Pumpkins, Pies… and Prudence! Autumn Frugal Saving Shenanigans here 🍂🌰All Welcome 🌰🍁

[MaryGreenhill]

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 we are all friends 😊

That's excellent work pulling the food expenses back like that well done @HP87 ☺️
@BigSkies2022Misery guts me says don't buy it but happy me says you get it and enjoy it ☺️life is too short
Hope you soon feel a lot better
@Pistachio ☺️

Thank you @MaryGreenhill and @lifelongfrugaleer . Had my first rehab session today. Rather tiring but glad I’ve started. My injured leg is looking rather sad in comparison to its counterpart.

Today’s spending was my appointment and the medical bills from the accident. I had an email after sending a jacket off for a zip repair. They can restitch the zip and not replace it so they have refunded me £20.

The Mel Robbins talk has reminded me that I have one of her books that someone recommended to me. I’ve not looked at so maybe I should pull it out. My time off has been taken up with frivolous things like putting together a mood board for what I’d do if I ever won the lottery and taking spontaneous naps.

Tomorrow I will take a leaf out of your book @Johaanah and do some meal planning.

That's brilliant you started your therapy @RumBananaSundae.
You are going to be exhausted after it so take it easy ☺️🌹

If you are going to use the bag then buy it. If it’s going to fit in a cupboard, don’t

yeah on the sale being almost done need

definitely take care after rehab. It’s going to be exhausting

nsd again today

Greetings, Comrades!

Take care with that rehab @RumBananaSundae. It's really important not to lose too much muscle and function.

You sound very organised re finances @HP87, which is brilliant. It's great to be starting closer and closer to parity each month.

How was Norma, @BigSkies2022? Regarding the bag - what was your absolute gut, initial reaction to buying it with your mum's generous gift? I've read your post - and you sound hesitant in truth regarding its purchase. That said, I'm not sure you should necessarily let the money go into the overall wealth pot, so to speak either - I feel you should perhaps consider at least marking the generosity and your birthday with it, although I've no suggestions as to how!

Yesterday I spent £35 at M&S on food, and 2 advent calendars for the DC, who are in their 20's but it's tradition. I'm not sure what I really got for that sum, and I did buy a desert on impulse in case DSIL wanted one (sweet tooth), and she didn't, so this will get eaten out of necessity not need.

I've an Ocado shop arriving later for £150 - but that includes a large bottle of Jack Daniel's for a Christmas present and some beer for DH.

I'm very organised for Christmas this year - the last 4 years have been stressed and manic and horrible really. My middle class Ocado and M&S orders are booked and I might even go the whole hog and make my first fruit cake ever!

No plans for the weekend other than continue to tidy the garden.

Enjoy this lovely weather!

Well done on the therapy @RumBananaSundae and now all I want to do is make mood boards.

Work genersouly gave everyone £75 and we could choose what shop to translate it into vouchers. I dithered. But I've gone with tkmaxx and sainsburys so that I can use them to buy Christmas gifts. I'll need to make a list and be savvy with it so I max it out.

NSD today. Unless I see batteries. DD has a toy that I put rechargeable batteries in and it didn't like them so need to purchase the "proper" ones.

To make you giggle. I went home at lunch today to work rest of the day at home. Left lunch in fridge at home thinking "it's egg, no one needs that in the office. I'll eat it when I get back." Knowing full well id be starving. Anyway. I was starving. I popped into boots on the way home for a sarnie. Didn't see any I liked. Got to the train station and I've missed my train due to stopping off at boots and now have to wait even longer to get home and eat. That will learn me!!!

Hello all, I've been lurking on the thread for a while but I'd like to officially de-lurk and say hello if I may join you?

It has been an expensive year for us. We did some home renovations which pretty much wiped out our savings earlier in the year. DH and I have a joint account and joint savings but we allocate each of us the same amount of fun money in our own personal current accounts.

I'm normally pretty good at saving a chunk of my money but have decimated my personal savings after I lost 4 and a half stone and went on a bit of a spending spree over summer with a whole new wardrobe, exercise equipment for creating a home gym in the garage etc. All very nice but I really do need to rein it in a bit and build back some of my savings pot!

So, payday today and I'm hopefully going to be receiving £175 this month as I made use of one of the current account switching bonuses. I've set up a direct debit to my Stocks and Shares ISA and am going to move money into savings at the start of the month and then cut my cloth with whatever is left.

NSD today. I have been into Costa to get a coffee but I had enough points that I could use a reward and it didn't cost me anything. DH is out tonight which would normally have me wondering if I should order a takeaway as a treat (he is almost never out of the house.... limited social life and he works from home) so I do tend to treat myself once I've put DDs to bed on the rare occasion I have an evening alone! Anyway, I've decided no to the takeaway and I'm going to make myself a little cheeseboard as I have nice cheese and crackers in. I'm going to have a glass of wine with it and am really looking forward to it!

Like everyone, we're finding the cost of everything going up and up. Food shopping, bills, our mortgage is going to increase by £200 a month from January. So whatever I can do to cut spending a bit will help.

Good afternoon everyone 😊
Been to Primark and bought
2 room diffusers reduced to £1 each from £3 , a pkt of 2 bottles bags for 50p and a box of coconut tea lights for a pound £3.50 and that was it . Gorgeous scents on them 😍.
Oh yes a 6 piece bucket between Dd1 and Dh from KFC £15.99😱
l won't eat from any of the fast foods places, l know it's very popular with a lot of ppl but it's all made from such terrible ingredients 😱🤢🤮
Welcome to @GameOfJones congratulations on such an amazing achievement re your weight loss 👏👏👏🤗
@Frugal25 oh that's a lovely surprise the 75 pounds gift card 😁
Hope you didn't have to wait long for another train 🚂 🤗
Excellent job on being so organised for Christmas @needastrongoneagain well done 👍 ✅

Today has been a day of feeling greedy and expensive.
£13 on two boxes of lindt chocolate
£12 on coffee and cake
Going to be enjoying that with a big cup of tea later on.
£4 in McDonald's for my daughter.
£2.19 Aldi for a Santa mellow lolly and a tub of crackers for my daughter. I mean erm mini cucumbers and lentils.

Welcome games. Mmmm give me a cheese board over take out anyday

nice £75 bonus. I did that with a reward I got. Used it for Sainsbury’s and TK. Love TKs Halloween stuff

£64 Lidl & got 10% voucher. £18 home bargains
£50 petrol

Hey everyone!

Payday today for me also, I've done all my number crunching and left enough in the main account to pay the bills and moved everything over into my Monzo account for saving, added to various pots and given myself a monthly 'expenditure' to cover other costs.

Today I've spent £65.71 in M&S food hall( including £12 for a huge tin of chocolates for Christmas), £49.68 in Aldi, £16.43 in Asda on all the things that M&S/Aldi didn't have and £7 in Poundland. Not too bad, but I am utilising a lot of cupboard staples and stuff I have in the freezer for the meals I'll be cooking next week.

Dh and I are going to Westfield London later on tonight, I've held off buying anything I need in Primark - just hair ties and socks - until today as I have a gift card I want to use up, would only be a few pounds but I'd rather save the cash and use the gift card. I tried on a pair of jeans today with a view to buying but they only a size smaller than I'd usually buy and although the waist was fine they did this odd scrunchy thing at the bum, which was quite uncomfortable. So I didn't buy those and I was strangely pleased at saving the money - even though I do need a new pair of jeans, make that make sense.

I'm really impressed that so many here have started Christmas shopping already, I'm in the planning stages and trying to work out a budget and suitable gifts, trying so hard not to buy things that won't be used, and sitting on my hands as I love the boots 3 for 2 but they've sent me a voucher that gives an extra 20% off but it isn't valid until October.

Hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend, does anyone have plans? I sometimes think weekends with no plans are the best kind 😀

Very responsible with the gift cards @Frugal25.

Welcome @GameOfJones. Good shout on the cheeseboard. Cheese is the best.

Spent £10 today in a combination of Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. I should get back into the habit of buying gift cards. It doesn’t save much but a saving is a saving. Spent just over £20 on Amazon buying a fleece throw/blanket for my leg on the sofa and some snacks. Will regret the snacks I’m sure especially as it doesn’t seem like I’ll be doing anything remotely active for a while. Went to Boots and spent £12 on some bandage type things. That’s quite a bit more than I’d thought going through the day.

Today was rather vegetative. No reading was done nor anything remotely productive. I have started looking at what’s on in Paris for November. Imagining a quiet weekend. Aiming to go back to work on Monday - if I don’t I’ll want to return even less - so will try and do pleasant, relaxing and frugal things.

Supersmart use of voucher Frugal. Need - your Christmas organisation is incredible! and as for making a fruit cake - I do hope you are going to do it on Stir-Up Sunday - in which case, you are Jill Archer, and I claim my prize! Welcome games - that is a very good treat you have lined up, and one I will copy. DH and DS will both be away on the night of the 1st, so I might well get some lovely cheese in.

I increasingly feel I will mark Christmas this year by putting up some lights and decorations, making some nice food, and that's it. Perhaps I will spin out some lunch/dinner invitations to friends and fam during the bleak days of January rather than put a lot of pressure on the Christmas season itself.

Norma was very good indeed, need, I can see it becoming a favourite spot. Gorgeous mid-century interiors, lovely staff, great food and wine. About a hundred quid a head, including quite a lot of wine and I had plenty of my pork belly dish to bring home - it's going with leftover chicken into a big stir fry tonight.

As for the bag - all good points! I definitely will use it, a lot; it is a specific item that I can look at regularly and think of DMum's generosity; it's elegant and classic and will go with pretty much everything I already have. It will replace my go-to handbag which, after about 12 years of very regular use, is showing a bit of wear. (But not so much that it can't be used, just relegated). I only have two bags, plus a clutch, so I'm hardly inundated with status luxury items. Bloody Morgan Housel.

This weekend I shall be walking Ddog, getting my own workouts in, starting to get ready for Devon and we're going to see One Battle after Another tomorrow night. I have bought tickets for a little family outing to the local (expensive!) Picture House. Normally I would baulk at their prices and insist on the local fleapit; but last time we went to LF, it was decidedly stinky. So maybe the extra tenner per ticket will secure us a clean auditorium!

£17 in Lidl, Sainsbury's and bakery today. Wandered into our local bookshop, turned a volume over and over in my hands, remembered my no-book buying year vow and all the library books I have at home to read. So I had a nice natter with the booksellers and left without spending owt.

Welcome back comrade @needastrongoneagain and well done on selling your business! I am seriously impressed with your Christmas organisation.

@BigSkies2022I do like Mel Robbins’ podcasts, generally speaking I learn something from most of her guests and I like her style. On your question about the bag, I’m going to say you should get it. It definitely sounds like it will improve your life and you’re not doing it to impress anyone (nod to M Housel) - and if your mum had bought it rather than gift you the money this wouldn’t be your decision to make. It will be a lovely reminder of your DMum.

@Frugal25Anything I receive as a gift or freebie (gift card wise) I spend on myself and not other people!! I do spend on others, just not those kind of things!

I love the idea of a mood board and need to get round to creating one of my own!

welcome @GameOfJones I like the sound of your cheeseboard and hope you’re enjoying it right now!

Great Primarni bargains @MaryGreenhill 😊

Sorry if I’ve missed anyone - it’s a busy thread!!

Today I spent £275 on three tickets to see Take That next year although I’ll get two thirds of that back 😊

Also did a little shop at Sainsburys when I went in to collect my fleece bedding set from Argos, only to realise I’d ordered it from a different store 🤦🏻‍♀️

But I did get given a mini greenhouse someone was getting rid of which was very timely as I had considered buying one!!

Absolutely shattered tonight after proper working this week and looking after my granddog today. Couple of glasses of wine and I’ll be in bed I reckon 🤣

@BigSkies2022 that sounds like a lovely calm stress free Christmas to me 😁
Ah thank you@chimichangaz
Re Primani 🤣
Ohh Take That next year that will be fantastic, we saw them years ago in Cardiff and they were so good brilliant atmosphere from the crowd too , love that you got the greenhouse given you too great stuff 😁

Pretty much nsd here. Went out for lunch that my mum paid for and then to M&S with my voucher so didn't spend anything out of my groceries account. Hoping for a no spend weekend to start Oct next week in a good place.

Only £4 spend on a Woman's weekly and a Mail for my Mum.
Picked up another Vinted dress for my Mum to wear over Christmas. It's a fabulous dress for the Christmas period but not for everyday l don't think . I always get Mum nice festive stuff to wear over the Christmas period so she's done now l don't have to look . It's normally a lot spendier and more trouble so l am glad to have got this out of the way 😁
So far my Vinted experience of buying has been excellent 👌
Hope everyone has a lovely day , Good luck to the England Red Roses ladies today it's going to be brilliant 🤗

Urgh I have COVID I think or definitely just feeling rough :-(
£9.90 on a drive thru Starbucks needed to get out.
Fess up which of you stole the euro millions from me last night?!

Oh no @ChipshopPickledEgg hope you get better soon bless you 💐
All l know is it wasn't me ! 🤣

Evening all -

Did you decide on the bag @BigSkies2022? Hope you enjoy the film tonight.

Take That a good shout @chimichangaz. Something nice to look forward to and a stroke of good luck with the greenhouse.

Ordered a new robe from TK Maxx today. Used a voucher and saved 6% (I think). Spent just under £12 in Waitrose on cake and marmite crisps. I have been eating junk. It’s terrible. If anyone is tempted by their rhubarb and ginger cake it’s not very rhubarby or gingery.

Not done much today. Been thinking about work - a bit disappointed I couldn’t shake it off for longer but I guess I had a day or two of not thinking about it. Legal stuff starts up again towards the end of October. This will drag it out to over five years. Five years. It feels never ending. Every time you think you’re moving on something else lands.

@ChipshopPickledEgg - sorry I missed your post. Down with COVID. I hope you start feeling better soon. An I’ll join @MaryGreenhill in the corner alas I didn’t lift your lottery winnings.

I could really have done with winning Euromillions last night @ChipshopPickledEgg but I decided not to buy a ticket as I had nothing in my lottery account....hope you feel better soon.

Quite a spendy day for me - Starbucks for me and my bestie while we had our Saturday walk then she decided to join me for what should have been a straightforward shopping session to pick up my bedding from Argos and get a few bits from Aldi...

Ended up in B & M and TK Maxx. Luckily we then ran out of steam! I went to Argos and she joined me in Aldi but all I bought were the essentials to last me to Weds when my grocery budget starts again!

Although I spent money I really shouldn't have, I didn't buy anything frivolous - a few house bits I needed (dishmatic refills etc) but I did get a lovely candle in TK Maxx, and some lovely wine glasses (I've been after wine glasses forever!). And it was lovely to spend time with my bestie! I've also bought some Yankee Candle wax melts online as apparently they aren't making them any more (bought 5 packs...), and donated £20 to a friend who's doing something for a cancer charity.

This afternoon I had a cooking session and made two lots of soup, banana and oat pancakes for breakfast for two days and tonight's curry.

I've had an offer for a free month of Apple TV and I NEED to watch S5 of Slow Horses! However the last episode is 29 October so I am waiting to cash in the offer until Weds so I manage to catch it before I have to pay 😂

Might try and catch up on some more Rebel Finance vids tonight and tomorrow as I'm way behind.

Thanks @RumBananaSundae and @MaryGreenhill - I saw TT quite a long time ago when they did the original Circus tour - I wasn't a fan (a friend had a spare ticket) but I was blown away! Very much looking forward to it!

Hi all, thanks for the warm welcome.

It's been a nice day today, I went for a walk with DD1. She's only 8 but she has started joining me most weekends for a 1 hour walk and chat.

£23 spent at Lidl and most of that was ingredients to make the Christmas cake and Christmas puddings. It would definitely be cheaper to just buy them but I do like the tradition of making them myself! That will be my job for tomorrow so hopefully it'll be a cheap weekend as the only other cost I have is £3 to take DD1 to her karate lesson.

Yay the Red roses won 😁
I am Welsh but l am thrilled for them 🤗
@chimichangaz aw sounds like you have had a smashing day, good for you ☺️
@RumBananaSundae aw bless you rework honestly you will go back on Monday and it will seem as if you haven't been off 💐