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 😊

Just trying out the tomm Christmas schedule tbh. And also trying to stick to a budget this year which I never do and end up in even more debt. I'm hoping that by being organised I'll be in a better position this year. Doing it slowly and carefully is the aim. She says.

So glad your mum is better @MaryGreenhill . And it is an awful day today. Yukky weather. Very proud that all week I've dried things outside or on airers.

Today (and yesterday evening) has been £33.89 on Amazon, 22€ on an exhibition ticket, £4 in Sainsbury and £6.59 in the Post Office posting the tea to my friend.

Just Paris @MaryGreenhill. I’ve bought a ticket to the Jacques-Louis David exhibition. I was tempted by the art deco exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs but it looked at bit dry. Glad your mum is doing better.

Having an I want to rip my leg off day. Made myself feel worse by having a supper of a multi bag of quavers and some KitKats. The wheels have really fallen off. On the plus side I have decided I don’t like the tea I bought yesterday so I am no longer tempted by the teapot I wanted to buy in Paris.

Afternoon! Today has been £24 on fire hose remembrance poppies. And £6 on milk and butter in the corner shop.

@Frugal25 well done sticking to your budget and yay to payday tomorrow 😁
Thank you , Mum was fine there today thankfully 😁
Terrible day it's been so cold, wet and windy 🥶
@RumBananaSundae Paris sounds wonderful 😊.
I hope you have a wonderful time 😁 sorry about your leg feeling so bad today . I hope you feel better soon bless you 🤗. Bah humbug re the Quavers and KitKats we have all done it , let it go it's not worth it .
@FurForksSake well done in the Remembrance Poppy fire hose, a very worthwhile cause 🤗

Thanks everyone 💖 still feeling very unwell and confused but being well looked after.

The parcels have finally stopped arriving so we could take stock. On the plus side, Christmas is completely finished (remember my 18 children to buy for!) and so is DS. Now must not twitch a thing as obviously over budget for all.

it’s nice to finally have clothes that fit. Almost 6 stone loss so everything was hanging off me. Now having good underwear makes a difference so it wasn’t all bad purchases, just excessive in one go.

@PearlsPearl its good to hear you are being well looked after and glad the purchases were useful!

I fell off the wagon too and spent €414 on clothes and bedding. Some of the clothes might be returned but i'll keep the bedding and pillows.

Outside of that yesterday was €15 on school halloween disco and raffle tickets.

Today the tesco delivery was 234 but they added the €3 minimum basket charge so ive asked them to refund me that. might be a small amount but its my money not theirs and they have enough! this is the last of the party shopping and my fridges, pantry and freezers will be groaning once its delivered so i want to really batten the hatches down for November. Will also need to pay €90 for gymnastics mid term camp.

Good afternoon everyone 😊
Well that was much better than you feared @PearlsPearl
Wonderful news sweetheart. So glad you are being well cared for bless you , just concentrate on you getting well now ❤️

@pistachiosanscream l don't blame you wanting your €3 back off Tesco .Good for you !
Been shopping this morning, Aldi £71 including flowers, wine and dog treats for my friend who is feeling down. l will go and see her tomorrow.
Morrisons £72 but it did include 4 Christmas presents of 2x Wednesday T Shirts and
2 x Hello Kitty crop jumpers .
I was glad to get them sorted out l can tell you. Just need 2 x presents for the older girls and all the children l buy for are done Phew 😁
Lovely day here sunny and blue skies but cold .
Hope everyone is ok 🤗

I should have put the washing out 🤣

Ah so glad you are being looked after @PearlsPearl . Ooh that's Christmas done for you then and good underwear is so underrated.

My washing is out and blowing about. Hopefully it dries.

Was meant to be a NSD but took DD on the bus to the library to swap her books over so that was £2. Then onto the park to enjoy before schools break up and it gets too crowded.
We then popped into a charity shop and got Christmas cards, two toys for her including one that will teach her how to tie laces, a pair of JoJo trousers for DD and a Zara top for me. £14 in all. Oh and two Christmas gifts that I have been looking for so pleased I got them second hand instead.
Saw a gorgeous coat that I wanted but don't need. Will now spend the rest of my day trying to forge about it.

Happy Friday all! How gorgeous is this weather

Looking forward to payday on Monday and hopefully my small increase will be added this month too it's only around £60 a month but I always see it as it's three small bills paid for which is nice. An expensive time coming up with some expensive birthdays/Christmas etc and a little holiday so I have a three month budget cycle starting to help me keep in control.

Getting fed up of spending money too. All within budget.

I have decided to transfer my half term savings/slush fund to another bank account and try and only use this for spends this will hopefully keep things in control. Going forward this might be something I do with my whole "slush" account but we will see how the half term idea goes. I have found that a lot of my problem is with the little spends and once it starts it's like a never ending circle.

@PearlsPearl bless you I hope you have lots of kind support around you. Sounds like you have plenty of friends etc so hopefully they are holding you up right now. My thoughts are with you.

Well done on your bargains in the charity shop @Frugal25
Excellent work 👍 👏 😊
@ChipshopPickledEgg glad it's payday for you soon . You sound really organised even though you have a lot going out this pay month .
You gave reminded me to shift myself and sort out the birthday cards and presents l have coming up . I will shift myself now 😊

Hi Everyone,

The weekend is almost here 😀

My week hasn't been too bad expenditure wise, Monday I ordered DD2 a flute - long story but it's basically going to be a large part of her Christmas allowance, so she will still get a few bits but understands that this is a big part of her gifts, I took this money out of my Christmas savings so It doesn't affect my current account balance. Tuesday was NSD - YAY, Wednesday I took the same DD to a uni open day, had already paid for the travel there and we both had dinner at Tortilla which cost around £19. So not too bad seeing as we were out and about.

Yesterday I did the weekly shop, £78 in M&S and £40 in Aldi, quite a low cost week as we have quite a bit in, my Monzo account rounds all spends up and put's the extra few pence into my Christmas pot.

Today I've spent most of the day so far cleaning and doing house work, not my favourite but I've just stopped working Fridays and I much prefer to have the weekends to relax and do other things.

Tomorrow won't be an NSD day but hopefully should be LSD, I also have quite a few parcels to return, including a 12kg kettle bell which I need to drop off - as you can imagine it's heavy so I need to find somewhere I can park outside.

Pizza and sweet potato fries for dinner - from the freezer!

Hello all - yesterday I spent £11 at Amazon on part of a birthday present and today I spent another £10 plus a card to finish it off. I also bought some bits from B & M (household, ironing board cover etc - all needed). I bought lunch for me and DS from Sainsburys plus a bargain pencil case (one that expands - if you'd seen my stationery stash you'd understand 😂), and some latte sachets.

Today I bought some wine and bits of shopping from Tesco (£25) as well as some tape and a gold pen from Hobbycraft.

I forgot to say the other day - I managed to get shampoo and conditioner from Boots using the points I'd got from recycling empties so that was a win. I also sorted out a balance transfer card for the (hefty) balance of my birthday celebration cruise in January - it's for 13 months and it was a 'no fee' transfer so if I pay it off within that time it will effectively have cost me zilch and I will have the money sitting somewhere earning interest! Found it on Moneysavingexpert if anyone is interested.

Thanks for the encouragement about the PT - I've thought about it for ages and I'm glad I've taken the plunge. I wouldn't have thought of it as investing in myself so thanks for that perspective @needastrongoneagain . And getting more confident in the gym is one of my top priorities @PearlsPearl which I'm sure will happen.

I'm getting a bit panicked thinking about Christmas as I have done diddly squat about any presents and you are all so organised!! I need to get my skates on!

I'm also booking a table of 14 for my birthday meal - I wish I could afford to cover everyone's food and drink bills but I can only cover the wine/beer/soft drinks - I'm sure everyone will appreciate that and it will be lovely to have them all together!

Today was £39 on Amazon for a new mop and duster. Think I’ve had an Amazon delivery everyday this week.

Glad you are being looked after @PearlsPearl but sorry you’re feeling unwell and confused. Sending you many warm hugs. Goodo on some of the purchases working out OK.

Good on you @pistachiosanscream with the 3€. I never do things like that and hate to think of how much money I’ve thrown away.

Sounds like you’re ahead of the curve re Christmas @MaryGreenhill . And Hello Kitty is always a good thing.

You had a good charity shop trip @Frugal25 .

Ohhh @chimichangaz you’re my kind of person. I love stationary.

Some papers arrived from the solicitor so I’ll have to look at them over the weekend. They came with a bill. The putty and assorted bits were delivered today so I need to properly think about the windows. I’m sure I’ll be back here for advice about it after I’ve been through the legal bits. Will try and get some cleaning done when my new mop and duster arrive.

@RumBananaSundae if I’m feeling down the purchase of a new notebook and pen makes my spirit soar 😊

Hello all, and happy Friday. I have had a busy week back and forth organising the prep for the renovations and redecoration of the rental flat. Very good for the step count, less good for the bank balance. But I'm also getting a lot of satisfaction from making a great big pile of crud to dump in the massive skip which is arriving next week. I'm also taking the opportunity to get rid of and replace all the things that are - in my view - 'lazy, cheap and ugly'. So the plastic light switches that sit on plastic boxes that are raised on the wall, rather than recessed - going. Ditto the plastic ceiling roses and the mismatched shades, the cheap blinds and curtains, the minging carpet, the lumpy old chair that a tenant brought in, the shelves on those metal tracks - the sort of thing that would be fine in a garage or workshop, but which have no place in a bedroom. When I"m done, the flat will be plainly decorated, everything white and neutral colours, so not exciting; but everything in there will be good quality, fresh and clean and I'll feel proud to put it out to market.

Extra expenditure that has crept in today: new battery for the car (£100) which wouldn't start this morning and gave me a fright. Also, Ddog stepped in dog poo on his morning walk and then ran it all over the house included one carpeted room. The hard floors were easy to clean and I was going to do them today anyway, but the already grubby carpet was even more mired along with a couple of old sheepskin rugs. So I've dumped the rugs, (overdue) and got the company that is supplying the carpet at the flat to come and measure up. The carpet was already pretty grim and today's additional insult gave me the final push I needed to get it sorted! Is there anything more depressing than a grubby beige carpet?

DS in Manchester, has been working hard all week on gig work, business course and on job applications. I've told him to go and do some clothes shopping in Manny and I'll pay - I may live to regret this, but I'm not doing Christmas presents this year and he may as well benefit from my current bout of open-handedness. (I'm perfectly aware that I am compensating for my bouts of grumpy old pig behaviour this week)

DH and I going to sit down to fish finger sandwiches with Picpoul and I shall be lobbying for series 2 of No-one Wants This as tonight's ents. The house is clean and tidy, and the laundry is done, so after a chaotic start, we're ending the day peaceably.

Pearls - I was very taken aback to hear your news. I'm glad you're in a good hospital, and very much hope you're feeling safe and on the mend.

Thank you all so much. Big, a carpet expense isn’t nice but ohhh I do love a new carpet!!

A pattern has emerged since we got Ddog 7 years ago where we grumble about something a bit crap that we want to change (shoddy carpets, ugly sofas, grubby upholstery on chairs) and then Ddog shreds/chews/vomits/shits on it and forces a decision and action upon us.

How thoughtful of him!

I've done some Christmas shopping!
Spent £31 in boots and got some gifts for 4 of Mum friends children need to get a little add on for a couple of them but a big box ticked.
also did a present for my daughter this morning... She's managed to get it already. Whoops.

Good morning everyone 😁
Planning a NSD here fingers crossed 🤞.
Well done on the Christmas shopping @ChipshopPickledEgg and we have all been there with the DC giving them presents before the big day, it's lovely ❤️
You have a very frugal Bow Wow @BigSkies2022 😂
Love a new carpet too @PearlsPearl 😁
Hope you are continuing to recover sweetheart 💐
@Johaanah well done on all the cleaning 🧹 🧼 come and help me lol 😂
@chimichangaz well done on the card payment idea from MSE. That is what this budgeting is all about , researching , planning and the execution of it . Great stuff 👏.
@RumBananaSundae hope the solicitor letters aren't too hard to understand and the bill isn't too much 🤞
Thank you for the reassurance about the Hello Kitty presents l have no idea what is in now for children 🤗
Have a lovely weekend everyone 🤗

To be honest I'm of the logic Christmas was overwhelming for her last year even though I didn't go to the extremes so I am happier to let her have bits as the ber months continue perhaps when she's older and more in the comparison years I won't but for right now she can celebrate the BER months

@ChipshopPickledEgg l am sure you know what's best for her , you will not find any criticism here lovely. Personally l find it lovely and l used to do it with mine 🤗

Oh I know lovely I didn't mean it to sound like I thought you were being judgey or anything ❤️