NST: February: Back to Basics.

FunBrum

Glad your back home Bob. I know it's hard with a young family, but try and take it easy. Get hubby to pamper you!:A

XSpender congrats!:j

Apple hugs to you and your other half:grouphug:

I had a bad day yesterday. Was feeling a bit fed up....always a bad idea to go shopping when feeling like thet!:o
I only planned on browsing, while my DD1 shopped, but Evans was closing down and had a mega sale. I don't usually shop there but they had a size 14 flowery holiday trousers, £32 reduced to £8. I bought it out of my clothes budget so not too bad and they were a bargain!:)
Then off to Sainsbobs to pick up as few bits for the month. It came to £15.97 but £2.50 of that was something I picked up for my sister and I took £2.50 in nectar points so just £10 .95.;)

Why do I feel so bad for spending even a small amount?! Crazy!!:eek:
Well today is deffinately a NSD.
I must get my focus head on! :money:

The_Only_Girl

dolly84 wrote: »

I've no idea how your poor DH got through that.

Mine were worse as a child, I missed out on a lot. Now they are less frequent and I know what the triggers are - cigarette smoke, bright sunlight, dehydration and very strong raw onions. The one I had this week was less than a full blown one and was caused by Aunt Flo - she brings one every month bless her.

Hi dolly I am also a migraine sufferer. It used to be so bad, sometimes lasting for 5-7 continuous days without let up. I nagged and nagged my doctor until finally I was referred to the headache clinic and the consultant put me on a preventative/prophylaxis tablet which I need to take twice a day. My migraine episode has since dropped significantly. They also prescribed a nasal spray to be used when I feel an attack coming on and it usually nips it in the bud quite quickly if used at the right moment. The only problem is when I have a long stint of no episodes I forget to take my prophylaxis and just remember them again when an episode occurs. My fault really. My hubby tries so hard to make me more compliant with my medication so I don't suffer much. Might be worth asking your doctor about the prophylaxis too

Bobarella

dolly84 wrote: »

Today is non uniform day for DD at school so £1 spent there. It is for the British Heart Foundation and in addition to non uniform they are selling donuts for £1 (the Crispy Creme ones) I thought this was bizarre - a big lump of fat and sugar does not gel with that charity. Also I don't think school should be encouraging this type of eating. I didn't give DD the money for it but she may well have taken her own - I didn't ask as we have already fallen out every day this week.

Tonight is hm pizza night. DD is at a swimming gala from 8pm to 10.30 pm - great. Me and DH decided not to go and watch as DS is not taking part, it is boiling in there and DD didn't ask if she could take part before she signed up. It would have been £2 for us to go and watch so we've saved money too.

That does seem an odd choice for the school. Surely even home made small healthy treats made by the PTA would have been better. Sounds like things are a bit tense Chez Dolly?

Bobarella

dolly84 wrote: »

FunBrum wrote: »

Glad your back home Bob. I know it's hard with a young family, but try and take it easy. Get hubby to pamper you!:A

XSpender congrats!:j

Apple hugs to you and your other half:grouphug:

I had a bad day yesterday. Was feeling a bit fed up....always a bad idea to go shopping when feeling like thet!:o
I only planned on browsing, while my DD1 shopped, but Evans was closing down and had a mega sale. I don't usually shop there but they had a size 14 flowery holiday trousers, £32 reduced to £8. I bought it out of my clothes budget so not too bad and they were a bargain!:)
Then off to Sainsbobs to pick up as few bits for the month. It came to £15.97 but £2.50 of that was something I picked up for my sister and I took £2.50 in nectar points so just £10 .95.;)

Why do I feel so bad for spending even a small amount?! Crazy!!:eek:
Well today is deffinately a NSD.
I must get my focus head on! :money:

Thanks FunBrum. I am exactly like you on spends. Things I can justify, stuff for my children, expensive coffee out, er that's about it. My mum and one of my sisters are always treating themselves to small items because they deserve it. And I really think that's where the psychological factor comes in. I'm a saver. A planner and I see short term pain gives me best options long term. They are more butterfly types who need beauty in the short term to feel happy but have zero savings and little structure for the future. We are all different.:)

Bobarella

XSpender wrote: »

Our offer on the house has been accepted at last!

Congratulations!

Apple Muncher - sorry to hear about your husband's redundancy

Apple I didn't see that this had become official. So sorry..

jeanangeo

A few years back my mum had migraines so bad that she would puke whenever she tried to sit up. She was bed-ridden for 5-7 days at a time for nearly a year. She also went through every test going but never got a diagnosis. I don't know how people are supposed to cope when they are suffering from something so debilitating with no explanation....

jeanangeo

Hi all, I'm late to the party but glad to be back. I wish us all the best progress for our goals this month

Food: I started honing and toning last month but I still have some supplies left. I have enough dry goods (pasta, rice, pulses, flour) to last the month. I only need to purchase fresh items e.g. milk, bread, butter, vegetables. I have some tinned tomatoes in the cupboard so I am going to force myself to use these up before I buy more fresh. I already get my fresh vegetables from my local market so I cannot make reduce costs here. Ah, that's a lie. I could walk to the market instead of paying for parking . I will try this. I have already downshifted bread and butter to ASDA's own cheap version. ASDA don't do a SmartPrice version of wholemeal bread but they do SmartPrice butter. I couldn't see any difference in the ingreditents or percentages when I last looked but the SmartPrice version was only 5p cheaper so I didn't bother. I will check again. I could downshift bread if I could stand white bread but I hate it. To be honest, I don't really like factory made bread period. I am contemplating starting to make my own bread as of next month but I'm still researching this topic...

Every penny: All my bills including my mortgage OP have been paid already (apart from Netflix which annoyingly goes out on the 9th). The only money left is just enough to cover supplies and petrol. The only way I can waste money is if I deliberately decide to take it out of savings or put it on a credit card. I was able to resist doing this last month so I am fairly confident I can do so this month.

Buy: I will figure something out for this. My preferenace is a food bank donation of actual food the next time I go to ASDA.

Recharge: To lift my mood I like to watch movies (Cineworld card, Netflix). These are subscriptions so they are not free. However, they are an incredibly cheap night out. When I'm not working ridiculous hours, I go to the cinema and/or have friends over for movies 3-5 times a week. It's enough of a social life for me. I will also commit to having a clear out. I have some filing to catch up on and a cupboard full of "stuff" that I clearly don't need because it has been in the cupboard for two years.

Use what you have: I'm on this. I am still getting through my last Costco bulk buy. The only household supplies I need this month are loo roll and dishwasher tablets. I have already downshifted dishwasher tablets to ASDA SmartPrice and loo roll to ASDA Shades 24 roll mega pack. I could further downshift loo roll to SmartPrice but I've read some pretty bad reviews. However, one can never be sure until one tries so I may give it a go...

Avoid: Aaaaah, want vs need. There are so, so many things I want. A Dyson V6 Absolute, a new car, a holiday, a new sofa with triple electroic recliners, a new 60" Smart TV, another new 60" Smart TV for my bedroom and a new TV bed to go with it, a garage conversion, a loft conversion, a new bathroom, a downstairs shower room, new carpets, my whole house decorated, a new kitchen and a fire pit and fresh block paving for my garden. I have been resisting buying stuff I want since I started paying off my credit cards a couple of years ago. Now I'm done with the cards and am paying off my mortgage. Only 5-6 years to go before I can perhaps buy something off my "want" list

Reduce your outings: I've got this covered. I only go "out" to the cinema and I don't spend money when I am there. I have gotten very good at saying "No" to outings out that cost money.

Yellow stickers: Um, what should I be using these for.....?

I am going to maintain two counts this month:

OBD (On Budget Day)
This is any day where I either didn't spend or I stuck to the list. There is no reason why I could not get 29/29 for this target.

NSD (No Spend Day)
I'm going to count these the same as every one else does i.e. not count designated petrol and shopping days. I have moved all designated shopping and petrol days to Saturdays so I should be able to achieve 25 NSDs this month.

thriftylass

jeanangeo wrote: »

Yellow stickers: Um, what should I be using these for.....?

This is the term we use for the end of day reduced items in supermarkets, as they are usually marked down in price using a yellow sticker = YS

XSpender

Our Chinese was actually £12 according to DH who went to collect it. There are only 2 of us eating it as DS had eaten at DMIL and is only 5. This was for 1 portion of sweet and sour chicken balls in batter, 2 egg fried rice and 2 chips. DH has the balls, rice and chips and I have rice and chips and we share the sauce.

As a coeliac eating Chinese is a big no-no and I am suffering today so it serves me right for eating it.:(

Hoping for a NSD but it is DH birthday so he may want something different for tea. I am planning on HM pizzas as DS has requested them but will check that is OK with DH as he may have changed his mind and it is his birthday. I have a gammon joint and plenty of chicken in so could easily do something else and have pizzas tomorrow or Sunday. DS and I are also making a GF jam and cream sponge for a birthday cake.

Tomorrow won't be a NSD despite my forward planning as DS looks like a chimp and needs a hair cut and I need some wonder web as the hem has come down on a work dress I need for next week. I also need to take some work items to the dry cleaners. Everything is budgeted for.

My focus this month is exercise and better eating. I still haven't done any exercise this month and I am supposed to be running a race tomorrow which I will probably not do, I am just not in the right head space for it.

I have eaten more regular meals this week but as I am eating at hotels most of next week I will try and make better choices. I have booked hotels with a gym on Tuesday and Wednesday so will take my gear and try and do at least one swim/run. It depends on what time I arrive at the hotel really.

Bobarella

Jeanangeo - I loved your list of wants there..amazingly organised! Also lolling at your yellow sticker comment. Maybe we can use them for people we don't like. As my naughty son tries to do to me, stick them to my "behind" when I'm not looking the amount of times my bottom has proclaimed golden delicious (false advertising)