My username is an anagram of MoneySavingExpert, I'm not a total weirdo, promise

GroinSexyPavement

Thought I'd jump on the diary band-wagon, in the hopes that forcing myself to 'check in' here will instil some sort of spending discipline in me (even if no one ends up reading it).

Me and OH currently have a rather paltry £1,650 in savings, so first aim is to build this up to 3 month's worth of outgoings (a rather eye-watering ~£6,000...). Once we've got that safety net, we can start to overpay our mortgage. The fence in the garden also needs redoing, oh and then there's that extension we want to build. And we'd quite like to start a family in the next 3-5 years. Which would eventually mean we'd have to buy a bigger house. So, short of a lottery win, we really need to stop the haemorrhaging of cash we seem to experience each month.

I'm keeping a spending diary for April, which has been both enlightening and depressing. I'll post the results once the month is up in case anyone can offer ideas for cutting back, or just fancies being a bit of a nosy parker.

Let the incoherent ramblings commence...

GroinSexyPavement

Well, I'll continue to blather away to myself.

We have both mine and OH's parents coming to visit for the long weekend, which, whilst lovely, is bound to be extremely expensive. I must try to keep a lid on things, but these visits are notorious for takeaways/meals out/excursions etc. It also means that once I finish at work today I'll need to rush around like a mad woman to make the house look presentable, and then do the weekly shop. Must *not* spend more than £70, even if I normally spend that much just to feed the 2 of us and the dog. I assume it's acceptable to serve my visitors Mr S' basics baked beans?

Buffythedebtslayer

Hello GSP !

I did think your name was a bit weird! welcome to the diaries board. I have been here ages but not yet done a spending diary so good on you for that.

and good luck with keeping the weekend cheap, I have already been invited to a night out on Friday which will be hugely expensive....... hmmmm. must make a plan for that!

Hope you get home early enough to tidy up Have you heard of Flylady? she is great for housework.


Buffyxxx

walby1993

Hi GSP,

Well done for taking the first steps and starting this diary as well as your spending diary. You sound in a similar situation to me so I will read your diary with interest!

I know you said that you will post your spending diary up when the month is over but just wanted to ask if £70 a week was your typical shop? If so this seems high. My h2b and I don't have any pets but average at around £42 a week. So even rounding this up to £55 a week for the 2dogs to be included wouldn't be an unrealistic target.

HTH,

Walby

GroinSexyPavement

Thanks for replying both, was getting a bit worried that this'd become the first diary no one commented on

Buffy- great username btw, much better thought out than mine!- I've seen the flylady thread on the OS board but have never ventured inside. Having had a look at it, it seems like a good way to stay on top of things. I know everyone probably thinks it, but I'm sure I have the messiest OH and dog in the whole wide world. Clearing up after them is a full-time job, and I don't need another one of those thank you very much, lol.

Walby- the weekly shop is tonight, so will report back spends later. Unfortunately we really do spend around £70 a week, and only £7.50 of that is the dog so can't blame him. Another £10 or so a week goes on toiletries and household products, so just over £50 on food. I'm really trying to get that down, but it is a struggle. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Hope you both have a lovely Easter weekend!

walby1993

Hi GSP,

It isn't easy to keep it down but I could post/send you a typical weekly menu and shop for us one week if you wanted? We don't buy meat from the supermarket as a rule as its too expensive - my parents have a wholesale membership and we bulk buy our chicken and mince there. Its about £18 for 5kg of chicken breasts which do us for about 14 dinners, can't remember the price of the mince though! If you can't get a wholesale membership card might be worth popping into the local butchers to see if they are any cheaper.

Walby

Buffythedebtslayer

GroinSexyPavement wrote: »

Thanks for replying both, was getting a bit worried that this'd become the first diary no one commented on

Buffy- great username btw, much better thought out than mine!- I've seen the flylady thread on the OS board but have never ventured inside. Having had a look at it, it seems like a good way to stay on top of things. I know everyone probably thinks it, but I'm sure I have the messiest OH and dog in the whole wide world. Clearing up after them is a full-time job, and I don't need another one of those thank you very much, lol.

Walby- the weekly shop is tonight, so will report back spends later. Unfortunately we really do spend around £70 a week, and only £7.50 of that is the dog so can't blame him. Another £10 or so a week goes on toiletries and household products, so just over £50 on food. I'm really trying to get that down, but it is a struggle. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Hope you both have a lovely Easter weekend!

Other helpful hings are the No spend day threads, the Monthly chat thread which is nice and friendly when we are all about and the payment a day thread which certainly focusses the mind!

With the shopping its boring but really look at the price of everything and check you are getting value for money.........like I said boring(and obvious). do you meal plan? cos that might help?

:beer:

Buffy xx

(who is so looking for a distraction from the house work)

xx

Sublime_2

I'm only reading this because you actually created an anagram of Moneysavingexpert!

GroinSexyPavement

walby1993 wrote: »

Hi GSP,

It isn't easy to keep it down but I could post/send you a typical weekly menu and shop for us one week if you wanted? We don't buy meat from the supermarket as a rule as its too expensive - my parents have a wholesale membership and we bulk buy our chicken and mince there. Its about £18 for 5kg of chicken breasts which do us for about 14 dinners, can't remember the price of the mince though! If you can't get a wholesale membership card might be worth popping into the local butchers to see if they are any cheaper.

Walby

Thanks, that would be really interesting to see.

I think we spend a lot on meat, it features in probably 5-6 meals a week. And we probably have too much meat per meal. I might post up one of my receipts and meal plans too, to see if it reveals where the overspend is coming from.

GroinSexyPavement

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

Other helpful hings are the No spend day threads, the Monthly chat thread which is nice and friendly when we are all about and the payment a day thread which certainly focusses the mind!

With the shopping its boring but really look at the price of everything and check you are getting value for money.........like I said boring(and obvious). do you meal plan? cos that might help?
:beer:

Buffy xx

(who is so looking for a distraction from the house work)

xx

Will check them out, thank you.

I do meal plan, I won't tell you how much we were spending before we started paying attention! Looks like we still have a way to go yet though. I think it might help if I bought in bulk more, as I find myself buying smaller packets of things every fortnight. And then there's the £5-10 we spend on coke every week. Need to go into rehab to sort that one!

I feel your pain on the housework, good luck with it.

LittleBoots

Hiya

Welcome to diaryland. Don't worry about responses, most diaries start with people chatting to themselves for a few days then, as you've seen, people will start joining in . Sounds like you had a good weekend . Good luck with your journey x