Maldives & MSE - not your usual combination!

jtr2803

MMMMM BBQ Chicken and Bacon Stack!

If_My_Pennies_Were_Pounds

Stop talking about food! I'm starving! :rotfl:

Woowoo

I have just set myself a budget of £50 per week for next month, this has to cover food and any going out expenses - sounds a lot, but money seems to flow through my hands like water at the moment!

jtr2803

I don't think £50 a week sounds like much if it has to include food as well! I am desperately trying to cut the cost of our shopping down, OH did a big shop when we got back from holiday which was about £85, then I did one last week for £71 and spent £13 this week on lunch bits and fruit and we still have quite a lot of stuff in the freezer so hopefully we wont need too much this week. I would rather meal plan, makes life so much easier but OH hates deciding in advance what he is eating :mad:.

Got my haircut tonight and am getting mum to dye it tomorrow. Going to have to dig out my spending diary to start from tomorrow too, must keep track of stuff! Might even have an Ebay flurry this weekend, I have got quite a bit bits and pieces in my wardrobe I will clearly never wear again and odd bits hanging around that I am sure I could sell.

Ceniza

Woowoo wrote: »

I have just set myself a budget of £50 per week for next month, this has to cover food and any going out expenses - sounds a lot, but money seems to flow through my hands like water at the moment!

I know the feeling...

jtr2803 wrote: »

I would rather meal plan, makes life so much easier but OH hates deciding in advance what he is eating :mad:.

I hate planning in advance for meals too. Must be a guy thing.

jtr2803

I can't really enforce it either as he does the cooking!

Ah well, in the grand scheme of things I guess it isn't really a big thing, will maybe just have to start writing it down for now!

Kepp

I hate deciding in advance too but by only buying meat that is on special offer etc we keep ours at £30 - £40 a week for the two of us

jtr2803

I still don't know how you do it for so little Becs! Mind you, on the last shop I did stock up on tea bags :rotfl:

I am having the most unmotivated day at work today, just can't get myself going, doesn't help that I really am not sleeping much at the moment so perhaps I will pay my little friend night nurse a visit tonight

Kepp

We are quite strict on breakfast and lunches - only scambled egg for breakfast during the week, although we do have fry ups at the weekend (have to feed my black pudding addiction!) and then fruit for lunch.

Normally meat and vegetables for dinner. I always thought that by eating healthier it would cost us more money but since we've started doing that if anything it's cost us less. (which is annoying in a way as I quite liked my excuse for eating unhealthy food!)

The only other thing we do is never buy ready made what we can make - sauces etc.

Know what you mean about the lack of motivation - seems like it's been the case all week for me! Normally getting close to the weekend perks me up but cause I'm working both days it's not having the desired effect! Have booked a day off for the 5th July so I can go to the dentist and also chill out for a bit. By then I won't have had a day off in about 2 months and I think it's making me a bit strange! :rotfl:

Oh well, night out on Friday at least!

jtr2803

I think you definitely need a day off!! I don't think I would be able to do it, I remember doing some extra shifts at the pub last year over the bank holidays and it was just too much for me

So, payday at last :j.

My bank balance before getting paid was £143 which includes money I took out for car tax so that's being broken down into £113 for car tax and then £30 towards OH's belated birthday meal, which we should be having on Sunday I think.

Can't do much tweaking in the bank at the moment as I set up a standing order to move some bits around while I was on holiday and I forgot to cancel it! Anyway, after amending my little monthly budget spreadsheet to reflect my increased phone bill etc, what I have left after all my bills but excluding petrol is £513.13. I have budgeted £60 per 7 days for spends and petrol which should leave me with around £255 to go to savings. If it works out like that then I will be very happy as that is quite a nice wedge :cool:. I haven't decided what I will do with anything I haven't spent out of my weekly allowance yet, ideally I would put it into savings but I think while I have IFO's (Identified future outgoings) such as my mums birthday, littleuns birthday etc that I will put any left over funds aside for those things. Hopefully that means I wont get caught short when it gets to that time.

At the moment I have the following commitments this month;

Having littleun for the first of Sundays together on the 3rd, no plans yet, we might make some cards and go for a river walk if the weather is nice

Dinner date with an ex colleague on the 4th - Harvester job so £10 max.

Mums birthday is on the 21st, she has asked for me and my brother to pay half each towards a patio set she got for £35 but I will get her some flowers too .

Not too much else going on yet!