Chanie fabulously looks after her pennies...

chanie

credits

Garden - finally got around to sowing my seeds. I don't save much money, but it is something I enjoy doing. I also want to grow some flowers this year to make the garden look pretty.

Cash for clothes - took a load of clothes to the shop today and got £2!!! It should have been £1.50, but they didn't have any change. I bought the children some smarties and an ice cream from ikea with the proceeds.

Greetings cards - stocked up on cards from a shop near my Mums. I can get a couple of cards for a pound as opposed to £3 for 1 card near work.

Lily_rose_2

Card Factory is great when you've got lots of kids' birthdays (nursery/school friends)....they do 8 cards (I think) for £1.00!!!! They're great cards too....I stock up so I've always got some handy..mixture of boys & girls cards!

chanie

I love Card Factory too. At Christmas, I bought 8 small gift bags for £1, which I was really pleased with, as they were the perfect size for some gifts I'd bought.

3 steps forward, 2 steps back
I don't know about anybody else but I always feel like I make a bit of progress and then have a set back. So, I got my rise this month, but I didn't get my P60, so my student loan is still being deducted. I will get a refund. Eventually. Mr Chanie only worked one day last week, instead of 3 (agency didn't have enough work). But, he worked 4 days this week, so not too bad. Then, our cat went missing and we got a call from a vets who had her and ended up spending £70 on treatment.

I do have a lot to be grateful to but sometimes it feels like such a hard slog. I guess 3 steps forward and 2 steps back is still progress!!!!

credits
1. had a frugal week. I had over spent my weekly play money the week before last so didn't spend anything this week. Next week is back to normal.

2. Ds was given a voucher for a toy shop. As he has loads of toys, I used the voucher to buy a birthday present for another child and will put the equivalent back into his savings account.

3.bought the daily mail newspaper and got the free Lego. DS is a bit too young for it, but I've been stockpiling for a few years now. We have about 30 bags.

4. Went to a conference and grabbed a couple of free pens. I either use them at work or keep them at home

chanie

frugal fabbing

There is a post about fabbing on the beauty boards, which is essentially about looking after your appearance. Over the past few years, I've managed to reduce my spends in this area:

Exfoliation - I use a facial brush as opposed to a product and my skins looks better.

Cellulite - I've let my body brushing slip, but same as above.

Steam clean - I've ran out of my face mask but I keep missing the body shop offers and I refuse to pay full price. I've been steam cleaning, which has helped to unclog my pores.

Perfume - I always have a spritz when I'm shopping.

The stuff I've been doing means I don't have to spend any money on my routine, other than the initial outlay for my brushes. Providing I look after my brushes, they should last for years. Before I had my children, I used to buy Liz Earle skincare, I can't really justify the expense anymore, so I use a cheaper brand but my skin is just the same.

chanie

I'm back and with a new plan

I've decided to bring this diary back to life to help keep me on track with my spending for a few reasons:

1) I'm still at the top of my overdraft and I guess nothing is going to change unless I do.

2) I take my eye off the ball and when I was writing I diary, it made me so much more accountable for my spending.

3) There is always 'something' that we need to buy e.g. stuff at home or stuff for the children. I guess I'm frugal in some ways, but this is undone by not being frugal in other ways.

chanie

Dear diary,

Pay day has arrived and I need to complete my Xmas shopping. Luckily most of it is done and we go to family for Xmas dinner, so I should be okay if I'm careful.

I'm going to try and avoid black Friday temptations where possible. I did a quick check this morning to see if the presents I need to buy are reduced. They aren't, so I'm using this opportunity for a reflective post to keep me on track.

My previous mantra was 'pause, plan, pay' before I made Ny purchases and this worked really well for me, although I've,got out of the habit, so I really need to remember this. Generally, during the working week, I don't spend much money, but at weekends I end up popping out for a few bits and that's when I spend, so I need to make a more considered approach.

chanie

Dear diary,

I'm pretty pleased with today. Although I did buy an Xmas presents, I was pretty good in terms of my spending. I popped into lidl for some top ups and spent £5. I could have easily spent more. Then, for dinner, I used stuff we had at home and even used up some veg which was getting on.

All in all a pretty good day for me an I hope to continue this.

chanie

Dear diary

spent £40 and saved 60p

I've had an afternoon of reflection based on my shopping trip this morning. I'm undecided as to whether my trip was frugal or not.

toiletries
Both me and Mr c needed some deodorant and I spent £11, which is a lot of money to spend on deodorant. It was on offer and I do stock up so it's a saving in the long run.
evaluation - undecided

Xmas presents
SIL wants an Xmas jumper for Christmas and so last night, I found that Tesco had the best prices, so got it from there.
evaluation - pass

extra Xmas presents
Whilst in tesco, I picked up some Xmas socks for presents. It worked out to be under £10 for 6 pairs, but they were an unnecessary spend.
evaluation -fail

birthday cake
We were expecting the in laws for dinner and I wanted to make a cake for pudding. I only needed one ingredient, so it worked out to be cheap.
evaluation - pass

cleaning products
I needed some kitchen sponges which were £1.60 in tesco. I forced myself to walk to iceland so I could get them for £1. This was a risk as I wasn't sure how much they would be in Iceland.
evaluation -pass

I'm kind of annoyed I spent £40, but I'm not going to be too hard in myself as I'm time poor and so in the long run, I have saved. Also, I was more conscious about what I was buying.

chanie

A quick update on progress:

Every penny counts
I bought an Xmas present today and managed to save 90p through shopping around. Part of me thought 'big deal', but I guess if I'm going to manage my money better, I guess every penny counts.

I had a mantra of 'pause, plan, play' before making any purchases and I'd forgotten about this, but it did help:
PAUSE - before making any rash purchases, I would stop and think about what I was buying and why.
PLAN - do I need it now, can I afford it, can I use an alternative.
PAY - if I still need to go ahead, then I pay for it.

Get organised
I have a little notebook which I use to keep my organised. I have my notebook for 2016 ready and I added a new section. Recently, I was buying some crumpets in Aldi, which were about 80p for 6. I saw Iceland had 9 for £1, which is a better deal. I have written them down in my notebook, so that I don't forget to buy them from Iceland in future. I'll do this with other purchases too.

Bulk buying
I want to use my Costco membership more next year. We do buy some bulk items, like washing liquid and rice, but I want to increases the number of items I buy in Costco as a way to save money OR have better quality items for the same price.

chanie

I had a productive day at work and it was also a NSD.

Christmas is nearly sorted in terms of presents, but I have a few spends coming up, which although are minor, I want to think frugally.

Xmas plays for the children
Both children have performances this year. I've decided to get creative for DS, by borrowing an item of clothing and adding a few accessories which will cost about £1.50. Dd needs some tights, which I don't mud buying as she can wear them again

Xmas parties
Both the children have parties at school and nursery and parents are expected to donate. I need to think about what I can take.