The October Awakening!

thriftylass

OOh, congratulations to those who are only one pay cheque away from being DF. Exciting!!!! :T

Today will be SFD 21. Payday too so will shuffle my monies around into my various accounts.

There is free listing on ebay today, but only for 10 day listings, so I relisted the 3 items that didn't sell last time.

Tonight we'll have HM chinese and hopefully tomorrow OH will be ok with HM lasagne. We're running low on a few things esp. fruit for DS, no more wet cat food etc. But I hopefully will be able to resist to go to the shops before my planned day, Saturday. Also I want to go alone as that makes it easier to look at prices etc. First I'll go to Tesco, got £12 voucher and a few coupons, so will stock up on things like wipes etc. that are cheaper than in LIDL. Then to Aldi to get the rest.

NinjaSavingKat

Stewby I meant to say THANKYOU for the recipe. I love bready things but have stopped buying bread for healthyness reasons.. these will make a lovely replacment and use up the millet which I have for breakfast and lunch today...ugh!

Shyspender [STRIKE]online is still spending... nice try though! ..; - )[/STRIKE]...see below for proper explanation kindly pointed out by TL as I ramapaged through three different threads without reading properly...:(

thriftylass

shyspender wrote: »

NSK - Quick question, online purchases...do they count on the day of buying or they day the money comes out of the account? or does it not really matter?

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

Shyspender online is still spending... nice try though! ..; - )

I don't think you meant whether it is an SFD. Here's the way I do it. If it is an online grocery order I count the day it gets delivered as that is also the day the money comes out and it is as if I'd gone to the shops. If it is sth like Amazon, I count the day I buy it as I pay it that day (even if it takes a few days to show on the card).

Shady2307

This has been a long month but nearly there. I have totted up my spends and have spent £36.80 less than has come in. This is a HUGE achievement for me as I usually spend more than I earn which when you think about it, is ridiculous! It is not my money!

I am going to work on my individual budgets but have been shocked at how much I have spent on “things” this month. £9.33 on takeaway coffee… £5.08 on crisps… £5.90 on chocolate… £8.44 on fizzy pop…. That’s nearly £30’s worth of stuff that made me feel good at first, but then rubbish! What a waste of money!! I have two vouchers for free coffees that I have saved up for a pre-planned trip in November and that will be my lot from coffee shops this month. Am also cutting out chocolate completely as am giving up dairy for the month. Food budget is going to be stripped right down. Did a big shop so cupboards are stocked up with the staples so will just be fruit and veg to buy.

Thanks to all for inspiring me on this challenge and good luck to you all for November.

NinjaSavingKat

Ah my bad.. sorry..

I would class the spend at the day you click the button to buy as you have already commited topaying the money however I am not a stickler on this and you can choose which way you want to do it.

BUT if you choose to count the day it comes out of the account, then plan your other spends around that day, then the original payment is delayed by two days - then what?

Easier to class the day of purchase as the day you click on the "purchase" button...

If that makes sense...

NinjaSavingKat

Shady2307 wrote: »

Am also cutting out chocolate completely as am giving up dairy for the month.

Oooooooooooh why?? ...are you gonna plan a Vegan lifestyle...:j:j:j....kidding. I am curious though.

Fmess

Morning all, woke up to a lovely surprise. The gold I sent off has been valued and £70.48 has been sent to my account Yay! That means my ccard is below £1900 and my total debt is £56 away from being below £13000

Only downside is that it credited today so I can't use it for my NOvember money making

stewby

Yay!! Glad the recipe is useful for you NSK.


Morning everybody... final day is here and I have survived!!
:j

So... my final update:

spendfree days - 22/20.


food budget: £166.63/£180 (my maths sucks but I have £6.13 in mu purse + £7.50 in my bank so I think that's my total).


food bank donation: £3/£3.


work lunches: 14/14.


beauty budget: £5.00/£10.00.


Soooooooo... It appears to have been successful. Erm... now a bit of a confession.
:embarasse

I have decided not to put my spare money towards my debt and to use it for my holiday instead. I am going with my mum, auntie and cousin to disneyland paris in November and my "old" self hadn't saved anything to spend.
So, I have used my £200 saved this month to buy some euros, and will be using £150 of my November's £400 budget to give me £350 of euros.
My parents have given me £100 worth of euros as a present (they got a heap of money due to some PPI thing) which I am very grateful for.


I kinda think this is a good idea as otherwise I would have been using my credit card abroad and incurring all the charges as well as gaining more debt. I feel quite guilty for admitting it but I had already planned the holiday (we go somewhere every winter) and disneyland paris is really expensive (judging by tripadvisor and looking at restaurant menus). Decembers money will be all on debt though.


Will be back with my November plan...
:eek:

stewby

So.... the month of November is almost upon us and I now have a plan!! It's not a cunning plan, but it's still a plan.

* Documenting and planning:
I have drawn a lot of charts, including my own calendar month (so we can identify our five spend days), meal planners (a weekly meal planner with a shopping list at the bottom for a maximum of 14 items) and a budget list with space to write how much is spent and how much is left.


* Aiming for 25 spend free days:
Wow... so that means only five shopping days. This actually won't be that difficult as I only need to get 20 spend free days. As you may have read, I am taking my mum, auntie and cousin to Paris in November and budgetted holidays are classed as spend free days.


* Money planning at the beginning of the month:
Erm... this one will be tricky as I am generally a "sort things out as the month progresses" sort of person so the idea of sticking to a plan right from the word goes is a bit scary. Petrol costs is one of the main things for me on here so petrol budget is £50.


* Food budget:
Okay, we are going to be strict this month as I am away for five days, we have heaps in the freezer and have lots of meal options available... so... food budget is going to be £120. Fingers crossed it goes as good as I think it will.


* Food bank donation:
Easy peasy and I now have a list of the sort of things they like. So that is £3 (but taken from food budget).


* One outing this month:
I have no idea what the one outing will be but I will figure it out. We have disneyland this month so that will be a lot of outings (all budgetted for though). So will have to have a think.


* Lunch every working day:
Easy peasy and no point in taking money as they don't serve food (well, they do but I won't eat any of it). So that is the £5 envelope not required. (Will put it in my "holiday" pot).


* Stuff to charity:
This seems do-able. I have heaps of stuff that I never use so I am sure I can find 20 things to donate.


* Make £80:
I will probably cheat at this and work an extra shift as it is pretty much the only way I know to make that amount of money in a month.


* No coffee shops:
Woohoo!! One I can definitely achieve as I don't drink tea or coffee and don't have a coffee shop near me. (Closest one is about 14 miles away).


* Beauty buys:
Shouldn't need to buy anything this month as I bought some extras (that were cheap) last month. Budget is £10 though.


TOTAL BUDGET FOR NOVEMBER IS: £185.

So I have £400 budget every month.

£150 - changing to euros for my holiday.
£50 - giving to my dad to save for me.
£185 - budget for this month.
£15 - going into the "holiday" pot.


Sorry for the huuuuuuuuuuuge long post.

Liliyanna

Hi all,

So we've made it to the end of the month and a painful one it's been

We've overspent by about £800 this month :eek::eek::eek: and not on anything frivolous.

The car MOT, Insurance and an unexpected £400 dental bill were the main culprits. Unfortunately this derailed my motivation/enthusiasm and the old Lily made a guest appearance.

I was lucky that I had this money in budgeted saving pots so didn't have to put anything on the ccards but the pots have now been wiped out so its back to square one.

I'm desperate to resurrect the xmas budget so this month is going to be brutal, so the NOvember Challenge couldn't have come at a better time!!

On a plus note the OH seems to be getting more and more into the MSE lifestyle, I caught them checking out Mr T's Everyday range on the iPad the other day with out any prompting and actually offering me advise on how we could make food savings this coming month!!!:T:T

My sympathies to all who don't have their OH on board, I think I would have come unhinged if I was having to drag OH with me kicking and screaming.

Sorry I don't post very often, I will try and do better this month but rest assured I catch up with everyone at the end of every day and feel very much attached to my MSE family, so thank you all for being there for me (even if you didn't know it)

See you all on the November thread....

Lily x x