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

Oh @2025Hackathon , I am sorry about the redundancy, and your DHs attitude. It sounds so stressful, having all the financial burden on just you. Fingers crossed the package is a good one.

I just realised I haven't been food shopping since 29th January. Its been 11 days since I last bought food, apart from bread and milk, which I sent DH for.

I was doing an Ocado order, but they were out of stock of so many things, I thought sod it, I will go shopping. Then I forgot, and did my menu plan with things from the freezer, cheese and eggs, and bean based things, and just didn't need to go.

I have made a chilli for tomorrow, we can have with rice, and could do jackets with cheese and coleslaw for Tuesday. I've still got porridge and jam or raisins for breakfast and egg sandwiches or beans on toast for lunches. In all I can feed us for 13 days on what I thought was one weeks shopping.

I've been a bit brain foggy this week, which is probably why I forgot I hadn't been shopping, but its saved me money!

@lifelongfrugaleer hope your eye is better soon lovely 💐
AHH thank you @Northender glad you had such a lovely weekend.
Good luck with your new job too 🍀🤞
@Bigskies that sounds like a fab trip to Japan 😊
Yes l did the same , l pay all of our mobile phone bills monthly on my Tesco credit card via DD for the points 😊
@Justgivemehotchocolate
Thank you yes it's a massive relief. l was picturing all sorts of ops tbh none of them good .
Thank you for the reminder re the council tax that is brilliant!
@Nellieintgebarn that is amazing you have managed to go so long without a big shop well done!

Great news mary, I’m so pleased. You can share away from my POV, as you know I have done a bit of this in my career 😂 it sounds a pretty difficult condition to live with though, nothing funny about that.
hack that sounds very stressful. From your description of your DP I think I recognise a kind of doubling down that my DP can do, it’s not head on obstructive but it’s really hard to shift. So I really sympathise. It can feel a bit lonely and financially lonely is a hard place to be.

Big food shop as usual here…130 in Lidl but will go towards having 10% off in a couple of weeks. I have been working very long hours so tbh I felt like I deserve to have nice food in.

otherwise I am waiting to hear if my contract at work is going to revert to FT - I accepted a pay cut last year to avoid redundancy, but we’ve had staff movement since then. I need it tbh as it’s looking likely DS2 will go to uni in Sept and that will cost me around £1000pm with my oldest two there.

@MaryGreenhill that’s great news to get!

@Nellieinthebarn our kitchen was the same. Brand new but the dishwasher was obviously the first appliance installed and where all the lessons were learnt!

well done on not shopping for so long. I can’t imagine being able to do it. Not due to a lack of food but because I can’t cob trip myself. I even love going grocery shopping in foreign countries.

@2025Hackathon please vent here. You are in a very difficult position. Trying to be supportive emotionally whilst also having to be the adult in the room and deal with the loss of income and resulting impacts on your finances. We see you and support you!

well done @BigSkies2022 for selling the chairs. I love buying second hand furniture.

yesterday was a NSD mainly cos we were at my SILs til late celebrating with them. I drove so no hangover for me.

today was €52 petrol, €14 on groceries and €5.42 on a 5 pack of crème eggs and a lollipop for the child. Shop didn’t have any single crème eggs si I was suckered into the big pack.

fridge is definitely getting empty of fresh fruit and veg but I think I can get the rest of the week out of the groceries I have on hand.

small win, child has grown do T-shirts were too small. I went through what I’d put away for summer and pulled out some T-shirts in the next size up. I’d been looking at buying some more long sleeve ones but they run hot anyway so the short sleeve will be fine.

I’ve really noticed this week hoe often I default to thinking about something that’s a perceived need. I’m slowly building up a list of actual needs and will try to buy in person as I’m slower to spend actual cash.

@2025Hackathon that sounds so stressful, DH has been through many many job changes over the time we've been together (I've been at the same place for 16 years!) and it's not nice having the feeling of being "unwanted", but not wanting to deal with the conversations must be so frustrating, rant away here.
@MaryGreenhill such a relief for you to come back clear
@BigSkies2022 good news on the chairs, I always find that when I sell things I get bitten by a bit of a bug to do more, have an Ikea bag full of things to put on Vinted which I must get to!
Sorry for anyone else I forgot, try to keep up but have been very absent this week............
Not hugely frugal, £144 in Ikea for a new mattress (had a voucher, fitted in the car so avoided delivery, and DH took the old one to the tip so no charges there either). We were out Friday and Saturday night so vvvv tired yesterday, food shop was £90 for what didn't look like much but should last for a couple of weeks with what's in the freezer. We have another gig this Friday (how romantic!) and that is us until we go away at the beginning of March so aiming to stay indoors mostly until then! Accomodation and flights are paid for but still need to sort airport parking and investigate bus transfers when we arrive. March is looking super busy all round so need to get my frugal head on to plan............

What's the gig on Friday, Mrs? Are you playing somewhere? A spousal duo is quite romantic!

Went with DH to the 'Valentine 2 for 1' promotion session with his personal trainer this morning. 8am! I'm usually on my second cup of coffee and doing all my admin in bed at that point. It was good! If a bit knackering - circuits at the end especially were hard. I'm going to stretch a lot tonight.

We have another freebie tomorrow: tickets for opera recital/ballet at the theatre underneath the Royal Opera House - want to say the Ledbury, but I think that's a pub in Battersea.

Much joy chez nous after the mighty Argyle felled Liverpool yesterday. We all now have a massive crush on Muslic, and my personal favourite is new centre-back Katic, who (missing a tooth, which he'd lost during the match) announced live to the ITV interviewer, 'I fucking love it. I fucking love it. 100%.'

Evening

@MaryGreenhill. Thank you for sharing. Poor you. I can't imagine how uncomfortable and sore you must be. I'm so pleased though that it's not cancerous. Your GP sounds fab!

You know you've a safe space here @2025Hackathon to vent. It's a tough situation placing the emotional burden on you re the finances. You know we can perhaps at least help practically as well as listening.

Well done on not food shopping since 29th Jan @Nellieinthebarn. That's impressive from my point of view indeed!

Hope it's postive news re the job @marthasmum

Hope you don't ache too much tomorrow @BigSkies2022

NSD today and I really need to menu plan for my own mental health and sanity!! I like to know what I'm cooking each week.

Totally in awe of missing a shop. It’s bonkers this month here for food and I’m not sure why.
ooo DOMS for you big

made £15 on vinted and another £33 pending. Could have made more but want rid
£3.45 getting milk & bread while posting 10 said vinted parcels

Ooo I’ve been a lurker on this thread for a while and glad I’ve found it as I really need to stop spending and save some pennies!! Started to watch what I spend and look for bargains.
ive spent £30 on Vinted today buying clothes for my baby twins…big bundles of sleepsuits & vests and a few little cardigans as they are outgrowing their current 3-6 month clothes! Going to try to keep food shop under £50 for the week including formula & nappies…will use lots from cupboards and freezer.
my partner & I will treat ourselves to M&S valentines dine in for two ❤️ and I’ll buy him a card and a little gift.
And I’ll treat myself to a coffee on Wednesday as made £7 selling some old books and DVDs… parter will be looking after the Twinnies so I’ll get some rest time!
Next week I’ll do a bit of a bigger food shop and bulk buy some formula from Costco.
I’ve only been more careful with my money for a few weeks but it’s mad to realise how much money I was chucking away!

@Bobbieiris it’s mad how easy it is to spend money. Even grocery shopping can be a habit.

€20 towards a retirement gift in work. Nearly spent €40 odd on Amazon but stopped myself. Had chocolate bar moulds and a kids art frame both of which I saw on Instagram in my cart. I’m going to wait and think about those. I can make chocolate bark instead of the bars. Might get the frame in the end but I’ll do more searching and make sure it will work for my needs.

Welcome @BobbieIris 😁@TheOnlyMrsW @pistachiosanscream @needastrongoneagain @marthasmum thank you all so much , it is what it is ,l just have to live with it everyday and think l am lucky it's not cancer , l could be so worse off .
@Needastrongoneagain
Yes my GP is absolutely amazing , l am so so lucky .
My Gynae consultant is brilliant as well l am so grateful for them both.
Spends £78 Aldi , £2 for papers for Mum and her friend and £2 for a punnet of raspberries in Tesco cos Aldi's didn't have any .
£20 for lunch with my friend .
Hope the FT working comes to fruition for you @marthasMum .
Well done on the tee shirts @pistachiosanscream
@@TheOnlyMrsW @pistachiosanscream @needastrongoneagain @marthasmum thank you all so much , it is what it is ,l just have to live with it everyday.
Yes my GP is absolutely amazing , l am so so lucky .
My Gynae consultant is brilliant as well l am so grateful for them both.
Spends £78 Aldi , £2 for papers for Mum and her friend and £2 for a punnet of raspberries in Tesco cos Aldi's didn't have any .
£20 for lunch with my friend .
Hope the FT working comes to fruition for you @marthasMum 🤞
Well done on finding the tee shirts ☺️ @pistachiosanscream
@TheonlyMrsW that's brilliant you are going to a gig on the weekend have a great time 😁
@Needastrongoneagain good luck with the meal planning 🍀😁

Big wasn't the match fantastic? Ds was there but dh wasn't due to our weekend away. He was gutted to miss it, but we watched on TV & celebrated. Muslic is inspirational & Katic & Maxi are legends already! Man City is a local one for DH & Ds is going to come home for the weekend, they have enough points on the system to guarantee tickets (none of that is frugal though!)

north - wow, what a memory for DS! one for the grandchildren on his knee! But, OMG, Man City - what kind of draw, I ask you. All the players came over so well. As for frugality - well, sometimes history just demands something different of us!

Moving cautiously this morning, but no DOMS as yet.

Meeting DH in Covent Garden this evening at a yet-to-be-determined venue for something quick, diet-compliant and fairly low cost before the ballet. Sounds like a unicorn.

5/10 NSD and another credit card has bitten the dust!! I've been keeping on with chipping at the debt and adding to savings too. Just been pondering if when annual rises come in during March/April could I just move those over to savings and we carry on with 'income' as it is. Depends on what happens with bills like Council tax and Water and how much they will increase by. Will sit on that thought for now.
Still eating stuff from the freezer - made a cottage pie yesterday and there's enough for tonights' tea with beans or veg plus chips if DH is feeling really hungry.

Big nothing romantic like that, a cracking band in a rock pub in Blackpool with a cap of about 200, DH and I know some of the band (!) so will be a good night. DH is also in a band hence 2 gigs in a row - one to see and one to play 😊
£19.98 on an Oddbox delivery yesterday which arrived today, along with my fridge contents I have broccoli (2), squash (3), huge spring onions, carrots, green beans, mange tout, kale, mushrooms, peppers, courgettes and a big bag of potatoes. In the freezer we have fish pie mix, diced chicken breast, chicken thighs, a big beef joint, big pork joint, smoked salmon, pork mince and burgers. We go away on the 1st March so hoping that this will see us through until then with just milk and bread to buy...............off to do a humungous meal plan!

great work in getting rid of another credit card

@MaryGreenhill I have Lichen Sclerosis, luckily only a fairly small patch but it makes me really miserable when it flares up, the itching is like nothing else just on that specific patch. It's on the outside of my bits so just wearing knickers really can hurt it when it's bad. So I feel your pain xxx

I am ummmmming and aaaahing about if we should go on holiday this year. We haven't been on holiday apart from city breaks in the UK for 10 years because of all sorts, my health mainly. I feel sad at what we've missed out on. But now my health is finally under control, we have some money coming in now I’m going back to work, and I'd love to get away properly with DW and DS. But is it mad when we're in debt? Probably. We've both booked a week off in September and we've booked the dogs into the boarders for the week too, so we will definitely do something, we're considering either the NC500 (we live in Scotland) or going abroad for the first time in a decade (I have a fear of flying but think I could manage it now).

@Nessa We have debt but are pensioners and feel that as long as we can pay down the debt as well as save- then life is for living. If you don't have a treat every once in a while it can be very depressing. But if you have enough money for your needs then why not?

£135 at Aldi, but that includes things like loo roll, and washing up liquid, so I stocked up a bit on those. We've also got the DGC coming next week for half term, so I've got some extra bits like the cereal they like and some ice-creams and other treats. I'm quite pleased with that tbh considering the cupboards were looking very bare.

@MaryGreenhill @Nellieinthebarn. Naga Munchetty had a really long radio article today about lichen sclerosus and similar conditions. It was fascinating and heartbreaking in combination the stories told. Worth a listen.

£3.90 milk for work which I'll claim back.

Still no menu plan. Devoid of enthusiasm and inspiration this week! We are having venison and black bean chilli tonight because it's easy!

Sorry if I spelt that incorrectly.

I’ve dug a 2022 spice mix out and we are having chicken tagline with rice. Still tasty

MrsW are you in Blackpool? I am just down the M55 from there.

That sounds good & has reminded me I need to use some of the mixes I got at Christmas

@NessaSmith as others have said you do have to live too. Maybe setup a fund to save for it. Whenever your tempted to buy something unnecessary put the money in there instead.

NSD today as I barely left the house. Started another painting project so hopefully that will keep me occupied and out of the shops. Next week is midterm so will definitely be expensive.

my fridge is also at the stage where it makes me itch to shop. There’s still food there but it’s patchy and takes more planning to make meals. However I am the only one that finds this a problem and I’m hoping to make it to the weekend before doing a shop. I am however doing much better about using up the pantry stockpile. So I’ll try to keep on the use it up train.