Frugal Summer shenanigans, sunburnt silliness, ice cream indulgence, paddling pool chaos, picnic pandemonium, bank holiday bonkersness, sunshine mischief and all the rest of it.

[DirtyGertiefromno30]

Welcome to our lovely, friendly,frugal thread everyone 🤗

Afternoon everyone 🤗
I was trying to get in here yesterday evening and MN was down 😱.
Never mind l have caught up with you all now 😁.
NSD for me today and yesterday l was very well behaved financially 🤣.
Busy with Mum yesterday she had a tummy upset but l gave her Dioralyte sachets in her drinks and Imodium and Calpol and she is marvellous there today thank God 🙏. Aw bless her ❤️.
Eating and drinking as normal.
Hope everyone has a lovely day 😁

So glad your mum is better @DirtyGertiefromno30what a relief.
I'll adopt you too @Lockin26. Good luck with the car.
So glad it wasn't just me with the catch up channel 4 @RumBananaSundae. Did flaky turn up?

NSD today. Work approved me going back full time and when I saw the amount they will be paying me..... I think, although I'd love to leave as I hate it so much, id better stay instead. It's more than I thought I'd ever earn. Just need to impress boss now.
In other good news my credit card is now £900 and I have 2 more payments to go. Whooooo. I celebrated by having extra cheese on my pasta tonight.

Out tomorrow for breakfast with a friend but I've set a budget and then we are off to a church fun fair which is free.

AHH thank you re my Mum @Frugal25l know a huge relief fore 🙏❤️. Great news about going back full time . Sometimes a good salary makes the decision a hell of a lot easier 😁👏. Well done on getting your credit card down to £900 too ,only two payments left is a brilliant feelingwell done sweetheart 👏😊. Enjoy your breakfast tomorrow and the church fun fair. Hope you stick to your budget and have a lovely day. 😊

No spending for me today.

Sorry about the probate and house clearance @Lockin26. Understand about the co-op. I’m the same with Sainsbury.

Thank you @DirtyGertiefromno30. Glad your mum is ok.

Glad (finance wise) you’re back to full time @Frugal25 but sorry it’s not a good place to be. Hope you enjoyed the cheese and have fun at the fair.

Had a nice afternoon with flakey but an unpleasant day. Papers came they were as expected but not. Spent a few hours (yes hours) on the phone to my union. I’m not sure about what to do so will have to think about it. Really don’t want to have to deal with this.

I'm so sorry, what a rotten day for you @RumBananaSundae. 😔 I'm so glad you had a nice afternoon with Flaky at least. It sounds as though you've got a lot to think about . Hopefully the union have given you some good advice, but don't rush into any decisions. Take your time and get tons of support from your friends and family and us here of course , we got your back 🙏😊. We are all rooting for you sweetheart. Sending a big hug bless you ❤️

Afternoon everyone 😊
Been to see Mum who was brilliant there today thankfully 🙏🤞😊.
Shopping for Mum £17 Aldi
Aldi for us £12
Home Bargains £22
Hope everyone has a lovely day beautiful weather here ☀️

Hi all

Looking to join to give myself some accountability. Am coming to the conclusion that DH's redundancy will turn into semi retirement, and with that comes some number crunching and fair more attention paid to budgeting.

Have had a read through of the thread and someone mention sweaty, sticky, dirty children by the end of a summer day. Then popping them in the bath and then into cool clean pjs & bedsheets. My kids are adults now but Iloved those days and it brings back so many happy memories!

To start with I am declaring £60 at the hairdresser for roots and cut and bomb proof bouncy blowdry that will last days. Have declined an invitation from friends to join them at a local pub in favour of an aperol spritz in the garden and some burgers on the bbq later.

Couple of days off from frugalness for me: visiting family from the US have arrived and Im staying in London with them for a couple of nights before they come to our home town. Lots of sightseeing and meals out planned!

Welcome @AphraBehni am in the middle of the "dirty child dunkening her in a cool bath at end of day" days and thoroughly enjoying it I have to say. These really are the best days.
How on earth do you make a blow dry last days? Tell me your magic.

So glad your mum is ok @DirtyGertiefromno30 all ok from the other day?

Oohhh enjoy the family being here @Cuwins. What part of the us do they come from? I have an aunt in new Jersey.

Managed to stay in budget for breakfast with friend. £39.
The spanked £19 on cheese and a mint plant in the farm shop. Argh!!! God knows where I can claw that back from on the budget.
£2 on a donation for the church fair. Only seemed right as they put a lot of effort into it for the general public.

Have now defrosted freezer and done a stock take and written it down so I can meal plan around it.

Such a beautiful day here. Hope everyone is ok. Xxx

Lovely to see you here @AphraBehn welcome to the thread . £60 seems very reasonable for your hairdo tbh 😁.
I would prefer the garden a d the spritz and burger than the pub too 😁

Aw @Cuwins of course you must have time off the budget, what a lovely time you will all have , enjoy yourselves have a brilliant time 😁👏

Well done staying in budget for breakfast, that's a result @Frugal25! 😄 The farm shop cheese is always so tempting , so don't beat yourself up. I'm sure you'll claw it back somewhere over the next week don't fret. The church fair donation was a lovely thing to do bless you ❤️
Bet it feels good getting the freezer defrosted, doing a stock take and meal planning around what you've already got. You did brilliantly doing that 👏😁.
Thank you re Mum ,yes all fine now thankfully, she was lovely there today ❤️

I have lots of family in the Pacific Northwest. This particular family are from Portland Oregon

£72 in Blackpool today - not bad for all food, parking, a power bank as both phones were dead and entrance into the ballroom, which is such a lovely experience. And in the Sealife Centre tunnel we felt very calm and sensory.

@RumBananaSundae I'm sorry those papers have arrived. Hope the union can support you. I am willing you on and wishing some good luck from the North East!

thanks for offering to adopt me @Frugal25 I really am not too much bother 😂 I'm trying to pick my battles before it escalates as I'll be viewed as the difficult one. Manifesting the house being sold, DB safely moved out and a really decent holiday for us. One of my friends (who is also now an adopted sister 😂) suggested the siblings buy me out. I said it's actually not about the money, my DMs house would still be in the family and they would still exert control over me. It will come....

@Cuwins enjoy the family get together in London. I love breaks from frugalness. Makes it worth it!

Hello @AphraBehn welcome to the thread.

Pleased Nana P is doing well @DirtyGertiefromno30

Sorry if I've missed anyone - long but enjoyable day.

£72 for everything you did is great value @Lockin26. The ballroom is so lovely I can see why you enjoyed it, and I bet the Sealife tunnel was a lovely calm place . I'm hoping the house sells very soon for you 🤞. DB gets safely moved and you get the holiday you deserve sweetheart. It really will come. Sending you a big hug 💚

Afternoon everyone 🤗
Been to see my friend we had coffee but no cake for me , not because l was being good but no gf option available.y friend didn't have one either bless her for the solidarity 😁👏.
So £4 coffee and £12 for 6 pizzas on offer from Morrisons.
Hope everyone is ok and having a lovely day 🤗

Not a bad weekend all in all here.
£16 in Starbucks.
£10 in the chipshop

That's about it really.

Have put some money onto a separate account for DD for the holidays this is "yes" money for goes on rides ice cream etc etc and once it's gone it's gone. Won't be accounting for the spends on this account as tbh I'll probably be feeling like I'm wasting money but she will be happy so that's worth it. so I'll declare £150 spent in August for this. If there's anything left in this pot I'll treat her to something at the end of the month.

Exactly.
It's why we've got washing machines and bathing facilities if kid's can't get sweaty sticky during the best days of their lives if they want to it's very sad.

Have £1.40 something left from my £5 note. Did a yellow sticker Asda trip this afternoon and have lots of eggs. And some flat beads. They also had mangoes but you could have broken a window with them so I didn’t get any.

Thank you @DirtyGertiefromno30. They are utterly repulsive. I’ll be guided by the union so will wait and see. Glad your mum is doing ok. £12 for six pizzas sounds like a bargain.

Welcome @AphraBehn . Sorry to hear about the redundancy. Portland looks lovely. Though I’ve only seen it through watching Grimm.

Enjoy London @cuw

£19 on cheese and mint sounds like the making of a beautiful day @Frugal25. Well done on the stocktake I really need to do one.

Thank you @Lockin26. Glad you’re enjoying Blackpool.

Have found Ghosts Australia so that will keep me distracted. Tried to catch up on sewing bee but fell asleep. This weekend has gone rather quickly. It’s rather odd that I’m dreading work with what’s going on.

That's a really good idea having a separate pot for your DD @Ovoemconserva. It takes the pressure off a bit. If there's anything left at the end, that'll just be a lovely bonus for her. Hope you both have a brilliant time! 😊

You did so well with the yellow stickers @RumBananaSundae 👍🤗.
Shame about the mangoes but they take ages to ripen 🙄. Hopefully Ghosts Australia takes your mind off things . I'm really sorry work is still such a mess bless you but very sensible of you to let the union deal with it . Fingers crossed things get sorted soon 🤞🙏. And yes, £12 for six pizzas was a pretty good buy Morrisons and nice stone baked fresh ones too ! I have filled the freezer 😁😋. I so hope tomorrow isn't as bad as you're expecting 🤞🙏🤗.
Let it flow over your head as much as possible sweetheart. We are all rooting for you 🤞🙏🤗.

I'm hoping it makes me fun mum because I've promised myself to be easy going with it .
I'm also going to in a very simple way explain it to her too and hopefully we can learn early budgeting. I.e if we get these ice creams from the shop we can also get a bubble wand but if we go ice cream van it costs x amount more and there will be no x etc.

That is an excellent idea @Ovoemconserva. She will soon learn the ropes bless her😁👏

She will be lecturing me on my iced latte and avocado toast before I know it 😆

Thanks for the welcome.

@Frugal25 The magic in maintaining the blow dry is all down to my hairdresser! I certainly can't recreate it in the same way. I'll wear a shower cap so it doesn't get wet and hair will still look respectable until I wash it myself. In a dream world I would have a weekly blow dry but I have neither the time or the pennies for that.

Aperol & burgers in the garden was a lovely way to spend the evening.

Tesco delivery came and it was a spendy one, but lots of stocking up on things like toothpaste, deodorant, washing powder, shower gel etc. I've almost entirely switched to own brand on stuff that ultimately gets washed down a drain. I should really try Lidl or Aldi for this stuff, but the nearest one is a 20 minute drive away. Maybe I should schedule a monthly trip or sonething.

Eldest DC came over and I was persuaded to cook a roast. No other spends today.

@Ovoemconserva I used to save £2 coins in a jar specifically for school holiday spending! It was really helpful having some specific money put aside for parking, ice creams etc. The holidays can be so expensive.

I've never seen Ghosts. Is it worth a watch?