Baby Budgeter

greenlogo · 11 March 2005 at 11:01AM

Hi All,

I'm fairly new to the boards, having had a lightbulb moment as part of sorting out my finances to buy my new flat. I move in at the end of april so I'm feeling a bit in limbo for sorting out my overall budgeting (as all my fixed costs will be changing dramatically really soon) but I'm getting really excited about preparing for my new life - saver rather than spendthrift

.

As part of the preparations I'm trying to cut down my non-fixed costs to a sensible and sustainable level and this is where you guys come in - I've been trying to work out the best way to control my spending and I've got a few ideas, but I'd like your thoughts on them and any other hints that you think I could be doing with.

I'm going to give myself a budget of £40 a week for everything, which I'll get out on a saturday and then I'll put my switch card away in a drawer.

I spend £13.50 a week on bus fares
£2.25 a week on milk at work (1/2pt a day)
and hideous amounts on rubbish.

The week I'm on late shift I have to get a taxi home, so I'll up the budget by £30 in that week to cover those.

Should I keep an "emergency tenner" in my purse? I think I can be "good" and not spend it

.

Is £40 a reasonable amount of money to be looking at? I'd rather be generous with myself in the beginning as I tend to be a bit "all or nothing" and I don't want to set myself up to fail.

I do already bring breakfast and lunch to work every day as the canteen is awful , but I also have two evenings a week where I go out straight from work and I'm guilty of spending a fortune on takeaways those nights and I also tend to sleep in and get taxis a lot more than I should - I've realised that's costing me nearly £300 a month :eek: so I'm determined to stop...

Thanks for reading and being a great supportive board... I'm off to dig through the archives for more inspiration

Queenie · 11 March 2005 at 12:21PM

greenlogo - check out the March Challenge thread for foodie ideas which could save you money on your budget. Also the Now and Then threads (we've had two so far, ) and see how others have made changes to their behaviour/spending/attitude ... both those threads are full of wonderful ideas that would be a great starting point

(Highligthed and underlined words are links to the threads suggested)

HTH

Austin_Allegro · 11 March 2005 at 12:35PM

Greenlogo, welcome.

I'd suggest looking at the following to cut your budget back further:

Bus fares. Does your bus company operate any kind of season ticket or bulk ticket buying scheme? Could you forsake buses and walk instead or get a bicycle? I reckon the maximum walkable commute for a fit person is 3 miles each way and 6 miles on a bicycle. Any more than that becomes a real chore.

Why are you having to buy milk at work? By my reckoning you're paying 90p a pint which sounds excessive. Could you bring milk in from home?

As for eating out after work, I get round this making something like pasta, rice, etc and taking it to work in a plastic box. When work is finished I heat this up in the office microwave, eat at my desk while surfing the net/reading the paper, and then go out. It means you have to eat early (about 5.30) but it saves having to pay for restaurants, takeaways etc

elona · 11 March 2005 at 12:54PM

Have a look at the slow cooker threads - if you know you have a great curry or casserole at home that is warm and ready to eat then it could reduce temptation.:):):)

greenlogo · 11 March 2005 at 4:20PM

Thank you for all your responses

Queenie - Thanks for the links

The Now&then in particular are particulary inspiring - and I can't wait until I've been doing this long enough (like more than a week...) to post myself.

Austin Allegro - The journey's just over 5 miles, but I don't have a bike at the mo (and nowhere to keep it) so it'll need to be the bus for the moment (I'm also horribly unfit, but that's changing). I'll need to look into a weekly ticket, I think it's around £10. I'll do that on the internet right after I've posted in fact, and get it tommorrow if I can

I buy the milk to have with my breakfast - usually about 4hours after I've left the house - and I've no access to a fridge so I'm not sure how I would transport it in 1/2pts and keep it from going manky - I would LOVE some suggestions for that as I begrudge giving the canteen any money at all.

I should just bring in a "double lunch" for the days I'm going straight out. brilliant idea, thank you!

Elona - I'm already lusting after a slow cooker, my current rental flat is just too small for one (my work surface consists of the top of the fridge...) but I've asked for one as a housewarming pressie when I move at the end of April - I can't WAIT

Xbigman · 11 March 2005 at 4:25PM

Instead of buying milk at work, take a thermos flask of it. They keep things cold as well as hot.
Regards

X

greenlogo · 11 March 2005 at 4:38PM

Xbigman wrote:

Instead of buying milk at work, take a thermos flask of it. They keep things cold as well as hot.

Genius - thanks

I knew posting here was a good idea. I'll try and find a cheapo thermos over the weekend - pound shops or Asda probably. I'm not sure where I'd search on here for ideas on that kind of thing.

And I've found out that the bus company do a 4-weekly ticket (from date of purchase) for only £38 - even if I do 2 weeks worth of lates (no busses, HAVE to get taxi

), and go to see friends (slightly cheaper bus fare!) twice a week after work I still save £1.70 - and if I buy online I save a further 5% which is fantastic! I need to order it at least 5 days in advance and I'm going on holiday in less than 4 weeks so I'll get the 10 day ticket tonight on the way home - and then order the 4-weekly one from the internet for when I go back to work. Actually having the ticket will make me get the bus rather than a taxi

.

I'm planning to join the April challenge when it comes too, and I feel like I'm doing a my own mini-challenge now in preparation

THANK YOU!

Galtizz · 11 March 2005 at 4:52PM

greenlogo wrote:

Genius - thanks I knew posting here was a good idea. I'll try and find a cheapo thermos over the weekend - pound shops or Asda probably. I'm not sure where I'd search on here for ideas on that kind of thing.

Wilko's do them cheap.

If your flask is likely to bounce around in your bag I'd recommend buying a metal on. I bought a glass one (couple of quid cheaper than a glass one) and it lasted about 2 weeks until it smashed so I have replaced it with a metal one now.

Queenie · 11 March 2005 at 5:02PM

Galtizz is right, I bought two small metal one's from Wilko's for my boys to take soup to school for lunch - I think the small one's cost either £2.49 or £2.99.

Austin_Allegro · 11 March 2005 at 5:12PM

You could try using powdered milk. Keep a box at work and just make it up as and when you need it. That would work out cheaper as you wouldn't need to buy a flask and you wouldn't waste any milk you didn't need.

If you don't have enough storage space for a bike, you could try one of these!

https://www.strida.com

Js_Other_Half · 11 March 2005 at 5:49PM

You could always buy some flexible frozen gel packs from Matalan or similar, and wrap your lunch and milk with them? I hate milk that isn't ice cold too.

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