Mince Pies, Mulled Wine, frugal festive frolics. Yuletide budgeting banter & Merry Saving Shenanigans for all 🎁🎄🦌🎅🤶☃️

[MaryGreenhill]

Welcome to the Christmas Frugal thread . We are a super friendly group here & everyone is welcome 🤗 .
☃️🤶🎅🦌🎄🎁

@ChipshopPickledEgg
Absolutely, it can feel like life flips overnight, suddenly you’re juggling work, kids, and caring for aging parents, with little support from anywhere.
That moment you realise your parents aren’t invincible hits really hard. Sending strength to everyone going through this.
It's so hard ❤️

Sounds like a day of small wins @Frugal25! Library closed, but the park, then charity shop treasures made up for it 🤗
I hear you on your DM, tough seeing her more frail ☹️. Increasing DD’s preschool hours in April makes sense.
Now a cosy afternoon at home sounds perfect you enjoy yourself and thank you re my Mum it's so kind of everyone bless you all ❤️🤗

£64 is a really nice treat!
Love the plan to use leftover boeuf bourgignon for the onion soup, very tasty 😋.
Coq au Riesling sounds delicious too enjoy 🤗

Surprisingly managed a no spend day today. Visited with family and thought it would be perhaps an hour or two and then had plans to nip shopping after but it has been so lovely we ended up stopping a lot longer.

Love these afternoons.

Oh @ChipshopPickledEggthat is a lovely way to spend an afternoon 🤗

Love family afternoons like that @ChipshopPickledEgg :)
So.... Spent £100 on DD presents for birthday on Friday. But OH gave it back to me as I shall be spending on the food tomorrow for the party.
And £2.69 on eggs from corner shop so DD and I could make biscuits this afternoon.
Was meant to be a NSD but there we go!

Oh @MaryGreenhillso very glad your mum is more comfortable and you're able to leave as a nice person is there making you feel confident and at ease. I have fingers crossed these new meds kick in fast. And we don't doubt for a second you're making this up at all. It's been a very worrying episode for you and we are so glad it's on the turn for you xxx

NSD today. Had a lovely day relaxing. Made pancakes for breakfast and read books and did jigsaws with small child.

Then DH brought them in to visit his parents and I lit the fire and read my book for the afternoon.

I’ve pulled some bolognaise out of the freezer for dinner. Also pulled out some frozen meat and will do some batch cooking tomorrow

Afternoon.

@MaryGreenhillI’m so please to hear a postive update regarding your mum. Such a relief for you. UTI’s are awful.

@ChipshopPickledEgg I agree, the care system and NHS is on its knees from the best part of two decades of under funding, not to mention an aging population the is becoming sicker and sicker sadly.

£80 at Ocado but a huge pot of chilli (meat) and veggie chilli made for friends coming over tonight, which will last a couple of days at least. We are at my brothers tomorrow for supper. I’m actually getting ready to stop socialising now and be normal.

Very glad to hear that nana pumpkin is looking better @MaryGreenhill . It’s such a tight rope at this stage of life. I sometimes feel half callous when engaging with my mums illnesses, she’s in her 80s. It’s like, are you dying? No, ok
you're fine so!

but the reality is that with age comes complex heath conditions so there is no real “healthy” in the general sense. But there can still be quality of life. Also helps that we share a sense of humour!

Apologies - typos in previous post.

Also
£60 dog food - lasts 3 months
£20 HRT medication prepayment certificate. Priceless. 🙂

I think it’s been a nsd! We went for another walk and I’ve just realised we didn’t pay to park and I’ve no idea if we should have done. Oops. Dh has gone for a planning meeting in the pub, but he’ll just have a lemonade so that’s not too bad.

Tesco delivery for nye is £125, but that’s not awful for 10-12 people I guess. Mil is bringing a cheesecake. I’m hoping dh has asked people to bring their own drinks, I’ve got some soft drinks and Prosecco but it’s costly getting in a lot of booze when we don’t drink much.

im glad to read updates on families, I hope things continue to be manageable.

Ham, Egg and chips for tea tonight - using up christmas leftovers. Also had a slice of christmas pudding with cream which needed using up - we need to find the sixpence in the pudding - good excuse though!! 😋
Spent £20 in Boots on a couple of reduced green sticker gift packs - although not needed yet - they will be used up through the year. Q10 moisturisers that normally cost around £15 per pot each were reduced by 50% so effectively got 3 for the price of 1!! The hair products are a handy size for nights away and they were a fiver. I'm okay with that!!
Otherwise I've been pretty good and today was my first spend since Christmas Eve!

Bought a carton of chocolate milk in Aldi (£1.05) and some sauce (£1.40) that I was going to use for dinner but didn’t so I might throw it in some soup tomorrow.

Glad the scan went well @lifelongfrugaleer.

That is a relief the doctor got to your mother yesterday @MaryGreenhill. I hope the antibiotics have kicked in (and that you enjoyed your cuppa).

Hearing the sandwich generation tales has given me some relief that I’m not the favourite child.

Did some flat things today. Made some progress on tidying the cupboard. Opened my new vacuum cleaner. I really do like it. Trying not to think about work.

Thank you @Frugal25, that’s really so kind of you 🤗. It’s such a relief to feel things are starting to turn around, and having someone there who makes me feel confident and at ease has made all the difference today. Fingers crossed these new meds kick in quickly , it will be such a comfort knowing Mum could be on the mend.
I hope you and DD had a lovely time making biscuits 🤗 such a sweet little treat before the birthday party tomorrow! It sounds like you’re both in for a really special day, and I’m sure DD will be thrilled with everything. Even little moments like that, mixing and baking together, are such lovely memories ❤️.
And don’t worry about it being a NSD , sometimes the unexpected little things are what make the day feel real and fun. Sending lots of positive thoughts for the party and hope it all goes smoothly!

Sounds like a really lovely, gentle day @pistachiosanscream! Pancakes, jigsaws, and reading by the fire just perfect. Batch cooking tomorrow will make life easier for you too.
I completely get what you mean about your Mum,it’s such a strange balance between relief when things aren’t serious and the reality that age brings many complications. Quality of life and humour really do make all the difference and it’s so good you can share both with her 😊

AHH thank you @needastrongoneagain
Totally with you on the NHS struggles. Love the big chilli that will be perfect for a few days! Enjoy your brother’s tomorrow and some well earned downtime. Dog food and HRT are the absolute essentials 🤣

Sounds like a lovely NSD @FurForksSake! Walking, a relaxed afternoon, and a little accidental free parking lovely 😍. Tesco for NYE seems reasonable for that number of people tbh, and having your MIL bring cheesecake is brilliant 😊. Hopefully everyone’s sorted with drinks so it doesn’t get too pricey for you. Have a wonderful time 👏👏

@Rainbow1901Ham, egg, and chips sounds perfect for using up leftovers, and pudding with cream (plus the sixpence hunt 😁) is a really fun treat 😋. Great Boots haul too ,three Q10s for the price of one and handy travel hair products. Well done ! 👏

@RumBananaSundaeSounds like a good productive day! Love that you’re making progress on the cupboard and enjoying your new vacuum, which one did you get afterwards l am sorry if you said and l have forgotten..
Aldi's chocolate milk is delicious 😋.
And yes, hearing these sandwich generation stories does make you appreciate the family dynamics you’ve got.

Pottering around kitchen cooking soup, straining stock and pickling radishes. Now, a big swerve of topic: do any of you go on ski-ing holidays? I have never been, but am curious, and DS would like to go. So I had a chat with Claude and I had a look at Crystal and WeSki. But the resorts in Italy (recommended because high up, decent snow and sunshine) look like Soviet-era accommodation. Is this the norm? I don’t mind saving up and splashing money on a trip, but I don’t want to feel depressed by my surroundings when I get there. Any pointers?

Popping in to say '"Hi" to everyone and to wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope your Christmases went well.

I did some things right financially in 2025. I set up a separate account in the Credit Union, to save for Christmas. I saved up my Tesco Clubcard points all year, which helped with the Christmas grocery bills. I also set up a high interest building society account, to save for a long distance holiday - will take me a few years, but I'll get there.

However, my car is due for NCT in 2026 (February or March, I think). DD has been driving my car for the past year and I think it's going to need a bit of work, to get through the NCT. I don't have a special car repair fund, so I may have to dip into my holiday account funds.

DD will graduate from college in the summer. She will need to go on and do a Masters, if she wants to practice in her chosen career. But I think she's going to work for a bit first and save up to pay for her Masters.

My child maintenance payments will cease when DD finishes college. It will mean I'll by truly flying solo for the first time since Ex and I separated our finances. But it also means I won't be dependent on him in any way. Which is a good thing.

We're getting DD her own car when she graduates. We've the money put aside to get her a small, second hand car. Sharing a car has been a right pain in the arse. I don't mind her using it Monday to Friday because I get the bus to work. But then she works weekends. Either I get up early on my days off to drive her to work, or else I've no car for the day. And her boyfriend lives about an hour away, so she often goes over to him and stays overnight......

I think there are promotions coming up in work in the new year, so I'm going to throw my hat in the ring. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.

My sister is getting married in May, so that will be expensive. It will involve staying for two nights in a hotel. I've half the money saved though. That's the third family wedding in three years. Nobody else is engaged, so hopefully I'll be done with family weddings for a bit.

I need to tighten my belt when it comes to groceries in 2026. No treating myself to luxury things. Or at least, less of that. Better meal planning and better use of leftovers.

I also need to spend less on Christmas in 2026. I spent a lot and I didn't feel like I got value for money. Christmas itself was over in a flash. I got some nice presents (I don't mean to sound ungrateful), but what I enjoyed most was the time off work and watching old movies on TV (I watched 'It's a Wonderful Life' last night). And the old movies cost nothing. Just a few € for the RTÉ Guide (our version of the TV Times) and then I sit down with a pen and plan my recording schedule. The recordings usually keep me going for a few weeks after Christmas is over.

Have you any nice things coming up in 2026?

I'm heading to Galway to visit my friend at the end of January.

I'm meeting an old work colleague in February. She left to go to another job and I haven't seen her for a few years. We've kept in touch over the years, mainly by Whatsapp. She's a lovely person and I can't wait to see her in person and hear her news properly.

I'm going to the musical 'Blood Brothers' in February, with my Dad and my sister.

I've the wedding in May.

I'm going to the musical 'Annie' with my sister and DD in the summer (I forget the exact date). My sister gave us the tickets as Christmas presents.

That's all so far.

I'm going to get some breakfast and I'll catch up a bit on your recent news.

Oh wow Tayto what a great update. You are so organised and clear on your objectives and your planning over 2025 has been admirable. I need to get some concrete milestones in place, but the income side of things is as yet still unsettled. Hopefully the next week or so will see that change.

As for today: comrades, despite my haircut and a good night’s sleep, I have got up this morning looking shit and stiff as a board. Morning stretches and a face full of makeup later, things are getting better, but this is a sign that Christmas needs to end! We still have lots of food left, but some of it can be tucked away and brought out as weekend treats only. The rest is good wholesome stuff- like today’s planned cassoulet, which is where some of the duck confit and a couple of Toulouse sausages are going to find a home. Baked chicory on the side.

DH has gone to the gym, I’m going to walk and feed dog, then have a good walk myself under the lovely blue skies.

oh and oops: bought a new lip pencil, to replace stub, and added a pair of Chelsea boots. They are replacing the ones that I have worn out, but now, really??? £111 for the two, we’ll see if I keep the boots. Have paid using PayPal credit so I have until end April interest free if they’re good.

Good morning everyone ☺️
Quite a nice day out ,cold but bright and no rain!
Been to Aldi's to get a load of stuff in for Mum. Just come here now and she's resting much better, properly sleeping not restless . Given her a good drink and will stay a couple of hours so l can get more drink into her . She spoke to us and said she was feeling better bless her . More coherent today .
Bought a load of long clawson pots of cheese pots for 99p instead of nearly £5 and loads of extra lean diced beef for stews at £2 a pkt instead of £4. Also 2 lovely rump steaks for £3.49 each instead of £7.99 each so l was meant to go there ! 😁
Hope everyone is ok and has a lovely day get to Aldi and fill your meat drawers up in the freezer ☺️

Happy New Year to you and your beloveds @Taytocrisps! 🎉 Smart moves with your savings and Clubcard points , that’ll really help. Sharing the car sounds tricky, so getting DD her own will be a relief!
Exciting times ahead for you all, graduation, possible Masters, work promotion, weddings, musicals, and trips. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly ☺️
Totally get what you said about Christmas , the simple joys, movies, and time off matter most. Tightening groceries and Christmas spending sounds sensible.
Galway and catching up with your friend will be lovely, and the family musicals will be great memories. 2026’s shaping up busy but full of good stuff for you and yours.

Morning @BigSkies2022 Despite a rough start, it sounds like you’re turning things around, stretches, makeup, and fresh air always help 😁Cassoulet with duck confit and Toulouse sausages sounds perfect, baked chicory on the side just lovely. Blue skies and walks will do you good too. Boots are a splurge, but very practical and interest free until April gives you time to decide what you want to do 😁