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

Love a good charity shop haul @MaryGreenhill my wedding dress was from a charity shop 🙂

Love the flowery thing is that the bag?

We've fixed our energy today, we were already on a fix for 12 months with 6 months left but they were offering a 16 month fix so we've gone with that (no exit fees) so thought it was worth a go. Good to have stability for longer.

@Decafflatteplease yes the bag is the black floral picture.
Good for you getting your wedding dress from a charity shop .
It's such a great idea, everyone is a winner 😁

That is a good chazzer haul. Ours has lovely stuff but I need nothing so don’t go in much

spendy yesterday as work pal leaving £8.50 lunch, £2.20 breakfast & 15 drinks.
will miss her

cancelled Mr Sainsbury’s as times don’t work today do will meal plan and go to Aldi tonight

I also am in the giving to charity shops rather than topping up possessions mode - donated a dress, and two shirts this week. That said, I did buy a good pair of boots in a Mind shop in January, which have had a lot of wear already. But I am keen to pare down, rather than add, this year.

I have eked out/used up lipstick, blusher, eyebrow gel thingy quite effectively, so this is a small saving in January and February. I have about £20 in the pending bit of my Prolific account, so when that comes through I will treat myself to a replacement lippy!

Over halfway through what I knew was going to be a tight quarter. March brings the last payment of DS' rent and utilities for university. So April will see the end of one set of responsibilities and a bit of extra cash each month. (Hence the promise to start a PT course and boost my ageing body).

Still grey and damp here, albeit warmer. Still no motivation to do anything in the garden except try and block the fox holes with pots and bricks.

My children have the same love for shopping that I do.

Ds needs runners, decided to wait until Sat
Dd needs top for disco, decided she won't bother going

I bought a weighing scales, basically same one as I just broke €22 in Tesco 15 year warranty must register it

Converted €9 Tesco vouchers to €27 Milano we will go there later. I've an appointment in about an hour so lunch will have to wait & be a combined lunch/dinner

Spent £10 on a charity sponsor donation for a friend.
I worked out our grocery bill for a week it came to about £170 for four adults . That included papers/woman's weekly for my Mum, toiletries and cleaning stuff .
I buy stuff in Aldi , Lidl and Tesco usually.
Is that about what everyone else is spending ?
Am just wondering if l am extravagant or is this about the norm ?

@MaryGreenhill we are around £270 a week for 2 adults 4 children. One of my children needs a specialist diet though which rockets the cost up but such is life!

It's usually £150 on ocado including cleaning stuff etc
£50 hello fresh
£50 top up during the week
£20 a week milkman
£10 a day / £50 a week school dinners

Thank you @Decafflatteplease looks like you and l are spending about the same, allowing for the school dinners, the special diet and the extra mouths you have to feed . That is reassuring thank you

mary ours is about 160-175 for two adults and two teenagers who eat lots. I could do it cheaper but equally don’t feel I over spend. I go on the chats about shopping a lot and I think this is about average x

Ours is about £100 a week for 2 adults plus £55 a week Gousto. That includes toiletries and cleaning etc, as well as dog food, we don't drink alcohol. I can't seem to get it lower (and it's a hell of a lot higher when DC is home).

That’s about it for me Mary 4-6 adults

I think there has been another massive price rise recently tbh

Aw thank you all so much for replying, it makes me feel better about my expenditure. It's all so expensive l just can't believe how much everything has gone up . Not a bit of wonder ppl are relying on food banks .

Ive just calculated my minimum I would need each week and it's £60 - 5 years ago that was a decent weekly shop.

I think we average £100-£120 a week on food for 3 of us. That includes cleaning and laundry products. Cat food is separate as I order on Zooplus when needed.
I have been trying to use up freezer and cupboard stocks so have managed some less expensive shops.

@chipshop yes £60 would have been a good shop for us a couple of years back .

@Vinorosso74 that's a great idea l must use my store cupboard items up

I’m at peak food consumption with 2 adults, 2 teens I& the outlaws once a week. We hardly eat out but get too many takeout
Yesterday was one for end of term but bigger all food in

my weekend shop is £107

I budget €500 a month for 2 adults and one child. Using up my stockpile etc I can get it cheaper but realistically I think it’s an accurate budget as I like to stock up on meat etc by buying direct from farmers.

yesterday was very expensive but mainly planned.

€1800 on tree removal. €8.95 groceries, €24 on doughnuts for the people removing the trees. €6.50 for waterproof pads, €30 online home shop on new duvet cover promised to small child as an overnight toilet training reward. A couple of other things might have humped into my basket then too🙈

priceless was small child being dry this morning!

Hurray for the dry nights pistachio! That’s a big step

@BigSkies2022 Thanks for replying, I had always thought you needed specialist equipment for pilates, but if you can do it from home that's fantastic. I have noted that one down to look at later.

I've been ill with flu or similar since Friday, great for not spending though.

Only spend £6.90 after voucher for Dior nail glow and two bottles of dry shampoo. My husband bought me some socks, which would have been my next purxhase, so I think that's mostly my spends doen for the month.

Just looked through the joint account to see how much was spent in supermarkets last month - £700 for 5 people, 7 people on half terms and every other weekend. Includes wine, medication (I've been ill for a week), clothing, toiletries, nappies, cleaning stuff. I will have to look at meal planning to see if that can be reduced.

#girlmath dictates your extras will be paid for soon without the nappies!

My daughter is day time training at the moment she took her own lead pretty much -- just after I stocked up on nappies, typical.

Our groceries expenditure fluctuates. This last month has been pretty lean, despite having DS and his GF here, and entertaining DParents. Helped by DH's diet plan which although meaty, excludes a lot of the dairy, treats and, ahem, wine, that adds up.

In a lean month, I can manage on around £120 a week. That includes Ddog's food, basic toiletries and cleaning products. But it can easily balloon. And DH's lunches while at work aren't in there; if we buy wine or other treats, that's usually funded by whoever has decided to do it. Eating out ditto.

It feels like the area that is most controllable - we're not going to stop using energy, or buying insurances, or water, or broadband; so the food shop is where I look to make savings. But once DS comes back to live with us, it will rise again.

Four NSD in a row for me this week. But breaking my spending fast today with a trip to the Garrick - seeing Unicorn. DH has bought tickets, and we're not going to go out to eat, but I'm looking for a nice venue to meet for a drink beforehand. A round in the West End plus transport - £30 minimum I'd say.

psuedo - there is a fancy pants version called reformer pilates, which does use special sliding tables and pulleys and the like, and which is an expensive way to exercise (the equipment takes up loads of space). I think of it as Primrose Hill Pilates.

Once again lost count of NSDs but don't think it's been too bad even with GCs being with us for a few days over half term. We had one day out with a friend and her GS to a local Inflatables and spent the whole day there and finished off in the local park for a walk and fresh air play. Nice to catch up and kids were happy and enjoyed their lunch and slushy!! Lots of energy used so were happy to chill and relax afterwards until Mum collected them.
Lidl shop yesterday had a bonus £5 coupon in my vouchers so total spend there yesterday was only £18.61 also a small shop in Home Bargains but that was £6.54 Iceland was £32 but had saved £7.75 in multi buys on things that we actually use so there were no impulse buys there!! 😇
Been taking part in the Octopus energy saving - it's actually quite relaxing sitting in the dark reading a kindle for an hour. Might only be pennies saved but the chill out is worth it!!