Please Stop Me Now....

caledonian_princess

Rosie, as it's your first month with a spending diary you're bound to be a bit off in your estimations. Don't beat yourself about that but if you can already see where you're going adrift then you can start addressing it now. For me it was coffee, a double espresso every time I walked by Costa - I love coffee, love the kick I get from it and an espresso is a nice quick hit. It was also costing me £1.80 a pop. I found my spending diary pretty hair raising tbh and I would never have had the nerve to post it up on here so kudos to you for that.

ROSIEGLOW255

Just been looking at a few accounts online and realised that Grattan catalogue balance is paid off so £16.89 I budgeted for that won't be going out this month and also Sky have applied credits to account so payment will be £14.25 this month instead of £44.34 I budgeted for so saving £30.09 there too, going to use this money and make extra payment to egg for £46.98, it's like getting free money.

Also just been comparing monthly surplus on here with monthly surplus on spreadsheet and was slightly different, realised that this was because husbands expenses were less than expected this week, granted on by £2.86 but paid that to Egg card as well so that's £49.84 paid off Egg card without eating into surplus and noticing any difference in money available, if only I could do it every day. Also looking down budget there are a couple of other payments which I budgeted for that I don't think will go out this month . £9.95 for Which and £25 for washing machine, planning on sending these payments to Egg instead too. I figure I might as well as I budgeted to spend them anyway and if I add them to the monthly surplus figure am more likely to fritter it away on magazines and other useless stuff.

Speaking of magazines just had to stop myself from setting up subscription to a new magazine, i find shopping so hard to resist especially when I can do it from the comfort of my own armchair.

ROSIEGLOW255

Went to go and book a delivery slot with Tesco on Sunday and it's £6 delivery! Think I'll be going shopping on Sunday morning now instead, I know home delivery is convenient but it's not worth paying £6.

As I'm in the frame of mind to do food shopping I might as well sort out meal plan so I can write shopping list for when I go shopping on Sunday.

Got a feeling this weeks shop is going to be a more expensive one as got a few none food items I need to buy like kitchen roll and dishwasher salt, etc things like that always seem to make quite a difference to the cost of a shop.

Monday: Pork & Cheese Burgers with Chips
Tuesday: Chicken Curry with Rice and Naan Bread
Wednesday: Tea @ MIL's
Thursday: Spaghetti Bolognese with Garlic Bread
Friday: Pizzas
Saturday: Sweet & Sour Pork with Egg Noodles

ROSIEGLOW255

Monthly Surplus: £361.05

Unbudgeted Items:

Groceries: £49.91
Petrol: £11.27
Daughters Birthday: £47.24
Cash Withdrawals: £30.00
Extra Childcare: £30.00
M & S: £5.31

Remaining Monthly Surplus £187.32

ROSIEGLOW255

Just done my Tesco order, decided to get it delivered on Monday night instead of tomorrow as it's only £3.50, was thinking of going to Hexham to do shop but would have to take daughter with me so would probably end up costing me more. Will have to nip up to co-op in the morning to get stuff for sandwiches during the week but still think it will end up being cheaper than going to Tesco. Tesco shop came to £36.12 which was a lot less than I thought it would, was expecting it to be £50/£60 this week.

Weekly Budget W/C 1st May 2011

Total Available Budget: £105.37

Groceries: £60.00/£48.11
Childcare: £24.00/£26.00
Other: £21.00/£7.81

Budget Remaining: £23.45 (Paid to Credit Card)

ROSIEGLOW255

Weekly Budget W/C 8th May 2011

Total Available Budget: £105.00

Groceries: £60.00/£0.00
Childcare: £16.00/£0.00
Other: £29.00/£0.00

Budget Remaining: £105.00

ROSIEGLOW255

Well not had a good day so far, think I am so tired have lost any self control. Daughter woke me up at 5 this morning and haven't really had a decent sleep since then, and I am someone who needs her sleep.

So started off by browsing on internet and have ended up buying a new kitchen bin at a cost of £45. It is a Brabantia but is still a lot more than I really wanted to pay for something we put rubbish into. Couldn't resist a half price deal. Another thing is that I ordered a toy for daughter yesterday, she is paying out of her birthday money, and paid delivery for that and have now ordered bin from same place (Tesco) and paid another delivery charge for that and they are both coming on same day, grr wish I'd been more organised and got them together so could have at least saved myself £5. So I decided that to save delivery on food shopping tomorrow would go to Asda this morning just to get out of house and get the shopping to save the £3.50 delivery for food shopping, Asda was so busy couldn't be bothered so am still going to be paying for delivery tomorrow as well as for the little extras I bought when walking round Asda. So that's £13.50 going to Tesco tomorrow just for delivering stuff, what a waste of money.

Well going to draw a line under today and start off a fresh tomorrow.

ROSIEGLOW255

Just rang Tesco Direct and have managed to get 1 of the delivery charges refunded. Wasn't going to bother but then thought if I don''t ask I won't get, and turns out it was worth it. :j

Anyway decided that as well as tackling money probs going to try and tackle house too, so here is my plan for the week to try and get house in reasonable state by end of the week.

Sunday: Laundry/Ironing
Monday: Porch
Tuesday: Kitchen
Wednesday: Hallway/Stairs
Thursday: Daughter's room & Playroom
Friday: Living Room
Saturday: Main bedroom

fireflycatcher

Just wanted to say I've been following your thread and reading it. Keep going.

ROSIEGLOW255

Weekly Budget W/C 8th May 2011

Total Available Budget: £105.00

Groceries: £60.00/£50.87
Childcare: £16.00/£0.00
Other: £29.00/£5.57

Budget Remaining: £48.56