Reality Check...

milasavesmoney

I have really been trying to cook out of my food stores. I can tell a big difference in my monthly grocery budget. It's ridiculous how much food I have in storage. I have had a hard time cutting back to buying so little after cooking for 6 kids and 2 adults for so long. Anyway, all that was said to say you will be amazed at how long you can cook from what you already have on hand. And it feels so frugal and rewarding!:A

By doing this, you have time to look for meat sales and add to your freezer. I still have tons in my freezers but found a ridiculously low price on boneless skinless chicken thighs and bought a lot. Same thing with pork chops.
I feel very virtuous.:D

monz

Just started reading! you are doing so well x

Trixxibell

Hi reality check,

You are doing really well xxx

Have you thought about leaving your purse at home? I no longer bring my purse with me to work. I bring in my pack lunch and bottle of tap water, I only bring my debit card if I need petrol. Its because I sat down one day and added up how much I spent during work hours or on the way home from work (it's in my diary somewhere) but it was close to a £1,000 in a year! People stopped asking me to give to collections because They knew I stopped bringing money to work. It's hard to say no but not Impossible. I only give to people leaving and even then it's a £1 limit. It also stopped me buying things after work too. Especially when you want something to fill the gap between leaving work and tea time. I save a banana for end of every shift to stop that crave XX

Hope this helps xxx

Fletchasketch

Trixxibell wrote: »

Hi reality check,

You are doing really well xxx

Have you thought about leaving your purse at home? I no longer bring my purse with me to work. I bring in my pack lunch and bottle of tap water, I only bring my debit card if I need petrol. Its because I sat down one day and added up how much I spent during work hours or on the way home from work (it's in my diary somewhere) but it was close to a £1,000 in a year! People stopped asking me to give to collections because They knew I stopped bringing money to work. It's hard to say no but not Impossible. I only give to people leaving and even then it's a £1 limit. It also stopped me buying things after work too. Especially when you want something to fill the gap between leaving work and tea time. I save a banana for end of every shift to stop that crave XX

Hope this helps xxx

I think this is a great tip! Would probably still keep a cc for emergencies though.

note3

Wow you have an amazing freezer stash!!!!

reality_check

Turns out I can't eat frozen chicken...it is sometimes hit or miss, I never could for years and then did a few times recently, but the other day I defrosted chicken and made fajitas...it didnt have the right texture! Had only been in the freezer a few weeks...so I wont be eating anymore frozen chicken! I am fine with any other meat...Well....never had pork frozen and I impulse bought them a few weeks ago so hopefully I can eat them!

Nothing much to report, back to counting down the days to pay day!! Pay day is only exciting for the first few days after and then all the money is gone! Been sticking to my budgets, I did spent £30 on fresh flowers the other day but was the lilies you get in Morrisons for £10 and the bunch is massive, great quality and last 3 weeks minimum. So have lovely lilies in my hall and living room and then spent £10 on 2 bunches of tulips so they are in my bedroom and kitchen. I love flowers, just need someone to buy me them!

Had a quiet weekend, had a few friends over Saturday night for a chinese and wine and spent the rest of the weekend and yesterday giving everywhere a good deep clean, cleaning windows and touching up some paint to freshen it all up etc...I say quiet, it is back to normal, but I just seemed to go out for dinners/drinks a lot with my new "friend" but that's him away back to his Marine camp, only for 8 weeks then he is moving back here to be office based and do training/recruitment. I do not know how all these military wives cope! My situation is obviously nothing compared to theirs, especially as can call/txt as still in England lol but still quite tough!

The no purse idea is a good idea to stop spends coming back and forth from work, i now have limited extra money I can spend now on unnecessary spends as I don't have credit cards so when it's gone it's gone! The sponsors in work I don't have any money line doesn't work as they always say they aren't collecting the money right now, so just need to ignore what everyone else is putting and I don't mind £1/2 a time....

22 days until pay day....too soon to count down - probably!! xx

reality_check

Paid £50 to Barclays today to round it all down to a total of £17,000!! Roll on seeing the next thousand down!

credit cards - £9000
daughter - £1000
dad - £7000

Trixxibell

Well done Reality check your doing well :-)

milasavesmoney

You are doing superb on the cc balance! So proud of your achievement!

Flowers do lift the mood. I see many people on these boards buying flowers.
I'm more of a green houseplant kind of woman. Some of my house plants are older than my grown children. I guess I may have to leave them in my will if they continue to thrive?;)

It just great that you are staying on your budget targets!

reality_check

I can't keep plants alive! I do have herbs in the garden right now and these have survived the longest from previous attempts...I buy them all ready made and potted, so how hard can it be, but mine still die!

Nothing much to report, I am just plodding along. 18 days until pay day....I shouldn't need much food and think I have enough petrol. I am hoping to spend £15 on vegetables until then as def have enough meat and things to make meals from and if i do need petrol will be £10 max. Booked my dog in for a haircut next week so that is £40 - he has more frequent and expensive haircuts than I do!!

Spent £105 on clothes for my daughter the other night, but she got loads. That is what happens when you are 19 and a perfect size 8 and can shop on sites like Miss Guided and can't remember the other ones...these are holiday clothes and she is def more quantity over quality with clothes. Still in the phase where she won't wear the same outfit twice. I used to go to primark and spend £100 and have a whole new wardrobe, but now I would rather spend £100 on one item and wear it to death! Sophie is going on holiday with her dad next week to Portugal for a week and then going to America for 3 weeks so she did need some stuff.

Need to really tighten the purse strings to ensure I don't go into my overdraft. I don't have any access to credit cards (my dad has the 2 and the other I don't know the PIN for). Food, petrol (if needed), dogs haircut and £10 to have my eyebrows waxed and tinted are hopefully the only spends I have coming up. I am going to the theater tonight, but my friend has free tickets and I am driving so won't cost me anything and next week I have a spa day booked but this has all been paid for last year, was a Groupon deal and this is us just getting around to going/them having availability!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever you're doing, I am so glad it is a long weekend due to the bank holiday!! xx