Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

System

DS3 is staying clean whilst he is away , doing his laundry , even if it is on you.

As for Christmas, could you do a family secret Santa , that would save some money .

You did well with your chocolate bargains in Mr T. Also as suggested you could do your car tax monthly if it helped.

Same here with the heating , I am trying to avoid using it , have managed just one 15 minute check, normally I would have had it on for weeks by now.

Stepdad is kind offering DS some money to help him out, it all counts.

Hope you have e joyed your catch up with your friend.

beanielou

Hope that you have a lovelyb catch up with your friend.

Onebrokelady

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

Shame you don't like lentils and chick peas. I try and stock up on Quorn when it's half price and the hide the extra so I don't use it more quickly. Frozen veg is an easy and cheap way to pad out meals. Well done for buying satsumas .

I know it's hard to cook and meal plan when you're tired and working.

I try to buy it when it's on offer and just stockpile it in the freezer,luckily it's only me eating because DD is a vegan and it's got egg in it,so a family bag makes 6 meals if I add veg as well,I made a Quorn chicken curry tonight and did four portions so that's me fed for the next four days :j
The satsumas are lovely from the frozen food shop, I got some more today from Mr T because they are cheaper then Mr S:A

Onebrokelady

I forgot to say about Xmas,I like the idea of a secret Santa for family,my extended family decided years ago to stop buying presents for each other and our children,it was getting silly,as they got older we were giving each other's kids money in a card and they would receive money back,we might as well have just swapped £10 Notes so we stopped, no one was bothered, in fact I think everyone was relieved

HairyHandofDartmoor

Chrystal wrote: »

How about telling ALL the family that you're buying token gifts only for Christmas this year? It seems stupid to be so worried about money and still buying gifts for people (which is really NOT what Christmas should be about) The people who matter won't mind and the people who mind don't matter. XX

Onebrokelady wrote: »

I forgot to say about Xmas,I like the idea of a secret Santa for family,my extended family decided years ago to stop buying presents for each other and our children,it was getting silly,as they got older we were giving each other's kids money in a card and they would receive money back,we might as well have just swapped £10 Notes so we stopped, no one was bothered, in fact I think everyone was relieved

We stopped giving presents to grown up nieces and nephews a couple of years ago because there are eleven of them, not counting step nieces and nephews! Plus most of them earn more than I do.

We usually just give to parents and our own children, so just six presents now (three DCs, stepdad, dad and stepmum). DH and I usually buy something for each other but we could skip it this year. Food will be a roast meal with a few extras, so we'l, try and keep the costs down. We usually spend £10 each on parents and usually £50 each on the DC.

HairyHandofDartmoor

BalanceBy50 wrote: »

HH I know you pay slightly more but could you do the monthly DD for your car tax? We have to do this with DH's car as I never have enough in my car fund to pay it in full when its due. Thankfully mine is only £20 a year and I do pay that in one go

Also do you have a smart meter? These are really handy for showing when you are using a lot of electricity. I do feel your pain my provider has just put ours up by £29 a month so I have just switched.

Take Care and enjoy meeting your old friend tonight xx

Cumbria_lass wrote: »

DS3 is staying clean whilst he is away , doing his laundry , even if it is on you.

As for Christmas, could you do a family secret Santa , that would save some money .

You did well with your chocolate bargains in Mr T. Also as suggested you could do your car tax monthly if it helped.

Same here with the heating , I am trying to avoid using it , have managed just one 15 minute check, normally I would have had it on for weeks by now.

Stepdad is kind offering DS some money to help him out, it all counts.

Hope you have e joyed your catch up with your friend.

Sun_Addict wrote: »

I'm sick of my bills forever going up, I don't know where they think people get the money from.

Re the jacket could you compare with a similar jacket on sale to get a rough idea?

Thanks all. I don't have a smart meter. I try and do meter readings every month but didn't do one for three months after my mum died.

We could pay car tax monthly but feel inclined to pay now and know that's it's paid for six months, rather than worry about the DD bouncing every month as our income is so erratic .

Yes I should do some research on jackets. I've been wanting to sell it for a year and procrastinating :mad:.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Nicnak wrote: »

That's very kind of your stepdad. Glad he is giving you some of it though to make up for what you had got.

I've never heard of laundry via PayPal, but i was at university many many moons ago!

I'm not sure I understand the laundry thing myself Nicnak .

HairyHandofDartmoor

Cumbria_lass wrote: »

DS3 is staying clean whilst he is away , doing his laundry , even if it is on you.

As for Christmas, could you do a family secret Santa , that would save some money .

You did well with your chocolate bargains in Mr T. Also as suggested you could do your car tax monthly if it helped.

Same here with the heating , I am trying to avoid using it , have managed just one 15 minute check, normally I would have had it on for weeks by now.

Stepdad is kind offering DS some money to help him out, it all counts.

Hope you have e joyed your catch up with your friend.

beanielou wrote: »

Hope that you have a lovelyb catch up with your friend.

Thanks both .

HairyHandofDartmoor

Onebrokelady wrote: »

I try to buy it when it's on offer and just stockpile it in the freezer,luckily it's only me eating because DD is a vegan and it's got egg in it,so a family bag makes 6 meals if I add veg as well,I made a Quorn chicken curry tonight and did four portions so that's me fed for the next four days :j
The satsumas are lovely from the frozen food shop, I got some more today from Mr T because they are cheaper then Mr S:A

That's really good if you get six meals out of one pack of Quorn OBL. Quorn curry sounds yummy .

I'm slightly addicted to Linda McCartney mozarella burgers, which are half price in Mr T at the moment.

I have a banana and a satsuma every day as they are cheapish. Satsumas are lovely and juicy, and bananas are good food on the go and filling too.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I enjoyed meeting my friend. We met in the local pub. We were there nearly three hours and I had one diet coke and an awful coffee, so about a fiver spent. Still too expensive though. DH dropped me off and we walked home (half of the way together) so I got some more exercise in. It was good to catch up. I feel ready for bed now though.

I won't manage a NSD tomorrow as DS1 and I are meeting my two nieces for coffee in the morning. I want to go as I haven't seen them for two months. I could walk there and back to save bus money, but I don't think DS1 would be up for that .

After this I REALLY need some NDS though.