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 .

Good morning everyone 🌞
Sunny here thank God for small mercies 🙏
Planning a boring but well needed catch up on the cleaning .
NSD for me again . I find it easier to have NSD if the weather is good tbh l do a lot of things l am more motivated to do in this good weather 🤗.
You have been so busy @Lockin26 well done getting everything sorted and for your excellent self care by exercising and looking after your bones 👏👏🤗.
Thank you re my Mum that's so sweet of you ❤️
So pleased you have PIP @MuddlingLong you really didn't have to tell us your private business but l am so glad you are sweetheart 😘
@NursieBernard good to hear from you sweetheart.
I do find going to different shops for the cheapest saves money but it is so time consuming 🙄.
Thank you re my Mum too , you are so kind bless you 🤗

Good for you having such a great time , it's money well spent @Vinorosso74😁

Good morning frugaleers.

Could I ask for some help from posters from the London area regarding the most economical way of tube travel?

We're visiting London, arriving on a Thursday night and leaving on Tuesday morning. Staying in the Earls court area. Most of the places we're visiting are in zones 1/2.

What is the best way price wise to buy our tube travel?
Thanks

I entered a competition in the local paper and just had a call to say I won £50 in vouchers for the local bakery! Woohoo so I have to go there this afternoon and get my photo taken. Embarrassing but much less so after losing 7 stone 😋

@MuddlingLong that's fabulous congratulations and enjoy the prize 👏🤗😋
Well done on losing 7 stone that's amazing!
I am so sorry l have no idea about London but l am sure some of the other posters will guide you in the right direction.
I did Google it and the cheapest was thought to be using an Oyster card .

Hi!

I'm a Londoner 🙂

I would use a contactless debit card, don't bother buying an Oyster as they now cost £10 just for the empty card. I would always advise putting your card straight away as soon as you've used it and always have your wits about you.

Hi all - have missed a few days and just caught up reading all your updates. Spends since Friday are weekly shopping £54, card and present for friend's 60th £45, pdf of current clothes on sale for my shape/season (waste of money really) £13, £33 to balance a joint account me and my friend use for our coffees/walks, £10 out with friends Saturday, £27 on bits and bobs for the house yesterday, AMazon - £14 on collagen, £8 hair colour, and about £32 from a voucher I had for office-type stuff (new planner, book for 'when I die here is all the info' and a monitor riser for my desk). I also bought a book from Vinted (using my balance) for a series I'm reading but I got one of the books from the library for a £1.15 reservation fee so I'm happy with that! About to start untangling my finances which I haven't updated for about a month... I always have very good intentions then don't keep them up to date!

I think it was @MuddlingLong who said YNAB is £15/month - it's actually $15 a month which is about £11, but if you can manage to pay all in one go it's cheaper at about £81 (or $109). Suggest you try the 34 day free trial to see if it's for you - and you don't need to give your card details up front so no worries if you forget to cancel.

Oh a month free trial is good. I’ll give it a go, I watched the YouTube videos suggested and I don’t know if it’ll work for me, but nothing to lose from a free trial. Thanks!

@Johaanah we have 2 old Oyster cards from years ago. Would this change your advice or would using our debit cards still be the best option?

£2.70 in Greggs and £1.65 on some milk.

You’ve been very productive @Lockin26.

Well done @MuddlingLong. Make the most of it.

Ended up in town today so an unexpected train fare. Am in two more days this week so a bit spendier than usual on that front. Had a reply from the solicitor so will have to deal with that but will give it a few days.

Evening all, hope everyone is ok.
NSD for me. Met a friend for lunch and she bought the hot chocolates as it was her turn to buy. Her lovely DH also mended a vintage clock for me that hasn't worked for many years and two other clock specialists couldn't fix. He did it for free and didn't want paying so I shall buy him a gift to say thank you.
Did spend £28 yesterday on DD gymnastics but unsure if this counts as it's a monthly subscription I have for her on my budget.

LSD £3.99 Boots meal deal. Not had time to spend anything else, luckily the cupboards are full!

@MuddlingLong that's an amazing weight loss, well done. Also great news about the prize - that's my kind of pick me up!

The lunches with friends are always worth it @Frugal25 and @Vinorosso74

Hi Rubyn,

if you have any balance left on the Oyster cards then it might be worth using it up - but if you have to top up again you get caught in the loop!

basically though, if you use a debit card and make sure you tap in and out properly everywhere then Oyster should calculate the best fare for the day (so if you do a return journey they will charge you for that; if you take multiple journeys in a day and a travel card is better value, it should automatically charge you that amount on your debit card at the end of the day). So it’s the same price as using Oyster.

Thank you for your help@ArmDimples and @Johaanah.

7 stone Muddling 😮👏🏻👏🏻 How did you do it? I have several to lose 😫

Rum are you going through a divorce or other legal shenanigans? Please ignore that question if you’d rather not answer, of course.

YNAB - I paid the annual fee of £80-odd. So a chunk up front but next year I will have saved my subscription in monthly amounts, through the power of YNAB, lol

I have made an appointment to talk to someone about wills and estate planing for DC. So this will be a big expense pending.

In the meantime I am trying to resist buying an expensive linen tablecloth. I very seldom find ones that are big enough for my table as it is very long. The tablecloth is covered in tulips, I think it is spring fever that is making me even consider it!

Morning. Back in rather colder Blighty….

Estate planning is expensive @ArmDimples and a bit tedious, but even more so if you haven’t I would wager. And complicated re DC too unless specifics are known.

Incredible weight loss @MuddlingLong, that’s nearly one of me (I’m tiny in all departments apart from mouth..).

That was lovely of your friends DH @Frugal25

Good to mull a response @RumBananaSundae

Apart from £140 Ocado when I got home due to the cupboards being empty (the DC being apparently unaware of shops…), I’m in a low spend few days. My oddbox delivery was very good quality must say.

Few things planned for the menu this week - chicken broth tonight, leek and potato soup, sweet potato and coconut dhal, ratatouille (that will challenge DH..), some form of pasta - all fairly low expense.

Payday tomorrow so I’ll update pots then, and don’t forget end of tax year looms folks, if you’ve any pension or ISA allowance to use or cash to put into either.

Afternoon everyone 😊
Good to see you back in good old Blighty @needastrongone😊
Your meal plan sounds delicious 😋 and thank you for the heads up re Isas and pensions top up ☺️
@ArmDimples l hope you bought the tablecloth and treated yourself it sounded gorgeous.
Well done on NSD @Lockin26
I find the same thing keep busy. & There's no time to spend 😁
@Frugal25 oh your friends DH is a darling that's wonderful for you ☺️
Like @needastrongone said mull it over until you reply to the solicitor. Good luck with it .
Well done with all that you have done @chimichangaz
You are a whirlwind 😁
NSD for me again today yay!

@ArmDimples I lost 3 stone myself calorie counting then went on mounjaro. I've nearly lost a whole @needastrongone how funny!

Oh to be tiny like @needastrongone. I used to be. Then COVID and a baby. Sigh. Something to aim towards.
I've decided to do a "you" need and start running. When DD starts school in September and I'm at a loss to what to do in lunchtimes I'm going to run.

Buy the tablecloth armdimples. I Iove a tablecloth.

A spendy one today but not as much as I expected.
£3 on a bus trip for me and DD.
£5 on raffle tickets for DD pre school Easter raffle.
£1.48 on a charity shop toy for DD that immediately got dropped down toilet. Sigh
£12 on a passport photo for DD so we can finally leave the country if we want to. We still may not. But at least options are there.
£10 on yoga session tonight for me.
And £21 on new shoes for DD. Went to Clarks but yet again they had no stock in, so went to Tesco. Saved about £40 too doing that. OH is now saying he will pay for the shoes but for now it's hit my account.

Spent this morning making more washing detergent and a courgette and butter bean dish to put in the freezer for speedy lunches for me.

Wow muddling, that's such a lot for weight!!!! Well done you sweetie.

Some vegetables and milk today about £8 I think. Buying multiple single bananas was cheaper than buying a bunch of bananas. That surprised me.

That’s lovely about the clock @Frugal25. I laughed at the toy in the toilet. Sorry.

Honestly @ArmDimples most if the time I have no idea what is going on. I’m just hoping it will be done soon.

How was the bakery @MuddlingLong? I hope it was a nice afternoon for you.

Nice to have you back @needastrongone.

Very quiet day today. I was absolutely exhausted. No idea why seeing as it was only Tuesday. At the office tomorrow hopefully that will mean no spending. Was thinking a bit about holiday shopping today but I don’t actually need anything. I did see a top online but I can’t find it in a shop to see what it actually looks like. I realised today there’s a bank holiday weekend coming up it makes April quite a short month for me work wise. Still hoping to get to Salisbury. No I have no idea what my fascination is.

Is this thread doing strange things for people? Posts are disappearing and reappearing for me.

Spendy day today went to Costco and spent £123.60 on loads of meat for the freezer, fruit smoothies for GCs, Dishwasher Tablets which were on a deal (and I only had 3 left at home) two rotisserie chickens (one for us and one for my neighbour) and black peppercorns for the rats!! (Don't ask!!)

@Rainbow1901 I'm going to ask.......

£11.50 Boots moisturiser on the £10 deal. £30 saving on an Elizabeth Arden day cream as I squeezed the last of my moisturizer out yesterday. Nothing else I wanted (at 6am I wasn't really functioning!) so paid the £1.50 click and collect fee.

£4.65 coop needed sandwich fillings.

Thanks for the reminder about the year end @lifelongfrugaleer IFA wants me to move some money into one before the end of the year so really need to organise that now!

I've slipped these last few weeks with diet and exercise, no weight gain but no loss since January either! I only need to lose half a stone which sounds easy, but it's outstayed it's welcome since Covid!

Going back a few years one of our neighbours who backs on to next doors garden had their garden landscaped, with hot tub, and decking galore which provided somewhere for the local rat population to live under. We were dealing with rat holes that have opened up by giving them their favourite blue cheese and blocking holes with stones and wire wool. It's not been a major issue as where we live is minutes walk from farmland/country walks/golf club.
However, said neighbours are now having an extension built and the groundwork/lifting off decking is encouraging the rats to relocate! DH said that he'd read that black peppercorns for their taste and pungency helps the rats to avoid our garden. So big tub of catering sized peppercorns was purchased today partly to replace my depleted/all gone kitchen stock and to see if it's actually effective. If not I've gained with a plentiful supply of black peppercorns which to be fair are used very frequently in our household. 😅

Rainbow- our neighbour has rats in his cellar. He is being very proactive about sorting the situation out, but obviously I am on pins about them moving next door.

I am in DC! Spent today pottering about the very beautiful Georgetown and visiting the excellent National Portrait Gallery and American Art. The metro is easy to navigate and pretty well priced, and I can just use my debit card to tap in and out. Flight was fine, hotel good. I used the hotel gym before breakfast this morning, and I’m now bridging the gap between sightseeing and dinner with DH at the hotel bar - happy hour prices on a glass of Pinot Noir and a plate of falafel. I am surrounded by corporate peeps getting a bit rancid on espresso martinis. So I shall beat a retreat soon to shower and change. I am hoping to find DS a cool t shirt so might go to Adams Morgan tomorrow.