Tracking a Spending Diet

Cinny91

Sounds like you're doing well! Good on you for putting the hair appointment off too, I know how easy it is to think its a necessity and get it done regardless of money.

As for the 30lb loss it was over 3 months in 2011 (over summer when it's nice to eat veggies!) I ate 1200 calories a day and followed the 30 Day Shred religiously! Will admit I've put 6lb back on since I stopped but I think that's not too bad next to people who do fad diets and put it all back on and then some. I just ate as cleanly and healthily as possible. Only drank water or green tea, cut pop and alcohol out completely. And just did things like boiled baby potatoes with tea where OH would have chips, salad with chilli instead of rice etc myfitnesspal is a great (and free) calorie tracker, if you have a smartphone for the app it's great because you can just scan the barcodes of things rather than trawl through lists searching for ages! It was a completely lifestyle change mind, I don't even know if I'd have the self control to do it again!

squinky

So my weekend was semi-productive, did about 75% of the things on my to do list but not particularly frugal. I had allocated £30 for my food shopping, spent £34; £15 for the birthday night out, spent £10 and £15 for Sunday Lunch, spent £26 leaving me £10 over my perceived budget. Unfortunately I woke up yesterday morning with a fuzzy head and runny nose so spent £6 in Boots on supplies which I am hoping will be money well spent as I really don’t want a cold right now. I am still feeling rough today though which isn’t helpful as I have not been able to go to the gym and have been spending money on taking the bus to work My appetite is a little off too so my eating has been erratic and not very healthy

In terms of the haircut I am desperate for one. I (inadvertently) signed up to the Crazy Clothing Challenge 2013 challenge and I really think having good hair makes your outfits look better and gives you so much more confidence. Oh well, only 16 days until payday!

squinky

I thought this week I'd be being anti-social due to being in the gym but I've really been struck down by this cold so haven't been able to go I was also really silly and popped into a couple of shops on the way home, I see the 70% off and think it's a total bargain! I walked out empty handed...today!
Forgot to say 'thank you' Cinny for the tips, hopefully will start next week

squinky

So I spent some Christmas money on new bedding at the weekend, I think it's lovely but now I really want to redo my whole room now, eeks! Might see if I can get this into the budget somewhere next month after our holiday. Speaking of which I have bought myself a new bikini & a couple of items of clothes too, I'm considering some new sunglasses too. Other than I'm all sorted I just need to get a couple of toiletries & some suntan lotion. I get paid next Friday and am counting down to getting my hair done and also have a big night out planned for next weekend. Am back on the diet and gym routine now which is having a positive effect on my mood

squinky

Bit gutted that it's only the first month of 2013 and I couldn't stick within my own budget. I have dipped a little into my overdraft and have an outstanding amount on my credit card; so far I have overspent by around £80 I need to write some of this off though as a relative was in hospital cue extortionate parking charges, buying nightwear, fruit and magazines etc and we had to look after their cat also which cost us a bit in food and litter etc.

Have a good week with going to the gym and being more productive at work. In terms of the diet I have been eating well and I think this affects the budget also. I need to bit a bit more savvy about my food shopping I think. Also the onset of snow made me panic buy a couple of things we didn't really need...soup, hot chocolate, whoops!

squinky

So this time next week I will be on holiday which I am very much looking forward too although it feels a bit of a long way off at the moment as I have a lot of work to do before I go plus all the usual pre holiday bits & pieces. I am hoping to d.i.y. most of my beauty needs but still need to tidy the house, do all my washing/ironing/packing etc and then go through the ritual of checking it all again in a mad panic. I have completely blown the budgeting this month already despite it being less than a week since payday. Haircuts, presents, nights out plus holiday expenses; suncream, hotel, petrol, parking, travel money. Leaves me with a grand total of £50.50 and still another 13 days until payday when I get back…eeks! I am hoping to make up for it over the next two months as will have no council tax to pay plus am owed a bit of money too. I also didn’t add my full quota of savings this month unfortunately but find it encouraging that I am almost half way there now on my savings target (48%) Hopefully next month when I tip over the half way mark I will be a bit more inspired to save harder.

squinky

On total holiday countdown now... I have all my holiday bits & pieces now so all set!

I am trying to use up all the food we have in and get the house in order before we go. I took a small salad, soup, fruit and jelly as my lunch to work yesterday. Then as my OH was at work I had an evening in doing all my boring chores, laundry and ironing and holiday packing. Gave the house a big clean too as it's nice to come home to not too much mess! Dinner was a 'creative' special; turned some soggy lettuce, pitta bread out the freezer, a tin of chickpeas and a handful of mushrooms into some lovely veggie burgers with the help of a few spices.

I had a hair appointment today which was a total bargain for £50 and a £5 tip Had eggs for breakfast and lunch was another 'creative effort' bacon, courgette & mushroom quinoa.

Tonight as OH is at work again the girls are coming round for some films, we are all trying to be a bit healthier so instead of our usual booze and pizzas I got some pepsi max and microwave popcorn, total £1.88

I am trying not to think about what it will be like when it's over and we are back in the cold UK and I have a mere £50(&50p) to last me to pay day, but as I can't help but think about it I have joined Ninjasavingkat's Ultimate February Challenge to keep things on track! My budget for the month will actually be £150.50 as I already had the cash out for my hair, I am owed some money and am adding an extra £5 a day after payday until the end of the month.

With the challenges set I think I will aim for:
£55 hair cut
£10 airport spending money
£40 food shopping
£25 social
£15 petrol
£5.50 misc
5 spend free days (I'm not totally convinced that these work for me?!)
and to earn £50 on ebay.

So with that in mind I am really happy to start the month with a SFD

squinky

So I’m back in the UK and back at work and my budget isn’t looking too healthy at all. I am doing the Ultimate February Challenge and despite having a healthy sounding £155.50 to spend this month I now only have £14.70 left, whoops! That does include a haircut though but I did do some unnecessary spending on clothes and accessories too. I am also doing the crazy clothing challenge so was pleased that I only spent £21 but got £74.50’s worth of stuff. We don’t really celebrate Valentines Day much so I just got him a £2.50 card and some £1 heart sweets and we had a nice meal in with wine and dessert, all very inexpensive. An unexpected expense occurred as a friend who gave birth weeks earlier than expected but I used my 8oots points to buy a new baby card and gift so all good! Will be having a fairly quiet weekend and week I expect. Got all the usual post holiday chores, photos, washing, ironing etc to sort then will be seeing friend and baby and also getting back to the gym as ten days of lounging and all-inclusive scoffing means there’s some damage that needs repairing! My £14.70 is allocated for food really and I am hoping it will last, I got sent a £4 supermarket voucher yesterday too so that should help stretch it out further!
!

squinky

I am so pleased that I managed to stay out of my overdraft until payday. This month is going to be an expensive one, lots of birthdays, parties and mothers day and Easter all coming up. I have paid back the extra £40 I ‘owe’ to my savings so they are now back on track and I am delighted to report that I am now past 50% complete of my £25k target!

squinky

Well I just about limped through the month again with just 41p to spare

Today is pay day and I have been very busy sorting out all my bills and payments. I am really going to try hard to stick to my savings plan and can’t wait to see how much I have ‘made’ on my ISA this year.

Also I have decided to budget ten pounds a day for my everyday spending. This doesn’t have to spent per day or anything but I think it’s just a more sensible way of looking at it as I used to get upset about ‘five weekend’ pay months being ‘longer’ but actually my time between paydays is never going to be more than 31 days so we’ll see how that works out?!

I have a few things outstanding which are niggling me but I really don’t want to spend the money on just yet:

Dry Cleaning: I have one dress that needs dry cleaning. It is my ultimate little black dress. I really should do it but I’m thinking about waiting for when they have an offer on but I don’t have anything else at the moment that needs dry cleaning…hmmm...false economy?

Library Fine: This isn’t a massive amount of money but I haven’t been back to the library since I returned them penniless as I left my purse in the car and I was unaware that they have changed the lending time from four weeks to three…grrr!

Car Valet: I know that this is something I could probably do myself a bit cheaper but I can’t do it all in the same place and to be honest I really hate doing it. It’s much more difficult when you don’t live in house with a drive way. I really should just pay for this and soon, it’s getting a bit disgusting!

Sponsorships: I think I need to allocate a part of my actual budget to this. I feel really tight for even thinking this but so many people are asking me to sponsor them at the moment, it works out to at least one a week currently and at £10 a time that adds up! I have a few people outstanding who I have not yet donated to.

Happy Easter all!