Nervous of my own challenge - reduce or stop spending!

LilacLillie

Today has been easy on the no spend front.................not been out.

Waiting in yet again for a collection of a parcel to return from some sale or other :huh:
Had a 'no one home' card left yesterday saying he'd call back today at 1.30pm.
Rang his mobile at 4.30pm and he said he couldn't be bothered coming today :mad: didn't get to library.
Plumber that has an appointment tomorrow at 9.30am, showed up today at 8.10am :think:.............. I was in bed (which needs to be moved for him to see problem) so he is due to come back tomorrow, but I won't hold my breath.

Today I made lentil pate and potato & stilton bread (from Monday's 'Come dine with me'), very nice and again simple to prepare.

Since 1st January 2009 I have kept a daily spend notebook.
So from Feb:1st to Feb:4th last year I spent £298.49 (and it was snowing :eek:).
£64.16 was on food, the rest ..................who knows.

I have tickets for the travel show, on from tomorrow, and have noticed I spent £78.48p there on 6th Feb last year, so may give it a miss this year.

I told a friend on the phone today about my challenge, she thought it was a great idea, but started to think of ways I could 'cheat'.
I hope she isn't going to lead me astray.
Her best one was 'spend on credit card and pay next month', along with 'use up any shop gift vouchers because they are not real money'.
Oh dear, I'm due to see her tomorrow night and fear she may have more up her sleve!
Come on day 5
LL

415SanFran

Ha,
I am really enjoying this thread,
I decided at the new year that I had to get in control of my spending, so started the compact for a year.
As you say friends can be so helpful, my friend proceeded to tell me about half price vacuums and said it wouldn't count because they were half price, and therfore a super deal that I couldn't miss out on!

zippychick

Lillie - it sounds like your friend is a little clueless money wise to be honest! Sorry if that is harsh but it sounds like she is only too happy to put temptation and ideas in your head. Don't listen to her if you still want to keep your challenge.

Is she in debt and a bit unwise with money? Hope you manage to stick to your guns today chick!

Absolutely fascinating to know how much you spent this time last year compared to this year. Just goes to show how much you have come along.:D:j

clutterydrawer

zippychick wrote: »

Plan plan plan! Personally i would try not to spend money for as long as possible so try and hold on to it as long as you can - i would carry my weekly allowance over if that's the way it happens.

Try and think about what you spend on when you do go to the shops? If it's milk and bread, are you making your own bread? Can you use powdered milk in the interim , or skimmed which is far cheaper?

ooooohhh....where?

mollythewestie

lilaclillie - good luck with this challenge, :beer: I will be following this thread with interest.

Just had a thought, have you been over to the "no spend freebie" forum recently? The Bakingmad website are giving away 2 sachets of yeast (THREAD HERE) which could save you a few pennys. And there are lots of other freebies at the moment for fabric conditioner etc.
Not sure if it would be classed as cheating or not though!

taplady

morning!

Zippy - thanks for looking that out for me:T I've seen the soup mix but never tried it.That chicken broth looked fab even to a non meat eater:D I do eat fish so am not a strict veggie.

I'm doing a macaroni cheese for myself tonight - I also have a fair bit of light philadelphia - can I use some of this in my cheese sauce as well as normal cheese???

Lilaclillie - that stilton bread looked great on CDWM - I dont really like stilton but I dare say you could use most cheeses. was the lentil pate on that programme too? I must have missd that bit:)

zippychick

taplady wrote: »

morning!

Zippy - thanks for looking that out for me:T I've seen the soup mix but never tried it.That chicken broth looked fab even to a non meat eater:D I do eat fish so am not a strict veggie.

I'm doing a macaroni cheese for myself tonight - I also have a fair bit of light philadelphia - can I use some of this in my cheese sauce as well as normal cheese???

Lilaclillie - that stilton bread looked great on CDWM - I dont really like stilton but I dare say you could use most cheeses. was the lentil pate on that programme too? I must have missd that bit:)

Ummmm yeah you can! Have not done it myself but I think you can use it for most stuff cheesey. This looks nice as well. Yes i would go ahead and use it!

Skimmed milk being cheaper - I mean the stuff you don't buy in the fridge department. I think it's UHT? I used to buy it before but i don't really use enough milk plus it's very heavy to carry by hand. I used to buy 8 big cartons for a copuple of pounds but that was pre credit crunch . Here is a 1lt carton for 49p

WASHER

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesco-price-comparison/Fresh_Milk/Creamfields_075_Milk_3L.html

I buy this semi-skimmed milk from Tesco 3ltr for £1.00, I even freeze it too, far cheaper and just as good as their usual semi skimmed 2.27ltr milk for £1.53.

taplady

The spinach and philly lasagne look good.:T Just checked the philly and its got a bit of mould on it:eek: can I use it if I remove the mouldy bit without poisoning myself?

zippychick

taplady wrote: »

The spinach and philly lasagne look good.:T Just checked the philly and its got a bit of mould on it:eek: can I use it if I remove the mouldy bit without poisoning myself?

It does! Hmmm, i have done stuff like that in the past and came out with no damage! Yeah, do it (i would anyway, especially if i had a meal planned. ) I'm sure there are others who would be horrified at the thought :eek::rotfl: