A Year of Living Frugabulously

Horace

I was in Tatco this morning - I dared to set foot in there without even a brass washer in my purse (my last £1.25 being spent on my dad). I only got a few bits and the bill came to £5.94 to I handed over £6 in LVs as I wasnt bothered by the change, however the nice manager handed back a £1 LV and put the 94p through the till as a miscellaneous Tesco supplied item so I didnt have to pay it.

A generous fairy godmother has given me a £15 giftcard to spend in Tatco but I shall wait until the New Year when everything will be reduced:rotfl: Must admit that I dislike Tatco as the staff look down their noses at you. I may start using Morrisons and I have started using Aldi and occasionally venture into Sainsbugs. It is a fair drive to my nearest proper Waitrose (although I have noticed that there is a small Waitrose inside the motorway services about a mile or so away from me) and I never venture into M&S.

I need to get a job because I am sick of the dole even though I haven't been on the dole for very long. Life is changing for me too as OH has eventually agreed on an amicable divorce - all I would get is my furniture and these are items that have been in the family for a very long time, the table in particular was made for the family in around 1700:eek: A divorce means freedom and it means that my parents will buy me a small house outright that I can live in until such time as they pass away and I move into their house and the small one can be rented out to give me an income.

Hope you have a fabby Christmas Lula.

The_Dragon

Good news on the divorce Horace - do you know when it will happen?

taxi73

That must be a relief for you Horace and what lovely parents you have.
Wish we had Waitrose around here...we are lucky that we have every other shop around here though.I tend to use Aldi a lot at the moment

ZTD

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I try to choose my men using the William Morris code

What? Morris? As in the dancing? "Can they dance around a maypole wearing bells?"??

Lula-Hula wrote: »

& I shall furnish my home accordingly .

Dancing around a pole? Hmm... :think:

Lula-Hula wrote: »

Anyway, Tatco seemed to be having a special night for a particular group of society

Chavtastic!

Lula-Hula wrote: »

& we felt very out of it. I've never felt uneasy in there before, but it was horrid

It's da bling...innit?

Lula-Hula wrote: »

& as we got to the till I jokingly said to DD " I hate this place, shall we never come here again ?" & she grinned & nodded.

As we walked back to the car carrying my one bag of shopping that had just cost me over £50 :mad: but was of no actual use in terms of feeding us I wondered out loud if we could actually go a whole year without setting foot in Tatco. DD is really keen & once I realised that I can fuel up at Sainsbugs & just earn all my reward/loyalty points there, I reckon I can do it.

Of all the supermarkets that do the special "as cheap as your own bodily fluids" ranges, Sainsbury's do have the best quality food items (Asda's George is difficult to beat in non-food).

Lula-Hula wrote: »

Taxi & I are as one on this monstrosity & anyone with enough time on their hands to have followed my previous diaries will know that I have a deep & pathological loathing of the place; but during the last 4 years, for reasons of debt busteriness I've tried to hold my supermarket snobbery at bay & done a fair bit of shopping there, mainly because the nearby alternatives for a large shop were Waitrose (my first love) & M&S (for people with more money than sense).

Gosh, that was a long sentence.

That's what happens when you use semi-colons. You'll be using diacritics next...

Lula-Hula wrote: »

Will be more liberal with the full stops in future.

You'll be feeling their bottoms as they go by?

Lula-Hula wrote: »

In the town where I now work there is a Sainsbugs & I've started shopping there more often, but it's not the largest of stores so doesn't carry the huge range of bulk buy household items that Tatco does.

But bulk-buy means you don't buy very often. Look in small hardware stores. Sometimes they surprise you with cheaper than normal pricing.

lizzie_dripping

Ahh, lovely, lovely Waitrose. :happyhear

I've just got back from a very civilised Christmas food shop in their aisles. Most of my friends are talking about getting to T*sco for 7.30am tomorrow to do their shopping. Is it very mean of me not to let them into the Waitrose secret in case the shop gets busier in future?

Buffythedebtslayer

I went to Waitrose the other day, never been before very posh!

xxx

Lula-Hula

Hi Horace,

your diary is on my 'catch up list' & I'm really pleased to hear that your divorce will finally be sorted & that your lovely parents will help you out too .

***

Right, let's get straight to the money business _pale_.

My guesstimate was pretty damn accurate; total balance now £600.04 :shhh:.

My current State of Affairs as follows :

- Available in current account (after all bills, debits etc) £449
- Available in Buffer Fund ( owe that one about £1800 now ) £200
- Cash in purse = £68.66
- Cash in pocket money fund = £85 ( amazing considering how much self-gifting has been going on :rotfl:)
- Cash in fun fund = £30
- Cash in 20p launderette fund = £4.20

Aside from this, I have the Holiday Fund £360
Jasper the Cat £2 coin savings £52

I also have the Savings Funds account, but that's not available for anything other than the funds it was set up to pay for

So, I can clear the CCCCC but I'm just a bit wary of emptying out my entire bank account in one swoop, and I really really really don't want to use the last £200 in my Buffer Fund. I would use that before I touched the holiday fund though - that is almost sacred .

On the other hand, maybe it is better to empty all accounts & start 2012 owing nothing & just having to live on whatever cash I earn from home-job :think:.

I'm rubbish at decisions like this .

I'm very good at buying stuff though, my Boots delivery arrived just before 6 - reckon we must be the last stop on delivery routes :rotfl:. I bought the eau de parfum, rather than the eau de toilette & am very pleased with it. The more intense scent means I'll use less each time I spray.

The Soap & Glory set is fantastic, I'm really delighted & have decided to shoot to local Boots first thing tomorrow to get one for DD1. She will love it too & rather than give it to her now, as I've already got her gifts, I'll save it for another occasion. I must get in to the habit of buying gifts when I see something great, rather than waiting for the event to be imminent.

I pledge to save up for festive spends next year & reckon £10 a week should cover all gifts & food easily. I'm also loving fedupandskint s idea of making up hampers for people :T - that will be fun to do & I can watch them grow over the year.

The only other fund I have going is the childcare one & that now has £120 in it so I'm already nearly covered for February half term :cool:.

I've been working my way through the task list & have finally wrapped all gifts & put away all the paper, tags etc. The kitchen looks like a kitchen again, rather than a shoplifters stash :rotfl:& I have just one wash load to do & then I'm on strike for a week.

I've been sipping on gin tonight & will be glad when I eventually get to the bottom of the bottle - this brand really doesn't agree with me after more than one glass.

***

In other matters of great importance:

With the help of Lovely Laidback Dude I've managed to beat Grumpy at word game by just 6 points & the match score is now 3-1 to me :j. He immediately opted for rematch so this could be a long, long tournament. I'm going to miss the texting with LbD, but he does deserve a break; he's been helping me out while still at work this week so trying to avoid Gropey finding out what's going on.

We're both meant to be in work next Tuesday but I'm pretending that I haven't seen the email :shhh: & have no intention of going in unless it's for just a half day & someone fun is going to be there. Spending time alone with Gropey is not my idea of festive enjoyment :rotfl:. He's only going in to avoid his own family, but hates being on his own so just want someone to keep him company, silly man.

I'm already losing track of the days so I'm off to bed now to make sure I'm up early enough for a quick walk to shop.

G'night
xx

Lula-Hula

lizzie_dripping wrote: »

Ahh, lovely, lovely Waitrose. :happyhear

I've just got back from a very civilised Christmas food shop in their aisles. Most of my friends are talking about getting to T*sco for 7.30am tomorrow to do their shopping. Is it very mean of me not to let them into the Waitrose secret in case the shop gets busier in future?

No lizzie :eek: don't tell anyone, we like it just as it is, that's not mean, it's self preservation :rotfl:

Lula-Hula

ZTD wrote: »

What? Morris? As in the dancing? "Can they dance around a maypole wearing bells?"??

No, as in having nothing that I do not know to be useful, nor believe to be beautiful. Equally useful in choosing men or homes :D


Dancing around a pole? Hmm... :think:

Hey, whatever



Chavtastic!

Mmmmm, more like a combined convention of Borats relatives & the holding pen for the Jeremy Kyle show - frankly frightful ... wouldn't happen in Waitrose


It's da bling...innit?

I beg your pardon :huh:


Of all the supermarkets that do the special "as cheap as your own bodily fluids" ranges, Sainsbury's do have the best quality food items (Asda's George is difficult to beat in non-food).

Nearest Asda is in Slough ... 'nuff said I think :rotfl:


That's what happens when you use semi-colons. You'll be using diacritics next...

Eh ? I'm not as clever as Rosa - I just talk posh luv


You'll be feeling their bottoms as they go by?

Certainly not :eek:


But bulk-buy means you don't buy very often. Look in small hardware stores. Sometimes they surprise you with cheaper than normal pricing.

In my case it means I just keep on bulk buying for fear of missing out on latest bulk buy offer

ZTD

Lula-Hula wrote: »

No, as in having nothing that I do not know to be useful, nor believe to be beautiful. Equally useful in choosing men or homes

Men are always useful so long as you have cupboards you can't reach to the back of.

Lula-Hula wrote: »

ZTD wrote:

It's da bling...innit?

I beg your pardon

You know - those stupid "gold" clowns and pointless amounts of "jewelry".



Like Mr T, but without the talent, personality or the health conciousness.

Lula-Hula wrote: »

In my case it means I just keep on bulk buying for fear of missing out on latest bulk buy offer

That's how they suck you in.

You buy 2.8 million toilet rolls and a box of overpriced chocolate just because it was nearby.