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 🤗

£6 today on bread and milk. Neither were really needed but wanted so I sigh.
Sold an item on vinted. Yippee.

I've never heard of piglet..... I might not have a look seeing as I have an addiction to bedding!! 😂

How gorgeous is today. So sunny

@lifelongfrugaleer the bathroom sounds a big well worth it job. Sorry to hear about the car!

@needastrongoneagain good all three of you are bearing the load of the admin.

@Frugal25 it's been rainy, drab and foggy here for a week now. Sunshine sounds gorgeous! ☀️

Yesterday was a NSD and the new credit card cycle starts today yay! I pay it in full every month. Just helps me to monitor how much I spend on groceries and the odd treat.

Off to Lidl to use the 10% off voucher on the app so will likely be a big shop.

Afternoon.

I dare not look at Piglet either!

Thanks @Shnoutre the Tell Us service, I’ll make a note. I can’t even begin to imagine how you managed everything at the time, although I vaguely recall the admin when DH first had his stroke as something I could actively do that felt meaningful or at least a distraction, rather than wandering around lost/shocked.

That’s a pile of crap re the car @lifelongfrugaleer, is it a full on irreparable bang, or can it be sorted?

@BigSkies2022 sorry to hear about your DH1, I hadn’t realised. That’s shit, I can’t imagine it was anything other than more complicated given the emotion attached to losing a spouse. I’ve just bought a very similar book from Amazon similarly named to the one you kindly suggested, but a little cheaper as I’ll do one for DH too. We are organised administratively, but it’s more the wants and wishes side I think has come to the forefront of my mind.

Lunch was nice, if ‘pub grub’. DD’s new boyfriend passed the test! £60 food, £18 drinks. I paid.
£16 books from Amazon.

It will probably be sardines on toast for tea, and DS will take the opportunity to get a takeout, as we are full.

Oh poop @lifelongfrugaleerdid you manage to get the car booked in somewhere?

@needastrongoneagainso glad you have support when you need it most and aren't alone x

Oh @BigSkies2022im sorry. You have been through so much. I'm so happy and glad you found another love. That's incredibly lucky. To have loved twice. X

OH repaid me for the coffee and bread. So I now have a NSD. And I've counted my change and I believe I have enough in my purse to cover the coffee I said I would buy my colleague as that's what she wanted as her leaving do. A coffee with me.

I shall send you some sunshine @Lockin26:)

Just realised that DD is out for dinner tomorrow so that's sorted dinner for me and OH. Omlettes. She hates eggs and i was wondering how to get around it but also encourage her to try them again. Problem averted for another day.

£39 in Iceland - running total spent on food for the month so far is £122.45 but not much Xmas stuff left in the freezer now and it's the end of the month next week. 😀

Well done on such a low spend @Rainbow1901👏
@Frugal25enjoy your omelette lunch tomorrow,l love a crispy cheese omelette 😋
Well done on the Vinted sales too 😁
@needastrongoneagain so glad you enjoyed your lunch and your Dd's Bf passed muster 😁👏
Well done on the NSD @Lockin26, hope you get loads of bargains in Lidl too 😊
@Shnout thank you for the shout out about Tell Us Once , good to know this 👏
Hope you car is ok @lifelongfrugaleer🙄
@BigSkies2022those Piglet pjs and bedding sound lovely must take a look see 😊

Easter eggs are so expensive this year! Even the small ones that I’m sure were about £1 last year are over £1.50 this year. Fortunately only have a teen and OH to buy for who have both agreed a bar of chocolate is fine instead 🙂

@needastrongoneagainThat’s such a heavy load, even shared out. All that admin after a death is draining in a way people don’t get until they’ve done it. You’re doing amazingly, especially tracking the will and all the replies. Thank goodness your siblings are helping too sweetheart.
Your spending sounds really sensible, and honestly a pub lunch right now is not a luxury, it’s a breather.
It’s completely understandable DH’s stroke changed how you see money and planning. Those forecasts must be reassuring, and you’ve adapted so well from comfortable to careful. That security when health wobbles is a real blessing.
Hope the treadmill went smoothly and your DH has had a good day 💐
Well done on the NSD and the LSD @Vinorosso74 hope the shopping for a new fridge freezer goes well too 😊.
I don't blame you not buying Easter eggs @RubySparrow it's getting ridiculous 🙄.
Hope you get to go to that event next month @RumBananaSundae , thank you so much re my Mum she's doing as well as can be expected tbh with you 💐
Been to see Mum , they did her hair and she looked lovely TBF but she was tired and grumpy bless her , it was tiring for her l think . NSD today thankfully 🤗
I agree with you Eyeorefan tempted not to get any Easter eggs this year for my Dds and to give them other gifts tbh , l will have to see if there are any good deals on first. We will have to keep an eye out and let each other know if we see any good deals

No spend day for me today.

The oven hasn’t worked for about 10 years @Frugal25. Love a bit of planning too. So far I think it would be flying to Geneva and then a transfer across. I haven’t looked at the taxi fares but it might actually work out cheaper than the Eurostar. I will have to give it more thought. Fingers feel like they’re on the mend. Am looking at the weather hoping it doesn’t get cold again. I have some gloves for arthritis that are helping.

Glad you have people supporting you @needastrongoneagain.

No to the car @lifelongfrugaleer. That’s not a good thing to happen.

All the death talk is reminding me I need to do my will. Will have to give it some thought. On one hand I’ll be dead so I don’t care but the petty part of me wants to make sure that the people who would get things through intestacy rules get nothing. Not that I’m worth much.

Spent quite a bit of time today looking for a new jacket to wear to the gym. My current one is tearing my leggings. Surprisingly difficult to find a jacket. Am considering going into town tomorrow for a look but that seems like too much effort.

£82.69 Lidl saved 12 on the Lidl plus app
£20.25 B&M
£7.99 Dubai Chocolate Strawberries for DD
£4.99 Amazon Video

The concert I was trying to get tickets do this afternoon sold out in about 25 minutes and all the tickets had gone by the time I managed to get onto the site. So ££££ saved for today - although possibly just pushed down the line to a later date as Dd hopeful extra tickets will be released soon.

We are about to go out to Pizza Express for dinner as a consolation prize. I’ve got a blue light card which normally gives decent discounts. Am thinking it’ll come to under £40? It’s been a while since we’ve had dinner out so it’ll be a nice treat.

Sorry to hear about the car @lifelongfrugaleer. Very annoying!

Morning.

Should be a NSD, had a £100 shop delivered yesterday from Ocado, so we have very well stocked cupboards and fridge. I’ve defrosted a lovely piece of ham left over from Christmas, so we will have a roast type dinner tonight.

That’s a nice thing to want to do for a leaving present @Frugal25😊.

What a bloody good total for an entire month @Rainbow1901

You sound pretty down, if you don’t mind me mentioning @RumBananaSundae , or am I off the mark there?

I was completely out of the loop too re the cost of eating out @Shnout, even at a pub chain type place. Ours was £60 for 4 people for food, £18 drinks (2 pints, 2 soft drinks), so you are probably about right.

Weather sounds grim - that’s 2 hours of wet running for me this morning..

We are hopefully going to sit and do the Great British Bird Watch this afternoon, weather permitting.

How was the pizza @Shnout? I hope DD gets tickets later on and you have a happy girl but good that you saved some pennies yesterday!

Enjoy(?!) your wet running this morning and your ham later @needastrongoneagain we took are doing the bird watch. We did it last weekend as I got the dates wrong so we shall redo it with the bird feeder DD made at pre school.

Should be a NSD. We are off to a child's party today but gifts have already been bought and I'm taking a bottle of water (and gin @RumBananaSundae) te he.

You do sound down @RumBananaSundae, I noticed this too. Anything we can do? So glad fingers are on the mend and you have gloves.

Car still on the drive. We will sort it Monday.
was actually quite nice being trapped at home for a day
£38 dog food as got cycle wrong for subscription and have run out. Will end up with 2 but will skip the next

Wow. Not having an oven must be really hard @RumBananaSundae. How do you manage?

Spends yesterday: £16 in M&S (because I couldn’t hack the crowds in Sainsbury’s and there’s a branch right next to the library) on a very self- indulgent shop which included daffodils and chocolate.

and speaking of chocolate- might the answer to the inflated prices of Easter eggs lie in an extravagant chocolate cake? This might not suit everyone’s gifting preferences but my mum always used to make a triple decker chocolate cake with ganache filling and frosting and put a few mini eggs (the rest went into bowls for me and my brother) on top. That was the Easter egg - but for everyone! We’d have a fancy tea on Easter Sunday and the cake would come out again over a few days for pudding.

£5 on mending wool to tackle a hole in a cardigan.

Marty Supreme was excellent- now I am torn as to which movie I want to win the Oscar.

It wasn’t my intention to pull the focus to my bereavement. I thought I had mentioned it before and it wasn’t news. It was nearly 25 years ago and my life is very different and very much more peaceful and happy now. DH2 is the kindest and most wonderful of men, a great husband and dad. He just needs to stay alive!

Chicken tikkas marinading for dinner tonight. Lots of chopping and grating ahead this afternoon to make the masala.

£18.98 Amazon on 2 x Sugar free Creamer for DH's coffee - reduced by £5.50 each so I bought two! It gets used and well worth buying extra at that price - will keep him going for two/three months. But that whacks my total food spend so far up to £141.43 but I'm still okay with that!
Also £12.09 on a double spectacles case - to reduce the amount of detritus I carry around in my handbag!!
I've not even started looking at Easter Eggs yet - think it might be cheaper to book a family ticket to the Cinema for £5 (Mum, Dad and two kids) and more fun. Our local cinema is offering a few films during Half Term that the GCs might enjoy so will run that one past DD next time I see her. I'm not a chocolate lover anyway so can quite easily skip anything like that - but I get that others do love the stuff!
Last bit of Xmas Roast Beef for tea tonight with Xmas Parsnips and Xmas Veg - only had to prepare Potatoes which are roasting nicely while the beef is dunked in gravy in a casserole dish!! Mince Pies are all gone now 😿so probably no pudding today!

Afternoon all!

Fairly low spend day, dh bought wood and another tape measure as we keep losing ours.

very annoyingly he went to the dump and someone scraped our car pretty badly! They must have known. He only noticed when he got home. And the corner of our pergola is sinking so the garden man is coming out to look at it. And the plumber is coming this week. Savings will cover it all but for goodness sake!

Yesterday’s no spend was a false alarm. I ended up buying a new jacket. I collected it today and I think it’s too nice to wear to the gym so I’m back at square one. Today I bought some milk and grapes.

That’s a shame re the concert tickets @Shnout. Hopefully there will be more released.

Thank you @needastrongoneagain and @Frugal25. I’m being too reflective and should really get over it. Things (legal) will be at best another six months and I’m rather tired by it all but feel stuck until it’s done.

Hope you enjoyed your party @Frugal25.

That’s sounding quite expensive @FurForksSake. Hopefully as things are said to come in threes it will be you for a while.

Have remembered I have potatoes left over from the holidays in the fridge. Will think of something to have them with this week.

No spend day and holiday plotting that’s a good combo @RumBananaSundae
Geneva sounds a cracking plan, and sometimes flying does work out better than the train once you tot it all up.
Ten years with no oven though, you’ve fully adapted haven’t you ,no need for another one .
Glad your fingers are easing, those gloves sound like they’re doing the trick. Hope the cold stays away now.
Worth doing a will, if only so things go where you want. Nothing wrong with being a bit firm about that!
You sound very organised and sensible, go you sweetheart 👍
Well done on the savings in Lidl @Lockin26. Loving the sound of those Dubai choc strawberries lucky Dd 😋
Ugh so annoying when tickets go that fast @Shnout
Still… money saved for now until those extra ones pop up and tempt you again 😁.
Hope your DD gets lucky.
Pizza Express is a great consolation though 🍕 And with Blue Light discount? Even better. Under £40 sounds doable though well done 👍
Love a NSD when the cupboards are full @needastrongoneagain😁
Roast Ham tea sounds perfect all the good bits with none of the Christmas chaos 😋
Two hours running in that weather is heroic though, I’d have bailed instantly 😂
Bird Watch this afternoon sounds lovely and cosy if the rain eases , hope you get more than just pigeons! That's all we have here 😁🐦

Love that @Frugal25, gifts sorted and not a penny spent today NSD badge earned 😁!
A bottle of “water” for the party too eh… very responsible of you 😇😂 Hope the party’s a good one and not too chaotic kids’ parties are like military operations with cake.
Have a lovely time! 🎉😁
Sounds like a plan @lifelongfrugaleer sometimes a forced home day isn’t the worst thing! 🙈 Ahh £38, those subscriptions get us every time… at least you’ve got enough now, and skipping the next one will balance it out. 👍so it's all good 😊.
Oh @BigSkies2022 that all sounds lovely and so thoughtfully planned! 😄 Your M&S haul sounds like a proper little treat Daffodils and chocolate are a winning combo, always. And I love your idea for Easter triple decker chocolate cake with mini eggs sounds far more fun than a single overpriced egg! That’s such a lovely memory with your Mum too.
Hope the wool mending goes smoothly, sounds like a satisfying little project. And I totally get the Oscar dilemma Marty Supreme is brilliant, but it’s always tricky picking a winner.
Your dinner plans sound delicious! Chicken tikka masala is a classic, and all that prep will make it taste amazing. I’m glad to hear your life is peaceful and happy now, and DH2 sounds wonderful. That’s what matters most. ❤️
@Rainbow1901Ooh clever buys! 😄 Stocking up on creamer and the spectacles case is an excellent idea. Cinema over Easter Eggs sounds fun and cheaper too . GCs will love it 😁. Xmas leftovers tea sounds lovely, shame about the mince pies though 😁😋

Oh no, what a day @FurForksSake .First the car, now the pergola… feels like everything’s conspiring against you! At least the savings can cover it, but I know that’s little comfort when it’s all happening at once. Fingers crossed the garden man and plumber can sort things quickly for you sweetheart 🤗.
Ah, a new jacket @RumBananaSundae! Nice treat for you sweetheart.
I know the legal waiting is exhausting, but you’re getting there. 🤞. And leftover potatoes ,plenty of options for those, my favourite meal a jkt potato,cheese and beans yummy 🤗.
NSD for me again today .
Been to see Mum who was ok thankfully. Drank and ate well for me bless her ❤️.
Weather is absolutely awful here ,cold ,wet ,dank ,drab and dark roll on Spring 🌼 🤗

Wear the nice jacket

thats really annoying about the car & pergola and other bits

car going to garage tomorrow £££ no doubt

I agree with you @lifelongfrugaleer 😊
Wear the lovely new jacket @RumBananaSundae
Hope the car doesn't cost too much 😱

Spent an unholy amount in Aldi this week, but it was the monthly big shop, three weeks late! So we needed all the house stuff like dishwasher stuff and loo rolls. Also trying to eat a bit healthier, so what with the lean proteins and fruit and veg, it added up to quite a lot.

Still hoping to be able to stash a bit away at the end of the month, and next month is short and no council tax, so that will help. January is always a bit dire, Christmas leaves the coffers depleted, and its also my Mums birthday.