NST Super September Scrimping challenge

NelliePie

Hi Guys&Girls,

Count me in! I'll confess I'm a full freezer person and love the choice it gives - I hate meal planning because I never fancy what I've planned. I will however be making a concerted effort to use up everything in the freezer and cupboards before buying anything new!

Good Luck!

thriftylass

I will list you all up to here now. Loads of familiar "faces" and newbies.

NelliePie I'm not a strict meal planner either. I do a rough weekly plan. Lets say I'l buy 7 different meats for 7 days (or just extra if I still have 3 things in the freezer) and sth that could go with each of the meats (unless I still have stuff). Then I choose on the day what we want. Towards the end of the week the meals get more creative as I look up new and interesting recipes that use whatever we have left. Or that is the plan at least (as I usually got to the shops then and buy extra stuff which I want to stop). Any leftovers get used for the kids or lunches.

thriftylass

So payday tomorrow for me. My numbers are allocated. I start the month £95 in my overdraft, so not good.

I'm planning £350 for our groceries (2 adults, 6yo and 3yo snack and fruit monsters). Did a freezer/cupboard inventory yesterday and made a shopping list to match. Might actually buy all that tomorrow and go by myself to avoid unexpected items in the trolley . £50 for HH and going out. I have a works night out this Friday but I'll stick to a couple of soft drinks and then take a bottle of tonic home (FIL gave me gorgeous bottle of gin). Might have a girls' night in two weeks but again, just a couple of drinks and then bus home.

We'll have friends round for a BBQ this Saturday but again this will come out of groceries and will be bought in ALDI.

The winter duvets are not on yet but the kids are in onesies in bed now. Not having the heating on yet might become a challenge soon. This morning the living room was 16C, brrrrr. Unfortunately, our cat died recently, but it means we can keep all the doors shut now and keep the heat that there is more in.

NelliePie

Thriftylass We're monthly shoppers, with a fortnightly milk/bread topup - that's just what works for us. I rarely if ever throw food away and cook pretty much everything from scratch but never get to the bottom of the freezer/cupboard either. I just find it calming to have a full stock I guess but this month I'm going to get creative. DH2B is not great in the kitchen but will eat pretty much anything I make so that's a bonus.

The company I work for subsidise the canteen so a hot meal is only £3.50 and Wednesday's are always a roast dinner. At first this seemed like a great offer but even at one canteen meal per week that's over£150 per year!

thriftylass

NelliePie wrote: »

Thriftylass We're monthly shoppers, with a fortnightly milk/bread topup - that's just what works for us. I rarely if ever throw food away and cook pretty much everything from scratch but never get to the bottom of the freezer/cupboard either. I just find it calming to have a full stock I guess but this month I'm going to get creative. DH2B is not great in the kitchen but will eat pretty much anything I make so that's a bonus.

The company I work for subsidise the canteen so a hot meal is only £3.50 and Wednesday's are always a roast dinner. At first this seemed like a great offer but even at one canteen meal per week that's over£150 per year!

Well your way that sounds very economical too. The meal plan rule is more aimed at people that are not that well in control of their groceries. People that buy a lot extra or even throw them out. Or for people like me sometimes. I have stuff but buy extra fancier stuff like prawns that weren't necessary. I would like to reduce our monthly grocery spend, so I need to cook cheaper meals and use what I have and avoid the top up shops that you already don't really do. :j

And you're right. We could cook our lunches way cheaper (and tastier?)

determined_new_ms

NelliePie wrote: »

Hi Guys&Girls,

Count me in! I'll confess I'm a full freezer person and love the choice it gives - I hate meal planning because I never fancy what I've planned. I will however be making a concerted effort to use up everything in the freezer and cupboards before buying anything new!

Good Luck!

When I'm not into eating what I've got in my freezers it tends to be a slippery slope and I end up shopping & spending more. I've learnt when I'm in this frame of mind to plan in 1 or 2 a bit more fancy meals. Maybe a fakeaway or pizza for the weekend/when I really cba. Or say stick to freezer clearing mon-fri have steak & chips sat & a roast Sun. Helps with the reckless spending!

NelliePie

determined_new_ms wrote: »

When I'm not into eating what I've got in my freezers it tends to be a slippery slope and I end up shopping & spending more. I've learnt when I'm in this frame of mind to plan in 1 or 2 a bit more fancy meals. Maybe a fakeaway or pizza for the weekend/when I really cba. Or say stick to freezer clearing mon-fri have steak & chips sat & a roast Sun. Helps with the reckless spending!

I like the sound of having a fancy meal as a treat, we usually keep a frozen pizza (or something similar) for 'emergencies'. We're very lucky in that, when we were at uni DH2B's nan used to send us a package every month with what she though students would like as a treat but couldn't afford - a steak each and a huge home made chocolate fudge cake. Years on and she still does this now, although sometimes the cake is varied but they're always as delicious!

Eager_Elephant

Thanks thrifty for Septembers challenge - count me in, it looks really interesting.

thriftylass

Did my Asda order for tomorrow. Had my inventory and my shopping list in front of me and looked out for deals etc. Might have saved a wee bit in ALDI but then I would have probably had unwanted items in the trolley. Catered also for the BBQ on Sat (3 for 10 offers), got DH some beers and pizza for Friday when he has mates round (as he does when I'm out and so he doesn't have to go out to the shops with the kids after work and spend even more) and stocked up on some HH essentials like toilet roll. Hopefully that'll be me till I need milk mid week. That came to £70. That times 4 should be ok then if I can avoid top up shops and going with kids or DH.

Also some food for thought :money:. I would've as usual treated myself to a payday sushi and smoothie at lunch tomorrow, thinking oh it's a bargain as it's yesterdays sushi at reduced price and a small smoothie. But it was still usually 7 quid, for a lunch :eek:. So obviously I won't be doing that tomorrow :T

EDIT:

Just amended my Asda order and added some very cheap cuts of lamb, and a leek. As I have scotch broth mix that needs using up, carrots, swede, kale etc in the garden I'll stick a big batch of scotch broth in the slow cooker this weekend and make a big batch of lunches/soups.

greent

I'll apologise now for what is going to be a huuuuuugely long post!

thriftylass wrote: »

September means for many getting back into the swing of new school and work routines. Also, the colder months are looming and we should maybe consider starting to get ready for winter and the festivities or at least start a wee bit of forward planning.

The whole idea of this challenge is for you to start looking to where you WANT to be, consider why you aren’t at that point and start realising what is going WRONG. And also, I need you to help me because when I have people to answer to I won’t spend anything!

Seriously though – you can’t save for a house if you have debt. You can’t have a new kitchen if you can’t afford the food to put in it……………. you need to get a debt free day graved in stone and start aiming for it. We will be debt free end Sept 2018 - we will have paid off OH's car and any 0% we take on new kitchen (possibly appliances will be put on 0% CC) will be repaid by then. That will then leave us 'just' the BTL mtge, which we are now paying some off on each month (is IO) - but it is a debt which brings us in more income than it costs
Enough is enough. Christmas is but 16 weeks away – are you ready for that little charmer? Nope - have no presents stashed away yet
:eek::eek:
So again, I’d like to go back to basics and a few stricter rules back form NinjasavingKat’s days.
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I could do with some stricter rules, especially in the run up to Xmas, tbh. Sept is also a good time for a fresh start/ check on any goals made in Jan

My pledges:


*This challenge starts on the 1st September at 00:01 and closes on the 30th September at 00:00. - Yep

*Try and check in once a day with your progress ! - will do

*Get a little notebook that you can fit in your bag, or a slip of paper! Write down everything you spend - good and bad!! - I'll aim to note all spends - always have a notebook in bag - but don't always carry bag. Will probably use memo function on my phone instead

*You will aim for 18 SFDs!(Spend Free Days). If purchases of “yellow sticker delights” are made without full price items this is an SFD. Medication and normal monthly DD’s or CC payments are exempt and you may class these days as SFD’s also. OK. I personally am going to also add a mid-week shop where if I only buy milk it counts as NSD (can't fit a week's worth of milk in our fridge and neither OH nor myself are a fan of UHT)

*Pay you debts and bills first, budget to live off what is left! - bills and debts (car and tax credits overpayment) are on DD. Credit cards have been repaid in full. Next bills are due end Sept (less than £15) and mid Oct (so from Sept salary) Overpayment of tax credits will be fully repaid this month and we are saving £250/ mth for final pymt next year for OH's car. Any extra monies we get in each month (cashback/ ebay/ ziffit/ extra hours at work) are going to the new kitchen fund

*You must decide on a budget for food now. This must be stuck to rigidly until the last day of the month ! Consider how much you REALLY need to feed your family, make meal plans, limit snacking with the kids or tell them “when it’s gone that’s it until next week”. - am setting a budget of £450 for just food. That includes 4 of us full time (me, DS1 (17 and with hollow legs), DS2 (11), ds3 (8 and can eat as much pasta as the 17yo!:eek:) The boys all have packed lunches for school. It also includes DD (back at uni 23/9 and I know I will do a food shop for her when she goes back to fill freezer etc - am expecting it to be c £50) and OH (stays away with work 2 nights/ week - so those nights are on expenses) - oh - and fresh veggies for 3 guinea pigs
I have just topped up my Tesc0 giftcard with £250 - cost me £240 (work perk scheme) and will also do shopping in A1di

*Try and eat everything in your cupboards and freezer BEFORE buying any more. Money spent each week will be for essentials – bread, milk and fruit & veg before buying more. - I forsee a Sept which includes things such as carrot & lentil soup (large bag of lentils in cupboard), crumbles/ Eves pudding/ steamed sponges (lots of pears and apples on trees and jars of jam in the cupboard made from HG strawbs & plums) and roast chicken at least twice (I have 4 large chickens in the freezer - and can then use leftovers in risotto, pasta dishes etc) I have been running down supplies, though (and DS1 left freezer door ajar, which meant some food had to be thrown :mad:) but would like to see how much we can get eaten - this is actually easier when OH is working away, as I will happily eat leftovers/ weird combos and he won't)
I also need to tackle the jars of 'stuff' taking up the whole of the top shelf in my fridge - way too many in there!

*You must bring your lunch to work every day. No coffee shops, no work canteen, no cafes, no sandwiches – NOTHING. You will waste SO many precious £££’s when something better can be created at home. If you think it doesn’t matter and I won’t find out – you are right. But you are cheating yourself. - I don't think I am working any full days in Sept, so that's not an issue for me. When OH is working away his lunch is claimable on expenses, so not an issue. 3 x boys take packed lunches to school every day. Hopefully an easy one in Sept......

*Plot the course of your social life now before the beginning of September. Make sure you have a budget planned for meals that can’t be wormed out of and birthdays etc. Money placed aside for holidays can be classed as “no spend days” – anything over the budget will ruin that SFD!! Cancel something you really don’t want to go to –you HAVE to start making sacrifices now. - we have an afternoon tea out in Sept (we're not paying) Also a curry night out with friends (we will drive and keep cost down. Expect we will treat DD to lunch when we take her back to uni (probably chipshop) + 1 takeaway (have got OH down from weekly takeaways, so much improved!)

*Decide on your DFD!– when do you want to start doing what you want to do??? - see above - DFD Sep 2018, just leaving BTL, which is being paid off as much as poss- and which will be targeted more when other stuff repaid. Will be just in time for when DS1 starts uni!

*You will accomplish some sort of exercise per week, 3 sessions of 20 minutes anyway you want. Walk someone’s pooch, walk to work, walk around your block 5 times… anything! - will commit to 3x/ week. Have well and truly lost mojo atm


*Beauty spends are not allowed to exceed £10. Yep

*Make time for yourself this month. Even if it’s only 10 minutes a day do something for yourself whether that is going for a walk, having a bath with loads of bubbles or sitting outside with a drink – we need to make the most of the evenings. - Will include exercise from above and also continue to read down my stash of to-be-read books

*Keep the heating off as long as possible, put a jumper on etc. We live in the north of Scotland in an 80s bungalow with metal windows. So it might be a challenge - should be ok here. Still in Summer PJs and sleeping with 4.5tog duvets and windows ajar atm



That’s it… think you can keep up? - Hopefully! :D

xx