WTBSEs 'Starting From Scratch' Savings Diary.

JoJoC

I have every faith too Tattycath!

Sounds like you're doing well WTBSE- busy times. Your plans for walks on the beach sound lovely and you're so organised taking a picnic. I always aim to take lunch with us but never seem to have time/ organisation.

The 21st will be here in no time at all. It's only two weeks away! Then you can stash some cash and bulk up your savings

I added £5 to my £ tin today which was nice and added £140 to the savings last night so total is now £1320. Slowly but surely creeping up!

Just worked out how much we'll need to move house and it's looking like £20k would be a nice round number! Quite a way off.,

WantToBeSE

Thanks

I have dropped my food shopping bill down to £70 a wek now, so that's an added £120 a month to save
I also saw an advert for a Saturday morning cleaner which I am going to enquire about. I don't really want to work weekends, so will give it some thought before I enquire.

I cant wait for the weekend, I am already shattered! I am only working until 1pm tomorrow, so that'll be an easy day

Jo, well done for adding the £5 to your pot, every £ helps!

cathybird

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Thanks

I have dropped my food shopping bill down to £70 a wek now, so that's an added £120 a month to save
I also saw an advert for a Saturday morning cleaner which I am going to enquire about. I don't really want to work weekends, so will give it some thought before I enquire.

I cant wait for the weekend, I am already shattered! I am only working until 1pm tomorrow, so that'll be an easy day

Jo, well done for adding the £5 to your pot, every £ helps!

Well done on the food shopping bill, WantToBeSE - I'm hoping to get mine down too. Whenever I read the frugal living thread I'm embarrassed by the contrast between what I spend and what they spend :eek: I'm thinking less meat, for a start - it is expensive, and not that good for you. Not that I want to get my food bill down to the absolute bare bones but it would be nice to be a bit thriftier. You have children to buy for though, so I guess that dictates the choice to some extent? ... There are some things kids will and will not eat, I guess. Well when I was a teenager there were certainly things I was picky about

tattycath

JoJoC wrote: »

I have every faith too Tattycath!

Sounds like you're doing well WTBSE- busy times. Your plans for walks on the beach sound lovely and you're so organised taking a picnic. I always aim to take lunch with us but never seem to have time/ organisation.

The 21st will be here in no time at all. It's only two weeks away! Then you can stash some cash and bulk up your savings

I added £5 to my £ tin today which was nice and added £140 to the savings last night so total is now £1320. Slowly but surely creeping up!

Just worked out how much we'll need to move house and it's looking like £20k would be a nice round number! Quite a way off.,

Well done on the savings Jo. :T that's brilliant.

tattycath

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Thanks

I have dropped my food shopping bill down to £70 a wek now, so that's an added £120 a month to save
I also saw an advert for a Saturday morning cleaner which I am going to enquire about. I don't really want to work weekends, so will give it some thought before I enquire.

I cant wait for the weekend, I am already shattered! I am only working until 1pm tomorrow, so that'll be an easy day

Jo, well done for adding the £5 to your pot, every £ helps!

Very impressive reduction to your food bill WTBSE. :j
I'm in the grocery challenge this month and we are aiming for £400 for the month-then hoping to drop it down and down until it's about £250 a month-hopefully eventually.

tattycath

cathybird wrote: »

Well done on the food shopping bill, WantToBeSE - I'm hoping to get mine down too. Whenever I read the frugal living thread I'm embarrassed by the contrast between what I spend and what they spend :eek: I'm thinking less meat, for a start - it is expensive, and not that good for you. Not that I want to get my food bill down to the absolute bare bones but it would be nice to be a bit thriftier. You have children to buy for though, so I guess that dictates the choice to some extent? ... There are some things kids will and will not eat, I guess. Well when I was a teenager there were certainly things I was picky about

Cathy, I'm trying to cut mine down. I'm hoping to learn when the best time is to go shopping for the yellow stickered items. If I can buy more reduced stuff, it will be a great help.
We did once get a couple of gammon joints and some chicken breasts from a guy in a refrigerated van at a car boot. It was cheap and very nice.
When I was growing up there was no being picky. We either ate what was given to us or we didn't eat! My kids are quite good. They will eat most things. 2 of them have even commented that there is stuff they don't like but if they mix it with something else they can't taste it.

TM6

Thanks to the lovely peeps over on the Frugal Living Challenge 2014 I am trying a free trial of YNAB - You Need A Budget.

I have really enjoyed putting all my spending info in and as a result I have had another serious money makeover day today.

Just imagine the conversation to myself....what on earth was I thinking of when I signed up to that :eek:

Many phone calls later and direct debits cancelled :j

More money for the savings pot :dance:

tattycath

TM6 wrote: »

Thanks to the lovely peeps over on the Frugal Living Challenge 2014 I am trying a free trial of YNAB - You Need A Budget.

I have really enjoyed putting all my spending info in and as a result I have had another serious money makeover day today.

Just imagine the conversation to myself....what on earth was I thinking of when I signed up to that :eek:

Many phone calls later and direct debits cancelled :j

More money for the savings pot :dance:

That's great TM6 :j :j

WantToBeSE

cathybird wrote: »

Well done on the food shopping bill, WantToBeSE - I'm hoping to get mine down too. Whenever I read the frugal living thread I'm embarrassed by the contrast between what I spend and what they spend :eek: I'm thinking less meat, for a start - it is expensive, and not that good for you. Not that I want to get my food bill down to the absolute bare bones but it would be nice to be a bit thriftier. You have children to buy for though, so I guess that dictates the choice to some extent? ... There are some things kids will and will not eat, I guess. Well when I was a teenager there were certainly things I was picky about

Hiya Cathy I am just starting by eating what I already have in the cupboards/fridge freezer. I have 3 drawers in my freezer; 1 for fruit and veg, 1 for meat/fish and 1 for processed stuff.
Luckily, the 1 with meat/fish in it is almost full so I am not buying anymore meat for the time being. I agree, it'll reduce the food bills. From what I can remember, I have Chicken breast, chicken drumsticks, thighs and legs. Chorizo, diced beef, prawns, smoked haddock, cod and 4 squares of minced beef.


Luckily the boys aren't too fussy. The only thing that neither of them will eat is mushrooms. Fair enough I say, they aren't generally picky so that's OK. I was awfully picky as a kid and my mum took me to the doctors several times due to my lack of appetite. I lived of chicken and carrots for about 3 years at 1 point
It was only when I hit 20 years old and had my 1st child that I decided I had to grow up and eat better.

tattycath wrote: »

Very impressive reduction to your food bill WTBSE. :j
I'm in the grocery challenge this month and we are aiming for £400 for the month-then hoping to drop it down and down until it's about £250 a month-hopefully eventually.

To be honest, its just a trial reduction at the moment. I used to feed all 3 of us for £40 a week when I was on JSA and struggling to pay off debts. But I wasn't able to buy a lot of fresh produce. For someone who tries to keep to a healthy diet (choc hobnobs aside!) it wasn't very nice. So if I feel like I cannot buy enough fruit and veg and healthy snacks on £70 a week then I will have no qualms in upping it to £100 again. I can afford £100 a week, so don't see the point in sacrificing our health for it. We'll see I'll keep you all updated

TM6 wrote: »

Thanks to the lovely peeps over on the Frugal Living Challenge 2014 I am trying a free trial of YNAB - You Need A Budget.

I have really enjoyed putting all my spending info in and as a result I have had another serious money makeover day today.

Just imagine the conversation to myself....what on earth was I thinking of when I signed up to that :eek:

Many phone calls later and direct debits cancelled :j

More money for the savings pot :dance:

I am an old fashioned woman really, I have a notebook that I write down my weekly budgets in. I write my income and outgoings every week, my meal plan and what I need to buy in the supermarkets. Then also my savings amount for that week.


So today is the 1st week that I haven't had my tax credits weekly. I have paid for petrol and food from my wages this week and still need to get gas and electricity.
Tomorrow is Child Benefit day. I'll use some of the money and go to the beach for the day with the boys
I need to think about picnic food. I have pasta, so we could have pasta salad or some sandwiches, fruit and drinks. I also need to pack up lots of snacks as my boys eat a LOT! I am thinking cranberry scones or cranberry cookies and dried fruit and nuts. That should keep us all going until we get home!

WantToBeSE

JoJoC wrote: »

I added £5 to my £ tin today which was nice and added £140 to the savings last night so total is now £1320. Slowly but surely creeping up!

Just worked out how much we'll need to move house and it's looking like £20k would be a nice round number! Quite a way off.,

I am so sorry that I missed this! Well done Jo!! That's a great amount :j :beer: