Fiscal Fast – 7 days no spending (at all)

craigywv

:T

AlwaysHappy wrote: »

JackieO I love your posts, and really like the idea of the Happy cash - sounds a fabulous idea!!!! I was always brought up to have an emergency fund - a flee fund as I called it, something that nobody knows about but enough to get you out of a tight spot. Well, when my son was little his Dad swung him around dangerously and I fled the next day with what I could carry and what we were wearing, and how I was grateful for a little bit of cash. Its amazing what you can do on a very small amount of money - I think I had £250 which had to buy car seat, cot etc etc, glasses, pans, well - you get the picture!! I never want to be in that position again - and hopefully wont be. I do like the idea of your happy cash though - just a little treat every now and again does you the world of good!!!

:Twell done you for getting out of that situation!!! and i hope you got over it and your little one too:Tmy mum always says the same have a few bob put away for incase you have to get somewhere fast and you will always be reassured you have it put away.:)

[Deleted User]

My Mum always said pay all your bills that you can, and with the rest divide between food, heat,light etc but always have some 'Happy Cash' even if its only enough to buy a cream doughnut with.It suprising how better you feel even with a 'tiny treat' Years ago where I lived in the east end of London it was called by a lot of women 'running money' basically cash that they OH's didn't know about in case they drunk it away (quite often when they worked at the Docks)Lots of women would try to keep a tiny stash of cash for emergencies.We had one neighbour who lived in our street whose OH could never understand how she got the kids shoes as he always kept her short of money poor soul, but she used to go round cleaning houses after the builders had finished them. I think she got 2/6d a house and my Mum used to keep it for her in an old National Dried milk tin tin at the back of the larder.

As kids we were sworn not to say a word to anyone about the tin on pain of my Mum's wrath.I think my Mum was all in favour of women's lib as she hated the way some of the neighbours OHs treated their wives. My Dad would have shriveled up with embarrasment if he thought my Mum had to hide cash from him,but he knew about her 'happy cash' money and thought it was right that women should have a treat for themselves.I think she was the only one in the street who had a proper coffee pot, and her treat was fresh coffee.To this day I too love fresh coffee and any excuse and on goes the perculator :)

lisakay_2

well girls, i have been MIA and not doing well with ff'ing! My dearest friend gave birth to her first baby on monday:D and although I had most of her present ready i had to add a few little bits. I had already bought a pack of nappies on the last shop and a cute blanket, teddy and some baby sponges from the pound shop, but i wanted a bar of johnsons soap to go in there too, well i searched and nowhere seems to sell it any more. superdrug, asda, tesco, wilkinsons, QS, B&M, £1shops...nothing.
so i ended up in peacocks and spent £8 on babygros and vests instead, an expensive bar of soap, lol! worth it though, i parcelled it up in a wicker basket and celophane yhat i had in and it looked gorgeous. my friend (and her mum, babys nanna) was very impressed. but then I had to spend "2.50 to park to go and see her. she made me so broody:o.

and on top of that it's easter holidays and the girls are eating me out of house and home:p tomorrow is the easter egg hunt on the park, so that will be a grand sum of £1 each:rotfl:
today was a nsd though:j and i freecycled a load of strawberry plants i cleared from the allotment and bagsed a pallet to use in building my new shed.

i need to sit down tomorrow and come up with a meal plan and activity plan that will keep me and the girls (and hubby when he's home) fed and busy until a week on monday when its back to school/work.

forever_saving

I have just been shopping, spent £69.34. I would like to think it will keep us going until Sunday. I still haven't stocked up really. Just kind of replaced what i used up last week.
Chicken curry from the freezer for tea tonight. The single portions i have frozen are now enough for all of us. Will do rice to go with it.
Hope everyone has a good day.
FS

calicocat

Hi folk,today will be a NSD but yesterday was a bit disastrous,friends came round so ended up buying wine and ciggys,also got grapes,fish fingers and some oats to make some granola (granola will last a week easily though). Also got easter eggs.
However 5 out of 7 days I didn't spend,which without this I would have done. I am deffinately going to do this again,might even start after easter as still have loads of food in the freezer which really should be eaten,and can't think of any reason I HAVE to spend money on,and this will keep more money in my "happy cash" pot as it is now called! What a lovely name for it.
Thanks for all the inspiration everyone,and good luck to those still doing it.
I will be back,and still reading the posts:T

calicocat

Oh,and lisakay,do you skip dive in just skips outside people homes or do you look in shop bins? My ex did this all the time at our co-op and got told to stop (not sue why) and a girl I was on a course with all her furniture was out of skips. I'm just not sure if I can legally go into the co-op bin? But I got loads of boxes of washing powder that were battered but perfectly fine.

calicocat

Oops..I'm prob not meant to ask that on here am I.sorry,still getting used to rules.

firesidemaid

bought a few bits yest - salad and essentials, milk, bread, butter, yogs etc.

boiled up all the eggs and had salad last nite and will have again tnite.

OH had a paddy in the supermarket:mad: and to cut a long story short, we didn't buy potatoes - so i think it will be sausage cass from freezer with couscous tmrw nite.

used up the last of special k this morning. got the cheerios to get through next. i want to use it all up so i can start having fruit & yoghurt for b/fast as i eat way too many carbs;)

have one confession to make, bought 2kg of 'loose' walnut whips from a local AF-type shop for £2.99. there are loads in there and they are very sticky:eek:

lisakay_2

CC: I have never plucked up the courage to go rummaging in a shop bin, and all those near me are locked up round the back of the shops anyway. No idea as to the legality of it????!!! I did see a documentary once on freegans, who live entirely on stuff from bins/skips.. That would bring the Fiscal Fast to a whole other level:rotfl:. I tend to knock and ask as well, if it's clear which house the skip belongs to. have recently had floorboards and pallets towards my 'new' shed. I got my daughters raleigh bike off freecycle, dumbells and a mini trampoline from a skip and today i've swapped a bagload of strawberry plants for a stack of timber (also for the shed).

total spend for the day was £2. the kids had a lovely couple of hours hunting for clues for the easter egg hunt at the part and taking part in crafts. we took a picnic on the lotty. i'm pretty chuffed that for being out of the house from 10-5 we only spent that much.

I can't believe i only went shopping last weekend, it feels like there's nothing in the house. I keep opening cupboards and grumbling that there's nothing to eat.
There is, I just seem to be lacking the motivation to come up with ideas and cook. I'm getting to bed early tonight in the hope that I'll wake with renewed energy and enthusiasm!!!

tomorrow would be my normal shopping day, so i wont be going shopping, but sorting out my cupboards and freezer, avoiding the kids chocolate and then getting my spuds in at the lotty. Happy Easter and happy FF'ing xx

calicocat

:rotfl:not sure I would have the gutts to do it either......it is however now making me curious to know whether they are locked around here tho,didn't used to be. My ex was a "bin monster",mainly to feed his horses....but he also fed himself I'm sure,anything he offered me I would have to check the date,and never really ate at his. Tonight would be a good day to do it too,with the shops shut tomorrow,but I'm already in bed.