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

Hemlocked - I'd love to join. I've been v inspired by many of the posts so far, lots of great ideas too.

Welcome! I've found it's very helpful to have somewhere to be accountable without being judged. I hope that the same is true for you.

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It's credit card due date tomorrow. We'll pay it off in full and it will be OK because we'd previously cancelled a short break in order to be able to pay for the overnight stay (plus travel and takeaway etc.) for DH's procedure last week. Understandably, it's been an expensive 2 months.

We need to have an audit of the external maintenance that can't wait any longer and see what we need to do in order of priority.

Oof. Was planning a NSD but that was scuppered by the mouldy sandwiches and other grim bits we found in DS1's backpack today 🤢. Was considering getting him to sanitise and wash it but it was in need of replacement (holes everywhere!) so that was an amazon spend. Plus needed petrol and milk....
63.63 petrol and milk
36.99 Amazon backpack
5 to add DS2 to my gym membership.
not a v successful NSD 🤪

Hello, can I join please? It's been a truly hideous half-decade for me and I need to be rigorously frugal because I'm a new(ish) single parent. Ex has of course moved in with new gf after five minutes, and their combined salary is 4x mine.

My main goals are to not buy any new clothes, save a lot of money in a lot of different pots, and try not to be too derailed by the unexpected - in the last few weeks I've had to have my furnace repaired, my dishwasher has broken, and my elderly dog has had about five trips to the vet (plus meds, plus expensive food...).

NSD yesterday. We didn’t leave the house except for a snowy walk as school was closed and I celebrated Nollaig na m ban by doing very little.

we had flu in the house over Christmas and as I wasn’t ill I got the chance to go through all my presses and organise them. I’ve been very good in the past few years about using up what I’d previously stocked on and it’s refreshing to see the empty cupboards and storage spaces which were previously full. I’m also. O longer living in an urban area with easy access to shops so I don’t see all the bargains anymore!

now my freezers are different. I need to do a good job of mainly using them for meals for the next few weeks.

im going to do what someone suggested earlier in the thread about having an Amazon delivery day. I’ll keep purchases in my cart and only check out once a week. This should help with temptation. It’s amazing how fast I can click buy with online shopping.

todays another snowday and I’m finally going to tackle the Christmas decorations so hopefully another NSD

Managed an NSD yesterday but today will be a little spendy.DD's new prescription has arrived just in time to not go to uni with her so that needs to be posted, need milk and a battery for my car key but will try to not buy anything else. One of our local independent shops has a sale on candles and they are lovely St Eval ones which I only normally get for special occasions, trying really hard not to be swayed but they're 40% off and also supporting a local business so..............

melancholist what I found helped after separation is I was the only one spending from my money so there were no surprises.

Yesterday €24 takeaway for myself & dm, I returned to work and in the afternoon had a serious slump, pjs in front of fire for eve and built some Lego with ds.

I'm thinking of doing a day a week for my Amazon deliveries too (Wednesday) because I click and buy SO fast without really thinking, so I hope this will make me stop and think.

I bought something I absolutely didn't need but really wanted today, some drawers for my craft room. I did it sort of mindlessly really, it's only afterwards I'm thinking why did I do that? Why didn't I wait another month?

Hello more new people
£80 Sainsbury’s this morning &52 green chef for next week (on offer). Helps me as ds cooks them as he is learning to cook.

do you know what we will have setbacks and fuck it moments as we build new habits. It does not means it’s a failure it’s just a lesson. Back on it again afterwards.

takes 30 days to build new habits so baby steps guys.

Got rid of a bag to chazzer. Got some stuff for vinted. Planned to decorate next year and dd has said I can sell some of her old toys as she is 18 this year. Will do that in September when thoughts turn to Christmas again.
Have a few big bills so unlikely to be any extra saving this month but that’s ok.

Ugh, experiencing a serious slump here. Have made an overpayment of £55 to energy account this morning, done a Prolific study and been on the phone to PayPal to correct a direct debit. About to make a big soup for lunch. Dinner tongiht will be store-cupboard egg-fried rice with veg, so may need to buy more eggs, depending on whether or not DS needs an egg-based breakfast when he eventually surfaces. So a LSD on the cards.

First meeting of new book group this afternoon, so that will be nice and shake me from my slump. In a perfect world, (or a world in which I was perfect), I'd be getting my steps in by walking there, but according to my weather app it feels like minus 1 outside, and the sky is not promising. Ugh.

When did stamps get so expensive?! £6.60 for 4 first class ones 😮

££££££&& in hospital parking. Ds check up

Any advice or tips on car insurance? Both cars due this month 😵😭

Go via Topcashback and price comparison site. That way you get the best deal and some cash back too.

MSE says the sweet spot is 21 days before renewal. Clear your cookies and cache or do dark browsing after you have researched

Once you find a quote better then the one your existing insurer has given you, go back to them and ask them to match or beat it - they usually do. If they dont, then move

I agree with 21 days before renewal. Managed to half my DSs and he is now paying for it not us!

Accidently put petrol on credit card (which for groceries, non groceries and social life and gets paid off in full) and petrol comes from a different pot. I will have to pay £46 off of it now and try to reconcile that in my accounts.

£7 on Kindling other than the cock up with fuel. Hopefully nothing more until tomorrow now - think I have enough in food wise.

7.1 £10.51 on groceries. 2 boxes reserved yesterday from TGTG & a very controlled top-up shop whilst we were there for the basics that will get us through the week (hopefully)

I'd hoped for a NSD tomorrow but managed to rebook yesterday's massage. I'm pleased with today's spend though.

Supersaver - I joined Prolific on the recommendation of another thread here. I'm pretty sure I just googled and followed the links/instructions. I've done some quite interesting surveys recently - lots of AI large-language model testing coming up, which sort of shows me how the wind is blowing.

This afternoon I actually spent the Prolific earnings I'd been bookmarking for replacing some make-up - £18 on a rather nice pair of conker-brown ankle boots with a slight seventies pimp feel to them. Found them in a Mind charity shop. Left the Fendi wedges which they had on sale for £249 on the side of the plate...

Otherwise, LSD - just £8 on groceries. Home now after book group with next month's volume. Will have to up my reading hours each day to get through it I think.

@NessaSmith We have no savings, just debt, and now this is yet another thing going on the credit card. Sick of it really. This year things HAVE to change.

This is us. Every. Single. Year. I've make myself a promise to pay off 1 credit card (£3k) and the store card (£1.2k) by the end of this year. Regardless of what I need to do to make that happen (nothing illegal obvs). I feel your pain

£180 next online for bikinis and shorts (me), shorts (both dc) and canvas trainers (ds)

I realised that the kids have no shorts for our holiday in feb. So needed to get some.

I have one pair of Bikini bottoms which fit (black) so have bought a black top, a leopard print top, a wine red bottom so can mix and match these into 4 seperate outfits.

clothes wise I can cobble together outfits from what I have. Just needed swimwear.

PJ's and Lego sound ideal @Happierwithouthim.

Keep going everyone. This thread is so fabulous and lovely. There's no snarkiness. We all have different reasons for being here. We are all supportive and non judgmental. I've been here for about 450 years, it's great.

January so far has been very low spend. My 'use it up' week for food is being adhered to. My only slip is that I forgot to get frozen stock from the freezer out this morning (left the house earlier, due to weather). So I did buy some for convenience as I was making a big vat of turkey broth for tea. Therefore £10 on staples (bread, milk etc) and said stock. But that's it really. All the rest of the broth is frozen bits like turkey, some streaky bacon and vegetables that need using (tip - use your broccoli stalks in things like this!).

Managed to spend £22 today, window cleaner, but nothing else. Managing to take lunch and stay away from shops.