2014 - a cutting back diary

steelee_uk

Miz_Gayle wrote: »

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 ???? :-(

I could've written this post! Our family should be able to save money, have a small emergency fund and not have to panic too much each month - but I'm in charge of the money and every month (around this time) I get my knickers in a twist cos we've overspent and are going to struggle for the rest of the month. I don't overspend on any 'luxuries' it all seems to go on supermarket trips & buying (myself - eek there i've said it) junk food at the local shops. I have no idea how I manage it but meal planning doesn't seem to work and I end up in the supermarket every other day and cannot seem to come out without having bought extra's which can be anything from cleaning stuff / toiletries / stationary / clothes etc I have a real problem with this! :embarasse

pollyanna24 wrote: »

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

Snap - though, again, it's because I just fritter money on stupid little things all month.

pollyanna24 wrote: »

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 ......

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.

How did you do this? I've tried keeping a spending diary before but just end up getting caught out as I become to embarrassed to write everything down - or else there are a few days where I can't/don't update and then I forget (esp when I don't have a receipt).


Anyway I'm 36 and married. I've never been too great with money, but always felt fairly ok with my money situation. But I am now starting to get a panicky feeling that I'm going to end up in a financial mess by the time my kids are older and expecting expensive gadgety gifts (I have a DD - 2 and DS - 6).

2014 is the year I will tighten my pursestrings and try to be accountable for the money I spend!

pollyanna24

steelee_uk wrote: »

How did you do this? I've tried keeping a spending diary before but just end up getting caught out as I become to embarrassed to write everything down - or else there are a few days where I can't/don't update and then I forget (esp when I don't have a receipt).

I literally keep every receipt until I get to update my spreadsheets.


If I am not given a receipt, I make a note of it in my phone with the date that I spent that money cos otherwise I would forget.


Takes a bit of training doing this, but then you just get so used to doing it, that it becomes second nature.


I could try sending you a blank version of the spreadsheets I used if you like (might take me a while to blank it out if that makes sense).


My spreadsheets are in two parts. I own a house with my brother, so we have a set amount going into the joint account. So I have my spreadsheets based on joint stuff like mortgage, bills etc.


Then I have my separate spreadsheets which is all my spends, my personal bills, stuff for my children and pets etc.

chanie

steelee_uk wrote: »

I've never been too great with money, but always felt fairly ok with my money situation. But I am now starting to get a panicky feeling that I'm going to end up in a financial mess by the time my kids are older and expecting expensive gadgety gifts

This is exactly how I feel. My children are 3.5 and 1 and the 3 year old is starting to get cabin fever at the weekends. We aren't on the breadline, but cutting back will allow us to afford more treats.

We need to recover from the maternity leave we had in 2012/13. This is happening slowly, but I think we can do it a bit quicker.

pollyanna24

Well, I'm getting there with the meals.

I have sorted out the days I have to cook for the girls for the next few weeks (admittedly this isn't very many as I'm working a lot, but hey it's a start!)

My new recipe meals (planning on one a week) are:-

Monday is slow cook chicken cacciore (or something like that)
Next Monday is some kind of sausage casserole that I found the recipe for.
The following Monday is slow cook chilli beef

I have all the ingredients I need for the first two meals and the meals in between that I have to cook for them and I have the next Monday's meal planned already, but will be able to get the ingredients for them the next weekend the girls' dad has them.

Decided that my new meal would be on a Monday as I don't work Mondays (also don't work Fridays, but my eldest is starting Rainbows soon and it will just be too rush rush as Rainbow time is 4.30-5.30 on a Friday).

dingdongsaving

I usually post on 'old school' threads...What's For Dinner and the Grocery Challenge, but if you ladies would like 2 threads like that here I bet lots of mum's will enjoy chatting with other mums and seeing what everyone eats and manages to spend/cook as the weeks and months go by.

I plan a list of 7 meals and make my shopping list around that and what's in the cupboards/freezer and what I need each week. I also have a separate list of things that I'll need in the next few weeks so that I can just keep an eye and get them when they're on offer (Persil, Comfort, Finish tablets, Bloo etc. so that I can get the kind I want but at the best prices).

There's 3 of us (expecting number 4 in March), 2 dogs a cat and a guinea pig and hubby and I both work full time.

We have spreadsheets for our annual spends that we've been keeping for 3 years now (2014 will be our 4th) and we plan everything that comes in and out and have an "emergency" column to cover unexpected things (2013 that was a new washer, dryer and poorly doggy and guinea pig and an unexpected car-fix).

By keeping track we've managed to save over £3000 a year. This is mostly by cutting back on food waste. We don't eat or grab a takeaway weekly (or more than that!) just because we can't be bothered/can't thinki of what to cook, and by planning food it means we eat a good variety of meals...we have a good 30 meals that we cook on a regular basis even with working full time.

If you're just starting out on this financial journey, you'll be amazed at how "in control" you'll feel in just a month or 2...and you'll be able to see how much you can save each month and year for things you didn't think or dream were possible.

We now have money direct debited for our pension and into our son's ISA ready for him to go to uni one day, overpay our mortgage most months and manage an August holiday and treat long weekends to Thomas Land/Lego Land etc. that our son loves...ALL things we never dreamt we had enough money to do.

In reality we are lucky and have good salaries and were just wasting so much money on food that we couldn't see the wood for the trees.

Good luck to everyone! xxx Take care! xxx