2014 - a cutting back diary

chanie

My name is Chanie, I live in London. I have a partner and two pre-school children. I work full time and Mr Chanie works part time.

I really need to cut down on my spending and clear my overdraft and I really want the help and support of other mum's, which is why I am here.

I'm a bit of a control freak. I am disorganised in some areas of my life, but very organised in others, where I have sat down and made conscious efforts to keep in control.

The reason I need to feel in control is because with working full time, I have very little free time and I don't like the stress that comes with the unexpected. For example, we had a couple of unexpected birthday invites this year. They were fairly last minute, but smug me raided my spare present stash and used generic cards and wrapping paper, all bought at bargain prices. Stress free MSE bliss.

My problem is that I don't get to go to town very often, but when I do, I end up spending money to try and get organized and whilst it saves me money in the long run, it isn't helping my overdraft.

Take yesterday as an example. I was waiting for the MOT on the car, so wandered down the high street with the children. I came across a card shop that was selling cards, 3 for £1. So I spent £4. Normally, I stock up in Card Factory, but these cards were even cheaper (and nicer). Now, I could have gone back to the shop at another time, but I don't know when I would have got the chance.

Rather than wait for the new year, I want to make the effort now, hence the early start.

Lovely MSE mum's, will you join me and help to keep me on track?

mum2one

count me in, sounds a fab challenge xx

Sparecashherewecome

I am trying to get our debt under control so that we can enjoy the things that we have saved to get so I am with you all the way.


Wow just changed my mortgage and energy supplier and I am £200 better off a month!!!!!!!!

pollyanna24

I'm just for joining this. I set myself a budget every month and never seem to stick to it.

Not in debt (cept the mortgage), but at the moment seem to be spending more than what is coming in.

Buying a laptop on Monday probably didn't help, but I have been without one for almost two years and I just thought, sod it, let's buy it.

I'm currently working part time in London, live on the outskirts of London, and am a single mum with two little girls, one in full time school (5) and the other in part time preschool (3).

A large part of what I pay out is childcare, but hey ho this is life for the time being, right? Maybe when they're older and I don't have to pay so much, things will be easier.

asparagus1968

if yoy pop over with your posts to debt free wannabe you will get lots of support and ideas/ advice

Miz_Gayle

Hi
2014 is when I am going to get the budget under control!!!!!!!!!
I have small amount of debt
Which if I was careful and controlled I could be debt free by end of 2014
This is my goal
My main spend is food the reason for this is because I can't cook
I love good food but have no imagination when it comes to organising a meal I look in the cupboard ,fridge ,freezer and see nothing and have maybe just had our monthly shop delivered the day before
Every time I go into town I go to the local supermarket
And spend ££££ on things which we don't need
Does anybody else do this ???? :-(

chanie

Sparecash - well done on the £200 a month savings. Use it productively before it gets swallowed up with living expenses. I had a small pay rise a few months ago and I have no idea where it has gone.......

Polly - my son starts school next year, but I suspect I won't be seeing much of a saving in childcare.

Miz Gayle - I feel the same about food. Sometimes, Mr C and I get really bored of eating the same foods all the time and then we end up getting a takeaway. I quite like cooking, but rarely have the time 'enjoy' cooking, if you see what I mean. We also have 2 young children so have to make food that they can eat.


I have a big challenge tomorrow. I've booked the day off work to do some Xmas shopping. I was planning on going to Westfield Stratford, but I've had a busy few weeks and am rather tired, so I may just stay a bit more local.

Going shopping tends to be my biggest challenge as I tend to buy lots of stuff. I am determined not to.

wrenpuce

Good luck in your Christmas shopping, buy only what is needed. Merry Christmas

savingjenny

The only way I can keep my supermarket spending under control is to do a meal plan for the week and then a list from that. Otherwise I just get tempted by the BOGOFs and I end up spending more even when I am kidding myself that I am being a savvy spender.

thriftylass

chanie wrote: »

Miz Gayle - I feel the same about food. Sometimes, Mr C and I get really bored of eating the same foods all the time and then we end up getting a takeaway. I quite like cooking, but rarely have the time 'enjoy' cooking, if you see what I mean. We also have 2 young children so have to make food that they can eat.

Good luck with your challenge, I will be following.

Re food: If you get take away, do your kids eat with you. If they do, do they not eat pretty much anything you eat anyway? What do you mean you have to make food that they can eat? How old are they. My DS is 2.5. We only get the chance to eat all together on the weekend and he'll just eat what we cook or at least try (I'll maybe just make it less spicy etc).

I don't meal plan as such but do one big shop on a Saturday and buy a variety of meats and veg etc. Throughout the week we choose from that and by the end of the week the meals actually get more creative and deviate from the routine because I have to (want to) make sth nice out of what ever we have left. So I most enjoy cooking Thur and Fri when I usually try new recipes that I found during my lunch break at work.

pollyanna24

I'm finding that my food bill is not as bad as what it could be, but this is due mainly to the fact that my kids are so fussy and so I have about five meals that I just keep repeating. I know this isn't good, but I'm suck in a Catch 22.


They won't eat what I cook, so I think why bother going to all the hassle of a nice meal, so I don't bother, and then I think, well how are they supposed to eat different things if I don't cook them?! Arrggh!


Where I need to cut back on is my personal spends, eek. Just done a spreadsheet where I could see what I have spent pretty much every pretty on this year and it is quite shameful (esp the booze and cigarette bit!). Did the spreadsheet in order to shock myself into being good.