Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

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

438 replies

DirtyGertiefromno30 · 08/04/2026 18:24

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
21
drspouse · 12/04/2026 17:39

Found 5 days worth of meals in the freezer 👍 though we need more potatoes.
Also found some veg curry I can have for lunch tomorrow. May need to buy a packet of instant rice - we have loads in but I'm never quite sure how to cook it at home and reheat safely. Any tips?

MyAgileHedgehog · 12/04/2026 17:55

In the microwave until piping hot.

RumBananaSundae · 12/04/2026 19:43

Bought some chocolate milkshake powder and a bit more sushi (£20ish). €75 on a gallery/museum pass and £20 on a ticket for a local place that opens for a few days a year.

Sorry @BigSkies2022 I missed you yesterday saying Seurat was lovely I wasn’t sure about going but think I will. Thank you. I do like the Courtauld.

That’s good thinking about magpie @Frugal25 and about the framed photos with your daughter. Tried Matisse again today and it’s sold out so I bought a pass. It’s meant to be a good exhibition and the pass covers a few museums and one currently has a unicorns exhibition so I’ll be heading there too. Still not sure it was worth the money but it’s done. Hope the migraine is on its way out.

Sounds like you’ve had your hands full @Schnout. Glad your mum is on the mend and I hope you are ok and the quiet day is helping. I’m crossing my fingers the sushi is a passing fad as you’re right it is not a frugal meal.

Welcome @drspouse. Interrailing You say? That’s on my I must do it list. How was it? I love the idea but am put off by having to carry my luggage.

Spent quite a bit today that I wasn’t expecting. On the plus side I have a few things in my diary to look forward to. Didn’t manage any life admin today or any travel book reading. I’m sure weekends never used to go this quickly.

drspouse · 12/04/2026 20:21

We took wheeled cases - packed very light but I had an annoyingly large bottle of medicine so it was a little heavy.
Have just realised it's my dad's birthday in a week. He will be a very sprightly 87 (cannot quite believe that!). I have a card (keep them in stock) but need to think of a present. He reads quite a bit, is into history (but writes the books so best not to venture into buying him a history book!), still travels and has his garden.
My DB helpfully says "he doesn't normally send a present".

chimichangaz · 12/04/2026 20:36

I have missed absolutely loads of updates but I'm here on the 'new thread'! Thanks for the headsup @DirtyGertiefromno30

I went a bit wild on spending in the last week with new clothes for my London trip this week (about £300), bits and bobs spending on Friday (TK Maxx and the like...), yesterday out with friends £15, today I bought two kindle books on offer for 99p each (check out BookBub if you are a kindle reader), £15 on a sports webcast and a tenner on snacks to take to a friends.

I'm shattered this weekend for some reason. Heading off to bed shortly as I need to conserve energy for London later this week.....

Great news about the kittens @Frugal25 and well done on spending £1 on your cruise @Holidaysandchocolate - I need to manage my on board spend a bit better! Speaking of cruises I am very tempted to book one in June - have emailed the travel agent.....

drspouse · 12/04/2026 20:50

I have just remembered I have a box of chocolates left over from Christmas for my dad (they are Hotel Chocolat and I was saving them for my Feb birthday but then have been on a special diet and have just tried some Easter chocolate and it made me feel quite unwell so I will sacrifice them to Dad.)
However I do have to pay my counsellor who I'm seeing on Tuesday.

needastrongone · 13/04/2026 10:07

Morning. Lovely morning here too. A very gentle but enjoyable 5 miles run in the sunshine - very uplifting indeed.

No worries re the notifications! May I respectfully and gently request that we don’t start a new thread until we get to around the 990th post on this one though? ‘twill save a lot of confusion 😁 (mainly on my part).

Spends today will be £6 on some cheap tea spoons (what the bloody hell happens to all ours I’ve no idea) from Amazon. We have a friend popping over for coffee and I’m doing the afternoon dog walk so no real opportunity to spend anything else. We’ve some left over beef casserole from yesterday for supper for DH and DS, I’ll have a jacket potato with cheese and beans!

Welcome @drspouse - old folk are hard to buy for aren’t they? My DM is an extraordinarily sprightly 92 - I resort to flowers for most presents these days as she loves them and needs nothing else really.

Right - I’m off to do some activation work with my theraband - remind my glutes they have to keep working etc.

Frugal25 · 13/04/2026 12:34

Happy Monday all,
Oh a pass sounds great @RumBananaSundae and the unicorn exhibition sounds right up my and DD street. Let me know how it goes!
Welcome @drspouse and brilliant save with the chocolate for birthday gift!

Was going to be a NSD but I owe pre school £20 of sponsorship money.

Trying hard to stay on track diet wise and weight just isn't shifting but geez I'm starving. OH has changed our holiday plan for the year so I may only have 2 months before we go somewhere so that should be motivating enough you would think.

BigSkies2022 · 13/04/2026 13:25

Howdy. Spendy little run over the last 24 hours: £58 in Sainsbury's yesterday (DH); back to Sainsbury's again today for me and £38, plus £4 in Aldi because I refused to pay Sainsbo prices for Greek yoghurt (haughty flounce across the retail park estate); £43 on Amazon for household stuff, including a replacement stick blender (DH dropped the last one and broke the plastic casing); £53 on yet another fitted linen sheet from La Redoute.

DS has gone off to dental check-up, which will be in the region of £25. We'll see if he needs future appointments and what the damage is likely to be thereafter.

Yesterday's gardening session was quite rewarding - lots of weeding and mulching, like they tell you to do in the gardening columns. I might get back out there this afternoon if the weather holds up, otherwise there's my book group novel which won't read itself. And - if we're talking about glute activation, need - I have some wickedly effective and rather demanding ballet floor barre routines that I'm trying to do a few times a week.

DirtyGertiefromno30 · 13/04/2026 15:22

Afternoon everyone 🤗
Mum fine there thankfully 😊
NSD for me today which is good . I have not looked at the George sale and l am not going to 😁
Hope everyone is well and having a good day ☺️

OP posts:
drspouse · 13/04/2026 16:12

DH took the DCs to the zoo today so that was not exactly no spend for him! I am not asking how much it cost. DS gets a carer though so usually he just pays for the DCs and not for him.
Other than that we need potatoes to be able to eat dinner this week. DD is going to church youth group and they've just sent a message round saying spiced lentil soup is going spare so do pick some up when you drop off your DC so I have another lunch in the bag (I had the cabbage curry with rice today but remembered I was WFH so reheating wasn't an issue).

RumBananaSundae · 13/04/2026 19:16

Spent £5 today on a sushi TGTG that went in the bin as it was all fish. I had been watching out for it for a while so at least I know now not to order again.

That’s a stroke of luck with the box of chocolates @drspouse.

Glad your mum is OK @DirtyGertiefromno30.

Unpleasant day at work today. People always drop something they know you won’t like towards the end of the day and now I can’t relax. Plans for tomorrow are housework, posting a card and getting things to pack for my holiday together. And to try not to think about work.

Lockin26 · 13/04/2026 20:21

Missed a few days over the weekend.

£34.46 and £31.12 Home Bargains (two separate budgets - day to day and house decoration)
£18.58 top up from Aldi.

Tip run this morning, DH has taken the old shed down so loads to start to move this week. Also some cooking with a double batch of chill and black beans - grocery budget feels a bit tight so using up the meat in the freezer.

DirtyGertiefromno30 · 13/04/2026 20:57

Oh @RumBananaSundae l am sorry that's so horrible of your work to do that to you 😞. Blooming things 😡😖.
You pack up and try to forget the Rotters sweetheart 🤗
Your food sounds so healthy and yummy @drspouse 😋😁
I started singing were all going to the zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow when l saw your lovely DH had taken your DC to the zoo ♥️
Well done to your DH taking the shed down @Lockin26. Your meal
Of chilli and black beans sounds yummy 😋

OP posts:
Schnout · 13/04/2026 21:26

Sorry you had a rubbish day at work @RumBananaSundae. Hope you can put to the back of your mind tomorrow.

Glad your mum is ok @DirtyGertiefromno30

I’ve had an ok day. £14 spent. £6 by dd and a friend at Starbucks, £8 by me replenishing few bits but I managed to stick to my list.

drspouse · 13/04/2026 21:56

The DCs had a lovely though expensive time. DH had got a membership of a sister attraction and he gets a carer ticket so it wasn't all full price at least. But of course he got them lunch.
Yesterday we did some cleanup in the basement and found two Trunki seats that I've been asking DH to sell for ages plus another couple of things that can be sold on Marketplace.
Have salad ready for lunch at work tomorrow and will take some teabags as I'm on a different site but there will be a kettle!
DH got a few bits at Aldi and B&M for dinners etc this week. We may need to do a big shop soon but not this week.
DD is back to school tomorrow and DS generally cares less about big outings so the rest of the week shouldn't be too expensive!

Happierwithouthim · 13/04/2026 22:49

Slopes back in again…

Frugal25 do you know the rule of the thread is you have to post kitten photos here Star

Need I take 32.01 mins to run 5k so don’t be so hard on yourself. I downloaded Runna with a two week free trial to train for half on 4th July.

€150 in dunnes yesterday after €30 money off vouchers and €24 value club vouchers, bf reimbursed me €20 & there was €21 on a pair of cropped jeans & a new belt.

€50 transferred to db for nieces 8th birthday, dd is 16 next week, have gone thirds with exh to get her a new Nintendo switch, she’ll be paying the remaining third, she wanted to borrow the full cost from her credit union account a few months ago but I don’t want her getting into habit of debt at this age.

night all

Alwaysgrowing · 14/04/2026 07:36

Hi, it's been a while since I've been on this group. Got a technology musing. I am looking at getting a family tablet. We haven't had one in a few years. We're at low screen family, so I'm in two minds because other parents complain about their childrens iPad addiction. And my kids play a lot, but it's quite intense so I think a balence of some educational apps wouldn't be the worst. But school work is on it. We do have the option to do screen free homework if we print it at home...I mostly don't get my 7 year old to do homework, but should start soon. She does a little bit times tables rock stars on my phone but it would work better on a tablet.

Alwaysgrowing · 14/04/2026 07:38

I thought I'd just buy a tablet on Amazon, but I looked at. Price history, and they both followed the same pattern, where they were cheap for a day or 2 , now the most expensive in 90 days.

Rainbow1901 · 14/04/2026 08:29

@Alwaysgrowing If you decide to go with Amazon - buy via TopcashBack - you get 2% back - not a lot but a small saving.

BigSkies2022 · 14/04/2026 09:56

DH just bought a refurbished iPad from Apple. And there’s Back Market for good refurbished tech. You might encounter some wrinkles with insuring refurbished devices, but we find that a risk worth taking.

needastrongone · 14/04/2026 10:30

Morning.

@Happierwithouthim - cheers. All relative though ‘innit? It’s not where I know I used to be at and (while I might not get to those times due to age), it ain’t where I want to be! Let me know what the Runna app is like and happy to give pointers if needed re the half - running training is definitely something I know about.

Chilli with black beans is a great protein hit right there!

Park work until you next work if you can @RumBananaSundae , easier said than done I appreciate.

There’s so much to do on the longevity front isn’t there @BigSkies2022 ? I was fully on board with your toe and foot strengthening recommendation recently, by the way. I try to make sure I work upper body and lower body each in terms of strength work once a week, then pick a couple of the extras like the glute activation, foot strengthening, plyometrics etc and do those too. I run daily, and that’s my love and therapy and ‘me’ so that won’t stop. Probably if I did that less, I could do more of the other stuff but it would still probably not tick all the boxes.

I’ve a small shop arriving soon - £60. I don’t need anything other than the very basics for the rest of the week.

Been out early for a track session (not flat out, more lower threshold) and the dog will be walked later. If I get chance I’ll do some of the foot work as this has reminded me to do so!

Carrot and red pepper stew with rice for supper.

DirtyGertiefromno30 · 14/04/2026 12:39

Afternoon everyone 🤗
NSD for me today ,Mum ok my sister visiting today so been cleaning my filthy midden 🤣
Hope everyone is ok 🤗
Fabulous work outs @needastrongoneyou are just amazing well done great self care you are inspirational honestly l take my hat off to you 🤗 that carrot and pepper stew sounds delicious too 😋.

@Alwaysgrowinggood to see you here 🤗 wmy Dd1 bought a tablet from the Amazon warehouse deals . It was a lot cheaper and looked brand new . I think Amazon warehouse is called something else on there now but we have had a few things from there tech wise . She bought an iPhone and a kindle as well and they were all like new. I think they must have been returns for some reason. Course ppl would return them if the price went down in the meantime l think that must be the main reason for these returns the guarantee is the same too 🤗
@Happierwithouthimmy Dd1 bought her switch and absolutely loves it happy birthday to your DD bless her . Good to see you here 🤗
So glad your Dc had such a lovely time @drspouse😁 good luck selling the Trunkis too 🤗
Thank you re my Mum @Schnout 🤗
Well done sticking to your list too 😊

OP posts:
lifelongfrugaleer · 14/04/2026 14:43

Don’t do an Amazon fire tablet They are so locked down your can’t get many apps.
a refurbished one will be fine.i think as they do further through schools especially to secondary a lot more homework and monitoring is on app. As is revision

spotted you there happier
welcome back other frugaleers

DirtyGertiefromno30 · 14/04/2026 15:10

Agree with you re the Fire tablets @lifelongfrugaleer my Dd2 has an Ipad and it's excellent 👌 🤗

OP posts: