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 🤗

Oh @lifelongfrugaleer I'm so glad it's not cancer but heartbroken you need more treatment. But I love that they are taking care of you and treating you. Sending you hugs.

Cleaners are def worth it.

£56 in Lidl. Not great as my budget was £45. There were no too good to waste veg boxes this week as we were earlier, mum isn't well so she didn't come with us and we sped through rather than chatting and mooching so I think we were too early for the boxes. Picked up some yellow stickers though and got the 10% off.

No other spends today as staying in and playing with toys and gymnastics later has already been paid for.

What book did you get @BigSkies2022? I love a book. And I've just "discovered" hand cream so it's a perfect gift back

Ah remembered why it was more expensive today. Bought two bottles of wine for the weekend. OH always buys the alcohol but I said I would today. That's why it was £10 more expensive. Poop. That's the Last time I am nice!! 🤣😂

Big hugs life, sorry to hear about further treatment.

Frugal25, it’s a similar job to the old one, but there will be enough differences to make it better. The worst task of the old job, wouldn’t be done by the new potential job.

Morning.

Do you need to budget for a wig @lifelongfrugaleer? Got to ask the questions that keep it relevant to the thread 🤣

@FurForksSake tell DH he’s welcome to do the cleaning himself if he feels that cleaner isn’t good value for money 😊. I love my cleaners more than I love DH and he’s under no illusion about this fact!

Barbados sounds amazing @Shnout

Spends
£110 Ocado but includes AF lager and some beer and wine as we have friends over tomorrow.
£31 A sweat shirt that’s furry on the inside from Amazon - marvellous for dog walks and keeping the heating bills down.
£17 some paper files, folders etc.

Quite jealous @Shnout.... Maybe we could turn it into a group holiday and we could all carry your bags??!! I'll get my sunhat.

Further money gone out.
£35 for my DD grading for gymnastics. Deadline tomorrow. And £32 for the compulsory leotard she needs for it. Sigh.

Ha ha @needastrongoneagain you making the chat relevant with wigs! Love a wig. Def make sure it fits the budget!

Trying ever so hard to keep calm today. Bonus figures are out at work. My OH is a few levels up and gets more as a bonus than I get a year in wages. Every single year I get cross. The rich get richer .... I've told him not to tell me the figure this year. It's his money anyway and I don't see it as he puts it into savings for things like uni costs for children etc so no point getting annoyed. I shouldn't be cross. He studied hard and got an amazing job that he works hard at. I didn't study hard and I don't have an amazing job. So we get paid differently. Maybe that's why I get cross. Coz it highlights me not working as hard when younger ...

@Frugal25 dh also got his bonus numbers today, he tells me the execs are taking slightly smaller percentage this year and it made me laugh. I’m a lowly nhs worker and he earns so much more. He works incredibly hard and has achieved far more than he should have done. And we share all our money and made sure to make clear today that it was “our” bonus, I gave up my career to allow him to zoom.

I’ve just been to Aldi and think I would have spent less or similar in Ocado. I’m going to go through the receipt when I get home.

NHS workers work so hard. My mum worked for the NHS and worked her socks off. And loved it too. Well done you huni xxxx
So glad the bonuses are shared for you both. Makes it so much easier.
Is ocado quite cheap? I've not really done it as it sounds posh to me!

Ocado is price matched to Tesco, so it’s not awful. We buy mostly own brand and basics and I choose things on offer. You could spend a lot, but you can also buy all Ocado and M&S basics and make it last. One of my kids has a happy monkey smoothie in his lunch, the Aldi equivalent used to be much cheaper and I think there was only a few pence in it today. And I bought more because I impulse purchased some bits.

Mince in Aldi was over £5 for normal mince and £5.50 for Aberdeen Angus, on Ocado the Mince I buy is £5.20 and really decent, so basically the same price.

Actually need that’s a good shout as I’ve heard the NhS ones are itchy. Or hats I may have to develop a hat habit.
df is getting me a rainbow wig for Easter apparently. I might commission her art college……..

and trust you to think of that 😆

£7 ds lunch after orth as he missed school lunch

my cleaner is coming with me if I divorce DH. He too knows this. Iluffs her too. Not that I’m planning a divorce btw too expensive

do gymnastics have a second hand rail for outgrown leotards? It’s a right pita. Ballet was the same

Oh also booked some hotels with free cancellation. London for horse show in Dec and Cornwall in case dd goes to that uni for moving in

amazing news that it isn’t cancer, Life. Having only recently returned I didn’t know all the background but that must be a huge relief (even if you have to have chemo, ug). I imagine all wigs are itchy but it might be fun to swish around with different hair occasionally, even if you go for a comfy wrap sometimes.

Holidays I am trying to think who you ‘were’ back in the day but tbh, I think there might have been a few people who didn’t like their job (including me, a lot of the time, lol). Hope your interview went well.

I think I might be addicted to YNAB, I get far too much of a thrill when I get up in the morning and see what transactions I have to categorise 😂. I feel as though my brain has really clicked into long-term planning mode. Probably partly prompted by a significant birthday last year, and having some head space for the first time in a few years to think about routine costs (we have spent a lot on building work and SEN-related legal fees in the last 3 years, money almost stopped being real for a while and this is why our savings have been battered)

Being on a health kick is also helping with unplanned spends - no more shop-bought breakfasts, lunches, biscuits for the office which I mostly ate. I have been taking soup or the occasional salad. On Tuesday night at 11pm, much against my better judgment at the time, I forced myself to make summer rolls for the next day’s office lunch. Muttering all the while about how fiddly it was, and how I was definitely not going to make them again, and that this ridiculous, next time I will just buy sushi…

Me the next day at lunch - these are amazing! Best lunch in ages! I am making them every week! They were very delicious for half a pack of prawns, a few rice noodles and scrapings from the veg drawer 😋

I think there are lots of different people since you were last here as well arm

@lifelongfrugaleer First off I’m really glad they’ve said it’s not cancerous 👏❤️🙏 that must be such a huge relief, even if chemo still sounds scary. Just take one step at a time like you said. When you get your oncology date it’ll feel a bit more like being dealt with then ,instead of all this waiting around. Rainbow wig for Easter is a definite yes 🌈 you absolutely have to own that look 😁. A Hat phase could be quite chic too , accidental style era incoming 🤣.
Also, the money just flies doesn’t it 🙄. Food shops, Amazon bits, random lunches… it’s relentless. Good thinking on the free cancellation hotels though , great idea for when everything’s up in the air with uni stuff and other plans.
Your cleaner choosing you in a hypothetical divorce made me laugh 🤣 that’s true loyalty right there. Keep her at all costs 🤣

Ahh @Frugal25one of those days where it all goes out at once but honestly you’ve done well sweetheart 🤗
£56 in Lidl with yellow stickers and your 10% off is still good going and the wine doesn’t really count, you just covered what OH usually gets. That’s just swapping who paid 🍷.
The gymnastics bits are the painful ones, but that’s proper proud Mummy spends 😊. Your DD moving up and doing well is worth every penny bless her heart🤗
And the bonus thing, I get why that stings. It’s not just the money, it’s the comparison and all those old what if I’d done things differently thoughts creeping in. But what you do for your family every day doesn’t come with a bonus figure . Your value to your family isn’t measured in bonus figures what you carry doesn’t show on a payslip sweetheart .
Telling your Dh not to say the number is actually really sensible , you’re just protecting your own headspace 👏.
Food in, Dd sorted, no daft spending a decent day overall and in my book that's a job well done 👍.
Hope your Mum is feeling better very soon bless her 💐

Haha @needastrongoneagain 😂 DH knows exactly where he stands then . Loving the cleaners more than him is fair enough! That sweatshirt sounds lush for dog walks and keeping warm without cranking up the heating. Friends, booze, and cosy vibes bring it on 🤗👏 🐾🥂
@FurForksSake I love that you two make it clear it’s our bonus. That's teamwork at its best. That’s so generous of you to have stepped back from your career to let him zoom, I’m sure it's made a huge difference.
Aldi vs Ocado l am curious to see which one comes out cheaper when you go through it!

YNAB sounds dangerously addictive @ArmDimples😁
I totally get the thrill of categorising transactions.
It’s great that you’ve got some headspace now to think long term, especially after everything you’ve had going on the past few years bless you 🤗.
Well l have been to the charity shops and come away with nothing 😜.
Aldi £40
Marks £9 on yellow stickered pain au Chocolat for Dds , a big trifle for my Mum and a carton of Almond milk . Their trifles are delicious 😋 😁.
£65 in Home bargains.
Hope everyone is feeling ok and what wonderful news about @lifelongfrugaleer
I will be doing a new thread soon if that is ok with everyone but if anyone else wants to do one they are more than welcome to, l really don't mind 🤗.

Oh definitely.

Thank you @DirtyGertiefromno30 you always say the right thing. Xxxx how did you not spend in a charity shop?? Tell me your secrets!!!!
OH gave me the money back for the wine bless him. I'm starting to wonder if he is lurking on this chat.... If he suddenly pays up for the gymnastics I'll have my answer ha ha ha
The summer rolls sound delicious @ArmDimples. What did you roll them up in? I'm new on the chat so j Def wasn't here when you last were but you sound amazing!

I wish l always said the right thing @Frugal25 😁.
Honestly there just wasn't anything in the charity shops there that took my fancy today.
Normally l get loads of things but not today 😁.
AHH l knew your DH would do that he's a darling ❤️

I keep meaning to do and look for kitchen things in the charity shop to use for pottery. Maybe I’ll pop in tomorrow.

The local age uk has a furniture shop and they are picking up some old chairs for us tomorrow to be sold in their shop. Very handy!

I found the same thing this week tbh @DirtyGertiefromno30. I spent money for the sake of it (waiting for the bus) rather than wanting anything.
He is a good one. Very lucky.
You do always say the right thing Hun, you always make me smile and often bring a lump to my throat as you're spot on xxx
Can't believe how quick these chats fill up!!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/cost_of_living/5486481-february-faffing-wig-mischieving-pancake-stuffing-bargain-gymnastics-and-looking-forward-to-spring-shenanigans?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

@FurForksSake we bought our 2 sofas from the cancer charity shop in 2019 for £300 and they are still fabulous.
I had to persuade DH to cone and see them because no way was he going to have second hand sofas 🤣but once he saw them he loved them . You really can get some great bargains in furniture . I will look in charity shops for my next sofas but not for a good while there is a lot of life left in these yet 😁
AHH @Frugal25the feeling is mutual you are an absolute sweetheart and l think your DH is thanking his lucky stars he has you ❤️

A box of eggs today in Marks and Spencer but on a gift card.

Congratulations on the premium bonds @Shnout. Enjoy Barbados.

Glad you’re doing ok @lifelongfrugaleer. Good to hear it wasn’t cancerous and hope the chemo isn’t too dreadful.

Laughed at two bottles of wine being forgotten @Frugal25.

Second trifles from Marks and Spencer @DirtyGertiefromno30. Which did you go for? I know your mum will enjoy it.

Was quite busy today so I didn’t have the chance to think about spending anything. Not sure what is happening with eggs. Waitrose had none of the size I wanted and I checked six boxes in Marks and Spencer before finding one with no broken eggs. The book I was hoping to buy today was not released so my money is safe for another day at least.

So glad it’s not cancerous @lifelongfrugaleer - although sorry you’ll have to continue treatment.

@ArmDimples your lunch sounds lovely!

I love my cleaner too. Ii get that it’s a luxury - but it’s a sort of essential luxury I think.

No spends so far today but will need to pick up a pint of milk when I collect dd from football later.