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 .

NSD today.

I laughed at your going boring in 2025 being frugal @Frugal25. If it’s any consolation I’ve not been hitting the rum or banana sundaes. Or being frugal.

Happy Birthday Mr Dirty. Glad your mum is ok and that you had nice cake. Enjoy your curry @DirtyGertiefromno30.

Picked up my new running shoes today. They are rather handsome. I just need to learn how to run again now. Tomorrow will be a shock as I’m convinced today is Friday.

I’ve had a family member staying for a few days - yesterday we went to a local town which is quite well off to raid the charity shops - so so disappointing!! Nothing of even good quality, it was all really poor. I did however find a small antique jewellery/watches/knick knacks shop that was like a treasure trove!! Bought myself a silver and amber ring for £32 (birthday money) and a costume jewellery ring for a fiver. In the evening I was out and spent about £15.

Today we went to the local charity shop this morning and I grabbed a few bargains for £8. I bought meal deal lunches for me and my DS as we were visiting his grandma this afternoon (my family member went home at lunchtime). On my way home I’ve spent £12 in the Spar on naan bread, chocolate and wine!!

Ah @DirtyGertiefromno30 please don’t feel pressure to respond individually to us all!! This is such a busy thread, it must be a nightmare to do and I’m sure we’d all understand! We do need however to check in with you and Nana Pumpkin for your news and of course happy birthday to Mr Dirty!! 😊 🥳🎁🎂

Ah thank you so much @RumBananaSundae the curry was delicious 😋. So glad you love your running shoes , good luck with whatever day it is tomorrow, l am afraid l frequently get the dotw wrong 🤣
@chimichangaz ah what a lovely time you have had with your family 😊.
Your jewellery sounds gorgeous 😍

Morning, just a check in. Had a relatively low spend week. Hoping today is too-I do need to get a few food bits.
Met a couple of friends yesterday, lunch and mooching, spent £45. Gig tomorrow, meeting friends beforehand. Hoping not too spendy.

£78 on Amazon for stuff I would normally buy from
a real shop but can’t. All
needed

gallery visit and lunch with mum v good yesterday. Lots of driving, but no parking fees and mum very kindly bought lunch. £2.70 on milk and pitta bread from the corner shop.

Errands this afternoon, will include a bit of food shopping just for tonight. Otherwise we should be fine for the weekend as DS is away!

So glad you had a brilliant time @BigSkies2022i love days like that.
Enjoy your gig @Vinorosso74!
Hope you enjoyed having family to stay and urgh on disappointing charity shops @chimichangaz. I've noticed the lack of good stuff recently too. Maybe everyone has sold it on vinted instead.
Oh @RumBananaSundae that's made me sad. I was hoping to live vicariously through you and your rum sundaes!!! Hope your Friday isn't too shocking.

Well. A win for me today. A NSD. And I was waiting for a direct debit to go out and realised it went out before the bank switch so it's already gone. Which leaves me £150 up. I should give it back to OH who has been handing me more and more money where i was struggling. But I know he will tell me no, to keep it or put it towards savings. So I've paid off more of my credit card with it.

So glad it's Friday. Bring on the pizza and bottle of wine.

Nice work on the miscalculation Frugal!

When will it stop bloody raining???

Errands: dropping stuff at brother’s on mum’s behalf. Chasing up the guys at the reclamation yard for recommendations for someone to fix my floor. Emails and WhatsApps producing tumble weed so I decided to go and eyeball them. Have been promised more contacts so we’ll see! I should clean the floors this afternoon, but you know, rain.

Spends: £5 Tesco express on minced beef. £8 in bougie AF deli on a squash, some Langley Farm cottage cheese and a bar of Montezuma chocolate. Friday!

Me &Em trousers arrived- very excited to try them on. Alas the fabric isn’t heavy enough and sort of gathers in a very unappealing manner around the old crotch area. So they are going back. I think I will take a look in the Masai shop next week. Basically I want my black trousers, in navy.

But right now what I really want is to slum it with a pack of Indo Mie soupy noodles.

Afternoon.

Happy Big Birthday to Mr Dirty (it feels a bit wrong saying that!) @DirtyGertiefromno30.

Spends
£22 fruit and veg box
£180 Ocado which is WAY more than usual but included a bottle of Jack D for a present, and quite a lot of extras as we have folk over for dinner at the weekend so I bought the food for that and wine.

It our anniversary on Sunday (27 years!) so we went out for lunch today at a nice pub - £65 as we shared a starter and both had main meals rather than lunch menu things. It was beautiful but I’m very full! A very light supper tonight for sure.

Back to frugality after the weekend as I hide from the half term hoards!

Afternoon everyone omg it is terrible weather here 😞.
Really foggy wet and cold .
Not been out today, my sister seeing to my Mum who was fine there thankfully . Just been watching the skating, The Lincoln Lawyer on NF and washing and cooking tea .
NSD for me though so l will take that .
@lifelongfrugaleer🤣🤣🤣
It sounds filthy when you say it like that but thank you very much 😊.
Happy 27th wedding
Anniversary on Sunday to you both💐 ❤️.
@BigSkies2022 glad you had a great time 😁. well done on all the chores , Langley Cottage cheese is delicious 😋.
Have a great time at the gig @Vinorosso74 😊👏
Well done on the NSD @Frugal25. Excellent news you are £150 up yay! 😁
The fog is so bad you can't even see the mountain opposite our house 😱

A rather spendy day today, deposits paid for future adventures and a small break away booked for after my brothers funeral.

@Frugal25 love it when that happens! Good job on paying it off the CC.

@DirtyGertiefromno30 terrible weather here too, feels like the rain is never ending.

Hoping the weather picks up for half term week but not holding my breath! I've told DS3 we are just going to have to embrace the rain and dress accordingly.

That break away sounds very well deserved and needed after you losing your DBrother @NursieBernard 🤗❤️.
I don't think the weather is going to be kind for us next week either but like you told your Ds3, best to just grin and bear it and dress accordingly ☂️👢🥾🧥

hi everyone! That fog, Dirty 😮

Welcome nursie and I am really sorry to hear about your brother. So young, so unfair.

Balls to having a rainy half term, I’ve no idea what I am going to do with the DC! DS (asd) can’t manage crowded indoor places so I think we may just go a bit stir crazy at home for most of the time. Every year I regret not escaping abroad in miserable February. Oh to be rich!

Also, I love him very dearly but he keeps playing the first 5 seconds of various Disney songs and then moving on to the next. Not sure I can hack this for a whole week! He’s also snapped all the flower buds off my Christmas cactus so is lucky to be alive

it’s been an amazing frugal week actually, apart from the food shop, always my nemesis. £193 Ocado today, sadly not higher than usual 😳. But we do eat extremelywell, and that includes a lot of herbal teas and some expensive cupboard top ups. And stuff for a birthday lunch for my mum. Oh, and a pack of those really nice raspberry marshmallows covered in dark chocolate. All. For. Me. 🐷

other spends this week have been the cleaner (keep wondering whether we should cut this to accelerate savings but I think divorce would cost more), tube travel for work, a school photo for one of the Dc and some direct debits but I literally haven’t spent another penny since Sunday. This is amazing for me. No Amazon, no cheeky book ordering, no clothes, no extra snacks, no lunches or coffees…. Where is the Real ArmDimples?! I am still in the honeymoon period with YNAB and feeling very focussed on getting myself a full month’s spends ahead and then allocating my savings every month.

It was my birthday this week so actually I am even up on the week as DM gave me some money to book a cool baking course. No babysitter so no birthday going out spends, but I did make myself a nice dinner, lol.

As it’s my mum’s birthday this weekend I am about to balance that birthday windfall right back, but still… 😀. Diet also trashed by birthday cake but je ne regrette rien.

I am off work next week and hoping to get my sewing machine out. I want to start making a quilt, I have most of the stuff already, and also, I will have to get thinking about bloody world book day soon, and ideally make something NOT the evening before. And not spending a fortune on it.

Off to break my NS spell now by ordering some fusible interfacing for sewing.

I love Friday nights! Have a great weekend everyone

Just checking in -LSD today with just an Amazon birthday order for a cousin £5.99

Have spent All. Day. On resetting the house after my visitor but at least I have a clean and tidy house for next week. Currently watching a DVD I bought myself for Christmas- Aliens. I have the 4K blu ray but sadly not the kit to play it on. Am eyeing a few dvd players on eBay but won’t rush into it. (Am using my sons old PS3 which sadly isn’t capable of playing 4k).

Lovely to hear everyone’s updates. Happy weekend all.

Happy birthday to you and your DMum @ArmDimples 🍰🎂🎉🎈🎀🎁🎊💐
Have a great birthday weekend with your mum and family😊
Well done on the LSD and all that cleaning and tidying @chimichangaz👏
You have a lovely weekend too sweetheart 😊.

@BigSkies2022 exactly my feelings about the rain, when will it stop!

@DirtyGertiefromno30 happy birthday to your DH, pleased your DM is doing okay. That does sound a busy time for you, hope you enjoyed the takeaway.

I've had a few very busy days with work. Resulting in no spends on the groceries which is good. Although DSs car repair was £££ today - that can come from emergency account as his brakes needed fixing urgently. Today I started with making POA and also reviewed our life and critical illness cover - saved £30.22 per month.

Ah thank you re my DH birthday and my Mum@Lockin26 , yes we really did enjoy the takeaway. We don't eat them very often because of the cost of course but it was a special occasion bless him 😁.
Well done on all your savings and reviewing your life insurance and saving 30 pound a month is amazing, well done you!
Shame about the car but it's a necessary evil unfortunately 😊

Happy birthday to you and your DM @ArmDimples

Good morning everyone 🌞
And for once it is a good morning! 😁
Beautiful day cold 3C but omg it's gorgeous out . Hope everyone has this weather too,
Off to see Mum , been to Tesco to pick up a paper and egg custards, Woman's Weekly and bananas for her & some tete a tete daffs in little cardboards pots £8.
Off up my Friends then for a Chin wag , have a lovely day everyone ☺️.

Howdy.
Joint account: £14 in butcher (belly pork for dinner tonight, should be leftovers), £15 in BAF (bougie as fuck) greengrocers on plums and red chicory for dinner tonight. They were selling an unspeakably beautiful variety of radicchio called Romance- lovely pink, rounded head like a giant half-opened rose bloom. £55 per kilo. I declined. £4 in pharmacy for 100 disposable gloves. £6 in M&S for yoghurt, crème fraiche, raspberry vinegar. £9 on Gruyère from cheese shop.

Personal account: £22 on tickets for Crime 101 tomorrow. £4 in Superdrug on Compeed.

Have peeled and cored apples for tarte tatin. About to go and cut clematis hedge. Then I will make the tarte tatin, do a workout and shower and scrub up for valentine dinner with DH ( and DDog, who is very interested in the pork belly).

Hey Everyone, hope you are enjoying this lovely Saturday.

Just checking in for the week.

Yesterday I had a hair appointment and spent £72 including a tip, eyebrow wax £13, Asda £11 on Quorn stuff for DD that I can't get from M&S or Aldi, today we went out early as Dh wanted to be back home to watch football this afternoon and I have spent nothing, dh paid for some cakes from the bakers, and we are having a Fish and Chip supper tonight which will cost around £20 as I have the kids meal 🙂

I do have a confession to make, on Thursday night I broke my no spend promise to myself and ordered a dress for my summer holiday, I would usually wait and consider it for a while but it was out of stock in almost all sizes and I had FOMO - so that was £99, I may well try it on and decide its not for me or I may see it and fall in love, who knows?

Hope you all have a great Valentines evening 💘

What a beautifully sunny day! Enjoy your Val dinner @BigSkies2022 sounds delicious and quite envious you have a cheese shop although I'd be lethal in it.
@DirtyGertiefromno30have a lovely time with your mum and friend! Gorgeous view!
Happiest of birthdays to you and your mum @ArmDimples

We have come to OH house as we have sold the cot on eBay and need to hand it over. Grabbed the Val meal deal in Waitrose for dinner date night tonight.
For my NSD, I've failed.
£5 on dvds for DD, frozen, e.t and moana. We don't have Disney so dvds it is. Plus I'm old school.
£4.99 on a walkie talkie from a charity shop for her. Regretting this at the mo as all I can hear is white noise.
£3 on two tops for DD as she has outgrown the ones I like so bought them in the size up on vinted for her.

Failed but there is always tomorrow!!

Frugal- we have 4 cheese shops. 5 if you count the one that’s in walking distance but a different postcode. That’s how BAF we are. It’s a wonder we’re not dropping dead of arterial sclerosis. I hope the rise of GLP-1s doesn’t lead to a crash in revenues for these businesses!

That Radicchio looks stunning @BigSkies2022 🌸 but £55 a kilo… I’d pass!
Dinner sounds fab 😋
Well done on the apples, hedge and workout. Hope DH enjoys it and DDog just sniffs 😂
@JohaanahHair, eyebrows, shopping done and fish and chips planned yummy 😋. Don’t worry about the dress, sometimes you just have to treat yourself 💕👍🤗. Hope you have a lovely Valentine’s evening 💘.
What a busy but fun day @Frugal25! Love all your bargains 😄 DVDs and a walkie talkie , classic and cute. Well done selling the crib but oh so heart wrenching ❤️.Hope your dinner date night is lovely and here’s to NSD success tomorrow! 🎉 ❤️🤗😋
Have a wonderful Valentine's evening everyone 🤗 ❤️🎉💞💐🍾🥂🍷💌❤️‍🔥💏💑
I had a lovely visit with my Mum and friend ❤️ . I took my friend a bottle of wine , 6 packs of dog chews and a reed diffuser for her, her son and her 2 dogs 😁 . She bought me a reed diffuser, a book and some Daffodils.
DH and l didn't buy ourselves anything not even a card but l bought my DDs a box of Ferrero Rocher each , they were in More card offer for £6.50 each so that was Morrisons £17 for that 😁