Significant Summer Saving, significantly less spending, super (non) splurging. Frugal folk continue being frugal here. All welcome.

[needastrongoneagain]

Making a new thread!

Please check in regular posters and welcome new people.

This is a super friendly thread to contribute to. We are all wanting to be as efficient as possible re spending but all have different budgets and priorities. No judgement here.

NSD (no spend day) for me.

@BigSkies2022 that was very generous of you, lucky DS!

I spent £48 at Tesco today on one bag of shopping? I despair at how expensive it's got and annoyed at myself for not going to Aldi first. Pure laziness that, but I know I could have saved a few quid.

Also spent a whopping £22 on subways for dinner.

Pearls-it’s birthday and graduation present rolled into one, also he really needed it having grown out of his existing suit. He is learning that he needs a tailored rather than a slim fit, being powerful of thigh and broad of shoulder! Timothee Chalamet he is not!

pigtails both our salaries go into a joint account and all bills etc come out of that. We also both have a current account each into which we pay an amount from the joint account each month. This is so I can grow a bit of a nest egg and dh can fund his Springsteen habit!! It works well for us for everything to go in the same pot.

Ah thanks, it's quite interesting hear how others do it. We have fairly separate finances but dh spending a lot on something wouldn't be a "save" for me as it all affects family finances.

@BigSkies2022 congrats to your dc! Sounds exciting. Btw you mentioned freedom pass, I'd definitely recommend getting the process started ASAP as my MIL got one five/six years back and it took sbout 3 months! I gueeit depends on your local London authority too but the queues are long.

@Pigtailsandall possibly not relevant for you as I live alone so there’s no divvying up of joint finances but I manage mine by using You Need A Budget (YNAB) to log income and expenditure and categorise spending. I also use separate cards for different types of spending eg Starling for groceries and petrol, Monzo for personal spends including haircuts. My DDs come out of my First Direct account. I find it easier to keep track of spending when I have different cards.

@Pigtailsandall we have one joint 'pot' and always have had. DW earns about 6 times what I do but everything is shared and I also didn't work for years.

Evening.

The suit sounds lovely @BigSkies2022. We did similar with DS post graduation in making him buy a good suit. Sadly, DH's stroke has rather scuppered him using it for job interviews etc as he's doing more caring and part time working but agreed - it's there and classic and still useful for when the time comes.

This week is going to be expensive. I have to pay the balance of our holiday at £2K. It's saved. I split the cost neatly into months. I should be proud to have budgeted but it feels like it's still spendy!

We've also had to have the roof re-tiled on the extension. I won't bore you all with the details of why this is the case only 3 years since it was built but suffice to say the builder is paying most of it. He did offer to pay all of it, but I didn't want the original roofer back, which was the deal... I'd rather accept the cost of trusted roofers, as galling as that is, the job was so crap initially I'm lucky it didn't leak more.

I've moved some cash savings into a stocks and shares ISA to max out that allowance.

Other than that, there's been a lot of legal stuff to figure with the sale of the business and now it's likely about 6 weeks away, I'm figuring how best to invest the proceeds, which are not insubstantial but do need to last. Rebel Finance is providing an excellent learning tool.

Frugally, out chilli last 4 adults for 2 nights and it's spicy lentil, bacon and carrot soup tonight with crusty bread.

I'm only over budget re the dogs this month due to ddog1's sore leg, and just a fiver over in my presents pot. I'm under in a few others (general spends, a little under re bills, and £100 under re the money allocated for the guy that cuts our lawn but he didn't come twice while is was super hot so that's understandable and will probably get used up another month) so I'm pretty happy in general. Will post total tomorrow.

Sorry I can't help re dual budgets as DH never had any interest and now can't help so I do it all myself. I use an app called Emma that links all my accounts in some clever way so I can see our whole net worth (once you've input everything and linked the bank accounts to it).

£19 today in Morrisons - I'd gone through the freezer and done a list of all the potential meals from now until 1 August as I only had £26 left in my groceries pot. So now I only have £7, which will be for milk/fruit/yoghurt top ups until then. I've never in my life budgeted as tightly as I am at the moment!!

@Pigtailsandall we have a joint account, then a bills account that all the direct debits come out of and a few other pots, one for sundries and another for weekly spends like fuel. As far as I know they are all joint. I have an ISA and an instant access savings. I'd say I'm about 50% as organised as I'd like to be but goal is improvement by end of year. The emergency account was depleted when DHs car was beyond economical repair in January but I just keep saving / frugaleering where I can!

@BigSkies2022 suit sounds perfect

LSD £13.84 Lidl, 0.81p Coop.

£8000 out of savings for replacement bi fold & garage door. Super pleased and went with a trusted person so ££ more

we also need a new extension roof. Saving for that. Shoddy job by previous owner but not leaking, yet.

we have full joint money. I earned less in the small children years but a now the main earner so balances out. that was always the plan as DH retired after his 30 years service.

need food. School holidays = locust plague

Suit sounds amazing @BigSkies2022 !
I can't really help with joint pots as OH and I have our own houses and we have very separate finances to pay for each although we live together and bounce between the two houses.

Not very spendy considering I'm on holiday. £2.99 on a pen and a balloon yesterday, I forgot my pen and DD was showing off until she got a balloon so to have some peace so I could mooch round the shops I relented. Then £11 in a gorgeous eco friendly shop which I'm a sucker for on organic polenta (never tried it and I'm curious) and a gift for brother to take home.

Other than that, OH ex wife demanded 2 more months of money off him although her payments have finally ended legally. It's only taken him 14 years to get out. I gave him back the £100 he had kindly given me for holiday money (he isn't letting me spend much anyway and he keeps paying) and said "she obviously needs it more than me". Cruel I know. But geez I wish she would just leave us be now.

Think we are off to explore a castle today. I've decided that instead of buying things to remember holidays, I want a gorgeous photo of DD each holiday to frame and make a wall of photos at home. Got my proper camera so hopefully today will get some beautiful photos.

We have a joint account for bills and savings but also have separate bank and savings accounts. I deal with all the finance and shuffle things around as needed. We usually have a discussion about any big spends that we might need and pay deposits or payments from savings and then work on paying back the savings over the next few months.
We have a dream figure that we would like to have in savings and at present are at about half of that dream figure. Every time we replace the savings something else invariably turns up that needs doing or paying so the dream figure stays as a dream - we will get there though because we are currently still paying down debts. From some 15/16 Credit cards we now have 7 but all are on 0% with a debt free date of April 2027 but are overpaying each month hoping to knock that down even quicker. Any balances on accounts at month end are transferred equally to savings and debts whether it's a tenner or a hundred quid!!
Not sure how the NSDs will go for the rest of the month as we have 2 of the GCs most days plus some overnights due to shift patterns. Been looking around for days out suggestions and activities to do at home which are cheap or free. Have a friend with GCs too so we are hoping to link up and let the GCs entertain themselves at a local venue. Happy for any suggestions too please!! 🤓

We have pretty much separate bank accounts I pay for stuff like my car associated costs and other personal direct debits and some food account money my husband who earns multiples of my wages covers the rest.
Although we have separate accounts it's very much what's mine is ours and what is his is ours it's just a technicality of the name on the account I do like it though that way.

Long day at work - benefits being I'm now off for 5 days and I didn't have time to spend. £1.10 bag of crisps mid afternoon.

Have four projects to work on these next five days - sanding down and oil kitchen benches, karcher patio and paint outdoor wood, continue to sell treasures from late PIL attic and holiday planning (this last one will likely be spendy!)

Pay offer has been agreed so that's backdated probably end of August or September. Its 3.2% . DH is looking at 3.5% again backdated so that's perfectly timed for paying off the holiday travel credit card bill 😂

Bed now - will try to be a bit more coherent tomorrow 💤

Well done on the pay rises @Mochi1fudge that's amazing!!!
And well done on your credit cards @Rainbow1901 brilliant work!

OH took the £100 that I have back to him and treated us all to dinner out last night. We haven't been out for dinner since I had DD 3.5 years ago. This was a huge treat and we loved it. Chose a pub garden so DD could run about and not annoy anyone else.

£10.65 on a swimming session when we get back from holiday.
£9 on yoga session as I forgot to pay last week.
£12 on a pj set off vinted as I've thrown some of mine out due to being old.

Excellent news on the pay rise @Mochi1fudge

ive used my general savings again this week to buy some wood chip for my chicken run. £100. That’s £500 now including the wardrobe. Im going to lock down the savings now and try not to use them for a bit. I’ve a few other purchases I’d like to make for house projects over the summer but I will try and finance them using my personal spends in August or by selling items on vinted.
Monday was a NSD.
Tuesday was more expensive as it was DDs last day at primary school and there was a party for her entire year at a local pub. I bought myself a few alcohol free beers and some chips for dd and a friend. Probably spent about £25 in total. It was a lovely evening mainly and Dd had a fab time - but the whole “end of an era’ emotions are especially tough without DH and dd and I have been struggling more than usual these last few days.

Yesterday I bought tree strap thing to hopefully attach DDs swing to the tree in the garden. £18. She’s had a rope swing out there for about a year now but the ropes kept on fraying at the top near the branches (she’s on it all the time) so I’m looking for better solutions than replacing the swing set every month.

Today I’m expecting a Sainsbury’s delivery. I’ve kept it to £40.
The wood chip and the wardrobe are both arriving today as well and I’m hoping they will keep me entertained and away from spending for the next few days…

It’s a week until payday. I’ve a bit of money left in mine and DDs pots but I am going to have to be particularly frugal. I’ve just remembered as well that dd has a party on Sunday that is in a bit of an awkward location so I might have to get her there and back in a taxi. We don’t know anyone other than the birthday girl so I’m not sure I can ask for lifts. If that’s the case then I’m definitely aiming for NSDs the rest of the week! Will double check transport options today.

I’m glad you had a wonderful time at your dinner out @Frugal25 :-)

Missing in action yesterday as We had new phones and was tied up in knots trying to get all the apps transferred over 😁
Only a Motorola G05 but it's fine for Dh and l . We only need a basic smart phone.
Didn't cost anything in fact the contract was cheaper than before so that was good 😊
Spends today, just £5 on a charity shop dress for my Mum. Seasalt dress and in good nick will post a pic 😁

I had nsd yesterday and today which is great. I went to the office yesterday but cucled; picked up a free octopus coffee and had lunch provided at work. I was going to pop out for coffee today but got unexpected busy and missed my chance. I guess that's a save!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that we bought a steam mopearlier this week so that was pricey at £109. But I love it! I'll cleaned fabulously.

Also really interesting to hear how everyone organises their family finances, thanks

Ah the typos 🤪 I had dc dinner on - shouldn't type and cook simultaneously. Obviously I CYCLED and the steam mop CLEANS FABULOUSLY. It feels like a long week with kids breaking up for summer and patchy childcare.

Planning summer activities now so might spend money over the weekend booking things.

Yesterday I had a hospital appointment - was only there an hour and parking was £3.90 😳 I also bought myself a packet of Fruitellas for £1.19

Today has been a bit off piste…. Called into a charity shop to see if they’d take my sisters DVDs and CDs and walked out with four books…. £6. Then I went to Costco with a friend and I mostly did well not spending. However they had a box of six bottles of my favourite rosè (the chicken wine) for £33. I also bought a packet of six chicken schnitzel for £6 and a big pot of Greek yoghurt for £3.50. Overall very pleased with that. However I then had scampi and chips for lunch 🤦🏻‍♀️

Back on track tomorrow with another charity shop drop off (keeping away from the book section…..)

Edited to say glad you enjoyed your meal out Frugal 😊

Ah that dinner out sounded lovely and such a treat @Frugal25

Love the Seasalt dress @MaryGreenhill a steal at £5!

Good news on the NSD @Pigtailsandall

My days been a bit off piste too @chimichangaz

I feel the need to plan summer activities but DD (14) seemed happy with a trip to the bakers and sunset walks with her friend. DS is working so the school holidays don't require the same entertainment these days.

£13 Lidl top up
£18 bakery for four treats.

I'm still doing terribly at saving with lots of expenses coming in but I'll keep going with recording and hopefully be in a place later in the year where I can start setting up pots. At the moment I have summer to pay for and I do have an ISA I can access in a months time 🙏

Had a lovely day yesterday here in Staunton doing holiday things. Then it went a bit wrong. I wasn't well and ended up fainting in the bathroom, the printer I sold on eBay turned up broken so I've missed a refund (£31) and then in my haste to go to a farm shop I dropped and smashed my phone.
£15.75 in farm shop which wasn't fully stocked but the farmer was lovely to felt I had to buy something.
New phone to find and pay for today as screen has completely gone.
Last day of holidays so will probably pay for something that DD can enjoy.

Fon a different note, I finished the book I bought at the national trust on the way here. This Perfect World by Suzanne Bugler. A dark book and not my normal light chic flick summer book at all. But recommend if anyone else wants something they don't normally go for.

That’s rubbish frugal. Hope you are feeling better.
can you get a new screen?

sometimes you just being about is all the dc need mochie.

that sea salt dress is a bargain Mary

pigs 😂

spendy yesterday travelling for work but will expense as much as I can. Never covers it all
Sainsbury’s delivery £119, gusto £49

@SockHop sending you a big huge hug! I imagine these firsts are unbearable. Bless you x