Spring shenanigans, frugal mischief, Maypole antics, garden faffing, bargain binges, picnic pandemonium, Spaniel loving and Bank Holiday mayhem 😁

[DirtyGertiefromno30]

Welcome everyone, new and old to our lovely supportive frugal thread .

Obviously!
Never forget the cake.

£200 out the bank. £90 went into my travel card and some will cover the physio this week. I went to the closing down home wear shop again and left £7.50 lighter. I wanted kitchen tongs and bought a few things but forgot tongs. Spent £14 in Aldi. Half went in the freezer. I suspect the rest will too.

Glad you’re feeling better @Frugal25. And hope the bug is the last one for a long time.

Any chance of a cheese board at this picnic? I’m happy to supply.

Spent today doing small house things. Decided against going into town as Zurbarán opens next week so I’ll save the train fare for that. Started planning my long weekend. I think it would have been cheaper to go away.

Only if you or promise all the fancy pickles etc on it.

I'll go sit in my car and eat mine.

Ooohhh fancy pickles and cheese. I'm def in the car with you @DeepFriedCreamEgg

What's on your list @RumBananaSundae for your weekend? I'm living through you at the mo

Wouldn’t be a picnic without crisps - those expensive ones with black pepper for me please. And if we’re doing fantasy dips and sides, then the babaganoush and the smashed cucumber dish I had in Bubala at Easter. Maybe we can swap out the chicken drumsticks for chicken tikka skewers?

Meanwhile on planet earth: £8 in ALDI yesterday on baked beans, dishwasher tablets and kitchen roll. DH and I walked dog and DS’ had a longer shift than expected at West Ham FC. Chilli dinner together and DH had bought delicious ice-cream. Early night for me as I was knackered after a bad night’s sleep on Friday.

DS off to a long shift at Wembley this morning, so I was up making him a bacon sandwich for the road. He works hard. I plan a quiet day: bit of gardening, walking, make a soup, roast some veg, maybe prep the barbecue. Might put those chicken drumsticks on it!

have a good Sunday y’all.

Afternoon everyone 😊
Been for coffee and a piece of cake with my friend, very nice and lovely to see her only £12. l paid, my turn.
Aldi's afterwards £49 but had to get flowers and chocolates in that, for my Mum's friend ,as it's her birthday so not too bad .
Beautiful day here sunny and blue skies just lovely. Mum ok thankfully, hope all is well with you all 🤗

Aw thank you @bedfrog re my mum and my name bless you , l love your name too 😂
Our Parasol is so old it's drawing it's pension 😂 .l am the same as you . l am not parting with upwards of £100 for a new one ! It's all mismatched out there but l don't care no one else can see it 😁
@DeepFriedCreamEgg definitely we are all sweethearts here and
“We niver ‘ave a barney.” That was done in a Yorkshire accent to go with the Yorkshire tea , which is definite
ly the best tea ever! 😁👏😋
Soya sauce 😋 l bet that's a bugger to get out of your tank top ☺️.
Must have cake, it's compulsory 😁👏
l always wanted to have an Enid Blyton picnic , boiled eggs , potted meat sandwiches, current buns , jam sandwiches, seed cake, whatever that is 😁, proper home made by the cook and the piece de la resistance lemonade made with real lemons 🍋
Good girl cleaning your teeth so well @Frugal25l completely understand your pride at being told that . My dentist told me that and l was on cloud nine 😁. Mind l don't like going to the dentist but it's a necessary evil unfortunately 🙄. These fangs have to last us a long time .l couldn't bear having false teeth like my parents. They had the lot out when they were really young , how awful is that 😱.
Glad you are feeling better too and yes this thread is full of lovely ppl ❤️
Not surprised you were hungry after 2 x gym classes @Lockin26. Hope the TGTG was brilliant 😁👏
@drspouse Happy wedding 💒 Anniversary to you both love the keyring ❤️
That closing down sale sounds fabulous @RumBananaSundae
Excellent finds . Cheeseboard very welcome indeed 😁👏.
What a brilliant job your Ds has @BigSkies2022its every football/sport lovers dream job.
Loving the sound of your picnic choices 😋

£175 Costco spendy one! £150 ish was meat, fish, toilet roll and drinks so saves money over the month.
Also got a work top from Costco from another budget for £7.18, took one back to TU that was £9 so one cancels out the other.
£11.24 Boots refund for product that arrived damaged.

Beef short ribs are slow cooking with BBQ sauce. Trying to have lazy Sunday but work prep beckons for tomorrow. Monday is our mandatory day in the office so I leave at 7.30, the rest of the week I am out but rarely before 9am. I will allow one hour for the prep then back on my cosy chair.

@Lockin26 what was the Starbucks TGTG bag like sweetheart?
I love Costco it's like day out for me 😂Beef short ribs sound delicious enjoy 🤗😋👏

My tgtg has a delivery tab with over stock or short dated stuff. Not sure about the value though

Spending fell off the deep end today. I bought two sets of bowls that I’ve wanted for a while. The shop had a sale so I also bought the matching carafe. I bought some table mats to match my new coasters, two tops for the gym, a few things from the home wear shop, some gift cards and some odd bits in Asda.

My list so far is Zurbaran, Salisbury, the gun salute and maybe another road trip @Frugal25. And hard boiled eggs as I bought an egg slicer.

Lemonade with real lemons sounds good @DirtyGertiefromno30 Marks and Spencer has strawberry lemonade in their summer range. I don’t know what seed cake is either but it makes me think of the recipie Frugal posted for the birds.

Sunny day here too. Hoping the gift cards I bought will carry the bulk of next month’s groceries but with the freezer content that shouldn’t be too much if I stay in the lane. It’s unnerving not knowing how much the legal bills will be and I feel I can’t properly budget or plan for anything. I’ve not heard anything since my side made the further offer and chases have all been ignored.

Ooohhh an enid blyton picnic. Def up for this. My mum made my grandad seed cake every week when he was here bless him. It was his fave. I quite liked it too. Haven't had it since he died. Maybe I should make it and have the family round.

Posh crisps for sure @BigSkies2022 nom. Your lovely son working so hard, you're a good role model for him. Well done mummy.

NSD here. I keep offering to pay but OH wouldn't let me. Parking in a nice park, ice creams and teas. Two hours of running about in the sunshine before home for a bbq. I would just like to brag that I did it all by myself with no firelights or kindling. Boom. Cooked it all beautifully whilst watching the robins, blue tits and starlings eat the last of the fat balls I made. Wonderful.

Hope you stopped prepping @Lockin26and you're back in your cozy chair.

On that note I may get a book and curl up whilst family watch moana for the third time today

DH cleaned the barbecue so I spent a tenner in Sainsbury’s on chicken thighs and drumsticks which we’ll have with roast sweet potatoes and peppers for first barbie of the season.

We have booked flights to Milan in June! Got them with Avios points so no spends so far. But I was so excited about the trip that I forgot to check the dog kennels - and they’re booked out! Eek. We’re on the waiting list but I have to find an alternative. Or bribe DS. I will book trains to Trieste this week and find hotels too.

£2 for the DCs in the collection again! And about £23 at the charity shop on a picture frame for DD, a cup and jewelry she liked, and a plant pot and some seeds for me.

@DirtyGertiefromno30 I meant to say the TGTG from Starbucks was sandwiches 2 x sausage, 1 x grilled cheese and 2 x tomato and mozzarella panini. Did us well for supper last night before I flaked on the sofa..

BBQs sound great @Frugal25 and @BigSkies2022 I put the log burner on here, it was supposed to be 16° here today but felt more like 10 / 11.

I am definitely going to fill my picnic basket with these ideas this summer. Love those crisps @BigSkies2022 and lovely news about the Milan flights.

Back in the cosy chair watching The Devil Wears Prada. Hoping to see the second one that comes out this week.

Omg that was a really good bag @Lockin26 😁👏💪
It's cold here too got my hoody on but l think the heating is going on soon 😂 .
Sounds like a great haul for you and your DD @drspouse 👏😁
That is wonderful @BigSkies2022 what a treat! Bribe your Ds , keep it in the family😁.
Oh @Frugal25l am going to have to look that seed cake recipe up 😋😁
Your day was wonderful and it's lovely your DH spoils you once in a while, he is a darling ❤️ but you deserve spoiling
@RumBananaSundae you made me laugh when you said about the seed cake being like the birds fat ball recipe , you are dead right it does! 😂
That's so horrible having to wait In no mans land before you can know how much everything is going to cost .
I hope it's all settled very soon for you 🙏🤞
@lifelongfrugaleer when l had a TGTG bag from Starbucks it was short dated stuff too but saying that it was fine, you wouldn't notice it wasn't stale . These TGTG are so good . I wish l lived near an M&S l would be hanging on their every word 😂

Good morning!

Loving all the picnic talk. some scones would be lovely too. Fruit or plain I don't mind.

I've just had a weekend away with work friends staying at a lodge with a hot tub, the company, weather and surroundings were amazing ☀

Payday tomorrow, looking forward to allocating the money to its appropriate jobs. I need to book the car in for rear brakes and 2 new tyres so that's going to be rather costly, although I do have money in the 'car pot' so that's helpful 😊

Off to get ready for work now, I hope everyone has a great start to the week 😍

I’m managing to l fall behind on the this thread already. Must try harder.

Ivehad a few spendy days. Lots of spending on eating out.
On Thursday Dd and I went out for impromptu pizza. £35 - but money very well spend as we were having a really lovely open chat about all the things that are bothering her at school right now (friendships mainly) and it enabled that to continue longer and she’s asked for help with a few things she was holding back on before. So invaluable really!
Friday was my turn to buy the weekly takeout. £65 but lots of leftovers which I finished off yesterday.
Then is forgotten that on Saturday we were meeting an old friend and her DD for dinner out. So another £45 gone.
Fairly expensive added up but it was all lovely.

yesterday was an uber and an ice cream at about £17

today I just need bin bags for the food waste caddy and maybe some instant coffee if I see any at a good price

I put £35 in a "lunch money" Starling space every week and then transfer what's left over at the end of the week to savings. Last week £4 was left over but this week it's gone up to £21 so that's a win.

@Schnout "girl math" dictates that that pizza is free.

So.

Payday.

Expensive month.

Will. Not. Spend. Anything. Unnecessary.

I feel like I should be in a Simpsons episode and write that line out a good few hundred times

😆

Went to two Garden Centres this afternoon - £13 and £53 on plants and compost. Needed though as GS planted up some potatoes for us and we have more to do but had no compost left. The plants will be shared with DD so may get something back for them. We'll see!!
Also spent £5.90 on a paper and lunch for work as we had also run out of bread. Not got anything out of the freezer for tea - so may do an easy pasta tea with Garlic Bread - NDN came in with cream cakes yesterday so we will have those pudding tonight.

Evening all,

Oh god @RumBananaSundae your comment about seed cake and fat balls had me rolling about laughing!! I had best not make them at the same time just to be safe!! And amazing plans for your travels. Gun slate would be wonderful.

@Schnout what a lovely Thursday you had. You sound like such an amazing mum. So glad your DD can talk to you.

NSD today. I forgot to eat brekkie so starved until lunch. And where I thought I was better, went to the office and come away feeling even worse. Temperature is back and I think it's turned into a chest infection. Nearly didn't make it home and was going to get a cab but the bus was waiting. OH is back early to look after me and put DD to bed.

Done a meal plan for next week using bits from the freezer. And tonight is potato and cauliflower curry with rice. Again from the freezer so I just need to heat it up.
Then an early night I think. I'm out with my best friend for dinner Wednesday and I haven't seen her in 5 months so I need to be better for that.

I've not posted in any meaningful way on this thread for ages - it's so busy (which is good - yay us!) that I read the messages but then don't post! So I'm up to date with all of your news but haven't posted much individually - it's been really busy here with being in London and working quite a few hours. My finances are looking quite healthy as I've been working and paid weekly, and now I've booked a cruise to spend it all! It's a week in June, so I'm looking forward to that. In other news I had a minor car accident at the weekend when a car pulled out and went into the side of my car (he didn't see me, admitted it and I think has been honest with his insurance company). I'm waiting for the garage to contact me about the repair, hopefully a repair and not a writeoff.

Edited to add had to post too soon as I tried to put in an emoji and then couldn't get rid of the emoji screen and type the rest of the message!!

Also feeling VV stressed as my new neighbour smokes (weed, I think - if not it's bloody awful tobacco) and the smell is coming through my walls. I haven't even met them yet (they've been in three weeks). I knocked on their door tonoght to try and speak to them but they didnt answer (and I'm sure they are at home as I'd just come in and was overpowered by the smell). I'm so upset about it - I've always been lucky and had good neighbours but I'm so worried about this issue. They are renting. I'm keeping a record, and will try and speak to them again tomorrow - next step will be landlord or environmental health. I think EH rather than landolord as he was an idiot with the previous tenants who had the fire - caused by his faulty electrics!

Good morning everyone 😁
Weather has broken and it's cold grey and wet out now boo!
We had a Chinese takeaway which cost £42 but expecting a NSD today ☺️.
@chimichangaz good to hear your finances are good and fabulous news re the cruise . Sorry about the weed smell l absolutely hate that smell it's vile . I would report it to everyone possible good luck sweetheart 🤗 🤞
@Frugal25 looked at recipes for Seed cake and it sounds delicious 😋. Apparently it taste of Liquorice and lemon. l am going to have to make one now but not if l make the fat balls 😂
Hope you are feeling better sweetheart 💐
Dinner sounded delicious 😋
You have wonderful NDN by my standards anyway @Rainbow1901😁
Plants are an investment in my book 😁❤️👏
@DeepFriedCreamEgg you do make me lol 🤣 you are a proper tonic ❤️
Well done @drspouse frugal excellent lunch win 👏😁.
@Schnout aw bless your DD , you are a lovely Mummy indeed ❤️
@NursieBernard
Your weekend away with friends sounds absolutely amazing 😍
Do you good sweetheart, don't worry about keeping up just join in as and when you want to ❤️

I nearly forgot we have our Hedgies and Swifts back yay! DH took some pics ❤️