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 🤗

£118 on Tesco order today. Doing a delivery as I thought I had a busy weekend but all plans seem to have disappeared. Back to Lidl next weekend as Tesco is Def more expensive.
Hopefully that's it for today though.

@RumBananaSundaegood idea about the shift change over. I shall keep eyes out for this. Food is ridiculous and I def need to be more on the ball like you. Love that you had a lovely day colouring and had a quiet day. Pizza was left over mushrooms that needed using up and left over cheese that was going a bit hard. Really tasty on a pizza though.

Love fruit cake @Twogingercatsenjoy your picnic. You have lovely weather for it.

Oh a day off @Ovoemconservahave a wonderful time! Hope it's not as busy as you expected.

Annoying when you spend money and you know you could have done better at home @Alwaysgrowingbut pleased about the gymnastics for you.

Found a swimming lesson course at my DD school. They have a pool and spaces for her to join so that will be another expense going out soon. But worth it so she can swim properly and be comfortable in the school pool when they also do lessons in it. Also wondering about piano lessons for her. But I used to teach and play myself so thinking I can teach her myself.... Although does she listen to me?? No.

Off to a wedding venue today, DD very excited but I think she thinks that whilst we are there we are getting married.... Must brace myself for the disappointment that will come....

Thank you ladies

It's actually a treat to not have the four year old battle in each shop 😆

And it's so much more frugal not having my husband adding things to baskets 😆 the add ons to attract kids in Primark queues are like magnets to him.

£3.09 at Sainsbury's. I used £5 nectar points and Mum gave me £5 towards the shopping. Food bits, newspaper, some gluten free Hobnobs to put away for a friend’s visit and another 2lb loaf tin.and a dark chocolate orange for Mum’s Christmas stocking
I have found around 5pm
good for Sainsburys yellow stickers, and Sunday midday for Tesco. Marks and Spencer, around 2 hours before they close.This may just apply to my local area
nothing more annoying than feeling ripped off by having to buy food abd driving out. I especially object to buying cups of tea which comprises a cardboard cup of hot water with a teabag in it. I am then effectively making it myself. Our flasks save us a fortune.
hope everybody is having a nice weekend.

Gymnastics sounds like money well spent @Alwaysgrowing😊 . And £6.95 for a chai and muffin 😳 Blimey, I’d be making my own too! 😂 Hope you enjoy the show tomorrow .

£118 at Tesco 😱 . They really are dearer than Lidl aren’t they! At least that’s the shopping all done @Frugal25 👍.
The swimming sounds worth it though, especially with Dd using the school pool. And you teaching her piano aw bless you both . Good luck l hope you both enjoy it sweetheart.
Have a lovely time at the wedding venue. I can just imagine her thinking you’re going there to get married ☺️.She’s going to be so disappointed when she realises bless her heart ❤️

Haha 😂 sounds like you’re saving a fortune without the Dh and your DC @Ovoemconserva ! The husband might be harder to control than the four year old though if he's anything like mine 🤣

Totally agree with you about the tea @Twogingercats. Paying £3 odd for a cardboard cup of hot water and a teabag that we then have to make is ridiculous. And those yellow sticker timings are definitely worth knowing .
I never seem to catch them just right 🤗

NSD until we decided to have gluten free fish n chips again 😂.
So £32 for tea tonight but we so enjoyed it last week 😋.
I did make a gf cauliflower cheese for me but l will have that tomorrow now 😋. Visited Mum and after a bit of a rocky start when she had pain in her knee she was fine bless her .
Been a beautiful day here, managed to dry 2 lines of washing it's just turning dark now .

Well.... It didn't quite go to plan 😆

What on earth happened 😂

Milk in Asda £2.45 and 85p in Aldi.

Hope you had a lovely picnic @Twogingercats.

How was your day off @Ovoemconserva? Hope you found some time to take things easy.

Your pizza sounds good @Frugal25. Cheese and mushrooms are two of the best things. You used to play the piano? That’s amazing. I’m rubbish at things like that. How was the venue you visited? Your daughter sounds awesome.

Thank you @DirtyGertiefromno30. I channeled you today and bought cheese and onion crisps. Glad Nana P is ok. Do you know what? If it makes you happy and won’t put you out on the street why not? Hope you enjoyed you fish and chips.

Not sure what I did today. And no idea how it’s gone 1900 already.

Ok so I went with such good intentions ...
Unfortunately I had a curry last night and my stomach wasn't too happy with said curry (tmi, I know)
So I only managed a quick visit and no try ons but everything I brought doesn't fit 😆
Sooooo return visit!
Managed to get a couple of cute bits for DD, one of which she actually needed. Hm.

Yay! Well done on the crisps @RumBananaSundae 😁👏. They are just too good to miss out on ☺️.
Thank you re Nana P she was really happy there today thank God 🙏.
You have been chilling out sweetheart at least that's what I hope you have been doing and that's why time has slipped away today ☺️❤️
A d you are right why not indeed if something makes us happy 😁

And I know it's not exactly the nature of the thread (I'm probably the worse one here for it!) in the grand scheme of life.... It really isn't that much! You can't take it with you and I know your children would prefer to see you enjoy it x

😂😂 Oh no, bloody curry @Ovoemconserva! TMI but we need to know these things 😆. At least you got some cute bits for DD, even if one was actually needed 😂.

Hi Frugaleers, fell off the thread been a heck of a long week. Our shocker of 2026 continues - one relative in intensive care (into a general ward now) and one of the adult DC having a meltdown about work and life in general 😕 I have been using up the freezer and not spending too much. Checked earlier and other than £80 in Lidl, Monday to Friday was less than £20 per day and even a NSD 🎉

I also love 2nd hand books. I tend to pick them up at charity shops, holiday lets where I leave one in its place or my Dsis and I swap (although her concentration is better than mine, she's now retired and I am just tired 😂).

Loving the choosy, non frugal cats and dogs 😺 🐶

I will try to keep up! For now today was
£34.37 farm shop
£1.23 coop
£37 camp site pitch
£1.30 temu, ice blocks for camping.

Also got a bargain tent on Vinted for £160 (worth £500 and has only been used 3 times). DHs hobby fund is paying for that though, as he is taking DS and DSS on a camping and fishing trip!

Good afternoon everyone wet but sunny on times here 😁
Washing out, even though it's raining off and on , l will bring it in about 5 and deal with the aftermath then 😂. Been to Aldi £37 , took my Mum's friend as well . Hoovered downstairs and l am officially now done and watching the Spanish Grand Prix. Caramel coffee in hand and just tried 2 gf custard creams and they are like concrete, l am still picking them out of my teeth . If l ever need a temporary filling l know what to use 😂
Hope everyone is ok and having a good day 😁

Oh love, you really have had a horrible week of it @Lockin26😕. I’m so glad your relative is out of intensive care , hopefully things feel a bit more settled soon ❤️. So sorry to hear one of your DC had a meltdown bless them , hope they are feeling better now 🤞.
You’ve done amazingly with the spending considering everything else you’ve had going on well done 👏. Using up the freezer, keeping it under £20 a day and getting a NSD too. That’s brilliant 😁! 🎉
I love the second hand book swapping, and your Dsis having better concentration because she’s retired while you’re just tired made me laugh 😂 . And that tent is an absolute bargain. £160 instead of £500, you can’t argue with that!

£1.60 in Sainsbury on frozen spinach and 22p on mushrooms in Aldi.

Hope you are feeling better today @Ovoemconserva.

Oh @Lockin26. Sorry things aren’t great. I hope things ease soon and that your child is OK. I commiserate. Work and life can be trying. That’s a great find with the tent.

Rather damp here @DirtyGertiefromno30. Shame about the custard creams.

Not sure how this weekend has gone so quickly. I’m now four days jam tart free. This week’s meals will now involve mushrooms.

I know rd the custard creams @RumBananaSundae😱.
I couldn't even give them to the birds , l would worry they would choke to death 😂. £1.60 for spinach and 22p for mushrooms, you can’t go wrong with that @RumBananaSundae! And four days jam tart free deserves some sort of medal 👏Well done 👏. I know this weekend really has flown by, hasn’t it?
Hope work is ok for you tomorrow sweetheart 🙏🤞🤗

spending today £22 in museum shop. We had our lovely free heritage week outing at local museum which was lovely. Took wheelchair for Mum as lots of walking, and it was fine enough to have picnic lunch in the grounds. I found two stocking fillers for DH in the shop, also a Cath Kidston Christmas card tiny jigsaw for a friend. We normally send each other Advent Calender cards, but this will be a change and she likes jigsaws. Sunday dinner with roast chicken breasts from the freezer tonight and I have used the last frozen yorkshire puddings. Next week I will try to make my own, have watched Nigella do this on YouTube. Hope everybody has a peaceful Sunday evening.

£15 on an exceptionally over priced snack at a kid's play.
£12 for coffee on the way

Had a lovely day with friends though so I feel it's worth it sometimes you need your cup filling.

Was going to order takeaway tonight as we were out much longer than expected and missed the supermarket but ended up with freezer suprise instead.

NSD today. Had coffee with a friend this morning then spent the day in both front and back gardens clearing out and pruning plants - the brown bin is full at the moment but will flatten down over the next few days before I add some more greenery!!
DH and I took it easy and had several coffee breaks just sat in the warm sunshine. 🌞😎Checked on my neighbour and went to get her spare key back as she had shut herself out of her house the other day when she left keys in her coat at the stables.
Finally, dug out some sausage meat which had been in the freezer for months found during an audit. Made a sausage pasta dish - there was enough to go in the freezer for another quick meal one evening.
All in all a very chilled Sunday and now watching a Harry Potter movie!

Aww that sounded like such a lovely day @Twogingercats 😊. So glad that your Mum was able to enjoy it and that the wheelchair made it easier bless her. Your picnic in the grounds sounded yummy 😋. And you got some nice little presents too well done on finding that lovely little Christmas present for your friend it sounds gorgeous l love anything Cath Kidston ❤️

Sounds like you had such a lovely day though @Ovoemconserva 😊. Bit more spendy than you would want normally but sometimes like you say you just need to fill your cup with the milk of human kindness and friendship and enjoy yourself and that's really well worth it . And well done for the freezer surprise instead of the takeaway 😁👏