Review your January 2015

Starrystarrynight

My hubby's has done all our food shopping this month and, as he can stick to a list, he's saved us lots! We also managed to keep our monthly gas & electricity usage to just over £90, which we're really pleased with for a chilly January.

DundeeDoll

What a great idea. mmm let me think of 5 things that i might have decided on for january back in new year
1) got back to reading in attempt to clear my shelves a bit. (ahem have bought three more, all 2nd hand and borrowed 3 from library so not cleared much yet but have enjoyed the reading)
2) builders quote accepted and started decluttering house. no start date for builders, probs mayish so plenty of time
3) learnt to make cards at expert crafter friend's house. great fun
4) got roofer in to check over, minor repairs, clear gutters. cost money but should save money in long run
5) went to india for work
will think what i'd like to accomplish february.

pm2326

This month I've...

Ate of the freezer everyday and managed to defrost it today

Paid £1000 off the credit card

Overpaid mortgage by £75

Reduced home insurance by £115 a year

Reduced mobile package by £168 a year

Finished a cross stitch I started 2 year ago

good_advice

I have tried and encouraged family to make a BIGGER effort with loyalty cards, coupons and offers.
I do very well at this hobby and save £'s every week.

This week saved £2.25 in grocery coupon shopping
Husband tonight went to Tesco garage for the clubcard fuel save as last day of January. He saved £3.36.

Last week I had some Boots coupons so spent them in the baby sale.
£2 love to shop vouchers I had kept for ages. From surveys. Spent in an Iceland shop.

skintmum2012

Very proactive for me we have decided we need to move so every penny counts. I have set up budgets rather then just spending. I am food planing sorting out the house. We managed to save a lot of money in Jan due to changes made so feeling very happy now just to keep it up.

Cheapskate

This month I've managed to do the following:

Switched fuel tariff, within same firm, saving about £12 a month, best deal for us.

Empties and cleaned out 'fridge, had to throw away some stuff (:mad:) but a clean slate, so to speak, and I know what's in there!

3 bin bags of stuff to charity shops, 5 bin bags to the tip.

Switched mum's bank account for her, to an interest-paying one, will generate about £600 a year in interest - not my money, but have a nice glow that I've helped her

Also using loyalty cards a bit wiser, and have finally got an NUS extra card (am at uni) - have to pay for it, but I've worked out that I will save the 3-year fee (£32) in less than 6 months, given where I can use it.

Found some lovetoshop vouchers I'd forgotten about, so have £40 I can spend in some useful places.

Got planning approval for some MAJOR work we want to do this spring.

Willowpop

Well I didn't do quite so well as some, but I did ok.

Have been making a 'to do' list each day and making sure I get through it. Have found that adding things that I would do normally, like Empty Bins, and crossing them off somehow spurs me on to complete the list.

Didn't overspend at all from envelope'd budget, in fact I managed to save £25 overall.

Booked trains ready for school Easter holidays so DD can see grandparents. Got super cheap advance fares because I booked it nice and early. Also got rail card discount. :T

Decided this year that rather than say I must tidy up, I have set myself a small area to concentrate on each day and I've found it more manageable. Slowly the house is beginning to look half decent.

It seems I need to go and have a read of the Konmari thread as some of you guys seem to be doing really well on it. Perhaps that can be a 'to do' for Feb...

ali-t

Well done everyone, some very inspirational savings going on.

My January has been keech and I have a serious dose of the January blues. I put on half the weight I lost before Xmas, never see daylight as working so much, have a few low level health issues that are bringing me down and have a general dissatisfaction with life.

On the plus side I have heard that ombudsman have upheld a PPI claim and bank are likely to get back to me with an offer by early march, sofa firm I have been battling with are replacing sofa, I sold a few things on eBay/Gumtree, have been offered a few hours a week additional work and oh is now committed to future proofing our relationship by putting plans in place.

February is going to be the month of reviewing my life plans, time to move from thinking to doing and to make the most of the 2 minutes a day extra light by getting outdoors.

Well done to everyone for their successes

Brambleberry

It is so lovely to read of others' achievements, it helps to nudge me on a bit more, so thank you for sharing

January has been a good month household budget wise. I have got my own personal finances completely under control and now I'm sorting out a small overdraft hangover in the joint household bills (planned expense in the free overdraft, but irritating nonetheless!).


I've managed to lose about 6 pounds, which I ascribe to cooking from scratch a bit more, and the groceries came in under budget.


Best buy was the gift for my little nephew's birthday - I thought a fiver in wilkos for a huge box of jigsaw puzzles was a good deal, until I got to the till and it was reduced to £2.50! He played with it longer than some of his more expensive presents, so good cost-per-wow there

I've got a credit balance with BT, so now finances are a little more tightly controlled, I've switched things around a bit and opted to pay in full monthly, which should hopefully mean two or three free months, depending on their "recalculations" - waiting to hear back on that one.

I realised I can bake a better cake with a hand-beaten batter than using my kenwood mixer - cue awful guilty ponderings about whether it really deserves cupboard space in my home any more...

I have samosaed every single carrier bag in my kitchen - I consider that my crafting for the month!

Here's to February

debbym

Ended December £275 overdrawn thanks to a leaky roof (emergency fund now at zero also) so had to be a little more rigorous than usual.
Audited food in freezer and cupboards and used that first on meal plan.
Made a price book which included not just the local supermarkets but also the discount stores. Even if it only saved a penny I bought it where it was cheapest.
Did packed lunches for DD rather than money for school canteen.
Made sure I used all coupons before they ran out...
Made £20 selling handmade hairbands to other mums at my sons school.
Made another £100 of hairbands ready for the next tabletop sale at the village hall.
Made £35 from Swagbucks
Made £16 from WhatUsersDo
Cancelled the legal protection which was added into our house insurance - we were totally unaware- £40 a year saving even though we were unable to find a cheaper policy.
Used logburner instead of central heating when the kids were at school.
Cheaper diesel across the month didn't hurt either
On the craft front DD has wanted to make a quilt for ages so we have worked together to start her first one, got as far as working out the design and buying the extra fabric needed (only £12 most of it came from my stash).
Result, checked the online balance today before housekeeping from OH goes in. £276.29 credit.:j