£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

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  • warby68
    warby68 Posts: 3,017
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    I'll give you a medal :)

    Seriously, you could just take the cash you think you should spend and no cards if you really want that discipline.

    And yes you're right about the 'value' of things for young children. I can vouch for it, mine remember the free stuff and enjoyed it more than some of the paid for stuff. And I didn't always see it at the time. They remember fun and your time and attention and not the price. Onwards & upwards. Do what you've done with food. A weekly entertainment budget rather than an overall holiday one, plan a small paid for treat if you want and then its only days rather than weeks to the next one. And if the treats are really for you not them, try and have them without your children so you get the added 'value' of a little break as well and reduce the cost as well.

    Chin up, the gloomy weather doesn't help - my mood is a bit darker than it should be for July :)
  • I'm all for giving dc's some of the financial facts. I always protected mine when things were tough. Now they are both in their early 30s and even though they know my income has disappeared, they don't seem to have grasped that this equates to me not having money! Ridiculous or what. Provided they won't get too worried, get them involved in money saving by giving them challenges.
    Mortgage at 01.01.14 £119,481.83:eek: today £0 Emergency fund £5.5/5.5k & £200/200 cash.:jWeight 24/02/19 14st 7lb now 11st 9lb determined to stop defining myself by my mistakes. Progress not perfection.:T100%through my 1% mortgage challenge. 30.15% through my pb challenge.
  • I’ve just been looking through my food shopping receipts for the month - I was going to break down everything I’ve spent on food over the month, but realised that actually it’s pretty meaningless without menu plans etc.

    Anyway, one thing that has immediately stood out is that we’ve slipped into top up shops over the past two months, and it’s really whacked up our food budget. It’s not something we did when we first started on this journey - we just made do with what we had - and it’s scuppering our results. So far in July we’ve spent only £335 on main weekly shops, and another £118.03 on top up shops. I reckon that even if we added another £10-15 of extras onto our weekly shop to avoid having to top up (maybe on store cupboard bits, snacky food and extra fruit, which seem to be our main downfalls), we’d still save money on top up shops. We freeze bread and milk, so no need to run out for things like that.

    I also discovered I’d spent £28 over the month on green smoothies, avocados and ‘treat’ fruit like strawberries, melons and blueberries. OK, not a fortune, but it’s easy to see where that food shop is creeping up each time. Basic apples, oranges, tinned fruit etc are so much cheaper, and at this stage I need to keep that in mind.

    This has been a really interesting exercise for me, and I’m going to try to shop even more consciously next month, keeping a strict lid on top ups even if it means upping the main shop a bit.
    Trying to figure out a whole new life. Trying to figure out a whole new budget.
    Divorcing, unclear on final debt total right now, but focusing on building a financial buffer zone.
  • Are there any pick your own farms nearby? That's a great activity for kids (and big kids, I love taking my nieces :) ) and a good way to stock up on treat food like berries. We freeze a lot of the berries for smoothies etc
  • DawnW
    DawnW Posts: 7,423
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    edited 27 July 2017 at 9:22AM
    I’ve just been looking through my food shopping receipts for the month - I was going to break down everything I’ve spent on food over the month, but realised that actually it’s pretty meaningless without menu plans etc.

    Anyway, one thing that has immediately stood out is that we’ve slipped into top up shops over the past two months, and it’s really whacked up our food budget. It’s not something we did when we first started on this journey - we just made do with what we had - and it’s scuppering our results. So far in July we’ve spent only £335 on main weekly shops, and another £118.03 on top up shops. I reckon that even if we added another £10-15 of extras onto our weekly shop to avoid having to top up (maybe on store cupboard bits, snacky food and extra fruit, which seem to be our main downfalls), we’d still save money on top up shops. We freeze bread and milk, so no need to run out for things like that.

    I also discovered I’d spent £28 over the month on green smoothies, avocados and ‘treat’ fruit like strawberries, melons and blueberries. OK, not a fortune, but it’s easy to see where that food shop is creeping up each time. Basic apples, oranges, tinned fruit etc are so much cheaper, and at this stage I need to keep that in mind.

    This has been a really interesting exercise for me, and I’m going to try to shop even more consciously next month, keeping a strict lid on top ups even if it means upping the main shop a bit.

    Look at prices first though TOPM, apples and oranges are actually quite expensive atm (cheaper autumn and winter) whereas melons, peaches etc are in season and as a result not too expensive. And look out for offers.
  • Do you have an aldi or lidl close to you, their fruit and veg is much cheaper, or try a local market if you have one.
    Mortgage Jan 2023 9yrs 11mths £61,389 Mortgage overpayment £1867/£3600 Mortgage Jan 2022 11yrs 6mths £69.996 Mortgage overpayment £3132/£3600
  • JoJoC
    JoJoC Posts: 1,836 Forumite
    I am a great advocate of Aldi and tend to avoid the out of season fruit and veggies because they're at their most expensive. Pineapples, melons, peaches etc are frequently on special at this time of year (I think i paid 89p for a honeydew on Saturday) but a pack of six Pink Ladies was £2.19 which I find steep. They are the tastiest apples though and one of the few my husband isn't allergic to.

    Where do you shop? That might have a lot to do with it.

    I like having nice 'treat' foods too and still manage to do that in Aldi by adjusting my expectations. I like to buy italian meats, olives, cheese and crackers as a treat and can do this once a month just adding £10 to the standard shopping. I can spend £60 per week for three out of four weeks (including nappies for DS2 and pull ups for DS1) and the fourth week will be closer to £100 including all toiletries, cleaning stuff and other bits that have run low through the month.

    Have you done a full breakdown of your monthly shopping habits - where does most of your money go? What are the alternatives available to bring those down? Do you have leftovers that get thrown out? If so, what are they and what can you do to use them up and not have so much waste? Or how can you adjust your shopping list to avoid the waste?

    Just some thoughts from me - my jaw always drops when I see your food shopping bill. £453 so far in July (and still four days left) is £115 per week which definitely has potential or reduction.

    I know you know this, there's been lots of chat throughout your diary over the past months but sometimes it is worth focusing on it more, especially when you have a lean month ahead.
    CC1: £4481.14/ £5031.14 (12% paid off, £600) | CC2:£3307/ £3807 (14.4% paid off, £550) | Loan: £10,528.20/ £15,792.30((33% paid off, £5,264))

    July debt total: £24,630.44 | New debt total: £18,316.34 | Total debt paid: £6,414.10 (26%)
    *My debt busting and savings diary*
  • mummytogirls
    mummytogirls Posts: 6,578
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    Re your smoothies TOPM could you make your own? I have a nutribullet but I think any blender would work. I always buy frozen fruit for these and then throw spinach into them too.

    I reckon youve chosen the best time to get a hold of the grocery shopping... especially if your kids are like mine and neeeeed food constantly whilst at home ;) xx
    Mummytogirls x

  • Honestly, I wish I knew where I was going so wrong with food shopping! We have very little waste, are 99% vegetarian and don't drink. It's ridiculous. A typical week's menu plan looks like this:

    Mon - Black bean chilli
    Tue - Tinned mackerel puttanesca
    Wed - omelettes and a dessert (crumble or similar)
    Thu - dal and rice
    Fri - veg soup
    Sat - veggie burgers/fishfingers and chips
    Sun - leftovers

    Breakfasts are either porridge or eggy bread in the week, pancakes on weekend. All of us have fruit with breakfast a few times a week, lots of seeds etc in various breakfasts. DH has Greek yoghurt.

    Lunches are leftovers, eggs, beans on toast, sandwiches type things. Juice cartons and chocolate bars for a treat on the weekend for the DC, dark chocolate for DH and me.

    We shop at Aldi, with a top up in Sainsbury's of things I can't get there (black beans, some frozen veg, some baking ingredients, washing up liquid as I hate the smell of most) - usually £30 on top of Aldi shop. I bake snacks and bread from scratch.

    It's me, DH, DC1 is almost 9 and eats what I eat pretty much, DC2 is 6 with a normal appetite, DC3 is 3 and eats loads for a 3yo, but is still only a 3yo.

    Where am I going wrong?!
    Trying to figure out a whole new life. Trying to figure out a whole new budget.
    Divorcing, unclear on final debt total right now, but focusing on building a financial buffer zone.
  • Treadingonplaymobil
    Treadingonplaymobil Posts: 1,895
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    edited 27 July 2017 at 12:24PM
    Also: One week a month is usually v expensive as we'll have people over, so have meat and nicer side dishes, so maybe £25-30 on that one meal.

    And an extra adult to feed around 5 days a month on average (relative staying to help with childcare).
    Trying to figure out a whole new life. Trying to figure out a whole new budget.
    Divorcing, unclear on final debt total right now, but focusing on building a financial buffer zone.
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