Using cash instead of cards makes you think!

rsdiscos

Good idea will look into the pre pay cards thanks little miss moneysaver - can't see your thanks button

charlies-aunt

When I'm tempted to splurge, I work out how long I have to work to earn that amount of money (after tax etc). Realising a pair of £40 shoes takes me a whole day to 'earn' certainly makes me think hard if I really need them.

alittlebitofmagic

Hi

Ouch, good luck with the OH and the pocket money, not sure I'd get away with that, but if he is terrible with money it may be the only way. Maybe it is a good idea to order a new card(pre pay tend to cost more when you load them) and say it is for petrol/major purchases only. Then give him a lesser amount for his pocket money in cash. I think it will at least get him to think first yet gives him the safety net of having the card.

Anyway! Good on you for getting going, small steps lead to big ones

Just thinking though, could you not do extra jackets on the Monday, to use as wedges, saving cooking time/£ on the Tuesday as they will only need heating with oil and spices etc

Also on the Thursday, do 2 lots of tomato sauce(toms, herbs, onion, mushroom, garlic, maybe peppers and courgettes too etc) then add chili and kidney beans to one lot. Then friday you just reheat and pour over your pasta saving fuel again.

Plus it saves on a lot of prep

rsdiscos

It was a truly liberating feeling snapping my card in half - :j- it was even more invigorating watching my dear wife queue up to pay for purchases in ikea - whilst I was able to chill with the kids...I could get used to this...

nannaC

rsdiscos wrote: »

He also put my salter digital scales on top of the mircowave without me knwing and now they have water in the display and just show EE!!! Does anyone have any ideas how to weigh stuff without weighing stuff - ah ha I could use american sites and use cups - do they do that with marg too!?! - I wanted to bake some fairy cakes for lunch boxes as I have eggs to use up!!

Yes nannaC never use scales [after all these years cakes would probably come out all wrong if I did]. Do you have a big tablespoon [mine is an old Victorian soup spoon cost 10p at a boot fair, they must have had big mouths as when I tried to use it the soup went all down my chin and pinny, not a pretty site:o] if so and your scale are still just working get a rounded spoon of flour then weigh it. It will probably be near enough 1oz [sorry still weigh in old money], for castor sugar you will need a level measure of the same spoon as it weighs heavier [if that makes sense]. For marg I use those big 2kg tubs and simply divid into 4 each quater makes roughly 1lb then sub divide i.e. into quaters again the make 4oz.

For fairy cakes you need 1 egg to every 2-3oz of fat/flour/sugar depending on size of eggs.

MoneyMission

I'm with you all on the cash front. Spent two years trying to convince DH that I wanted to deal only with cash. He said he didn't want large (well, large by our standards) sums of cash in the house. I tried to write down everything I spent on cards - made myself a spreadsheet but never got round to logging on to it, bought a cash book but never got round to writing it all down etc etc. Finally got all the cash out for one month and divided it into envelopes each with a specific purpose (household, kids clothes, petrol etc). Soooooo much easier to keep a handle on. Plus, any surplus goes to pay off the mortgage. Now that did get him interested.

BTW - really like the piggy bank called 'Martin'.

rsdiscos

Thanks Nanna C will give your method a go tomorrow! (Your thanks button has disapppeared)
Money Mission - are you not worried about having that much money around the house?
We have a bills account where all the normal the DD's come out of and it's working well.
Our main trouble is that I'm a supply teacher who gets paid weekly but the work can be hit and miss close to the holidays and of course I don't get paid when I can't work ie the holidays so it can be a nightmare budgetting. We have just had 3 good months where everything has run smoothly however we have just had to take out another loan for replacement car and I am determined that we will make it work without using CC. The overdraft probably won't be tackled until after the Christmas holidays.
I would like to try a no spend week other than groceries - I think it will have to be the week after half term!
Thanks for your support so far.
Melissa

MrsE_2

Frugalista wrote: »

He gives me the cash on the 1st of each month, and then (depending on how many weeks there are in the month) I divide it into 4 or 5. When I have done my weekly shop any leftover change is put into a piggy bank (called Martin :rotfl:),

If DH did that with me it would be gone half way through the month:o:rotfl:

I shop weekly, so he gives it to me weekly in cash.

He raised it by £10 a week recently, it had been £100 for about 6 years:rolleyes:

p00

rsdiscos wrote: »

He also put my salter digital scales on top of the mircowave without me knwing and now they have water in the display and just show EE!!! Does anyone have any ideas how to weigh stuff without weighing stuff - ah ha I could use american sites and use cups - do they do that with marg too!?! - I wanted to bake some fairy cakes for lunch boxes as I have eggs to use up!!

Im sure I saw on here not long ago a member who 'bungs in' ingredients for cakes if anyone can point in the right direction

xxp00

[Deleted User]

using cash was how we survived every recession since 1970. I used to get out what was left after essential bills and divided it into envelopes and that was that for the month. It was such a sense of satisfaction to have enough left for some chocolate at the end of the month

Some days it was home grown beans and parsley sauce for a meal but we didn`t starve and we survived when others sank