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

Payday Friday here And it’s been expensive so I’m pretty much out of ££

I didn't go to Lidl this morning for a banana because I know I would've got a danish too plus I've far too many trips to Lidl this month 9 totalling €126.25
I knew I'd porridge in fridge at work and lunch with me so I didn't need to.

Yesterday was very windy so I didn't check oil tank, only spend €5 parking, there were showers I wasn't feeling great so took lazy easy option

On Sat I ended up paying same toll twice because I came off motorway to get diesel, I was down to 9 miles left which has never happened to me before, just poor timing

My tax back has gone on medical expenses and parking
Endocrinologist €140
Podiatrist €219 and I'm going to chemist this evening which will be approx €200

Ds shoes €100
Dd clothes €60
Diesel €80
Painter €200 - repainted & stained dresser, table & a bench, I'm delighted with the results and she put new handles on dresser too

Payday Thurs
Groceries so far €260 i budget €320

my unheard of 100 quid has reduced itself to 16.00 - final bill of the month out today and I definitely needed fuel this morning; but I'll take not being into overdraft by end of day and payday tomorrow. Frugal Feb will switch into a mindful March mindset. I still want those boots though!

About usual spends here, had a couple of nice days with spring teasing us and then yesterday and today howling down again! At least got washing dry outside on Saturday before the heavens opened again, then a gig Saturday night, DH drove so I had a couple of drinks but not too expensive.
Payday tomorrow and minimal grocery spends this week as we're away on Saturday (woohoo!!!) so trying to end up with an empty fridge and freezer. Everything is paid for apart from dinners out which is budgeted for, then a couple more busy weekends in March...............
We were hoping to at least have an offer on the house by now but only a few viewings so far which have come to naught 😩

Third NSD here, 6 to go. I have, however, booked an appointment for a haircut on the 5th. Hurrah! A reward for my penance.

Went outside in the sunshine this afternoon to survey the garden, which is a squelchy mess. Honestly, I cannot bring myself to tackle it. I just can't see what possible improvements I can effect. I know I will feel better about it after some drier weather though, and it is a low cost way to improve our daily environment!

NSD for me today yay!
Going to have leftovers from roast dinner yesterday for tea .
A frugal day today thankfully ☺️

Well shock! Managed a NSD!
I often manage v low spend days but there's always something that needs picking up some milk bread type things.

My guess for prescription wasn't far out €198,50, the pharmacist was apologetic!
€145 on wide fit trainers online, hopefully they'll be perfect! I hate paying for returns

Well done @BigSkies2022 ! You got this.

i also booked a hair appointment but for the 7th. Paid a deposit of €11 today but the rest I have a voucher for.

payday is tomorrow! For the first time in ages both the joint account and my personal account have “leftover money”! I’d hoped the joint account would have a little bit more but we did have a few unbudgeted for bills so still doing well.

Tomorrow I will make an extra payment on my car loan. Hoping to have a good March, helped by being a short month between paydays for me.

Great news on the NSDs!

£133 Lidl this morning for a big stock up. Saved £16 on the Lidl Plus App with the 10% off. 👍

£20 car wash and valet.

Half term here. Bridget Jones and food out with Dsis - I'd paid for the tickets last week so she paid for food afterwards. Really enjoyed the film and food. Realized I have to work the next two days - gutted as I'd really got into the half term vibe 😂

Kind of off topic but I've seen people mention short month between paydays and a bit confused what it means 😆 it's going to be something obvious isn't it.

Oh also NSD, feels like forever since I had one! @ChipshopPickledEgg I have lots of LSD's (!!!) but rare to not spend at all

it’s if you’re paid monthly. I’m paid on the same date every month except in December when we are paid 5 days earlier. So by the time I’m paid in January it’s nearly six weeks.

Some months are longer at 31 days and depending on when the date falls it can mean 5 weekends between paydays. I do most of my spending at weekends. whereas February is 28 so an exact 4 weeks between payday in March for me.

If you get paid on the last day of the month then February is the short month whereas mine is March.

Can I belatedly join? I've been reading all your posts since the start of the year but too shy to say anything as I've just started being savvy with money. I feel so stupid, all these years (I'm in my 40s) that I've wasted money on rubbish and been poor and wondered how my mates always had money... Coz they were savvy!
I had a baby 3 years ago and took a good hard look at myself and thought "this is not what I want for her. I'm in massive credit card debt which goes up every month as I use it to get by, I live in a big overdraft, I have no savings". I sought help from a financial company and they said they couldn't help me, so this year I'm going to do something about it. I've cut up my credit card and haven't used it since Jan 1st (that was hard!). I'm now trying to not use my overdraft. I've also stopped spending at all. On anything. Expect bills and food whilst I get out of overdraft. Following your thread has been so inspiring and given me daily motivation. Thank you!

Hi Frugal and welcome 🤗

Was going to say I'm planning a NSD then realised DD and her pal are going to the half term fair. It's only £2.50 per ride as out of season.

Can I join too please? Have taken a cold hard look at myself and it's not pretty. We're suddenly in a very precarious position money wise and what makes it even worse is looking back at how many opportunities I've had, and squandered, to save up for storms like this one. Feel very ashamed and sad about it all but trying to turn it into a positive by really tackling my spending habits.

Spendy times here too.

We had a weekend away at the end of half term which although we’d booked a premier inn (with free breakfast), all the little things like parking, train (using railcard), tube, dinner all added up. We also didn’t work out that it was cheaper to pay adult fare on the tube with a contactless card for DD1, than to buy adult and child paper tickets 🤦‍♀️ We did save buying pudding at dinner, mainly because the serving staff didn’t seem to have handed our table over at shift change. So we just paid our bill on the app and left, after waiting 40 minutes.

I’ve also had to pay £180 to fix a car engine problem. Tried to replace two tyres today, but it was too busy so booked in for another day. On the plus side, new tyres budget is already there before payday. Just need to not spend it on something else before then!

Spendy day today! Hairdressers £28.00 New Glasses £290 Bogof!! Car Parking £2.50 Iceland £39.00 🙄

Welcome frugal and eek.

There’s a saying in outdoor/wilderness medicine: “Shame kills more people than exposure does “.

You’ve recognised the problem and you’re ready to tackle it.

Welcome.

I've not posted for a few days now and it has been quite chatty on here so I'm not going to catch up fully.
Welcome Eek and Frugal, no point in looking back at what you could've done, the most important thing is that you have recognised what's happening and are doing something about it.
February has been a pretty good month for us financially, until the weekend. I finished my old job on Thursday so we had booked a weekend in Keswick with the dc too. I'd worked for the same trust for 21 years so leaving feels like a big deal. We had a good but pretty wet weekend and I took prepped meals with us to save money, but managed to park in the wrong car park for the entire weekend!! I am now waiting impatiently for the fine to land and to know how much it's going to be. Completely my fault as I hadn't read the details of the virtual pass properly...
I'm off this week before starting the new job on Monday, so having a chilled week catching up on my to do list and some much needed decluttering.
Has anyone watched The Batch Lady programme on C4? I was looking forward to it but it seems to be more of the same and lots of promo for Lidl really.

I agree you’ve done the hard bit of owning it. Now let’s move forward to sort it.
did you try step change for a debt plan. They are very good.
No shame here eek. We’ve all been there

Bugger about the fine north.
haven’t watched that but I’m off batch cooking

nsd today. I think

Welcome Frugal. Getting out of your overdraft will feel amazing when it happens!

My insane spending has amounted to £1500 over budget this month. PUKE.

But, I finally start my new job on Monday (can you believe it) after so many years out of the workforce I feel absolutely wracked with anxiety. But I will be exhausted and not going anywhere in the first 3 months of training, plus earning again, so feeling positive about all things finances moving forward.

Aiming for Mindful March.

I plan on 0 spends other than the usual things, food/household/bills/dogs. Every day I will count my NSDs. I've not had one ever and now I'm aiming for every day!

(Wish me luck because I bloody need it! This is the start of the tide changing for me financially now I'm back in work and getting a grip on everything.)