January Jingles, Valentine Capers, Frugal Fun Shenanigans & Looking Forward to Spring!

[DirtyGertiefromno30]

Welcome to the New thread everyone 😊
Here's to everyone of us and hoping 2026 brings us all health happiness and frugal finances 🤗

Amazon £20.09 spend on insulation for external pipes. Condenser pipe for the boiler was frozen this morning - DH is attempting to defrost by using a hairdryer and extension cable!! We do have a gas fire which is used exactly for situations like this but otherwise sits most of the year as a feature!!
Good to hear about @lifelongfrugaleer - thank you @needastrongoneagain

Omg that's wonderful news thank God and thank you for letting us know you wonderful Need you ❤️
Tell her we are all just cheering her on here and can't wait for her to be well again ❤️

@needastrongoneagain l am sure your BP was up because of the circumstances honestly fancy that pharmacist being so blooming insensitive bless you ❤️

Thanks @needastrongoneagain very pleased to here she’s through it.

Spends today Costco £43
Hotel Chocolat £6
M&S £20
Home now we have had enough 😁

Oh good news!
C'mon life lets have you bouncing back ❤️

Oh thank goodness, I'm so happy and relieved to be hear life is doing well and can't wait to have her back.
Thank you @needastrongoneagain.
You're brave wearing shorts. Although seen so many people wearing them this year regardless of the weather so it's obviously a thing.

£75 today on the remaining balance for the hall hire for DD birthday. This party is getting pricey. I may not do this again tbh.

Leftovers for lunch and dinner here. Pesto pasta for lunch using up cupboard and fridge remains and soup from the freezer tonight for dinner.

I'll yoga tonight so that will be £10.

@Rainbow1901 and @needastrongoneagain similarto you i prefer to stock up for Christmas though i may have overdone it on the crisps. I still have boxes of them. Don't know what i was thinking.

Really great to hear about life @needastrongoneagain fingers rossed her recovery is as straightforward as it can be.

Last nights dinner was leftover chinese and tonight i plan to do sausages and chips as its a ate return home due to swimming lessons and small child is sick of pasta.

i also made a beef and barley soup out of some of the leftover roast beef and i plan to turn the rest of it into fajitas.

Today ive spent €2 on tea in work. Brought a beef sandwich and some of the soup in for lunch. fingers crossed that my spending done for the day.

Good to hear life is out of surgery and recovering- thank you need for passing the message on.

£23 in Sainsbury’s- when did a pack of mince become a treat?? Just some basics. Leaning into comfort food against the cold today: porridge with Greek yogurt and walnuts this morning, beans on toast for lunch ( and the last of the Lebenkuchen). Cottage pie for dinner.

git a big chunk of my steps in this morning with errands. Was bare cold and unpleasant though. Now I want an afternoon of drinking tea and indoor effort but the dog is looking at me mournfully.

Having a break from a job application form here....
Great update on life. Thank you.
Spent £20 in Morrisons on a few things this morning. As I knew, I spent a bit yesterday. The next few days will be NSD/LSD.

Dinners here are being based on various festive leftovers. I'm going to make stilton and broccoli pasta for my dinner. DP and DD are having another cobbled together pasta thing.

Really pleased to hear that Life is in recovery. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly for her.

Today’s spends have been:
£6 meeting a friend for coffee.
£3.40 on a loaf. Forgot to buy milk.
£50 for a 6 week language class for dd.

Dd was sent home from school at lunchtime. She keeps on getting nasty headaches so I’ve booked her in for an eye test. Also made an appointment for myself whilst I was at it. Hers is still covered by the NHS but mine will cost £110.

Definitely no more spends today and hopefully none for tomorrow either. Dd usually does a dance class on Tuesdays which I book into and pay for on the day - but luckily I hadn’t got round to doing that before she was sent home sick.

Thanks for the update @needastrongoneagain - glad to hear @lifelongfrugaleer is out of surgery. Give her our love.

Spent £33 online with Boots this morning as was led astray by £10 Tuesday but then did actually buy some sunscreen and a couple of needed toiletries bits. Will also be ordering some replacement earbuds (£20 and they are excellent) from Amazon using Christmas vouchers. I need to reorder an Amazon order that’s stuck in a locker and I won’t get a refund on it until tomorrow which is my last day to collect it. Very annoying. I also need to book transport and an airport hotel before my cruise. However I am returning the majority of my Regatta order so expecting a refund of £130. I really liked the colour of the dry robe dupe but the hem was very odd and didn’t hang right no matter what I did. Bought one from Sainsbury’s Oti Mabuse range instead (think I mentioned that before).

Finally managed to prep and freeze half of the veg I’ve got leftover and will do the other half tomorrow. Feeling a lot better today after a good nights sleep!

Ten pound Tuesday with boots must be one of their biggest draws, I’ve often got my no7 moisturiser dirt cheap and then added a few bits and bobs!

just paid £45 for ten weeks of afterwchool activity for ds2. It means when I go back to work (unlikely to be next week), he won’t need to be in after school care and can mar his way home. I finish at 4, his club finishes at 4.15 and as he’s 10 he can cycle home and let himself in. His big bro is in y8 and finishes at 4.15 on a Tuesday and will be home by 4.40, so even if I got held up he’s only home for ten minutes on his own. We live in a very safe area and he knows our neighbours on both sides.

DH is going to be in London three days a week, I’ve told him after / during my phased return I’m stopping working Wednesdays so I can look after myself better.

Thanks for the update @needastrongoneagain and great to hear @lifelongfrugaleers update.

NSD so far - haven't left the house. Need toothpaste (we have some in but I like Arm and Hammer) and kindling so may call to B&M while picking up DD soon.

Lunch was leftover curry. Dinner will be left over slow cooked beef in a rendang noodle soup. Blue cheese and broccoli pasta sounds really good. I'm planning a blue cheese dip to have with crispy chicken and salad on Friday night.

Ooohhh do you have a recipe for the blue cheese dip @Lockin26? That sounds devine.

Reduced all my vinted items to £1. I've now sold two items. Just want it gone now. On Sunday I'll give all to charity and start again but I'll drop the price to see if anyone bites until then.

Very tired today and fell asleep on the sofa with DD after watching the snow.
Have made up another batch of cleaning products so need to now actually clean.

Absolutely love £10 Tuesday got my mascara a clear lip gloss and eye brow thingy for £10 before Christmas that was a right deal.
A lot of stuff that can tempt you to spend what you don't need but I like that they put things that aren't just clearing their website on sometimes.

I have never heard of £10 Tuesday. I shall Def keep an eye on Tuesdays from now on!!

Defrosted and reheated two Tupperware of soup for dinner (early tonight due to yoga) and thought it was delicious, then realised it was two different soups mixed together!! Ah well. Tasted good.

Boots £10 Tuesday is great but stick to what you need/use! It's only £20 spend for free click and collect too.

I've seen a blue cheese dip and sauce on the Good Food App @Frugal25 I've screenshotted them both as the app is a subscription. Will try to attach. I think I'll go for the sauce and cool it down as I've frozen the cheese so to need to cook it. Maybe a bit of a mix of both recipes! I have 1.5 portions of Stilton that I froze after Christmas.

Boots £10 Tuesday on my radar now thanks to this thread. They had some night cream I'd have been tempted with today but it was out of stock. Didn't get to B&M so I can declare a NSD ,😁

NSD here.

Glad your appointment went ok @DirtyGertiefromno30. And super that your recall has been extended.

Which show are you off to see @EmbracingUncertainty?

Thank you for passing on the news @needastrongoneagain. I wish her a good recovery. Hope you are ok too.

Hope your daughter is ok @Shnout. I used to get crippling migraines but thankfully grew out of them. I was in sick bay more times that I care to remember.

Blue cheese dip sounds divine @Lockin26.

Still chilly here. Walked back from therapy while it was snowing. I’ve not peeked out to see if it’s settled. I hope not. Snow in the Alps is one thing snow here is just no. Had a day off today and been reading about a prediction market. Think I’ve escaped as it’s not licensed here. Had leftovers for supper and tomorrow will make freezer/cupboard soup. Think I might throw some blue cheese in. Thank you @Lockin26.

Great news @needastrongoneagain for lifelongfrugaleer and family. @BigSkies2022 I've just thought that - took DD to do a food shop before going back to uni, and it wasn't expensive in the grand scheme of things but 500g of 5% fat mince was £5.19 in Aldi (for context the whole shop came to £35 and included a lottery ticket for tonight)

On top of the Aldi shop for DD, spent £40 in TK Maxx on a new frying pan, candles, a big glass jar for pasta and small jars for me to keep roasting tin fats in - I keep saving them, putting them in the fridge in ramekins then throwing them out mouldy 😫. £8 in Costa for us both but came from my voucher so I've £17 left to last the rest of the month for my coffee habit.

Anticipating spends tomorrow on McDonald's breakfast (early start) but otherwise nothing else as will be largely in the car............

I've done well on Boots £10 Tuesday before on No7 stuff but need to be careful not to just pick up stuff at random as it's reduced, I have enough moisturiser for now from a gift set I ordered before Christmas so will not be tempted!

Hi everyone!

great news that lifelongfrugaleer is doing well❤️

NSD here, a busy day though, work has been non stop, I work from home and usually have a few breaks during the day to stick a load of washing on or wipe over the counter tops, not today! No time for anything. Did a nice reformer Pilates class early this morning and nearly lost a finger tip to frostbite whilst scraping the windscreen 🥶

Sold a further two items on Vinted late last night so dropped those off this morning, the roads and paths are so icy it’s quite scary.

I don’t think tomorrow will be another NSD, as DD2 has a local ish university interview so I’m dropping her there and will have three hours to kill, so I may try and locate a supermarket nearby and get the weekly shop out of the way. Don’t need too much as we are still trawling through the Christmas food, have mountains of cheese still to eat.

Hope everyone on this thread is managing these cold dark January days, the struggle is real. I can’t wait for the Spring to arrive 🌼

Thanks @RumBananaSundae. She’s been sat in bed most of the afternoon but is feeling better for it. I’ve put some calpol tablets in her bag but I’m not sure if that’s strictly allowed.

I’m another one who hadn’t heard of £10 Tuesdays. Looks promising!
Is it always the same items or do they change weekly?

The DC parties cost an arm and a leg @Frugal25 you took me back to my Dds parties and the whole class used to come 😁.
That beef and barley soup sounds delicious @pistachiosanscream😋
Hope your Dd is feeling better @Shnout bless her ❤️