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Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

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

1000 replies

needastrongoneagain · 05/06/2025 21:46

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
26
Frugal25 · 15/08/2025 13:49

NSD here today. Hurrah.
My bread, although edible, didn't come out right so I'll have to remake in a bit or no brekkie tomorrow.
Have also been through my cupboard where I stash Christmas gifts and noted down what I have and what I've spent so far. I honestly thought I had more than I do!! No idea why I thought I was nearly done. I've got about 6 gifts lol.

Got my mortgage advisor calling me in a bit. % has gone up big time so I already know for the next few months my budget will be ridiculously tight whilst I still have debt to pay off. Doesn't help the Christmas present situation lol.

Think I'll skip the pizza tonight as it's so warm and do a goats cheese and potato cake with salad instead.

PearlsPearl · 15/08/2025 14:38

@Frugal25 good luck with the mortgage advisor. I joined the christmas bargain thread and have got a fair few presents already, I think I've mentioned before I have 18 children to buy for (and none can be cut out!) so it's a LOT, not to mention DS and DW!

I would have liked an NSD but we're at the cinema tonight so will have the obligatory ben and Jerrys, approx £8.

MaryGreenhill · 15/08/2025 15:02

NSD here for me thankfully 😜
Beautiful day here it's gorgeous hope everyone is enjoying it too 😊

Alwayslearning25 · 15/08/2025 16:03

My nsd didn't go great, as I decided it would be a good time to order some school shoes online. I don't like shopping, so I bought 5 pairs for her to try, mostly boys ones as she prefers them, more comfortable, and durable.

WhitegreeNcandle · 15/08/2025 21:36

18 children to buy for for Xmas!! Oh my goodness.

£110 on a Tesco order today. Hosting again tomorrow and it’s costing a bomb!

£20 in a card to my godson for getting great a level results and off to uni. So proud of him.

£86 on taking my two kids and a friend each to an inflatable water park thingy. They loved it and it was the highlight of their week. An expensive on though so that’s most of this weeks budget gone.

lifelongfrugaleer · 16/08/2025 06:41

That’s a lot of children too buy for. I love the Christmas thread but mine are over the toy era now

hosting is £££ isn’t it. And eating out
good luck with the mortgage

I’m sorry some of you are worried about the MJ price hike. It’s going to be interesting to say the least how it plays out

spent £165 on gig tickets for July 26, £200 on London hotel plus will need trains
£? Aldi & Asda as dh went
£30 local farm who do wild flower picking and there was a friends band on last night & pizza

MaryGreenhill · 16/08/2025 08:31

Good morning everyone 🔆
Off to see my friend this morning for a cuppa. It's her turn so won't cost me anything.
Hopefully a NSD here .
Have a lovely day everyone 😁

PearlsPearl · 16/08/2025 08:44

Good morning everyone! I'm off for a day out with work friends. Lunch and drinks and £12 parking in Glasgow means it'll no doubt be a spendy day. But I shall enjoy it!

Wishing you all a positive day.

ChipshopPickledEgg · 16/08/2025 11:22

18 children! Even just the shopping and planning blows my mind nevermind the actual paying for it I can hear my bank crying about that thought 😆.

PearlsPearl · 16/08/2025 11:45

ChipshopPickledEgg · 16/08/2025 11:22

18 children! Even just the shopping and planning blows my mind nevermind the actual paying for it I can hear my bank crying about that thought 😆.

Yep I am both very grateful to have lots of small people, lovely friends and family, and gutted for my bank account! I used to have a £50 each budget but since joining this thread and taking control. Now it's £30 each! Still absurd but a big difference.

iamnotalemon · 16/08/2025 14:51

PearlsPearl · 13/08/2025 20:07

Boooo to the parking ticket @chimichangaz so rubbish.

£25 on 4 Etsy birthday cards. I've always got lovely personalised ones but I'm thinking maybe I should stop and go cheaper? I don't know, I want to save money but then I want to do what I've always done! Probably just gets looked at once and chucked in the recycling anyway. In fact that's me convinced, I'll stop getting the fancy ones and just get some normal ones.

I don’t live in the uk and average cards here are about $5 so when I visit family I go to card factory who usually have 5 for a £1 (or 10 for a £1) and stock up 😂

BigSkies2022 · 16/08/2025 15:19

18 children to buy for! Yikes. Well done on setting a more manageable budget though.

Speaking of budgets: had to break it to DH that, having spent £430 on Ddog this month out of usual joint account budget, after price rises in water, broadband, council tax, energy, insurances and food, we are at this point in the month left with about £50 to buy food to get the three of us through to the end, and even if we eat down the pantry, it's unlikely to be enough. That we have kept the same inputs into our joint account for household expenses for the last 4 years, and it no longer keeps pace with inflation across the board, and now we have DS back at home as well. And that usually by this time of year, I have managed to put away a bit for holiday, Christmas and new year expenses, and that hasn't been the case this year. That we need to increase the budget, and since I can't add more for a few months, it's going to have to come from him.

He has taken it well, but I will no doubt have to remind him. His second bonus payment comes through this month I think, and he very sweetly asked me if I wanted anything like a nice watch or jewellery. Since I don't wear watches, and rarely wear jewellery, therefore have all the jewellery I'm ever likely to want, I'm afraid I said I would just like more money each month, for me, myself, and my account, not extra into the joint account. Not the most romantic of responses, but honestly, if he wants to do something nice and generous (and he does), that would be the most welcome of gestures.

On a happy note, we yesterday cleared a big hurdle in sorting out Ddad's permanent care placement and he may even be safely tucked up in his new home by the end of the week. After three months of pushing water uphill in our dealings with adult social care services, I hardly dare think it might be over, and don't want to jinx it. But it is a good moment. Keeping everything crossed that contracts are signed off this week - I haven't felt this keyed up about exchange of contracts since we moved here.

Ddog is obese. It's official. Our high animal protein diet, so good for us, has been ruinous for him, so it's a new regime of kibble, tinned food and only white chicken meat as the occasional treat. Poor lad. On the eve of a holiday in France as well.

Alwayslearning25 · 16/08/2025 16:17

I got 2 10 packs of cards reduced from the works for 50p each. I don't really do many cards anyway.

BigSkies2022 · 16/08/2025 16:35

Oh , and Friday’s food shop: £21 in Aldi (they’re doing rinse aid for 95pence! I bought 2) and £50 in Sainsbury’s. And have just seen that DH has topped up the joint account by £200. ‘Gwan DH!

Happierwithouthim · 16/08/2025 18:04

MaryGreenhill · 14/08/2025 21:11

@PearlsPearl try not to get too upset sweetheart.
I know that's easier said than done bless you .Honestly no one knows what is going to happen yet . If you think about it the companies won't want to lose all the customers they have so l think it won't be as bad as we first fear . My Dd2 and l have been reading up on it all and apparently Oxempic and Wegovy are much cheaper and owned by Novo Nordisk a Dutch company and they aren't American like MJ .
I know Wegovy isn't as successful as MJ but it's still excellent . In trials 84% lost 5% of their weight whereas MJ users lost 96% lost 5% .
So hang in there ❤️🤗

I’m on ozempic and really feel for people following the news of the price hike for MJ. I’m visiting my endocrinologist on Thurs with the hope that I can wean off ozempic. I also take metformin so hoping to increase that and cut out ozempic metformin costs about €18 monthly, ozempic is €145, pretty sure metformin is covered by drug payment scheme but ozempic isn’t.

I’ve lost just 1.5lbs shy of 4st in almost 3 years taking the drugs.

PearlsPearl · 16/08/2025 18:41

Well done @Happierwithouthim that's a big loss!

@BigSkies2022 poor chubby ddog! And well done to DH and to you for taking control of the joint account. Everything has just gone up so so much.

I've been really pondering on my posts this afternoon while I had a long drive. I really do have to get in control of my spending and I need to accept I have to change even the things I love, because we're not living within our means at all and we're in such a cycle. For example, I could cut presents down to £25 each and save £90. Or £180 in a year, with christmas and birthdays. And stop doing the personalised cards at all from Etsy. These are always about a fiver each and honestly what's the point? So I officially quit, as of today. DS and DW only. And any big birthdays, 18 etc. I just popped into the charity shop that I really like and bought 6 cards for £10, they're super cute ones and I'm just sticking with them from now on. Still nice, but not £5 a pop nice.

lifelongfrugaleer · 16/08/2025 20:18

How old are the kids pearls and how close are you to them? I think that would make a big difference to how much you need to spend.

£78 in Asda but got the stocks of only what they provide &25 at a farm shop

Frugal25 · 16/08/2025 23:12

@BigSkies2022 well done hubby!!! Sometimes money is romantic, as I've come to learn this year.
@PearlsPearl you are so blessed to have that many children to buy for. I wish my family was that big .
£89 on a new phone today. I wanted to wait til pay day and it was on budget for then. OH said to buy today. So went on credit card. Does free up the money for next month as credit card will just be paid off as part of my plan anyway.
Mortgage advisor rescheduled but we did pencil in a really good deal. Yippee.

Frugal25 · 17/08/2025 04:41

DD awake with a nightmare so whilst I'm waiting for her to go back to sleep, what is the Christmas frugal chat?! I haven't seen this. I shall go hunting now!!

lifelongfrugaleer · 17/08/2025 09:17

It’s the Christmas bargain thread & prequel

restie & sideorderofchips run them

be warned they can be dangerously addictive and fomo inducing

Taytocrisps · 17/08/2025 10:32

I promised myself a lie on today (DD was due to be up early for work, so I figured she could feed the cats), but DCat1 was keen to go outside and made a ferocious racket at some ungodly hour this morning. DD did feed them, but I couldn't go back to sleep. Anyway, I made a cuppa and a slice of toast and I've taken my laptop back to bed.

I bought some new towels recently because all of my towels seemed to be MIA. Discovered that DD had done a big clear out of her room at some stage and dumped a big pile of dirty towels in the spare room. So that was a waste of approx. €30 on towels I didn't need. But on a positive note, I probably won't need to buy any towels for the next 10 years or so.

Spent a few € on a small round of drinks on Friday night (nephew's wife's 30th birthday party). We didn't stay late because DD was up early the next morning for work. And DD went halves on the present (beauty salon voucher).

I had my Dad to stay on Friday night after the party. I had to drop DD to work quite early on Saturday morning, so I invited Dad out for breakfast near DD's workplace. But Dad insisted on paying for us both. After breakfast we went for a nice walk around a local castle/river walk.

I need to sit down and have another look at my budget. Every so often I do this and I usually find everything has crept up a bit - my insurance payments etc. In fairness, my insurance company generally write out and tell me that the premiums are going up. And the increases are usually small. But it's the cumulative impact of all of those increases together with subscriptions going up. Also, I haven't renewed my house insurance since Storm Eowyn hit, but I think my house insurance is likely to increase significantly. I read an article recently about how much the storm damage cost insurance companies and they will surely be looking to recoup those costs from their customers. When you factor in the increase in food prices etc., life in general is costing a lot more. I've warned DD that some of our subscriptions may have to go, unless she wants to take them on.

@Frugal25 hope the chat with the mortgage advisor goes well. Sounds like you've a plan in place.

@PearlsPearl that's a lot of kids to buy for! I've a big family but we do kriskindle and it cuts down on the expense hugely. Also reduces the time spent planning and physically shopping for presents. It felt a bit strange the first year, but we're used to it now and we'd never go back. But it might not work in your situation.

@WhitegreeNcandle yes, hosting is expensive. But hopefully your guests are nice people who appreciate everything you are doing for them and return the favour from time to time. It's nice (albeit expensive) to host, but it's also nice to be hosted.

@Pearls hope you enjoyed your day out.

@BigSkies2022 very sensible choice to increase your budget rather than ask for jewellery you don't want or need. I'm keeping everything crossed that everything goes smoothly re: your Dad. Sorry to hear about Ddog. I guess he won't be happy with his new diet, even though it's for his own good.

@Happierwithouthim well done on the weight loss.

Should be a LSD. I have a meeting tonight of a community group I'm involved with. I usually take a cake to the meeting, to have with a cuppa. I really like cake, but there's no point in buying a whole cake just for me (DD isn't really a fan of cake). This way the cake gets used up and there's no waste.

It's a lovely day here. I should probably stick a load of towels in the washing machine. Have a good Sunday everyone.

chimichangaz · 17/08/2025 10:36

Morning all - quick update from me. Friday I took some stuff back I'd bought but didn't need - £7.50 refund. Bought a little bit of shopping for me £17, and me and my friend went halves on £42 of wine, beer and food for Friday night when she came over. Also bought an Audible credit for a friend as a 'get well' present. Saturday was a NSD and planning on the same today.

I've sold a few more bits on Vinted, and have also sold some books - only a fiver but less clutter and a bit of money in my account.

I ordered a few t shirts and a bikini from Next last week (I have an upcoming cruise) - sent the t-shirts back but have made the brave (for me) decision to keep the bikini and wear it. I'm busy using a summer glow type body lotion on my tummy as the rest of me is fairly brown but I have a white middle 😆

@PearlsPearl I think you're making the right choice about the cards - it's the thought that goes into the birthday that counts, not the money. I cut down on the amount I spend on Christmas presents but put a lot of thought into what I buy.

@BigSkies2022 your DH sounds considerate! I've got my fingers crossed everything works out for your Ddad this week.

ChipshopPickledEgg · 17/08/2025 10:54

Truthfully I don't think people will give it a second thought if you chose to do lower cost cards. I would rather my friend sends me a basic card than struggle to pay for the card.
Been rejigging the finances this weekend a bit and have decided if the mounjaro does go up I will come off of it although not full way there with my weight loss I feel quietly confident in my approach to eating now and hopefully I'll maintain it not loose further there is a new gym opened in my nearby town so might treat myself to that instead and the rest of the money will go on an house improvement I would really like to do.

MaryGreenhill · 17/08/2025 15:31

£100 Tesco
£32 Aldi
Nothing else thank God
Food is going up so much .
I think paying for MJ will be a lot cheaper than eating at this rate 🤣

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