The Ultimate February Challenge

kerri_dfw

Argh I canne believe how late I am to the challenge, sorry. Please count me in NSK. I have £20 a week to spend on petrol, £20 a week personal money, £20 a week for the farmers market (although we only seem to spend £12 try getting that out of the cash machine) and £30 a week for groceries (although we now seem to shop fortnightly).

I would like to say a massive thank you for the previous thread, although I spent *cough* £700 *cough* on beautiful cats for the rest of the month we did stick to our budgets and were able to buy a takeaway on Friday as we had £30 leftover from the grocery budget

The OH and I are sticking to our £40 a week each, £20 of which goes on travel each. We're not spending ridiculously anymore and I have you to thank for that. We did have another HUGE argument on Saturday about what happens when he starts earning as he was seeing it as him not controlling his finances by us both paying into our joint account, but I think he is now aware of the fact that this isn't me controlling it but us both taking control

We're hoping to overpay my cc by at least £500 this month, fingers crossed for this. I'm going to try for the 20 SFDs too

NinjaSavingKat

Kerri Kerri Kerri you are IN!!! Welcome!!!

capricious

ok so the weekend wasnt as MSE as I had hoped

Sunday was a SFD which so far gives me 2 and today shoudl be one as well.

Saturday however wasnt, I had a basketry course booked for the day which I really enjoyed and made a smashing basket (even if I do say so myself) all the refreshments were included in the day which was good but sadly at the end of the day they asked if we wanted to buy and willow/tools to take away with us, and I caved so Saturday was an unexpcted spend of £53

I will aim to get several baskets from the willow i bought and the basket I made I will be giving to my parents with a few bits in as a hose warming present....

thriftylass

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

Thrifty is being thrifty - lol! Well done on a £120 bid. That's amazing!! £50 challenge = SMASHED!! Even better that OH is getting interested.. more hands on deck the better!!

Well it was spread over 6 items. One went for £52 that I thought would even sell. Show you, eh :rotfl:

karmachilovething

Checking in after the first weekend - two spendy days and two SFDs (including today), sig updated with social and food spends.

Not much to report, other than I am feeling particularly positive today. I thought after all the spending I did on the weekend that I might have done some silly things. But I plugged all the numbers into my spreadsheet this morning and it's all good :T I think I'm getting the hang of this!

In control and loving it!
KC

mayfair1985

Afternoon all

Checking in with the sig updated. I'm not hanging my head in shame as it's all planned and paid for, and well, sometimes, that's just life. As long as it's not on the credit card and tohse numbers and moving down then i'm not going to be upset. And we had a corking weekend Happy days!!!

So SFD number 2 today, shouldn't need to spend until Saturday now!

Just regarding the Asda thing...

We Asda because it's the closest. And sometimes we have a trolley full of ''rubbish'' and no fresh produce. The reason for this being that the fresh stuff comes form the market. So you'll see a couple of freezer bits, some pasta, maybe some meat, bread, biscuits and crisps for the hubs and CHEESE, sometimes 2 or 3 different types, sausages... I often think to myself, 'What must this look like?'. It's all green and white smart price stuff He always says don't worry, no one is judging you by what you have in your trolley........

karmachilovething

My old housemate used to call our local ASDA "the place where dreams go to die!" :rotfl: That's not to say that he didn't bug me for weeks to go (I was the one with a car) and stock up on frozen carp when we went!

Mayfair, I'm similar to you; veggies come from market/box delivery, meat from market or butcher and then eveything else from the SM. Even though I keep a pretty healthy diet and rarely buy crisps, fizzies chocolate etc. it does mean you end up with a basket of dairy produce and carbs. There's no way to get around that looking weird/terribly unhealthy!

niksyg

Oh no - look at the Asda debate I've started now!!

Mayfair there is a difference between buying your extra items at the supermarket and having a big trolley piled high with ready meals, crisps, cakes, fizzy drinks and all things nasty and processed!

PurpleJay

Hi Everyone.

I am just back from a lovely (planned) pub lunch out with my friend. Very nice food, just sandwiches cheddar, pickle and watercress with chips, a beer and a hot chocolate. I spent £13.00. She picked me up as I am still not able to drive and it was great to get out of the house. It is really windy out there today and I am told more snow is forecast for tomorrow so I am not going anywhere if it does!

I have a possible curry night which I haven't budgeted for and had forgotten but weather permitting I shall go. It is on 13th Feb so an early confession and the chance to plan for it.

One of my new years resolutions was also to try and catch up with friends more. I am going to make sure I do something at least once a month. It is so easy to let time slip by.

To join in with the supermarket debate... I tend to go where is convenient or cheap! Morrisons is my closest and I am happy enough with them. We also have a coop who are great for a few bargains but generally more expensive. I have been using Sainsburys quite a bit as they have been sending my £12 of £60 vouchers again I do like sainsburys but again they can be a bit pricey without the voucher. I rarely go to asda but sometimes get an email with free delivery so do an online shop. Same with Tesco. I used to live near a big Tesco but now it is occasional online shops only, usually if they send vouchers out with the clubcard points, although I do use the express over the road.

I don't mind Aldi and Lidl but they don't have the range of stuff. I usually end up topping up elsewhere. I have been recently trying more of their products though and am happy with the results. I did some price comparing between Lidl and sainsburys a few months back and Lidl were noticabley cheaper.

I also peer in people's trolleys I hope if people peer in mine they will see a fairly balanced mix most of the time. I do sometimes think what it looks like to the person behind and usually think, yeah, it's ok lol!

This morning I topped up my sainsburys gift card. I get 5% off from work and had some cashback to use so it came to just over £74 for an £80 top up. I don't count this as a spend until I do my shopping. I also have a £12 voucher valid 10th to 16th Feb so not planning to go until then. We will need milk before that and maybe mushrooms (a staple in our diet) but hopefully that is about it.

Do you ever look at peoples stuff and think about their life? I sometimes think, oh they must be planning a nice meal in. You know, wine, cheesecake, fish and veg! Sometimes you see the person with 10 sliced loafs, some melons and some lemonade and wonder what they are up to lol! It all brightens up my day

Time for a cuppa. The boy is being picked up by a friend tonight and hubby will be back sometime after 4 and will get him sometime after 5. Wonder if he will be back to watch an episode of The Killing with me in between - it is gripping stuff!

Kat, I am going to resurrect my MFW diary and will have a look at Abundant's. Thanks for that. I do find it motivating to see how others are doing stuff.

My meal plan is looking something like:-

Saturday - Rice
(curry, chilli, risotto)

Sunday - Gravy Dinner
(quorn sausage/roast/fillets/cottage pie with potatoes and veg or stew)

Monday - Pasta
(tomato and veg/bean/bolognaise/pesto and veg sauce)

Tuesday - Potato/eggs
(potato and cheese bake/potato and onion pie/ fry up/omlette)

Wednesday - Pizza/freezer

Thursday - Gravy Dinner

Friday - Pasta

I am going to type this up and put it on the fridge with the various options. That way, if hubby is doing tea, he will know where to start!

So, off to make Pasta sauce

poodlegal

Ooh PJ whats potato and cheese bake and how do you make it? Sounds like something cheapish and filling that the kids would like!