children, cross-stitch and chocolate. Chickywiggles debt-free diary

chickywiggle

feeling very guilty - keep forgetting to record what i have spent etc but one week behind has rolled into 2 weeks behind and now I can't find all the receipts.

Will try harder from tomorrow.

In summery tho we haven't done tooooo badly - £100 on the credit card which I have paid straight off today on hubbys pay day.

Really looking forward to the next few months tho as I know there's not a lot of Christmas shopping left to get which means £600 disposable income this month. PLUS we have had nearly £500 tax rebate between us so considering buying a new corner sofa in the new year sales and putting what is left over into the holiday spend fund............... just got to remember to bank it.

right back off to try and find the best deals on modern warfare 3 and assassins creed revelations for PS3.............
............. or mayb go to bed.

Flat_Eric

chickywiggle wrote: »

feeling very guilty - keep forgetting to record what i have spent etc but one week behind has rolled into 2 weeks behind and now I can't find all the receipts.

Will try harder from tomorrow.

In summery tho we haven't done tooooo badly - £100 on the credit card which I have paid straight off today on hubbys pay day.

Really looking forward to the next few months tho as I know there's not a lot of Christmas shopping left to get which means £600 disposable income this month. PLUS we have had nearly £500 tax rebate between us so considering buying a new corner sofa in the new year sales and putting what is left over into the holiday spend fund............... just got to remember to bank it.

right back off to try and find the best deals on modern warfare 3 and assassins creed revelations for PS3.............
............. or mayb go to bed.

Its very easy to lose track. I am trying to record every (food) spend I make this month in my cashbook and also on my spreadsheet. I still manage to lose the receipts though and have to guesstimate until the spend has been debited from my bank account. I have a clear pencil case in my handbag which contains a pencil, my cashbook and my receipts (when I actually put them in there!) I am also keeping a running total to help me rein in the spending....

I visit the local convenience store at least once a week - receipts aren't given unless you ask for them and i also get annoyed now when $ainsbury$ and C00p ask you whether you want one? if you don't have a receipt, how can you work out whether you have been overcharged or know what you have spent ?

chickywiggle

OHHH that sounds like a good idea FE.

I always forget to count things I have bought online cause i don't physically have a receipt.

chickywiggle

Week 17

GOT to try and stick to this £100 a week and am going to make a real effort to report it again.

Have done a big shop (well over 2 stores) that should see us covered food wise until the end of January (including most of the Christmas shop).
It's come in at around £200 (will detail below) which I don't think is tooo bad if you are working on spending £50 a week so allows for that bit extra for top-ups.

Targets:

Food shopping - top up = £20
Baby shopping = £10 (incase I need to get food)
Cleaning = £0
Personal care = £0

Misc = £20
Impulse buys = £10

Days out = £0

meals out/ takeaways = £0
Clothes = £0
Presents (birthday/ Christmas) = £100 (last bits)

Total available to spend = £160


~~~~~~~~~~~
W/C 10th December:

saturday - pork steaks
Sunday - chicken pie
Monday - gammon and egg
Tuesday - turkey steaks
wednesday - golden drummers
thursday - sausage and egg
friday - fishfingers

chickywiggle

Asda Shop:
mostly either asda own brand or smartprice

Christmas food (i.e. wouldn't normally buy) (£11.34)
1 Sausage Meat Flavour Stuffing Mix
1 Hovis Extra Wheatgerm Crackers
1 Breadsticks
1 Cream Crackers
1 Water Biscuits
1 Profiteroles
1 Cheese Straws
1 Sausage & Bacon Wraps
3 Cadbury Milk Chocolate Tree Decorations
1 Chocolate Rudolph & Crème Filled Milk Chocolate Red Noses

Food (for 6 week main meal plan + snacks/ brekkie/ lunch) (£85.10)
2 butter (baking)
1 Wafer Thin Turkey
1 ham
1 Corned Beef Sliced
1 Smoked Ham Thin Sliced
1 chips
1 Choco Balls
1 Choco Snaps
1 Choco Hoops
1 Potato letters
8 Hot Dogs
2 Hash browns
1 Ham & Free Range Egg Salad
6 English cheddar - mature
3 Warburtons Farmhouse soft white loaf
1 Marmite
1 Oranges
1 Cloves
1 Parsley
1 Sage
1 Mint
2 Dried Mixed Herbs
3 Tomato Puree
2 Breaded 100% Plaice Fillets (4)
1 sausages
3 Back Bacon
2 Carbonara Pasta Bake
10 Batter Mix
2 Dumpling Mix
4 Smartprice Pork & Beef Mince
2 Potatoes
1 Tomato & Herb Pasta Bake
1 Tomato & Bacon Pasta Bake
1 Fusilli Twists
3 Bolognese Pasta Sauce
1 Spaghetti
1 Eggs
3 x 3 popcorn.

drinks (£17.77)
1 Instant Coffee
1 Tea Bags
1 Lager
2 Orange Squash
2 Apple & Blackcurrant Squash
2 Lemon Squash
2 Cherryade
4 Cola
4 Lemonade

baby (£38.78)
2 Bottle and teat brush
2 x 50 (approx) nappies
6 Baby Wipes
2 Follow on Milk
2 (x2) dummy

household (£14.60)
3 Febreze Set & Refresh Apple Spice
1 Kitchen Towel Rolls (6)
2 Washing Up Liquid
1 Washing Powder

chickywiggle

Am going to give up the spending record for the last couple of weeks (and the next week) and make a new start in 2012, hopefully with no christmas pressies/ extras etc to buy this will be MUCH easier. Am going to use FE's receipt file and recoding which should make this easier.

Ohh I had to laugh when I saw this receipt storage book for nearly £11.......... have found cheaper since but even so..............

I want to save as much as possible so our family holiday in March can be amazing (rather then a "no you can't have an ice cream we need to watch the money). Am taking the boys to a Haven camp like I used to go to when I was small in the hope they will have as much of a fab time as I used to.
**note to self - must book the train tickets as soon as they become available to get the best price**.

Flat_Eric

chickywiggle wrote: »

Am going to give up the spending record for the last couple of weeks (and the next week) and make a new start in 2012, hopefully with no christmas pressies/ extras etc to buy this will be MUCH easier. Am going to use FE's receipt file and recoding which should make this easier.

Ohh I had to laugh when I saw this receipt storage book for nearly £11.......... have found cheaper since but even so..............

I want to save as much as possible so our family holiday in March can be amazing (rather then a "no you can't have an ice cream we need to watch the money). Am taking the boys to a Haven camp like I used to go to when I was small in the hope they will have as much of a fab time as I used to.
**note to self - must book the train tickets as soon as they become available to get the best price**.

Merry Christmas Chickywiggle :xmastree: :xmassmile :rudolf:

I was doing well this month with food spends but the last week I have been a bit lapse in keeping track and writing in my book and extra spends for xmas haven't helped. Not sure if I shall pick up or start afresh for the New Year.

I have seen that receipt book a few times and have been tempted..... but what does an envelope cost or some of those poly pockets in a folder ? Earlier in the year, I visited a local town with a friend and we amused ourselves browing all the quaint little shops. One of these shops had this receipt book in but someone had it in their paws and I asked if i could borrow it because the copy they had was open so I had a nose and decided it wasn't worth the price tag so put it back down again. I think the lady I borrowed it from had been intending to buy it (there were sealed copies available) but my borrowing the sample copy from her seemed to change her mind and I don't think I was very popular with the sales assistant!

chickywiggle

lol FE - theworks also had a similar one called "the cross stitch organiser" or something - it was a really silly price too.

chickywiggle

And a Happy New Diary..................

chickywiggle

And so.................
Back to Week 1!

A target of £50 a week (boo) - this has to include food (as my wages have gone down by £100 due to my drop in hours, also tax credits will go down with DS1 getting free nursery hours).
It's definatly gonna be a challange that's for sure!! Not really sure what we are going to eat once this has run out - may need to dip into savings.
Am trying to sell baby stuff we no longer need (made £60 this weekend) but could do with the rest selling for what I am asking.


Targets:

Food shopping - top up = £20
Baby shopping = £10
Other shopping = £10

Days out = £0 (from now on will have to come out savings)
meals out/ takeaways = £0 (if any money left at end of week)
Clothes = £0
Presents (birthday/ Christmas) = £0 (from now on will have to come out savings or be made/ recycled)

Total available to spend = £40


The majority of food shop is done for the next 5 weeks