Frugal Autumn/Winter shenanigans ,is it an hour on or an hour back😂 .Halloween trick or treating, spooky silliness, Guy Fawkes fireworks , toffee apples and hot dogs ,lovely wedding plans , cosy Christmas plans and all the rest of it 🎃🍂🔥👰🎄

[DirtyGertiefromno30]

Welcome one and all to our lovely frugal thread . All welcome just join in 😁

£4.51 isn’t too bad @RumBananaSundae, even if £3.42 was something you didn’t need 😂 . We’ve all been there! And 9p for a marinade is brilliant l know you can’t go wrong at that price l was very lucky .
I asked DD about French curry and she had never heard of it 🧐😁.
Well done for passing on the James Blunt tickets . Of course your running shoes decide they need replacing now , great timing for you sweetheart 🙄. Hopefully you manage to book the gym class soon, especially as it sounds like you’ve found one you fancy.
And speaking of prices, I agree that some of M&S / Waitrose prices are really surprising. We live their essentials number 6 cheese it's delicious 😋 and only£4.50 for a huge slab 👏🤗.

I forgot to say to you re my Mum's puds @Twogingercats , she absolutely loves pancakes with plenty of butter and sugar and lemon 🍋 😁😋.

Hello everybody.
NSD again but tomorrow will be around £530 because we have had the car in the garage. The radiator was leaking. But we can have it back tomorrow.
i have messed about today. I made two cakes, some soup from veg that needed using up and picked the rest of the apples, which are a late variety. So will stew and freeze those tomorrow. Mum likes to help with this. Oh, and made some more kitchen spray.
Mum loves pancakes with honey and lemon @DirtyGertiefromno30 so I will make her some. The mixture freezes well so I shall make a bit extra when I do Yorkshire pudding and freeze on small pots.
Hope your Mama continues well. Mine just declined a piece of fresh homemade cake in favour of crisps!😿 she is naughty!

You haven’t messed about at all @Twogingercats 🤗. You’ve done loads today. Two cakes, soup, apples and kitchen spray !
Such a shame about the car and the £530 bill 😬 but at least you will have the car back asap 🤞😊.
Pancakes with honey and lemon are lovely and it’s a great idea making extra mixture to freeze.
And your Mum choosing crisps over your lovely homemade cake 😂😂 .She is naughty just like my Mum 🤣
Aw thank you re my Mum she was ok there today . I hope your Mum continues to do well too sweetheart .

Yesterday was £1.80 at the coop for some extra yoghurt for overnight oats. £19.98 new school shoes for DD, hers have split on the sole, hoping it doesn't rain before delivery! That was from a Monzo 'clothes' pot.

Welcome @Savvyhuman404

Feeling a bit rotten today (stomach pain) but have to get up and get to work soon.

Will report back later - aiming for a LSD.

Just off to see my Mum but wanted to say l hope you feel much better now sweetheart 😘

Phrase for the week -

Fuck it.

One of 'those' weeks/months.

Hope all is well.

Been to see Mum, she was in a lot of pain today because they all had their COVID vaccinations yesterday and they all have awful aches and pains aw bless them . Anyway l gave her the Pain relief and got the heating pad on her and she was sorted bless her . Just come home now, l popped to Morrisons for curries For Dh , they have a good offer on ATM 2 x curries and 2 x side dishes for £8 .
Got washing out but it's very overcast . We shall see 😁

Well it can only get better sweetheart 🤗.
Keep going keep the faith 💪🙏❤️

Spending today was just under £60 on some events tickets. Now I have something booked in for January and February to look forward to. Spent an extra £3.80 yesterday on a TGTG from Marks and Spencer. Hoping for something I can have with cheese and pickle.

Ouch for the car bill @Twogingercats. I’m rather jealous of your apples. I added cranberries to my last lot.

Hope you’re feeling a bit better @Lockin26.

Uhoh @SpookyHalloweenDeviledEggs. Sorry about your week/month. Commiserations. I hope things look up.

That sounds like a good deal for the curries @DirtyGertiefromno30. There isn’t one near me or I’d be off.

A play I had tickets for next year has been cancelled so I should be getting a refund for those tickets.

Having things booked for January and February is just lovely @RumBananaSundae😊 . Well done just what we need to get through the dreary days of Jan and Feb 👏🤗. Hope the M&S TGTG has something nice you can have with the cheese and pickle 🤞😋.
Shame about the play being cancelled, but at least you’ll get the ticket money back and can choose something else to see 🤗.
How are you getting on sweetheart l hope you are feeling ok being at home ❤️

99p on Dumpling mix from the local shop!! All other ingredients from the freezer/cupboard! Can you tell we are having stew tonight? 😋

Yummy @Rainbow1901 😋 🤤

Paid aforementioned car bill and £40 Sainsburys. £13 butcher for sausages. I asked for a dozen sausages and he must have misheard and given me two dozen. Thought they seemed expensive! Dh does not mind anyway!
We are lucky with the apples @RumBananaSundae . An apple and cranberry crumple would be very festive for Christmas!
Sorry your Mum was in pain, @DirtyGertiefromno30 . Glad you were able to help her. Mum has had her Flu and RSV but still to have the Covid. She had some of my cake today and ate it all up.
I have to go to the eye hospital tomorow. Taking a flask and sandwiches as the cafe ruinously expensive, but we do get two hours parking free apparently.

No wonder you thought they seemed expensive @Twogingercats😱. At least your DH doesn’t mind, so they won’t go to waste. My DH wouldn't mind either 🤣.
Apple and cranberry crumble sounds lovely and very Christmassy 😊
Aw thank you re my Mum that's so kind of you . Lovely that your Mum enjoyed your cake too and ate it all 🤗.
Hope everything goes well at the eye hospital tomorrow. Taking your own flask and sandwiches is definitely the way to go, the cafe prices are ridiculous and at least you get two hours free parking 😊

Thanks for your get well wishes. No better today, the dreaded cramp coupled with my age. Trying to be frugal, I submitted a request to the GP to get a higher number of tramexamic acid tablets for the price of a prescription, rather than £14.99 for 18 over the counter. Got a message back to say you need an appointment...in a week! Meanwhile I'm going to Boots pharmacy in the morning if I don't feel better 🫣

Could have said that myself @SpookyHalloweenDeviledEggs

Good idea to book ahead @RumBananaSundae things to look forward to.

@DirtyGertiefromno30 aw I hope your DM and all the other residents feel more like themselves tomorrow.

@Twogingercats hope you enjoy the sausages!

@Rainbow1961 hope you enjoyed the stew.

£22.72 Lidl.

Good morning everyone 🤗
It's rained all night here but supposed to be nice this afternoon. Going to see my Mum's friend and have a look around town.
Hope Boots can help you today if you’re still no better @Lockin26 bless you sweetheart 🤗. Fingers crossed it has eased off 🤞🙏 . I found the pharmacist excellent when l had UTI or Thrush TBF and at least they will see you straight away .
£22.72 at Lidl isn’t too bad these days!
Aw thank you re my Mum and the other residents lam sure they will feel better today, it's just post vaccination side effects l know ❤️

@Frugal25 hope you are ok sweetheart you are missed 🙏🤞🤗.
Unlike you to not post for a day or so ❤️.
Hope everyone has a lovely day ☺️ 🙏

Hey all. Can I join?

we really need to get on top of spending - we are on a rate of 1.29% which is up end April and is obviously going to jump to over 5%. The plan is to pay off a lump sum before renewing to bring down the new monthly cost as much as possible, but it will still be more than now notwithstanding,

However, it’s proving difficult as life is just so expensive. We’re also knee deep in renovating a bathroom. It’s been ripped out 2 years and we are finally getting on with it. We were quoted 13k not including sanitary ware or tiles so DH doing a fair bit of it himself instead. But will still cost.

its also annoying as we live in Channel Islands and getting off the rock is so expensive that we have to forward book flights as early as we can to save. That means we’ve had to forward pay for some May flights next year - around £650 for 4 of us to the uk and back!

add in Christmas and all the social events and it does feel like we are somewhat drowning.

Trying to make marginal gains here and there by using Everup and credit card points but feels like we swim against the tide

Apart possibly from bathroom stuff, no money should be spent until the weekend. At weekend it’s DC1’s birthday party which is a bit of an outlay (non extravagant, but still).

I suppose at least we don’t need the heating on at present!

Welcome @Retireewannabe I also want to retire!!! Oohh a new bathroom is exciting (and expensive, I had mine done 2 years ago and still reeling from it)
So sorry I wasn't here @DirtyGertiefromno30 and thank you for noticing. You are so lovely 😍 I still feel absolutely dreadful but off to London to work today or I don't do my quota for being in the office and the big wigs don't like that.
Didn't want to be bothered packing lunch today but made myself anyway as salad needed using up.
£40 on yearly insurance for DD gymnastics. I'd forgotten about it but it's on my yearly budget now so I remember next year.
Should be a lsd for me today albeit I need some bits from tesco at lunch to make DM birthday cake with DD.
Managed to lose my coat. No idea where it's gone so OH bought me another as it was prime day yesterday he told me.

How are you feeling now @Lockin26? Hope you are the pharmacy.
@RumBananaSundaesorry your play was cancelled but yay for that 2 events in Jan and Feb. What classes did you fancy at the gym? I always loved lbt and spin.

@DirtyGertiefromno30how is your lovely mum now? My DM had her COVID and flu last week and her arm still hurts poor thing.

Couldn't agree more @SpookyHalloweenDeviledEggs.

Meal plan for this week:
Chickpea bites with homemade chips and veg
Picky tea
Homemade mozzarella and pesto pizza
Lasagna
Roast
Tomato soup homemade
Toad in the hole.

Of course you can join @Retireewannabe! 😊 It sounds like you’ve got so much going on, no wonder you feel like you’re swimming against the tide. But you really are doing all the right things , planning ahead for the mortgage, DH doing so much of the bathroom himself, booking flights early and making the most of points and EverUp. Once that bathroom is finally done, that’s one big expense off your plate! And Yes!! At least you don’t need the heating on yet thank God indeed! Only thing l would say, on top of all the brilliant measures you have taken, is if you have got a fixed tariff for your energy bills . That's the only thing l can think of that you haven't covered because you seem to be really on top of things well done 👏😁.

Oh bless you @Frugal25you poor thing, still feeling dreadful and having to go into London 😩. Hope you manage to get through the day ok and don’t feel even worse by the time you get home bless you sweetheart. I think if anyone is lovely it's you ❤️🤗!
Well done for making your lunch even though you couldn’t be bothered . And at least the £40 insurance is sorted and now it’s in the yearly budget so you won’t forget about it next year.
Losing your coat as well oh bless your OH getting you a new one 👏.
Your meal plan sounds lovely especially the homemade pizza and lasagna 😋 .Hope your DM’s arm is feeling better soon, poor thing.My Mum is better today thank you so much for asking ❤️

Much better now thank you Frugaleers, I didn't need Boots after all but will try to get a prescription instead, just to put in the cupboard for days like yesterday.

Welcome @Retireewannabe a username after my own heart! Swimming against the tide here too!

Ah that's good your DM is better today @DirtyGertiefromno30 a group of long standing work friends are out for food on Friday and more of us are retired than not now - everyone has their flu or Covid jab this week! Mines booked in next week - that's through work to protect our service users, they aren't bothered about me 😂.

Love the menu plan @Frugal25

Been into town for work today so that's always more spendy.
£8.48 Tesco - needed stamps and a pack was £7 ish! Posted BFs birthday card on time though 😇
£1.60 Tesco can of diet coke
£7.84 ready meals for tonight with yellow stickers 🏅 plus a super green salad. Saved me making tea when home as I'm on the bus today.

My tyres that I got fixed last week after the MOT - one has a slow puncture but sounds like they will sort it for free - they better!

Went to my local co op today and got some good bargain’s. Warbies protein pittas reduced to 40p so got two packets and a block of cheese reduced to £1. So hubby has 4 packed lunches in the freezer which include 4 cakes I got for 80p. So less than £1 each packed lunch. Made pea and ham soup today and froze half in individual portions for lunches at home. Used cooking bacon off cuts so it cost 20-30p a portion for 8 hefty portions and it’s filled with carrots, onions, celery and split peas/lentils I had in stock. Serving it tonight for dinner with a 40p pack of rolls/barms.

currently doing everything I can to try to save money so I’m glad this thread is going to keep me motivated.

£21 in marks for birthday bits.
£3.50 on a sandwich to go with my salad as I was "starving". Have put 3lb back on since I worked hard to get rid, putting it down to being unwell and hormonal and "starving". Beginning to think I have COVID. Really don't feel.well.and burning up today.
Could do without man heavily breathing on me on the train.... That doesn't help.
Love the freezer lunches @cuckoolodgeri really need to do the same. Such a brilliant idea.
I've got mine booked through work next week too @Lockin26! We can be jabbed together