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 🤗

£8 to my friends small cake business buying Saturday goods....
And now I refuse to leave the house again!
Have a good day all x

Happy birthday @needastrongoneagainto your lovely DH. Have fun at the pub!
Your DF sounds so organised. Makes me realise I should be better organised with things like that. Well done to you all for ploughing through it.

Ooohhh cake business. Lethal @MushyPeasAndMintSauce

How's the eye @RumBananaSundae?

I was naughty. I sorry £8 on 6 beautiful glass pots with screw lids on vinted. Been eyeing them up for about 6 months. Finally gave in. I'm going to start making more of my own hummus etc so I'll use them for that.

Also bought a cheap soap in Lidl and with the sofa crystals I already had made 4 large bottles of laundry detergent. So that's saved a few pennies. I've also started using the longer eco wash cycle in the hope of bringing down my water bill which I'm told by the company is too high. The are sending someone round on Tuesday to see if I have a leak.

Tweaked my pension at work too wondered why it had stopped growing. The company had put it on a slow grow setting. Tweaked it back and it's growing nicely again. Should be a NSD weekend :) pay day Tuesday. Bring it on I say.

@Frugal25
It is 😆
I usually avoid it because I got far too regular at it last year at one point!
🐷

I've had a mixed few days - not too many new spends but I've had 2 Klarna payments go out which I'd sort of forgotten about. Oh well...
Today I made an unplanned trip to Waitrose with my mum. Was quite proud that I only spent £12 - If it wasn't for this thread I think I probably would have spent at least 4 times that. I bought a bargain yellow stickered chicken which I'll need to cook today and will probably turn into a stew - and a few other items I needed anyway. I might get Dd a takeaway pizza from a local restaurant tonight (she's vegetarian so wouldn't eat my stew anyway. I think it's £9 for a margherita if I go and collect so not too bad.

I hear you @Shnout, I often go to buy something and this thread stops me. I went to a few charity shops today. Bought DD a £2 toy and was so tempted by a gorgeous bed spread (they are my thing) but stopped myself thinking "I'll have to declare it on here and I don't have room anyway". I'm going to treat myself to another that's similar when DD grows out of her toddler bed, I'll buy it for her new bed. So I have a good few years yet.

Your stew sounds delicious. Hope your DD enjoys her pizza

@MushyPeasAndMintSaucei have to know, what was the favourite cake she did that you liked??!! Anything like black forest for me....

@Frugal25 love the idea of your pretty Vinted jars. I got 10 small pretty bowls from Costco before Christmas to make up a minimum spend to use a voucher. I didn't think they were a 'need' but they have been in and out of the dishwasher.

Well done on the low spend in Waitrose @Shnout

Lidl earlier - I'd hoped between £60 and £100, it was £105.87 but that's feeding 10 tomorrow for DS's birthday celebration (some was bought at Costco yesterday) plus a weeks shop for four. Making soup tomorrow to take to work next week!

I had a hungry hippo chocolate Yule log type thing today!
I'm the same this thread stops me buying because I don't want to keep declaring spends haha

Hello 👋

Nsd yesterday, I usually go into the closest town on a Friday, but yesterday I stayed home so no money was spent. Lots of housework was undertaken instead.

Today I spent £8 on lunch for Dh and I and £1 on a bottle of water. £9 total, not bad and I was not temped to buy anything whilst we were out.

Skipping dinner tonight as I had McDonald’s for lunch, Dh is having a Cornish pasty and chips I think - he’s sorting himself out as none of the Dc are eating at home tonight.

Toad in the hole planned for tomorrow’s dinner as I’m still eating down the freezer and had some chipolatas in there. Hopefully a NSD again, two more weeks until payday. Last got paid on 19th December so it’s been a while!

Hope you’re all having an enjoyable weekend.

evening. It’s been such a hard week I’ve not been thinking that much about spends the last couple of days.

Today £120 on ocado, £65 on Morrisons and £25 on Amazon (birthday present).

dh is on beaver camp, so it’s just me and the kids. The boys had spaghetti and meatballs and I had the same but turned it into meatball lasagne. They are now eating Christmas chocolates!

We’ve had lots of scout spending that needs to comeback, which is frustrating as I can’t look at the bank account and see what we’ve got.

Bought a box of eggs but I can’t remember how much they were.

My eye is OK thank you. Much relief. Sore when it’s poked so I’ll not be doing that.

Sorry about the TGTG @Alwayslearning25. It’s disappointing when it’s disappointing.

Does feel like that @needastrongoneagain. Enjoy your pub tea. I’m glad things sound like they are going ok regarding your father.

I did laugh at your declaration confession @Frugal25. I’m the same. Having to write a post of shame has seen me off spending a few times.

That’s not bad for feeding 10 and a weeks shopping @Lockin26.

Sorry it’s been a hard week @FurForksSake. Hope you can find some quiet time this weekend.

None of my planned tasks have been done today. Laptop has stayed off. Gingerbread has been eaten. I’m working on convincing myself I don’t need a new Garmin.

Wish I hadn’t put off buying a new set of gift cards for my grocery shopping as all the discounts have decreased.

I’ve kept all my jam jars from the fancy jam and they are back in use. Ordered some labels £4
£25 butcher but that was for 6 things for 6 meals

chilli & curry tonight

That's a shame your Morrisons bag was disappointing @Alwayslearning25 l think it's hit and miss with a lot of these bags tbh with you.
Aw well done to your DH and the Lidl list @pistachiosanscream😊
Thank you re my Mum it's very difficult indeed and you are right Jan is a horrible month .
All excellent buys @lifelongfrugaleer well done .
Well done on keeping the jam jars too 😊 enjoy your chilli and curry tonight 😋
@Lockin26 have a wonderful day for Ds birthday party tomorrow and a very happy birthday to him too 🎁🥳🎈🍰

Sounds like you’re all sharing the load well @needastrongoneagain, and it must help that your DF was so organised , even if some notes were a bit spicy for DB 🤣. Well done on sorting finances and admin too. Hope DB has a lovely birthday , and thank you for thinking of GrannyTeapot too that's so kind of you 💛.
Lol @MushyPeasAndMintSauce not eating the cakes because you have to declare them here😂.
Well done with all the detergent making ,admin, pension & money work @Frugal25
Those jars sound beautiful ❤️

Well done on the Waitrose bargains @Shnout chicken stew sounds delicious 😋
Great stuff on the restraint on spending @Johaanah l love toad in the hole enjoy it 😋.
So sorry it's been such a hard week for you bless you @FurForksSake❤️
Hope the Beaver money comes in very soon too it's very good of your DH to volunteer to do this for the children.

Glad your eye is better @RumBananaSundae shame about your planned tasks not getting done but no shame in the gingerbread , l hope you enjoyed it 😋

Been to see Mum who was comfortablenot in pain, happy, calm , reading the mags and papers, ate a huge banana for me and 2 red lindt chocolate balls . Drank a mug of their milky coffee and about 200mls of hot chocolate for me . We were here about an hour and 40 . Spoke to her favourite carer, who gave her poached egg for breakfast and will give her some dinner later . I put the cot sides up before we left . She told us to go because she was tired lol .
Mum had a late
Christmas card from an old friend . Her daughter , 52, has had a bleed on the brain and has been in hospital since last May .I have sent her a card and told her Mum hasn't been well and hope her daughter gets better very soon . It is very bad, many people are suffering and l have to remember this and keep my Mum and a sense of perspective.
Sorry to be a doom mongerer, it's all l see these days it seems.
Spends today £8 Tesco on flowers , a paper and egg custards for Mum.
£28 on flowers for my friend who lost her daughter.
£25 on chip shop for our tea tonight .
Hope everyone is ok and feeling better, Also a very happy birthday for family birthdays and celebrations.
❤️🍰🎈🥳🎁💐

£14 in the butcher on four big duck legs. Marinading overnight tonight and I will cook them in the leftover fat from the Christmas duck confit. I see DH spent £9 in a local shop but I haven’t worked out on what yet! Oh and also £54 in Sainsbury’s! Yikes. That’s the tight food budget blown! Oh well.

Today I cleaned the floors and shook out the cushions and blankets, opened lots of windows, hoovered vigorously. Errands, errands. Pilates workout. Tomorrow I will dust, clean some windows and make flapjacks, to satisfy my present sweet tooth, and put all the laundry away. Monday is likely to be a long day, dad in hospital for his procedure, so the calmer and cleaner the house to kick off the week, the better the week will go! I have another book group on Wednesday and haven’t started the (thankfully short) novel yet.

That’s real life @BigSkies2022 when the budget is blown, but those duck legs in confit fat will be worth it 😋 £54 in Sainsbury’s isn't too bad TBF😊
You’ve done loads today, and tomorrow’s plan sounds spot on. A calm house before a long hospital appointment on Monday will really help. Hope your Dad’s procedure goes smoothly 💐

@DirtyGertiefromno30 pleased to hear your mum is bright but sorry to hear your other sad news. Life really is a bitch at times.
Managed 2 NSDs and yesterday bought some hair heat protector as it's on offer. Had loads of change making my purse heavy so got rid of some of that.

Ordered something for DD's birthday too £35.

It’s all relative girlie. There is shit going on out there all the time but it does not mean our shit should be compared. What we are going through still matters

hope people are feeling better today with eyes and ills
i had an organised session before hospital and it makes such a difference. Control what you can. Take snacks.

Thank you @Vinorosso74 that really means a lot ❤️ . Life definitely has its rough moments, doesn’t it , we just keep muddling through as best we can.
Well done on the 2 NSDs .
Sounds like a lovely treat for DD’s birthday, I bet she’ll be chuffed 🥰

So true @lifelongfrugaleer , just because there’s always something going on out there doesn’t mean what we’re dealing with matters any less. Everyone’s stuff still counts and deserves space.
Hope you are recovering well sweetheart 💐 and l
hope today is a bit kinder on us all ❤️

DH’s food shopping spends yesterday were sort of provoked by me, so I can’t really complain. He was out on the company dime on Thursday and Friday, came back on Friday evening with a yen for chocolate and was disappointed to find it all gone. I pointed out that he did walk past many good shops every single day and that if he wanted a specific item he was obviously capable of buying it and carrying it home himself; I did not have to be solely responsible for conveying every single bit of food into the house.

I am happy taking the lead on the domestic front and I am hell of a lot happier than when I was commuting to a pointless job and we were muddling along at home somewhat. But, come on.

So yesterday, DH announced he was going to the supermarket, was anything I wanted to put on his list…?

😂 you’re doing a ton at home @BigSkies2022, and it’s nice he’s at least trying to help bless him even if his motive is a chocolate hunt 😂

That is true Gert and also the reason I will not be complaining that he bought the wrong Greek yoghurt.

@BigSkies2022
He didn't buy "style" did he? A female judge would understand and we would help with that patio renovation you was talking about?