Why is there always "something else"

samtoby

Always milk or bread - I live with my DS and OH and they consume these items quicker than anyone else I know!

getmore4less

As said milk freezes quite well so you can get RFQS in smaller pot as back up.

If you stick it in the freezer till is start to go it also keeps better/longer so you can have extra in the fridge that you pop in the freezer every now and then and still have it drinkable.


The reason there is always something(nearly everyone gets them) is because the budget has not developed.

Some things are risk based,
eg. a fridge you only buy them every now and then, so budget for a replacement at say every 10 years. year one you have a 1/10 of a fridge saved up but the risk is low, by year 9 you have most of the money but the risk is higher it will need replacing.

You can do this life cycle planning for everything and over time they stagger so you always have a cash flow than can cope.

you should never get the same "always something" twice unless you don't bother planning better after the first time, you might not get it 100% right but it will be in the plan

FinanciallyUnsavvy

For me the trick is to include these "something elses" in the budget! If you know they always crop up.. then put aside £10 or £15 in your budget for these kinds of spends. They're not unexpected, because they always come up - so prepare for them!

Upsidedown_Bear

I once read that you should have a line in your budget that says "Unexpected bill £50" because there is always an unexpected bill.

Good advice I think :money:

xJOJOx_2

I've started using "what else" instead off going and buying, it's saved me a bomb! Ie no lettuce, I'd add chesse, Mayo or pickle, failing that I'd just have the ham. No milk for cereal I'd have no toast instead. I do this most days so over the week it really adds up and some off the "what else" turned how better than what I originally wanted. I do one weekly shop and that's it.

At the end off last year, my washer, freezer and cooker all broke within a week. I saved up each week to buy new and got by. Hated doing washing by hand but in the long run it worked out best as didn't up my c/c!

Right now by something else list is fairly long but just allotted a small amount to get each week as there is always something else to replace it!

Willowpop

Own_My_Own wrote: »

Milk :mad:

I have been doing the weekly shop for over 20 years and I still never seem to buy the right amount of milk.
We either have 4 pints left over for the following week or we run out before shopping day. :mad:
What makes it expensive, is that I use the corner shop if that is all I need. We have a Tesco express 2 roads away, but I know I will buy more than just milk if I go there. :mad:

Could you not just take a pound with you to tesco, or however much their milk costs, so you can't buy anything else? That way you don'tspend so much on the extra milk.

mummyroysof3

I do my best to stick to a tesco delivery once a week then only pop into a shop once more if bread and milk needed. It's only way I keep spending g down

good_advice

Bread and milk here too!
I solved the bread by keeping some in the freezer.

I shop once a week.
Very occasionally, I get the chance to do an extra yellow sticker shop like yesterday. Managed to get a lift to Tesco and got loads of reduced bread rolls. Half went in the freezer ;0)
Burger in rolls for dinner tonight then. Making the most of what we have the good fortune to have.

mummyroysof3

I wish my freezer was big enough for bread and milk. I have an American fridge freezer which was so expensive I can't justify changing it. When it breaks I'll get tall separate fridge freezers and then put a double cuboard above which will solve a lot of problems here.

PasturesNew

The real issue with "one more thing" is that you're choosing to not stick to your budget. To stick to a budget you have to suffer/go without if you got it wrong... in your case of the ham sandwich and being missing lettuce I'd say that if you didn't buy the lettuce in your budget then you have to recognise that you forgot or didn't have the money .... and now you must eat your ham sandwich without the lettuce as a lesson in budgetting and need/want.

If you just pop out and buy what you need, then it's not a real budget you're sticking to.

It's not as if you've got the lettuce and had to pop out for the ham; having a ham sandwich is perfectly normal/acceptable .... and rather than spending £1 on a lettuce you should have gone without, then thought about your desire for lettuce and either given something else up in the budget next time, or jigged your overall budget to include the cost of lettuce.

That's what real budgetting is about: priorities, going without, doing things differently.....