September Support

FacelessNumber

Hi everyone!

I have been browsing around the forums over the last few days and thought we could use a challenge / support thread here in MFW!

My idea is this - we give our monthly goal which will ultimately help us in our MF quest, and use the thread to track our progress. The goal can be anything - it could be getting a food budget down, overpaying x amount this month, getting those items on ebay finally, learning new recipes, meeting a savings target. Literally anything you want!

Anyway I hope everyone else thinks it is a good idea, if not I'll get back in my box

To start with - my goal for September is to average £40 a week for food shopping (leaving £50 out of my budget to go towards an overpayment) and also to add an extra £50 to my savings pot in some way or another. I might add small weekly goals as well to keep me focussed, will see how it goes.

Hope a few people join me :beer:

FacelessNumber

1. FacelessNumber to spend only £200 on groceries, leaving £50 for an OP, and to make £50 extra for savings.
2. muddywhitechicken to get the grocery budget under control (£267.50).
3. SeriouslySeekingtoSave to OP £1000 onto 2nd mortgage, to only have one 'spend money on food day' per working week, and to finish the bedroom.
4. Rola_cola to get stuff listed on ebay.
5. tootoo £200 budget for groceries.
6. RevolvingDoor OP £400, finish bedroom, only buy two takeaways.
7. Welshlassie Make £50 on ebay.
8. Gillybean Don't touch debit cards!
9. Calfuray
10. lamarsi Spending only on petrol and milk
11. misscousinitt Grocery budget £200

muddywhitechicken

I'll join you FacelessNumber!

September is going to be the month I finally get the grocery budget under control

My budget will be £200 + £67.50 (for the 1/2 lamb I have already agreed to buy)

MWCx

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

Hi Faceless :wave:. Well you can put me down for:

1. Pay off at least £1000 onto my 2nd Mortgage by months end
2. Do no more than one day from my five day working week as a 'spend money on food' day. Five out of Five would be better.
3. Finish my Bedroom!

Rola_cola

May I join?

I've boxes of stuff that I need to list on eBay, it seems a good goal to do it by the end of September. Waiting for a free listing day but I think I might have to just go ahead and start listing.

FacelessNumber

Hi muddywhitechicken, SeriouslySeekingtoSave and Rola_cola

Glad to have a few people on board I decided to work on the groceries this month as it's something I have tried on and off over the last year. We are definitely spending less but I want to really make sure I'm not wasting money on food. So meal planning it is! It's definitely made more difficult by the fact that I HATE food shopping.

The other kind of goal related to food is to buy less takeaway / meals out etc. We probably average less than one a week anyway but I have a bad habit where if I'm tired, had a bad day at work etc then I don't want to cook and I would like to break this cycle a bit!

Now my budget month runs from the 25th and for my first weeks shopping I spent £42.27 so reasonable so far, and that included a massive jar of coffee for a fiver so hopefully well on the way to a good grocery month

tootoo

Great idea.

I can't believe its almost September though!

Im on the groceries too. My freezer is full so surely I have plenty of food! My plan is to use the freezer as much as possible and spend as little in the shops! Hopefully I should be able to get by on £200 this month.

FacelessNumber

Well it's now September! Generally an expensive month for me with OH, mine and MiLs birthdays, plus a niece due to be born...

Will have to buy spme milk today, but otherwise I don't need to go food shopping til about Wednesday, so nicely on target so far Like I said I'm counting my money stuff from the 25th as that's when I get paid.

For this first week my aim is to get some ornaments on ebay, I've taken the photos so will try and get those done today, have only been meaning to do it for about a year!! :eek:

FacelessNumber

Hi tootoo

I think food bills are a big area people try and save in as it often has more leeway than all the other bills! Have you read 'A girl called Jack'? Her blog is a lot about eating for less cost, very worthwhile reading!

tootoo

Hi FN

Yes I have, some great recipes on there. I must get round to trying them.
I recently put some lentils in a batch of chilli and dh turned his nose up. He then declared it was one of the best chilli's he'd eaten I made 5 1/2 portions from a 500g mince beef so it works out very cheap! I still have 4 1/4 portions let in the freezer!

FacelessNumber

Worked out my MF date as January 2032 this morning, assuming I keep my monthly OP the same and my interest rate stays the same. That is already 5 years less than the original term! And I will recalculate it regularly so I can see how much I'm saving.

Anyway we went out for food last night and I think I am going to add that into the food budget, I don't normally. So will make my personal challenge a little harder!

Edit: I also finally got 9 ornaments on ebay last night and one already has a bid ok it's only 99p but still. Starting working towards the extra £50 for savings!