My Spending Diary

lynzpower

A few suggestions from me

Do you do a menu plan? Ive fell off the wagon on this one this week, and boy, can i tell. Nothing really in the house, nothing really to make a meal out of, all a bit hotch-potch. Aside from last weeks fiasco, me & OH have been managing 25 a week inc all food, lunches for work, cleaning stuff, toiletries and so on. If you arnt menu-planning, nows the time to start. I note youve spent 73.59 since getting paid, and to be honest with you this is quite high.
BTW we dont eat cr*p, not a lot of processed, lots of organic etc.

Aside from that things look really good :j

jessicamb

Hi Lynz

I'm absolutely shocking at menu planning to be honest. Even now its 6.10 and i dont know what to have for tea. I'll have to root around in the cupboards and see what I can magic up. (The ovens on the blink too so that doesnt help)

Thats an idea for tonight if theres nothing on TV - plan next weeks food.

Thanks for the advice

beanielou

Hi Jessicamb
You seem to be doing well.
As you are just starting out you should find it easy to be motivated this month.
Your council tax is very low.
Did you really need that big bottle of perfume??
Hope all goes well for you

K9cuddles

jessicamb wrote:

Hi Lynz

I'm absolutely shocking at menu planning to be honest. Even now its 6.10 and i dont know what to have for tea. I'll have to root around in the cupboards and see what I can magic up. (The ovens on the blink too so that doesnt help)

Thats an idea for tonight if theres nothing on TV - plan next weeks food.

Thanks for the advice

I must admit I tried it and failled. BUT I did find just working out 10 meals a month for me done the trick.. as I only cook for one I would freeze 1 half and have that in the 2nd half of the month! I never.. EVER run out of choices now! I find it much easy organising 10 meals then 20!! (I have break at weekends!!) and Fridays are my pie and chip night so only really leaves 8 meals!

scottishspendaholic

Hey jessicamb,

Sorry I missed this thread the other day - welcome to MSE and I love your diary, it'll be great seeing how you get on every day/week/however often you post.

I also really liked your SWOT analysis - I think I might copy that idea - but in my 'Weaknesses' column would be - cr*p with numbers!

I also think you are lucky to be doing this journey alone. Sometimes having someone else who is so involved in your financial affairs (like a partner) can sometimes be a bad MSE thing. I'd love to change my home phone and switch gas/electric suppliers but they are both in OH's name and he won't do it/can't be bothered/*insert another boy excuse. You are your own BOSS!

I really look forward to hearing how you are getting on.

scottishspendaholic x

jessicamb

Yippee - stuck to the £10 budget last night. Not sure to the penny but I'm already £2 under budget!

Food shopping today - I did a menu plan so I'll shop on that basis and see how it goes. As most of the stuff is from the freezer I only need fresh food. Will post an update later.

Feeling the need to spend this weekend but I'm going to be tough on myself and have a cleaning spell instead. I can't go blowing the budget now when theres still 4 weeks to go. I think I'll take 1 of my 3 calculators (well I am an accountant!) around Morrisons with me and see if theres room for a (very) small treat. Also plan on checking out potential profits on Amazon this weekend for 2nd hand books.

jessicamb

Well the weekly shop did not go according to plan :mad:

Despite a budget of £20 and making a list and even when I got to the till thought I had done ok I spent £29.05 :eek:

I was doing so well - didnt take the calculator in the end but ignored everything I didnt need, looked to special offers on the things I did and there was so little in the trolley I thought i was well under budget.

I did stock up on some juice as it was 100% extra free and I really like this particular brand and its half the cost of ribena. Unfortunately its such a good offer it seems to sell out in days and then disappears for another three months - I figured that this was MS as it was a 50% saving and I would have bought it anyway (although not all at once). Cost £6 for 6L but will keep me going for the next few months.

Looking at the receipt one of the special offers I picked up hadn't been deducted at the till costing me another 80p.

I'm downhearted at the minute but I'll have to try and make the best of it - try and make as many meals as possible that i can freeze and hopefully make it stretch further.

Try and get to a bread & milk essentials shopping list next week or it will be bread, water and rola cola (definitely not a taste sensation!) at the end of the month if I'm going to meet the budget.

Upside though:
freebies received today: more fabric conditioner and very nice pashmina
New oven element has arrived so I can cook again :j

Going for a no spend day tomorrow

Must start on the cleaning - take out frustration on the bathroom tiles.

Emmzi

Jessicamb,

don't be too hard on yourself. £30 a week is better than where you were, and if you have loads of juice, you won't need to buy it again for a few weeks!

I love knowing I have a freezer full of healthy stuff for when I can't be bothered. After a few weeks of it, you only need to cook from scratch a couple of days a week, if you make huge amounts every time! I stick to tried and tested recipes for this though - I've had a few occassions where I've had tonnes leftover of something too 'experimental' to keep (last weeks spagetti and baked bean bake with spinach, for example.)

jessicamb

:A No Spend Day! :A :T

Feel much better today, cleaned the house, got a free dinner, brought home the leftovers and I dont have to go to work tomorrow!

Moneysaving things done today:

Cleaned with stardrops (First time I've had a serious go at this and I'm impressed!).

Stuck to the meal plan so far this week and have already got most of tomorrows dinner ready.

Saved the supermarket ice cream tub so I can put HM version in (when I make it)

Ate for free (yippee!)

Called the bank about overpayments - need to call back next week but its a start.

Counted my spare change moneybox and there is about £10 in there!

Heres to a good one tomorrow :beer:

Chell

Hi Jessicamb,

The only debt I have is 0% (credit card and loan from MIL) but I love this board. I am trying to follow a DFW way of life to get rid of the debts and try to get ahead.

This board is fab, good luck with your finances,