I really am C**P at budgeting

novice_money_saver_2

frosty wrote:

I go once a fortnight to the farm shop,I buy all the veg from here,its straight off the fields and into the shop :j ,the best bit is everything is 50p so you can choose the largest item there,which makes it very good value and I buy a sack of potatoes for £4.00(25kg) this lasts us about a month.

This is great for the environment too - it helps to reduce the amount of food flown half way across the world and it reduces on packaging (less to be buried in landfill and give off toxic chemicals). It tastes better and is cheaper.

Everyone's a winner! :T

jellycat40

Hi guys you lot are great.

Guess where I have just been sainsburys. £72.38!

I do see the point of only shopping once a week but my problem is storage. We have 2 fridges and 2 freezers and they are so full I am hanging my veg in the garden to try and keep it fresh. I last went supermarket shopping on Friday and spent £150 and today I went to get more fresh fruit, some cereal that I can only get in Sainsbury, some king prawns (£5.99) but for so many of us for lunch they were bogof so thought that wasn't so bad. I also got some cereal my son eats at half price. 24 mullerlight yogs at half price (we are all doing slimming world), 12 cans of saver brand tomatoes, 2 jars of saver pasta sauce 27p - I have worked it out I can't make it for cheaper than that. 4 pints of green top milk, Quorn products for me the vegetarian, extra lean mince beef - buy two £3.50, Some reduced veg to go with lunch today, Some half price pupply food, some kitten food, some dog treats,( trouble with training shih tzu to return at the mo), a sunday mail, 2 packs of pre cooked chicken pieces reduced cabinet, Some red pesto sauce, 2 packs of chicken kievs save 50p, a savers fishermans pie, for my little girl, she has tutor on Monday night and needs something very quick to eat before she goes, some h/e wraps and some saver biological washing powder to clean up the carpet after my puppy.

I don't envisage shopping again until about Wednesday.

I love the idea of cross stitch stuff of E bay, why didn't i think of that. Ditto the candles.

I do menu plan but only in my head, I like to see what bargains I can get on the day. Also i like to see what we have in the cupboard i can "rustle up".

The members of my house hold are DD1 age 21 and just out of a 4 year relationship, severely crippled by debt, She is contributing a bit, DD1 age 19 and an apprentice on £4.30 an hour. He contributes a monthly amount. DD2 who gives me half her maintenance from her Dad, DD2's fiance who does pay proper rent. DD3 is only 8. OH just comes home and empties his money into the pot! It is partly because the kids contribute that I have a conflict because if they weren't I would say the choice was take it or leave it but because they are giving something then I feel we have to take what they want into consideration.

Louise

jellycat40

Dog deo is fab, spray from pet shop and sweet smelling dog for a few days!

Louise

brummiebabe

jellycat40 wrote:

Hi guys you lot are great.

I do see the point of only shopping once a week but my problem is storage. We have 2 fridges and 2 freezers and they are so full I am hanging my veg in the garden to try and keep it fresh.

I don't envisage shopping again until about Wednesday.

Just a thought - if you have 2 freezers & 2 fridges full - why on earth will you need to go shopping on Wednesday?????? Couldn't you have a month of using up what you have, just stocking up on fresh stuff???

thriftychick

I agree with brummiebabe, use up what you have before you buy anymore, it costs a fortune to run a freezer anyway so can you manage with just one perhaps? If you go on money saving old style, they have a thread for using up what you have in your store cupboard.

bank_of_slate

For food shopping I agree that you should limit your trips.
Also become aware of the supermarket psychology that the big stores use to encourage you to buy more, such as placing essentials in opposite corners of the building so that you have to pass more tempting things.
meal plan and make a list each week, it really helps you to stick to a budget.
Make use of BOGOFs if it is something you would buy anyway.
look for an alternative brand on things that are cheaper than you would normally buy, try the supermarket's own brand, although I always stick to my favourite coffee, ketchup and cereal...some things are just NOT the same quality.
Never shop when you're hungry because you'll buy more if you are.
Always remind yourself when you shop that the store is trying to trick you into buying more than you want by placing tempting things next to essential things.
Check out the 'Freebies - no spend required' and vouchers forums on here, there are lots of things to be had!
....Linda xx

pixie1

If you have a full freezer maybe you should go through it and really see what is in there.

I did this on Friday and today I went to tesco and spent £23 on add on's and now what we have will keep us going for two weeks at least we may need to shop for milk and a little bit of veg but thats it.

It could well me the same in two weeks time too :j as we discovered some really nice things in our freezer that i had forgotten about.

Menu planning is a great way to cut costs - give it a try, you never know :beer:

sa1nt

I was amazed that when I added up all the food bills from the last 6 months visa bills, I was paying between 300 & 450 (even 500 one month) on food. 2 adults, 2 kids & 1 dog.

My trouble is that as I go to the post office every day (thanks to ebay biz) I jusy pop into the co-op for salad, milk, etc etc etc. I was managing to spend sometimes £15-£25 per trip!
Daughter is 100% veggie & the rest of us are mostly & quorn stuff isn't cheap (we all eat that mind you) & neither is soya milk, but spending that much was ridiculous.
Dog food costs £35 every 6 weeks also - he's a big dog!

I now keep a spreadsheet open on my desktop & record EVERYTHING we spend money on.
I still pop into the co-op most days (they never have choc soya milk!) as well as a BIG asda shop, just writing it all down has made me aware of how much I am spending & I only now buy what I need.

Unless you write it all down & add it all up the money just disappears.
Hubby has been great, he isn't obsessive about it like I am now but is doing his bit just the same.

I was going to do my shopping online, but don't want to spend £20 on delivery every month so I have done the online shopping list will print it out & take it to the shop, that way I can adjust the crisps to BOGOF & get reduced items etc.

magentadreamer

Sa1nt - if you check out the discount codes threads you'll find loads of discount codes for money off your shopping when ordered online. This would cover the delivery costs. I've also got my shopping to come on a tuesday as it's even cheaper with Tesco then.

Discount codes websites:
http://tescovouchercodes.blogspot.com/
http://www.loyalty-points.co.uk/forums/index.php

jellycat40

Sorry didn't make myself clear until I went shopping on Friday my fridges were bare!!! I have mainly veg in my freezer for making quick curries and stuff. Also oven chips and a few snacky things. Today i went for fresh stuff mainly which is why I went to sainsburys as their fruit and veg is much nicer and their range of quorn products is the best locally. Also they do have somethings that I just can't get anywhere else. I generally go to Tescos 4-6 times a month, sainsburys - 2 a month, lidl and or aldi - 1 a month and morrisons about - 2 times a month.

I do buy value/saver/smart whatever providing the quality is good. I do not buy cheap dog food because the vet said it was not good enough. I do not buy the vets science diet either.

For the freezer I do buy fishfingers, veg, chips, quorn, some sort of meat or fish for emergencies and some stuff that is close to use by date so it gets slung in there and forgotten about. I have some mushy peas that have been in there about 2 years!!! I think I could say hand on heart that I haven't got anything I could make a family meal out of stashed in there. I do have a couple of pints of frozen milk which I always buy so that I have milk in for when I get home from a holiday.

But I am going to try really hard to spend less. Maybe February will be the month that I do better. I have cut down, I dread to think what I would normally spend.

Louise