Making savings before it's too late

caronc

When my ex and I were together both our wages went into the joint account and we each had the same sum transferred to our own accounts each month for personal use. This worked well for us.

tori.k

mardatha wrote: »

Sometimes it hurts to be sensible - but just for a bit. Once you wake up free of the dream and the mental images then you heave a sigh of relief
I'm reconsidering my tactics here. I switched to Asda home shopping instead of Sainsbugs as they have a £25 min spend compared to SainsB £40. But after 6 weeks I'm fed up of them - they always seem to be out of stock of items, really simple things like milk, cream, and Duck Dreamies. (VITAL item as it's the only way we can get the wee furry sod to go to bed !).
No big supermarket is out of stock of things like cream for 6 weeks. And they keep suggesting I choose "this" instead - "this" being something that costs more. Sainsbugs don't do that, they just substitute something for the same price. And their drivers don't seem to be so smart or intelligent which sounds really snotty but it's true.
So I'm going to revert to SainsBugs again starting this week. Sometimes cheaper isn't really cheaper.

Mardatha is it not worth alternating between the two

mardatha

Either that or go longer between shops, yes.

fuddle

I have had no end of Asda delivery problems in the past. I won't use them at all and I too would love to for their lower minimum delivery threshold. It's just not worth the annoyance or frustration for me so I completely agree with you Mar. I'm using Tesco now and although I suspect I'm paying more because of a slightly.higher price point I have never had a problem with even so much as a substitution, let alone missing shopping.

I think it's rare in life that a consumer would put up with poor service just because there's pennies to be saved. It's all relative I guess - my sanity is.worth more than pennies

tori.k

I guess I'm used to popping into the village shop and things being out of stock passed a certain time of day. Most annoying for the frequency it's happening to mardatha I guess they pick the shopping long before there daily delivery arrives.

This month has flown by, been nice that being more organised this year means more money than month for once
DH is out of his sulk, the vendor of the detached house wants to hold on a while longer at a traditional sale, so thankfully off the table, that will give him the space he needs to cool down on the whole idea.
Weather starting to warm up nicely in Cornwall haven't had the fire running for two days now, will put one in tonight to stop losing to much heat from the walls.and will move back to wood once the last of the coal been used up. Saving us a few quid.

Chandelier.

Morning,

It's finally my week of annual leave. I spent yesterday catching up on sleep as I was exhausted. The tablets I'm on really sedate me, I'm hoping to get these reviewed next time I see my consultant and hopefully reduce one of them. I struggle to wake up in the morning so it's hard especially when I have an early start time for work. I usually like to be up around 5.30am and no amount of alarms are waking me, even the old style ring a ding alarm clock :rotfl:.

I've had a couple of NSD on Sunday/Monday. On Saturday night me and the boy went out for a meal with my mum which cost £47.75 in total but my mum gave me £20 towards it. Initially I was going to share a pizza with the boy but he was adamant he wanted his own in which he ate over half. He took the three remaining slices home and ate for breakfast the next day, which he was chuffed about .

As mentioned in my previous post we are planning a surprise 60th for my mum's birthday in April. I have now booked and paid for the venue, the dj has been organised and now we are looking at food options. To be honest I think we are going with a hot food option provided by the venue as it costs around £3 per head and they have a variety. It saves us making food on the day and makes the planning so much more easier. The manager of the venue even said to cater below the expected amount of guests as usually end up with leftovers. As far as I'm aware it's me and my sister paying for this, we are hoping my brother contributes but I'm not holding my breath, there will be some excuse that comes along. If he does then that's brilliant but I'm not getting my hopes up or relying on him too.

Today I have spent the morning briefly on the phone to manfriend in my life. What started out as a serious conversation as I was having a bit of a wobble turned back into a nice and relaxed conversation which I'm glad about. It's the first time I've really belly laughed in a while.

The rest of the plan today is to put petrol in the car which I've been avoiding and then to nip to the shops to buy a couple of bits I need. I should spend no more then £20 on petrol to see me through the rest of the month and around £5 whilst in the shops. I'm going to set that as my limit and it all comes from the budgeted accounts.

Last month I swapped my phone over to giffgaff and started off with the £10 per month bundle to see if this suited my needs which it has so based on my previous contract amount which was around £27 a month, I've made a saving of £17. So from now on I'll use the £10 per month bundle and if I know I'll have a long conversation I'll get the other person to call me back... cheeky or what . It saves me money though and most people these days with contracted phones have unlimited minutes where as I have a set amount. I made the mistake on my old plan where I went over my allowance before the month ended and this resulted in my phone bill being much higher then expected, around £60 more :mad:

I'm off to my friends later on to go for a long walk with her dog and we'll walk to school to pick up our boys and back to hers. It's a nice day so it will be good to get out in the fresh air and get some exercise. It will also save on car journeys . I will then pop round to my relatives to pick up a parcel they've received which are the invites for my mums party and then I'll write a list down of who to invite and get them sent. I need to somehow get some of my mums friends numbers from her phobe. I also need to contact my auntie in regards to making her birthday cake.

I've been thinking about changing my gyms to one closer to home. It will cost me a bit more but I'll receive a discount and it also has a swimming pool which I want to get back into swimming. It's in easy walking distance rather then smack bang in the middle of the town centre. I'll also start taking the boy with me to improve his confidence ready for our holiday in September. I believe this will also be good for my mental health.

That's pretty much it for today. There's no other planned spends. I might be meeting an old friend tomorrow and going for lunch on Friday but I'll try to minimise costs.

All budget pots are still intact and none have been touched unless neccesary.

[Deleted User]

Chandelier. wrote: »

I've been thinking about changing my gyms to one closer to home. It will cost me a bit more but I'll receive a discount and it also has a swimming pool which I want to get back into swimming..

oh yes that gym sounds much better, more of an incentive too

It is a big effort day today, to get all my washing done and out, while we have sun and a breeze. I have pv panels, not generating a heck of a lot but the sun is still low at this time of year. The bm is also on a timer, to start working when the wm has finished

I have had to order a few packs of seeds and also a carrying tote for a bed-size floppy device I have. The device was very expensive so I am just thinking ahead to actual moving, which will happen, one day. I have a whole clear month on the cc, so it is a good time to get it

abel and cole items ordered for delivery this week. Fruit, veg, eggs, yogurt, nut roast and some meat. I want to be safely tucked in if the snow arrives and I ordered more than normal.

Chandelier.

Kittie it does sound better doesn't it?

My current gym is £12.99 a month and open for 24 hours. It's also in the town centre which I now avoid like the plague due to roadworks and limits you to two hours free parking which can be a nightmare to sort. The other week I got caught in said car park and ended up having a panic attack. Overall I haven't been to the gym in over 6 months because of this and other reasons.

New gym, down the road. Around £22 a month including discount. It has the gym, classes and a swimming pool. It's either a two minute drive with free parking, no restrictions or it's a 15 minute walk. It's a no contract one as well and is council owned.

The idea is to plan the gym around my work schedule/home life and stick to it.

[Deleted User]

wd chandelier, my sister swears by going swimming. She really enjoys aqua-aerobics. I only stuck with a gym for a year :cool: but I prefer cycling nowadays, it is safe where I live

CurlyTop

I'm with you Mardatha and Fuddle, another one who didn't have any luck with Asda home delivery. If I remember rightly, it came bottom of the home delivery for food last week in a Which survey for something like the 10th year running. I too prefer Sainsburys, because the drivers are polite and very rarely do I get substitutions, but if I do, it's for something bizarre, certainly not everyday items.

I've tried to extend no spending days into February. Silly me, forgot to do this in January but I know there were a few in there. I'm doing okay up to now. I think it's 12-14 I'm up to. I've also got my food shopping down, just by going back to Aldi for the main stuff. Silly when you think of it, isn't it. Complacency costs money - note to self: make that your new mantra :rotfl:

Love reading about the things we're all up to to keep an eye on our pennies and pounds. Long may we reign.