NST July - Own your choices

juliejim

Evening All

1. This month I want you to have a good think about what your biggest financial failing is. The best way to do this is to go to your bank records and work out what patterns emerge. It might be that you start off with good NSD intentions but fail to plan meals properly and so end up with 5 trips to a supermarket per week instead of 1. Or do you draw money out of the cash machine and then fritter it away with nothing to show for it?
You then need to tell us all here what your weakness is and how you plan to address it.

My weakness is sales and also food shopping.

2. This month I want you to set your own NSD target, but would hope for most to say 5 or higher.

I'll go for 15.

3. We are 6 months till the end of the year now. What decisions did you make back in January and how have you done with them so far? If you've gone off the rails, tell us now how you plan to sort it out. No more vague hopes for better futures the way to success is tight organised planning.

I planned to have a lot more paid off my debt but in the last 10 months DH has been rushed into hospital twice, once with appendicitis and then he had to have his gall bladder out. He's now off with problems with his knee so money has been very tight as this has been 17 weeks in total on SSP. He's currently signed off until the 1:8. This has also meant that my EF is now pretty much non-existent!

4. Most of us have an idea of what perfection looks like. Don't be scared to visualise what that is for you. Tell your fellow turtles what you want from the future and how amazing it will be!

To have a decluttered house, to be DF and happy!

5. Choose to get active. Can you leave the car at home completely and cycle or walk to work? A lot of our behaviour is habitual so challenge those negative reasons for not choosing a more active life. Worried you will be late? Set the alarm 30 mins earlier.

I want to get back into swimming once a week and making sure I do at least 7000 steps to get my Bounts points. My steps have gone way down since DH has been off as he is walking the dog rather than me. I also need to keep an eye on what I'm eating.

6. Consider doing more for yourself. Do you need to pay £10 an hour for a cleaner when taking up a Flylady routine will mean your house is clean and you get a free work out. Or why not consider cutting your partner or kids hair with clippers & putting the saving to debt?

There is no way my DH or DS would let me anywhere near their hair!

7. Report in daily with your updates and tips for others. Cat hit gold with her frugal daily frugal tips idea so do keep those coming if you have them.

Not very good with frugal tips but I will try and update daily.

8. Choose kindness. There are many people out there who need our kindness. Find ways throughout the month to make those around you happier some how.

I do my best although I do keep telling the children at school that I'm mean and horrible but they tend to just laugh!

Not a lot to report today although we have been to tea at my parents' house (usual Friday family event) so free meal plus I brought leftovers home.

NSD no 1 today.

Hope everyone's having a good day

Jue

apple_muncher

EE - hope you get better quickly. Sounds v nasty.

dizzyblnd

Hello turtles. Scored myself my first nsd of July. Woohoo! I'm aiming for 15 this month as last months aim of 20 was far fetched. So 1/15. Took lunch to work n other than that tried to stay away from the rain. I swear it's rained for months on end. Where is the summer sunshine???

WelshKitty85

Hi everyone!

Just a quick check in to report that today has been a spend day - all planned and justifiable though

Will be back tomorrow to check in properly and catch up.

mothernerd

Evening turtles. I have written the challenge questions down and will do my best to answer them once I have considered them. Not totally organised yet but have written down my spending.

It has been a very spendy day. Went to Bob's new favourite shop (Iceyland) and to the supermarcado this evening.

I have spent
£35.36 on food (at least £5 of this went in the foodbank collection)
£5.50 on travel (2 taxis but original plan was an anybus ticket £5.20)
£2.50 extras (bought a big issue)

Other spending this month. I am taking DS1 and his fiancee for a meal next week. I suggested it when the house sale was going through and it has now been set up. I am paying and have no idea how much it will be. However it is 3 years since we last went for a meal and quite a while since I have seen her (DS1 calls for his parcels) so I must make the effort. I will learn to be sociable if it kills me. She is a lovely girl.

I am not going to count days when I spend on building work (now have an estimate of £450 from the roofer but he can't do it until late September/ early October) or painting/ diy bits as this is all covered by a separate pot and I have little control of when it needs paying out (I am not going to leave the last 10% of a room unpainted because the can ran out). Door man not got back in touch yet. Lots for me to do (oh joy).

The other thing I want to spend money on is a small stock cupboard. There are several reasons for this:-
1 We never had enough food when I was young and I 'panic' if I have bare cupboards (not a lot but it doesn't go away).
2 I have been ill (not 100% fit) in the past few months and would like a store especially as we head towards Winter so I don't need to go shopping or pay a premium price by using the nearer shops.
3 Reading the prepping and preparing for Winter threads. Having only had the money to buy what I needed for so many years I would like the security of having a little extra to hand.
4 Reducing my reliance on certain SMs as I only 'need' toiletries and tinned goods from them - can find other goods cheaper elsewhere but don't want to spend my life shopping - so bulk buy certain goods.
5 Uncertainties over future income (may drop in the next couple of months so would like a safety net). I have already paid two months Council tax.

I have decided to allocate £100 to my store cupboard. Ideally I will be buying things at bargain prices which have a long shelf life plus items I don't buy very often. I will keep a separate list and 'pay' for them when they come into use.

Earlier in the week I bought gel things for washing clothes - went to see if there were any of the 1/2 price ones left. There weren't but I bought some of the older type reduced plus one pack of own brand ones.

I have bought 2 large packs of cheese (will chop and put in the freezer) and 2 large packs of toilet rolls (they were delivering) at £5 each - one has already been included in my budget as it will be started this month - and a supply of my favourite low fat cheese spread and only Iceyland seems to stock it now. I have a stock of soap and toothpaste (but didn't buy extra shampoo even though they were on offer as it seems to last nearly a year).

I did find some of the tinned pulses at Tessimos (East End brand chick peas, butter beans, cannellini beans and black eyed beans all reduced to clear at 5 for £1 - world food aisle) but the tomatoes were sold out.

Other store cupboard items I have bought include a large bag of brown lentils, wholemeal flour, porridge oats, UHT milk and tinned fruit. I have spent £72.58 of my £100.

In between shopping I visited my mother for several hours. Unusually, especially on a Friday, there were no other visitors so we could talk properly. I made tea for them and then walked home (including the terrifying bridge) as the two taxi firms I phoned had waiting times of an hour and a half hour respectively - the third one didn't even pick up the phone.

Today I am grateful for seeing a pony (no idea why a small girl decided to take her very small pony into town - probably no-one specifically told her not to, but it was very joyous), for a lovely rainbow all across the car park and for having a fridge full of salad and yoghurts and bananas by my bed (so I can eat them with my morning pills when i wake up).

Fmess

Morning all

I wish I could lie in but as soon as I see the sunshine I'm wide awake.

Yesterday was a spendy day - cinema, chips, a drink and perfume. I have been waiting for my exam marking money to come in so that I can replace my favourite perfume and buy a new pair of trainers. It arrived yesterday so I got the perfume whilst in town. It was very expensive but I only buy it every couple of years and usually ask for it as a birthday or Christmas gift.

Today I may spend again as I'm on the hunt for the trainers. I've had really sore feet for months and I need to buy some decent shoes. I've found a make I can fit my wide feet into and am heading to a discount store today (in town I found the perfect pair but can't bring myself to spend £57!!)

Apart from that it's more exam marking, a dog walk, some slow cooker cooking and I will change the bedding.

Hope you all have a good day.

apple_muncher

We are up with the sunshine too, fmess - and with dd coughing through the night, ugh. Shame the sunshine doesn't last very long.

Today is dd's school fair, so I shall trot along there to set up my table later. I'll take food and drink - as I cannot leave the table unmanned, and I cannot eat the food they sell anyway - and do my best to flog more bunnies!

Bobarella

Morning All

It is interesting to see that the food shop or overspending on food generally is a common theme among the group. Has anyone tried shopping with only a set amount of cash instead of taking a bank card?
Or doing days where you actually leave your purse at home entirely. Best way to not spend!

Its been great to read everyones visions and motivations. Are you doing something however small every day to reach those?

Florence great tip. That is exactly how supermarkets work. They lure people in with offers & then hope we wont notice that the costs of other items are higher. Challenging that is the best way to beat them. After all that is how we used to shop, the butcher for meat, our parents would have known what a good price was for x cut or joint, then onto the other small shops looking for best price and quality in each.

Mothernerd Good tip on freezing cheese there too.

Bobarella

apple_muncher wrote: »

We are up with the sunshine too, fmess - and with dd coughing through the night, ugh. Shame the sunshine doesn't last very long.

Today is dd's school fair, so I shall trot along there to set up my table later. I'll take food and drink - as I cannot leave the table unmanned, and I cannot eat the food they sell anyway - and do my best to flog more bunnies!

Good luck with the fair Apple. Sorry your daughter had a bad night. Sending you all the coffee.

Bobarella

Fmess wrote: »

Morning all

I wish I could lie in but as soon as I see the sunshine I'm wide awake.

Yesterday was a spendy day - cinema, chips, a drink and perfume. I have been waiting for my exam marking money to come in so that I can replace my favourite perfume and buy a new pair of trainers. It arrived yesterday so I got the perfume whilst in town. It was very expensive but I only buy it every couple of years and usually ask for it as a birthday or Christmas gift.

Today I may spend again as I'm on the hunt for the trainers. I've had really sore feet for months and I need to buy some decent shoes. I've found a make I can fit my wide feet into and am heading to a discount store today (in town I found the perfect pair but can't bring myself to spend £57!!)

Apart from that it's more exam marking, a dog walk, some slow cooker cooking and I will change the bedding.

Hope you all have a good day.

Is there any way of bringing down the cost online for the trainers? Have you looked at ebay? But to be honest being comfortable is so important to overall well being that I would spend money on good shoes too.