Daisychains Debt Destroying Destiny

Daisychain1

A little bit about me

My name is Daisychains and I really want to clear my debt. I have really fallen by the wayside recently and need to get back on track. I used to be so good with my money but it all seems to have gone a bit pear shaped in the last year or so and now I am in the red. It is not a huge amount of debt but it is getting in the way of me living the life I would really like to live which is that I don't want to be rich but I do want to live a happy life which is financially worry free.

My plan of action

My plan of action will be to tackle one area of spending per month and then carry it on into the next month whilst also picking up another monthly money saving challenge. Therefore by the end of the year I will have reduced my spending in 11 areas.

February will be food spending. To get me started I will begin with the grocery shopping as this is probably the easiest place to begin if I want to make good cut backs. What do people who live in a household of two adults usually spend per month? At present we spend £200 which includes all cleaning products but I really would like to reduce this to £150. Is this realistic or still a lot?

I already have a lot of food in the cupboards/fridge/freezer to be used up without buying anymore other than fruit, veg and milk so this should really not be a difficult challenge if I try my hardest.

Today's mini goal will be to make a big batch of vegetable soup to eat for lunch today and then freeze some portions for later on. I will report back later to let you know I have done it.

So please join me in the month of February whilst I make the first of my cut backs and to see what weird concoctions of food I might be eating!!!


DC1

Daisychain1

To help me on my way I have just asked for some advice on the Grocery Challenge thread. I've already received come great tips and want to say thanks especially to to Bobarella.

Can anyone recommend any other challenges which might help me with my mission, food related or others?

Daisychain1

Day 1 has gone well. No food spending and meals were made from stores. Eggs on toast for dinner and jacket potatoes for tea. Unfortunately I didn't make the soup but that will be done tomorrow.

Have a lovely evening

kindofagilr

Hey daisy

Pleased to hear day one is going well.

Our grocery budget is £60 per week, there's 2 adults and 2 kids, one in nappies 24/7 and one in night time pull ups, our grocery budget inc, nappies, wipes, all toiletries, washing up things, bin bags, food (inc lunches which we take to work) basically everything. We usually spend between £45-£52 a week tho (I use the spare to make overpayments each week)

We used to spend at least £80 a week, one great thing that's worked for us is online shopping, every week I make a menu for the week, then make a shopping list off the menu and I only buy what I need for that week, no extras, and it's enabled me to have stress free shopping (i hated going shopping with two kids one in a pram and having to carry a weeks worth of shopping home) and it's got my spend dowm from on average £90 a week to £50 a week

Everything is home made now where possible, the bread, the pizza dough etc whereas before we would easily spend £6-£8 on frozen pizza for example

Good luck xx

lcc86

Hi Daisy,

Doesn't sound too unreasonable a plan, as a sjngle occupant I spend £100 a month (although I don't include toiletries so some posters have already put me to shame!!).

Good luck, I am subscribing

Daisychain1

Good morning everyone and thank you for the welcome Kindofagilr and Icc86. It's blimin freezing here today so my plan is to stay inside in the warm. I've got plenty of housework to be getting on with and an unfinished sewing project to do as well as making the soup I should have done yesterday.

So last night I sat down and worked out a menu plan to see me through this week until Friday. I have done this by shopping my cupboards to keep this weeks spends to a minimum and the following is what I have come up with. Hopefully by following this plan it should mean I only have to buy fresh fruit, veg and milk.
Sunday - homemade soup
Monday - roast beef
Tuesday - homemade pizza and chips
Wednesday - beef stew
Thursday - cheesy pasta bake
Friday - chicken curry

Kindofagilr - I was reading your post and find it fascinating that you spend about the same amount as me on food per week but you have 2 children and a whole lot of nappies to buy aswell. I admire you and it's made me realise that I can probably do a whole lot better than I am. i have never tried online shopping but this might be the way forward.

I hope you all have a lovely day

DC1

foxyloxy11

Great that your motivated for 2015. I find the snowballing technique works for paying off my debt. Choose the smallest first paying only the minimum off others and throw everything you can at it. Then when its finished move to the next using what was the old minimum from the smallest to throw extra at the next and so on. I know some people like to tackle highest interest rate first but I find this keeps me motivated as you see everything disappearing quicker and you can concentrate on one .

debtfreeoneday

Another one here spending £60 a week with two adults, 4 year old twins and a cat! And I don't usually spend all £60. As a couple pre kids, we spent £40 a week. The ONE thing that made the difference for us in cutting costs was meal planning and sticking to it. We eat way better now than we did when we just bought food without planning.

Good luck - will subscribe

PiggyBankShaker

Daisychain1 wrote: »

A little bit about me

What do people who live in a household of two adults usually spend per month? At present we spend £200 which includes all cleaning products but I really would like to reduce this to £150. Is this realistic or still a lot?

Hi DC1

First of all, well done grasping the nettle! Tackling one area each month seems like a really good plan.

In answer to your question. We are a family of 4 - 2 adults, 2 kids. We spent £196 on our groceries (including toiletries, cleaning, medical) in January. That included 'extra' for pack lunches for everyone every day.

I think you could certainly make savings. Ask yourself if you think you could realistically save 25% in the first month though. It would be easier, and more sustainable, to cut 10% this month and a further 10% next month and so on. But be strict, the £180 budget this month would have to the the maximum - no overspending. If you did go for £150, there might be the temptation to think, 'oh, it was unrealistic, I set it too low, I'll start again next month'.

Only you know how your mind works and what kind of reduction would be realistic. Don't set yourself up to fail.

On a practical point, we find that ASDA is by far and away cheapest for fruit and veg. Even beating ALDI and Lidl. Also, meat is very expensive, there are loads of tasty filling vegetarian meals out there - start substituting.

Good luck!


PBS

mfmaybe

Welcome to diary land.

We spend on average £60/wk for 2 adults, so I'm sure we are at the top end. But I meal plan every day, cook from scratch, rarely throw food out, have porridge for breakfast, make our own bread, don't buy many snacks, and don't feel we eat particularly indulgent meals. But we don't compromise on food - meat and dairy has to be organic, cruelty free etc. We try to avoid products with Palm oil in, only buy pole and line caught tuna. These things are more expensive but for us it's non-negotiable. We also eat a lot, and no we aren't fat, quite the opposite. Portions that friends serve us usually have us snacking when we get home

So the point is, everyone is different. If you are wasting food, eating meat 7 nights a week, living off ready meals etc then no doubt you can save money. But do so in a way you are comfortable with and is healthy, not just to try to match a theoretical target.

Sorry, not normally so preachy. I must be hungry :rotfl:

MoneyMission2015

Hi DC1, I've just started a diary myself after years of being in debt but thinking I'm fine just paying minimums.

I like your idea of focusing on one category per month, I might steal that idea for myself.

You sound focused so good luck on your debt destroying.