today. €3.50 on parking, €12 on a card and treat for a friend and €14 on a chipper for dinner as I wasn’t home until 8pm.

Also avoided spending €65 on a new coatigan. I’d nearly bought it online a few weeks ago as it was reduced but they didn’t have my size. Then saw it in the shop today further reduced. However colours weren’t amazing on me so I passed. I know of I’d bought it online I’d have kept it but not worn it much.

it was an interesting lesson about my impulsiveness even with items I’ve put consideration into buying. Buying in person I’m much less likely
to actually purchase. I don’t “feel” money spent online the same way I feel money spend in person.

@BigSkies2022 whats the podcast please?

my financial catchphrase would be “you need to save that money bitch! Don’t buy stupid shit”

nsd yesterday. Took ddad out for breakfast. Fully intended on paying for him. But he insisted. 🤷🏻‍♀️

currently waiting at opticians. Fun fact. Chemo makes eyesight worse. So here we are.

hoping I can claim this back on my insurance.

Hi em. The podcast is by Paula Pant (yes, really), and it's called Afford Anything. This particular episode is number 570, released on 3 January, called The Compound Effect of 52 Tiny Financial Changes. You can apparently download a pdf but I've not been able to do that (maybe my ad-blocker? dunno), so I just listen to bits of the podcast and write down each weekly task in my diary as I go.

Got a £10 giftcard from MoneySuperMarket because I sourced our pet insurance through them. Sitting on my Amazon account to be redeemed against our next order (lightbulbs and pet dental chews, excitingly).

Still eating down the pantry. Cooked a big piece of pork belly (from the Christmas order) on Sunday, ate it again cold last night with salad, there's a small bit left today, can go into sandwiches. Minced beef from the freezer to make a chilli tonight. Tinned tomatoes and coconut milk for tomato soup. I think the only thing I'll need to buy this week is bread and butter, and lemons. DH has taken to doing some shopping to ensure he always has food plan-compliant items around. I am very happy about this development! I like cooking and eating, but even so, the requirement to maintain supplies and plan meals gets old, especially on the days when I would be happy with beans on toast or soupy noodles!

BigSkies great idea, I'm going to think of a financial catchphrase.

I think 'stop and think, is this necessary?' or 'do I want this or to be debt free more?' something like that.