From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Grocery shopping slated for today. I will endeavour to keep within my remaining budget. I got this 😬

The latest with the car saga is..... the mechanic has managed to resurrect it from being dead as a dodo - but why it died is a mystery 🫤 So will it go in the future?  In some ways, although a dead engine is a nuisance, and we would have been up the creek (for sure), at least you know where you stand.  Now we don't know if the car will go for another 100k (it won't, the body will have rusted away by then), or whether it'll stall on the by-pass in the morning.  Again, this is very much a first world problem, and I know I should be happy that the car **seems** to have lived another day. but it does also encourage us to 'bobble on as before', and then find ourselves in exactly the same position as Tuesday, but 2 months, 5 months, 8 months on.......  

I think I need to suggest to DH that we set ourselves a target - maybe 6 months - to have replaced the car.  Maybe get the road tax for 6 months, or by DD, rather than for 12.  Actively look for a replacement, rather than dither when we pass a car that we could be interested in/might be affordable, and save like heck - any penny we can - to put in the car replacement pot, but not at the expense of window replacement??? (that's a tall order 🫤).  

Tea last night was a round of sandwiches, a slice of pizza and a bag of crisps - everyone was full from lunch.  

Right I've a small wash on (literally 🤭), which will need pegging out just now.  

Not many spiffing offers from MrS on my n*ctar card this week.  So much for 'supermarket wars'.  Clearly I am not the sort of customer they are looking for.  Even the till operative was surprised last week that I didn't get any till spit n*ctar vouchers - several people in front of me had had half a forest of paperwork ☹️  I would get multiple times points if I spent £40 today, but unfortunately I can't get everything that I need/want in MrS, so I won't be going for extra points.  I think I'm just over the £7.50 mark currently with points accrued.  Unlikely to get to £10 before May, although I may just manage it within May I suppose - it'll all help the May budget total I have to work with, anyway.  

Best shuffle orf.  Do a bit more.  Ta for popping in.  Greatly appreciated.  Greying X

LadyWithAPlan

Those near misses sound scary. They stay with you always I think 

I am also not getting any nectar offers despite buying a YS FR chicken yesterday and coffee etc - Sain is expensive so I only shop there monthly 

rtandon27

Phew - a bit of a reprise is great!  Glad to hear you've got some time to buy what is right, rather than what you have to! 

Would it be possible for family Greying to put the replacement window pot on hold until such time as the car is bought and paid for?  Shifting priorities sometimes mean delaying goals while other goals take precedence.

I too am finding my N3ctar offerings unimpressive and more so with each passing week, OH has taken to doing the top-up shop at L!dl instead of MrS for the past few months and the algorithm has definitely caught on.

Greying_Pilgrim

Laplan - I find MrS expensive, unless I have a very curated list, which includes most things that are either price matched with MrAl, or are own-brand/smarty price.  I for sure couldn't shop there weekly for "everything" I needed (never mind wanties 😳).  

rt - we're going to have to do some thinking/juggling/prioritising for sure. If all else fails and we're down to washers and buttons in the bank account, then we will have to consider taking out a targetted loan.  Another option is to not have all the windows done, but for sure there are 2 that NEED to be done this year, so they must be prioritised.  But I don't want DH to get sidetracked by the next worry, and forget that we are clearly on borrowed time with the car.  

Back from shopping.  LG chose to go out and about with their beloved papa, so I was on my tod shopping.  MrAl was quiet.  I purchased 2.5kg of red tatties for 48p (75% YS) and picked up a bag of free carrots that MrAl were giving away - is it nationwide?  I also got a cauliflower from the S6, as for 89p I got a big, nice looking head of British produce.

There were a couple of green boxes at MrL, but whilst they 'looked' full, much of the stuff was rotten.  'Yellowed' brocolli heads anyone?  I picked up a couple of YS'd (50%) bread products for future sangers.

Did a smarty shop in MrS.  I got onions for less (n* card), rather than getting points on the Stamford st bag, and I was going to get some salad tomatoes for 99p, but found some YS'd vine tomatoes for 98p so got them instead.  

I finished up in hB to get some nuts and fruit and kitchen towel.  

Total food spend was £52.62 and non-food was £4.72  I've got to be close to the wire with the budget - if not just over.  I shouldn't need anything but milk before next Thursday though.  

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

We've been doing windows as and when, it's working out OK. Started with the 3 that weren't double glazed 😬 then ones as part of the kitchen renovation- two gaps that never had windows in, plus one as an 'escape route' upstairs to meet building regs. Most recently we had one entire window done, plus a couple of blown double glazing panes. There's a couple I'd still like to do (one because the glass is quite scratched, the others to fully open) but they're in no way a priority and may never get done. 

We've used the same firm and they've been happy to come back and forth over the space of 5 or 6 years. 

Completely get where you're coming from with the timing of a new car. Often causes arguments in our house 😬

Suffolksue

I got free carrots in Aldi ,here in Suffolk this morning ,missed the free potatoes!
Think they must’ve over ordered nationwide .
Mr A ,however ,has far fewer Easter Eggs left than Mr S !

Greying_Pilgrim

Suffolksue - were there potatoes too?  The YS'd bag I got were MrAl red ones, which weren't Easter offer ones (I don't think), but for 75% off (I didn't know MrAl did 75% off), which made them 20p a kilo, I thought i would take a punt.  I did get questioned why I'd brought more carrots home 🤣  Pluses and minuses to having the fam at home for the holidays...... 😉

Well, we have just come back from going out for lunch.  I know it's not something we'd normally do, and it was definitely a 'Treat', which we can't/won't be, making a habit of, but just for once.....  I have to say, and I know that I'm going to sound like an old grouch, but the restaurant was heaving, it was a glorified burger joint, very much on the American diner model, but we only had vegetarian burgers and fries, with drinks - DH did have a beer - and it averaged out at £23 a head (with service charge).  The food was OK, the service friendly and efficient, and we had a nice elevated spot to people watch as we ate.  But a lunch date for 3 cost nearly a week's grocery money....  This was a treat, I shan't say 'one off', but we certainly haven't had a meal out in an age (as a family), but I fail to understand how this is affordable 'more often'.  I keep on thinking we're doing something wrong.  I mean, OK, so I could use the grocery money to pay for a meal out - but then what do we eat for the rest of the week?  I'm sure it's me doing something wrong, as, after all, the place was heaving on a random Thursday in April.  

We aren't now going anywhere at the end of the week - we cancelled because of the car - so there was a little wiggle room with the holiday/entertainment/social budget.  And I have to say, the lunch was 'fine' - expensive, but fine.  Imagine if we'd had a minger of a meal and it still cost that amount of money.  DH is officially an old fossil as he couldn't get to grips with the pricing of 12, 5, 6 or 5.7 🤣  Just as well he doesn't shop in MrAl, I see they've started writing their prices like that.  

Anyway, we walked into Greying Town and walked out via the town park, in the sunshine, so we had a nice family time.  No parking or petrol expenses to add.

And yes, I do note the hypocrisy of 'eating out' when we're saving for windows and a used car, but this was a rare treat for Fam. Greying, and was budgeted for.  

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

No need to apologies for having a treat lunch Greying! That is indeed extortionate though, goodness me. Things do indeed get expensive, don't they?? 

Sunshine_girl2

I got a free bag of carrots as well GP in Greater Manchester area . I was told they were the surplus stock from the cheap veg and needed to go. How true that was I have no idea. 

I have been reading one of your old diaries and found you had put links to recipes very useful as I tend to be eat more vegetarian type meals. I made a Lebanese soup over the weekend, very nice it was. 

I had your car conundrum 2 years ago , my car needed about £1000 worth of work doing on it. I traded my in for a newer model of the car I had it was 7 yr old with very low mileage. I had the cash to buy it . It flew through its MOT this year so perhaps you will be lucky and find something in your price range. 

Suffolksue

There weren’t any potatoes left but the sign said 
Help yourself to free potatoes and carrots 

Re the meal I can’t get over the number of people eating out everywhere and in nail bars etc .
i am a lot older than you (76) and when my children were  LG’s  age ,we managed to eat in McDonald’s about twice a year and it was talked about for months afterwards!
Recently met a friend for a rare coffee in a garden centre and it was full of mums with pre school children all of whom seemed to have enormous slices of cake which was mostly crumbled up and either left or chucked on the floor ( no they didn’t clear up either ) .
I’m still trying to work out how they can afford it and still in shock
I’ll climb off my soapbox now and go back to lurking 

I think you’re doing wonderfully