February faffing, wig mischieving, pancake stuffing, bargain gymnastics and looking forward to Spring Shenanigans ❤️

[DirtyGertiefromno30]

Welcome to our new thread everyone 🤗. All are welcome to our supportive, kind , frugal thread .

Well done on postcode lottery, I don’t think we’ve had anything in 18 months now. We’ve had books and socks and the odd £10 before but it’s been a long time. I’m considering quitting

Had a morning out at the farm seeing the horse lot. So lovely to see them
and DH bought the Greggs. We have joint money but didn’t ask how much

Happy Saturday all!
OH is having to work sadly this weekend but I have been busy fixing things that have been broken for a while.
Kitchen ceiling (haven't had one for over a year) asked the company to go ahead and fit new one. OH is treating me out of his bonus which is very kind.
Bathroom window that broke (cow boy fitted all the windows and they break one after the other, company has gone out of business funnily enough) got someone to come and give me a quote to fix.
Painting that my granny gave to me when I was small, been broken for years, fixed and back on the wall. Replacement glass £5. Hooks and paint free as already had.
Clock that I made ages 13 and hasn't worked for years, fixed and £6 for replacement bit on the back.
Fitted a bulb in a light that went a while back.
Cupboard door that hinge has broken, fixed.
Cupboard door trim that has come off, fixed.
Family heirloom bowl that DD broke, fixed and put away so no more touching.
Family heirloom bowl that OH broke in the bin, he threw it before I could fix. Sigh.

I do still need to paint the utility room where the paint needs touching up but may leave this excitement for tomorrow.

Next weekend I would like to tidy up the door trims that OH stripped for me but I can see a few patches that aren't very tidy, bless him, so I'll go over these.

So much to do in the house. But I feel better having started. It was all getting to me.
Rubbish weather today.

That’sa great start frugal

This week was no non essential spending. Just bills, and tomorrow is Tescos delivery- will be just over £100 if nothing is unavailable.
Pretty happy - just need to keep it up. Finances are tight at the moment, so I’m hoping to do no non-essential spending this month. We shall see what happens…..!

Wow Frugal- so productive!

yesterday we had our alarm system fixed. Well, a new alarm system fitted, but they were able to put new hardware on the existing wiring. It will come to around £750 and we’ve agreed to meet the bill in a three way split from my account, DH’s account and the joint account. So that will be fine.

Dennis House excursion today, tickets paid for at booking. I also wanted to go to Charista, a Bengali chai house on Brick Lane. £26 on two chai, lovely with cardamom and ginger, and some delicious mini-puris and some samosa- type dishes. We pottered in Spitalfields after the house visit and then ended in a rugger bugger pub because everyone wanted to sit and chat and DS wanted sausage and mash. But DH and friend covered that bill- I had hot chocolate.

home now and I want soup and toast and some Winter Olympics if I can find it. Then a Pilates workout. Hoping DH will make some excellent garlic spaghetti later.

have a great evening everyone! Xx

I've had a crazy busy week, mostly long work days. I take the work when I can but I'm exhausted now. It means I've hardly spent anything this week which is good. We also get lunch and snacks provided which saved some £s.

Evening everyone 🤗
That sounds like a really nice way to do your Dh's birthday @FurForksSake, especially with everything that is going on with his Mum bless her heart. It feels very thoughtful and family centred ❤️.
I would definitely do the rice yourself. The Instapot is great for it and rice is one of those things that really pushes the cost up . Also the Asian supermarket is a good idea too. The big packs of poppadoms and chutneys are usually much better value and just as nice.
It will save you a fair bit for twelve people and you can put that money towards the curries instead. It will still feel special and relaxed, which is what you want .AHH l hope you have the most amazing time ❤️🤗.
What a mad and stressful day for you, no wonder you were frazzled by the end of it @ArmDimples. That theatre surprise sounds brilliant though. Fifteen pounds for the best seats in the house is such a win and I am really glad it gave you the lift you needed 🤗. The bin smell sounds vile. Prawns are truly evil once they turn and having a bloodhound nose in London is definitely more curse than gift 😁.

A farm morning with the horses is such a tonic @lifelongfrugaleer and it is always lovely seeing them up close. Very civilised that DH sorted Greggs and you did not even have to think about the cost especially with joint money. Sometimes it is best not to ask 😁😋
@Lockin26Work politics really do have a habit of spilling over and ruining what should be a nice night, especially when old clashes are still there. Urgh indeed 🙄.
Glad you protected your Saturday morning though. Two gym classes and some quiet time in the hotel bar with your book sounded perfect I hope you really enjoyed yourself 🤗.

@lifelongfrugaleer so glad to hear your tumour isn’t cancerous.
My sister got a similar diagnosis last week but knows she will need chemo too after her surgery as they won’t be able to remove it all.

im actually really shocked at the amount of women I know with these.

LSD today £23 in Iceland which included tonight's chinese tea (cheaper than a proper takeaway!) and £9 for a meal deal, paper and my weekly scratchcard. The scratchcard came up with a £30 win so nearly a NSD 😊

Blimey, you’ve been busy @Frugal25😁 ! Well done getting so much done sweetheart . Love that your Granny’s painting is back up and your old clock is working again, that must feel brilliant.
Shame about the other heirloom bowl, but at least one is safe and sound 🤗. Don’t worry about the utility room and door trims, they can wait till you have the time . Even with rubbish weather, you’ve made a proper dent , well done, you are a star ✨🤗👏.
@TheFrugalChickenWell done. That’s really good going. £100 for a Tesco delivery isn’t bad at all, fingers crossed nothing is out of stock tomorrow 🤞. Hope you can keep it up for the rest of the month, you’re doing really well!

Glad the alarm system is sorted @BigSkies2022. Your Brick Lane chai outing sounds delicious, and fab that the pub stop worked for everyone 😁. Soup, toast, and Winter Olympics sounds perfect, and I hope DH’s garlic spaghetti is amazing. Have a lovely evening!
What a hectic week @Vinorosso74! No wonder you’re worn out. At least you’ve saved a bit and didn’t have to worry about lunch ,bonus!

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear about your sister @pistachiosanscream. That must be really hard for all the family . I hope the surgery and chemo go as smoothly as possible, bless you all , especially your sister ❤️

Wow, not a bad little shop at all @Rainbow1901 .That scratchcard win makes it feel like a proper little treat day, doesn’t it? 😊 And getting your Chinese cheaper than a takeaway is fab. Well done!

We have been to Cwmbran today , popped into Primark and bought pjs, socks and scrunchies for next door neighbours little girls birthday.
£10 Primark .
I had a £5 off voucher for Lidl so l spent £64 in Lidl stocking up on dishwasher tablets , Bio washing liquid , shampoo, soap and toothpaste .
I saved £8.50 in there in total with the other discounts so l was pleased with that 😁
Watching the Olympics and going to have Mac n cheese for tea yummy .
Have a lovely evening everyone 😊.

Unintentionally spendy day today. I bought a Marks and Spencer gift card for £75.20 and then bought a bra. £5.18 in Sainsbury on pistachio doughnuts and then bought two tickets for the theatre.

Sorry to hear about your mother in law @FurForksSake. I hope there is news soon. I would cook the rice and look for poppadoms and chutney. If I buy curry I do the same but appreciate I’m a party of one not 12.

That’s a win with the theatre @ArmDimples.

You’ve been very productive @Frugal25. Great on getting so much done.

The puri and samosa types sound delicious @BigSkies2022. Now I’m really wishing I had curry.

Hope your sister will be ok @pistachiosanscream.

Enjoy your Mac n cheese @DirtyGertiefromno30. It’s one of my favourite things.

Thank you guys re the message yesterday. Unfortunately I did reply as I’m an officer for something and it was related to that. Her message this morning was plain bizarre so I’ve decided she’s nuts and will not engage bar sending my apologies for the next meeting.

Have been watching the Olympics and not much else. Have a few legal things to look over but will do that tomorrow. Need to meal plan for next week and update my rehab book. Can’t believe how warm it is for February

Bit of a spendy day for you @RumBananaSundae, but M&S gift card, a brassiere, pistachio doughnuts, and theatre tickets all sound like treats well worth it.
Had a look at the play , it looks good , Chris Pine in it too , he's very handsome 😍.
Glad you felt supported here yesterday 🤗 .
You handled that bizarre message so well today, just apologies for the next meeting is perfect , you shot her down 😁.
My Mac n cheese was delicious. It was from a TGTG bad from Greggs we had today, £2.99 was a bargain 😋

Hey guys,

just checking in, had a busy two days and I’ve logged on to find loads of new messages and a new thread, I just can’t keep up 😃

Great news @lifelongfrugaleer that you’re results were good, hope the chemo goes as smoothly as possible for you ❤️ hugs also to @pistachiosanscream and your sister.

@Frugal25 I’m so impressed your day sounds so productive, I will usually plan all of these jobs and get around to none of them - chief procrastinator here 🙋🏻‍♀️

@DirtyGertiefromno30 - I used to love the TGTG bags, had some great ones a few years ago, the very worst one was from a place called Creams, a kind of pancake, ice cream and waffle place, when I went to pick it up the guy took two doughnuts out of the freezer and put them in a paper bag and that was it, I was so shocked I said not a word and left. Felt truly scammed that day.

Financially last week was excellent, I had nsd’s mon-Thurs, was supposed to do the grocery shopping on Thursday but delayed it until Friday, spent £63 in M&S and £67 in Aldi, dashed around M&S in under 30 mins as I didn’t want to pay for parking, treated dd2 to a fancy pasta salad for lunch as well.

Todays spends are also fairly limited, £12 on new school shoes for dd as hers leak, not great in this weather, and £3.50 on tights as she seems to get a maximum of two wears out of each pair, £13.50 on lunch - Dh and I went back to my roots and had Pie, Mash and Liquor - an acquired taste I know but I’ve been eating it since birth 😊😊, I also paid for concert tickets for dd2 and I, not until September but early bird tickets have just been released- odd pricing as the tickets were £41.18 each, no booking fees or charges, it’s at the Troxy in east London, we’ve never visited there before should be good.

Overall a good week I think, could do with a few more like this one.

Just here to mark my place really, mega impressed by frugals fixing day. Trip to shopping centre to spend the kids Xmas book tokens, treated them to hot chocolates and eclairs in patisserie Valerie so that was about £24 but was a nice treat as we’ve been trying to cut down on frivolous coffees and hot chocolates on days out as that seems to really eat up the eating out budget.

had a fairly restrained visit to TK maxx £15 to get a wooden chopping board to replace plastic one, a water bottle for DS who constantly loses them but gave in to some snacks at the checkout. Otherwise it’s been a week of LSDs.

sold a few bits on Vinted this week so that’s a nice boost, not a lot money wise but helping to declutter

I got the two gym classes done and then had to pick up DD and take her to DMs to drop off some flowers as she wasn't well last night, they called an ambulance but then she felt a lot better when they arrived. She's much brighter today.

Lidl £19.51 should be more but the cold and rain out me off going out again!

Omg @Lockin26 your poor Mum and you . Aw bless you both thank God she is feeling much better now 🙏 💐
That sounds like a really sensible week @EmbracingUncertainty😊 The patisserie treat sounded really enjoyable rather than mindless spending, and £15 in TK Maxx for useful bits is a win. Nice boost from the Vinted sales too , extra cash and a declutter, plus a week of LSDs is great going , well done you 😊 👍
@JohaanahThat Creams TGTG bag would’ve annoyed me as well , two frozen doughnuts is awfully mean 😳
And don’t worry at all about keeping up, real life always comes first sweetheart 🤗.
Sounds like a really good week though, lots of NSDs, sensible groceries, and pie, mash and liquor is a proper classic 😋 School shoes and tights are unavoidable, and early bird concert tickets are a fab win well done 👍

I'm impressed with me too @Johaanah as I'm normally up there procrastinating!!! Well done on your NSDs!!

So sorry to hear about your mum @Lockin26 I hope she is much better very soon. So glad she didn't need the ambulance in the end xx

Adore Chris pine, enjoy the theatre @RumBananaSundae! The last one I saw was the elephant man with the lovely Bradley cooper. Let me know if you need someone to hold you ice cream and help.swoon at Mr pine. I'm just down the road!!

Sending love to you @FurForksSake id cook the rice too. I hope it's a lovely evening for you all xx

Oh @pistachiosanscreamim so sorry. What is happening to all our lovely young ladies?? Sending love and hugs to you and your sister xx

Sorry to hear that news @pistachiosanscream what a thing for your sister to go through 🩷

Sorry to hear that pistachio. Hope she gets the fabulous care I’ve been getting so far

Btw pistachio if you want to ask me questions PM me. Likely a different hospital as I’m In the north east but happy to go through my experience as best I can. Which has been generally as positive as these things can be. Just tell me here if you PM as i don’t tend to look

Hope mum carries on getting better lockin
thebtreats sound lovely

spendy day for me as it’s one of my besties birthday and we last minute decided to out for lunch. I’ll treat her as I’ve not got a pressie