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

Pleased you had a good time Em ⛱️ perfect time of year to go.

That's a good run need well done 8mm is very good. I'm more like a jog of 11mm and it was so cold on Thursday when I went out near the beach ❄️ roll on the better weather 🙏

Lidl £67, B&M £11. Also £6.77 unexpected spend tonight. DS's friends really annoyed me playing knocky nine doors with the ring doorbell while I was driving, they are 19. I dropped off DD and her friend at home and went and sat in the bar of the leisure club I'm a member of and had chips and a diet coke. I get 25% off there. Did some work. Just needed space from home or I'd have ranted at DH or DS and to be fair it wasn't either of them. Home and in bed now. Added a 'leave a message' response to the ring doorbell. Only had it a few weeks so just learning.

@ememem84 glad you had a nice holiday a.bit of sun sounds wonderful right now!

Not sure if people know this already as I didn't but in m and s if you need post surgery bras then they are vat exempt if you fill a short form out at the till

Welcome back, em - sorry we couldn't arrange better weather, but the BBC promise better times next week.

Sneaky trip to Bridget Jones movie booked for this afternoon with DH. Otherwise a day of workouts, dog walking, and probably yet another load of washing. DS came home last night, then almost immediately went out again for a friend's birthday dinner. Will need to sit with him at some point over the next day or two to work out budgets to get through the next two months. (He ain't going to make it to the next maintenance loan payment without either working or help from us - but it's his final year, he has three big deadlines and I'd really rather throw money at him at this point rather than have him running around the country taking agency work. DS has always preferred to balance his budget by increasing his income rather than cutting back; which is admirable, but not always the best use of his time.)

Holiday view.

I did know about the post surgery bras in M&S. however. Not here. I have to pay full price. Sucks.

NSD for me today hooray and about time but DH bought brake fluid £4.75 from Screwfix .
Oh dear l spoke too soon l bought 4 tops in the George sale for £25 😁

Y'day was a LSD. £28.97 for replacement wheels for the dishwasher rack as the fittings have eroded over the 10 years we've had it and it's not cleaning properly. Hopefully this might do the job 🤞

Four tops for £25 is a bargain! Mary

Hope Bridget was good blueskies I'm going next Monday

Bridget was brilliant, kessie! A very strong cast, great jokes (some of which only Hugh Grant could pull off), a perfect balance between tears and laughter.... I'm going to watch this film again and again, ha! Spent a tenner on a coffee/tea and a cardamom bun before the screening. Poked around a new shop with some mouthwatering cushions and textiles, earmarked for future gift buying. But not any time soon!

Dparents coming over today for a spag bol dinner to catch up with DS. Otherwise, a quiet day of French prep, dog management, Pilates and the like.

puedo - I don't go to a Pilates class. All workouts are YouTube based, and the Pilates one I currently follow is Posture Tonic with Jacinta. I really got used to not paying for exercise during lockdown and never went back.

£65 left in guilt-free spending until the next payday. There is £150 left in the joint account for groceries.

Week 8 podcast instructions: cut your cable and streaming subscriptions. I have actually gone the other way on this one, having taken out a sub to Netflix this month. But I am getting lots of use from it, so will keep it for now.

£82 bedding for dc in dunhelm

I bought an Apple Watch 🙀not gonna try and justify it as I know it's an absolutely bonkers expense. But I do love it already and won't be taking it back.

Spending has spiralled out of control the past 2 weeks, mainly because DS is here, but I'm also disappointed in myself. I am so very impulsive and living beyond my means. It has to stop.

@lifelongfrugaleer I love new bedding! Weve recently switched to all cotton bedding and a wool duvet thanks to suspected perimenopause and Dunelm is very reasonable for cotton bedding I find.

I'm debating buying a new coat it's in the sale for £90 down from £160 but £90 still alot of money! My current coat the zip is started to stick a little bit I've onlky had it since September, it was from white stuff so not cheap. At my volunteering job it's shoved in cupboard and I wonder if it's gotten caught on something or the door etc. the one I'm looking at is seasalt. I do already have 4 (!) seasalt coats so technically don't need another one but 2 are summer and my 2 winter ones are wither too small or top big! But the zip on my white stuff one still works its just awkward, so I can't decide!

@kessiebird l know l was thrilled with them fingers crossed they fit me now🤣

It was cotton I got for the dc

i would write to white stuff & complain it’s not fit for purpose
what’s the likely £ per wear for the new one

Lidl's today £38
It was for barely anything too 🙄
Freezing here l can't wait to pit the heating on 🥶

@NessaSmith it’s a marathon not a sprint. You can still tackle this.

I was active in these threads last year until around may when I also went off the rails spending. while it was a case of 2 steps forward and one step back when I came back this year I was still a step ahead of when I started last year. Just being more aware of your spending habits is a big step. And kids around always mean more spending!

which brings me to day one of the midterm break. €36 in Penneys buying new runners, crocs and a bath bomb for the child. 2 bowls for me too.

€7.20 on tea and a bun that we shared. €4.35 on bread and bananas. Another way to only buy what you need in the supermarket. Bring the 5 year old who’s run out of patience for shopping.

finally €11 on a WiFi lightbulb that’s a present for my niece.

yesterday was a NSD but tomorrow is likely to be spendy.

however having looked at my bank statements I can see that we have more money than normal left in the joint account and my personal account than other years so I’m delighted about that.

LSD think just £1.20 for a can of diet coke.

Oh can't wait for Bridget bigskies
Let us know how the tops are Mary

I have coat envy decaffe I got such a nice sage green padded, long coat in Morrisons of all places which I love but it's sleeveless! Not good when it's as cold as this. I went back for the version with sleeves and they sold out. Can't seem to find a one like that now. Maybe try to return yours first as faulty?

Nothing like new bedding life

Nessa keep chipping away and don't beat yourself up. I have months like that.

This morning realized we really need a new mattress. Just noticed the springs seem to have sprung out of the side. I hadn't noticed as we have one of those mattress cover things. Could do without that, with a leaky waste trap in the kitchen sink (plumber next week) and just replaced DHs car which conked out on Boxing Day.

NSD Thank God
Ohh expensive time for you @kessiebird
l will keep you posted on the tops and ohhh new bedding
AKA my addiction

Done reasonably well this week keeping unnecessary spending under control but have still spent
£120 on petrol/diesel although dh can claim some back for work
£99.06 ocado shop, we are aiming for less than £100/week and just managed it
this week
And the painful one, £160 to replace a pothole wrecked tyre , fortunately we have a seperate 'car' budget for stuff like this.

@Bobbieiris welcome to the thread. I lurk more than post but its still really good to see how other people are doing and helps remind me to keep the spending under control.
Like @pistachiosanscream we are starting to see more money in the accounts compared with the same time last month/year and its very satisying.

@marthasmum sorry to hear your dh is also at risk or redundancy. It's a worrying time.

@ChipshopPickledEgg i try and avoid going shopping with dh. Sometimes I don't even tell him im going cos it'll be "oooo can you just get this" and "can you just get that" and before i know it i've got a whole list of stuff when all i wanted was a pint of milk.

@ememem84 Holiday looks lovely, glad you had a good time.

Day 2 of midterm and spending is going up!
€10 on cushion covers and an organiser for art materials
€11 cinema with small child.
€120 on a stick up at the restaurant supply store.
€21 on Amazon for a Lego set I couldn’t get in the toy shop today and soft close hinges to make a storage bench safe for small child.

the most I’ve spend in one day in a while. However I know that the no and low spend days are allowing me to have the cash available that this isn’t a problem.

I get paid on the 25th of each month so February is actually one of my long months for salary.

weve has a god few big expenses, flights, an oil refill etc in Jan/feb but thankfully we’ve had the money available for this as the savings I implemented last year did stick in the most part.

@kessiebird isn't it always the way one thing after another!

@pistachiosanscream we are also rattling through the money on half term . Today was a "free" day out at national trust. Obviously not free but we pay monthly so it feels free as we aren't handing over money on the day. Grandparents treated us to snacks in the cafe 🙂 we've got a trampoline park booked later in the week and I'm I my taking 2 out of my 4 DC (others are too old) and it's £40! For 2 hours!

2 DC also seem to have outgrown their school and weekend shoes so 4 x new shoes needed I think.

Bowling, arcades and a few games of pool yesterday for me and DS- £45. Urgh. And that was after £31 out for lunch too.

So nice having time together, so hard handing over the money!

NSD today as i had to work this morning and small child was minded by my mother. day 3 of mid term down.

If anyone wants podcast mentions i recommend the latest episode of money for Couples with Ramit Sethi, he delves into the emotional side of spending and i found the latest couple, jill and frank, relatable. Interesting to see the switch from needs to wants.

Lots of the stuff he talks about aren't relatable to Ireland or the UK. He talks a lot about investing and american pension options and often talks about running the numbers on buying a house and thats its often more expensive to buy than rent. Here in Ireland its generally always the better long term financial decision to buy a house rather than renting as our tenants rights are poor. but i still enjoy listening just to hear about other people financial lives.

Today's been spendy!

£8 this morning as needed new coffee at work got two in the club card and some vanilla sugar (it's rubbish, do not recommend)

£6 needed fruit and eggs for work.

Work is bloody spendy! Might have to retire 😆 laughs in never going to retire

£28 cinema tickets for Monday
£27 retirement do after work.
£4 approx parking

And that's before half term starts here 😲

£16 in Cancer charity shop.
£19 Tesco
£4.50 M&S
Got brilliant buys in charity shop today .
Edinburgh Woollen Mill skirt for Mum new with tags
Gorgeous little handbag brand new also for my Mum
Bird planter
Trilogy of books
Emma Bridgewater spot Spaghetti tin
I was really lucky today 😁