Memorygirls - Make Do and Mend

ILGPink

hi everyone hope you've all had good days.

I have a few Q's and wondered if you guys could answer them (hope you all dont mind )

1) with NSD - Do you take bills into account so if your rent/mortgage comes out today but you dont buy anything else would you class it as a NSD.

2) I noticed that a few of you seem to put down how much you spend on food. When setting a budget(adding spends up) do you just count food; or do you count all food/toiletries/nappies/cleaning products/Drinks ect?

I have been writing how much we spend on everything and we average about £230 per month 4everything listed above. not sure if this is a lot or about average.

3) Want to get a BM but am soooooo confused; could anyone point me in the right direction of which type/make ect you use

Sorry for the quickfire q's; bet you wish id go back to lurking now!!!! lol;)

Firewalker

ILGPink wrote: »

1) with NSD - Do you take bills into account so if your rent/mortgage comes out today but you dont buy anything else would you class it as a NSD.

2) I noticed that a few of you seem to put down how much you spend on food. When setting a budget(adding spends up) do you just count food; or do you count all food/toiletries/nappies/cleaning products/Drinks ect?

Hi ILGPink,

1) In my accounting system NSDs exclude direct debits, bills and other what I call non-variable expenditure (like bus fares). Thus, I have an NSD when I have not spend anything on things over which I have control - it reduces expenditure by eliminating compulsive spending and increasing the level of planning for the rest.

2) I keep these separate - on my spreadsheet I have the following categories: food, regular (this includes drinks and would include nappies if I needed any; as it is it includes music lessons, school lunches; petrol; etc.) and exceptional (usually one off things like buying a tent). This is where I keep a record of expenditure - I also have a balance sheet where income and expenditure are reconciled (hopefully).

Looking at this it probably can be simpler.

Firewalker

vandanfc

1- That's my understanding - no spends other than bills
2 - Think everything is counted in - how many does £230 cover ?
3 - Panasonic are the best ones to buy - £90 at comet -PANASONIC-SD255

lucielle

Hi MG, just ordered the Secret from Amazon, can't wait for it to arrive. Hope you've had a good day.
L

vasseur

Finally...after 3 days lurking...have managed to get through the whole thread (pant).

Such inspirational reading. I'm a single mum too and although I'm working, after mortgage and after school club fees have been paid there just doesn't seem to be any money left over . I have a smallish (although not to me) credit card debt that I want to clear so have been padding as much as I can.

I am obsessive, probably to the point of boring everyone senseless, about the cost of things and where I can save money, cut costs etc. I thought I was doing well with stretching my money but Memory Girl you just put me to shame!! I used to get depressed about our lack of money now I just find it so empowering to see just how cheaply I can do the weekly shop and what other bargains we can get.

This is just such great reading and certainly to me you never come across as if you're having a down day. I think your outlook on life is amazing. I agree with getting rid of the deadwood in your life - there really are people around who can just drag you down - best off without them.

At the end of the day we have our health and our home and each other.

You have got me thinking about paying the mortgage off quicker now too....

Tomorrow I'm going to track down your 71p and 3 nappies thread :eek:

Px

PS Keep those recipes coming!

boredofbeingathome

There you go Polesalot- https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2139839

ILGPink

Thanks firewalker and vandanfc.
Thats for 2adults nd a 4mnth old (who only really needs nappies, wipes and baby wash)- im still bf baba at the mo so am eating like a horse 2keep up with demand; so I know that I'm having rather large portions!!!

I cook form scratch and shop around to get the best price possible on everything I possible can. We rarely have take aways - think for next month I'm going to do a more broken down version. try and count the food seperate to the toiletries, cleaning products,nappies ect. may give me a more realistic idea of what we actualy spend on feeding us. When I look at what other ppl say they spend im getting rather concerned that we are spending far to much if they count all of the above in their totals.

anyhow im off 2bed now as it way passd my bedtime and DD will be up again soon wanting more milk

night and thanks again for the help x

vandanfc

ILGPink personally I think what you are spending is okay, but I know many will disagree with me. If you can comfortably afford it and don't waste anything, then I would carry on, but you could challenge yourself to reduce by say £10 a month and see if you can go lower. Keep your eyes on the grabbit and food boards, lots of offers get posted there, so you can maybe meal plan around a specific stores offers. Or bulk buy stuff you use regularly when it is on offer. More expenditure short term, but less long term. Noticed an offer mentioned on baby wipes recently.

boredofbeingathome

vandanfc wrote: »

ILGPink personally I think what you are spending is okay, but I know many will disagree with me. If you can comfortably afford it and don't waste anything, then I would carry on, but you could challenge yourself to reduce by say £10 a month and see if you can go lower. Keep your eyes on the grabbit and food boards, lots of offers get posted there, so you can maybe meal plan around a specific stores offers. Or bulk buy stuff you use regularly when it is on offer. More expenditure short term, but less long term. Noticed an offer mentioned on baby wipes recently.

That's a good idea- i like that kind of challenge. Re baby wipes, if you have a home bargains they are 59p for some really nice ones there. I also like the Tesco cheapie ones as well- sometimes they have that on for 50p a pack. The basic value ones are ok but not very thick. I buy a lot as DD2 was born with a bowel problem and i always have them in. Tesco value nappy sacks were on at 7p a pack the other day as well

boredofbeingathome

Just catching up on one of your other threads as well- i had forgotten you had a Gabriel Byrnes fetish as well I adore him as well and have all of his films. I was gutted when Sky showed his new series on the arts channel- so will just have to look at youtube clips if i can find them

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