My New Normal

Thrice

Happy new diary!

Just jumping in to say me and DH have a very similar approach to money! I pay everything, all the bills, mortgage, loan, gas electricity etc, I buy all the food shopping, christmas presents, birthday gifts etc etc. I do all the shopping for the dogs, literally everything for our home I do it. Everything is in my name and I run our home.

DH pays me a set amount from his wage each month to cover his half, and we both have a few hundred pounds per month left over to spend. I use mine to pay off my car, he pays for his motorbike plus insurance/fuel. He has a few 0% finance agreements for tech he bought himself and I use my spare cash to bring down our overall debt. I do spend money on myself, hair cuts etc so it's not like I get nothing from my wage :rotfl:

Might not work for everyone, but it sure works for us! :money:

Fla603

Hi Thrice, yeah this is the solution that works best for us and is mainly driven by need to feel like an equal and also not to be answerable for how I spend and more importantly save my money!
I have one friend who puts all their household money into one account and then she basically has to ask/tell her husband if she wants to use some of the money to buy herself something. She has made reference to him asking for money for a night out before and the idea just makes me feel uncomfortable.
Babystepper I’m not familiar with Dave Ramsey but have started reading your diary and it sounds interesting. I think the option that causes you the least amount of stress is the way to go, although I’m only one page 2 so a lot can change over time! I think if we implemented a sole joint budget we would have to have a “personal spend” amount each month. Even if it was as little as £10-20. Having read treadingonplaymobils diary I know this is something she does, and that could be a solution to the surprise present buying as it could come from a personal spend saving.

Fla603

*Blowing away the cobwebs*

Now that I’m back to work full time after maternity leave I hope to have a bit more time during my work breaks to focus on this diary. The return to full pay also means some financial normality has returned!! Yay!!
Our household bills seem to be creeping up, and although we have added some new catagories we have also increased our contribution to this account.
Mortgage: £400
Home Insurance: £14.83
Life Insurance: £30.07
Rates: £72.38 (paid over 10mnths)
TV Lic: £12.83
Internet/Sky: £49.00
Electric: £40
Gas: £40
House maintenance: £50
Childcare: £50
Charity: £10

Total: £769.11

This doesn’t include Groceries which is our one massive variable which seems to be creeping up and is the main area I want to target. A quick tally of last months food shopping came in at £306!! for 2 people and a baby (does include formula & nappies) it seems really high.

Fla603

Had a quick look and my last food shop on Wednesday 3rd from Mr T’s cost £61.30 but as I did it in a rush and didn’t menu plan I’m actually missing quite a few things including nappies! I usually buy pampers nappies but today I’m hoping to pop to Lidl to pick up the remaining things so will have a look at their nappies. This top up shop should last us until next Sunday if we stick to my new menu plan. I just need to avoid buying unnecessary and unplanned things esp chocolate!!!

Fla603

Another post to note my grocery spends. This includes baby items & cleaning products.

Ended up spending £24.74 in Lidl. When I got back I quickly added the same/equivalent items to Tesco online and they came in at £34.13 so a saving of £9.39. A large portion of this is using the Lidl brand nappies vs pampers but I did buy really expensive free range chicken fillets by mistake. Not sure if I would make it to Lidl every week with a baby in tow but defo motivated to try!

doingitanyway

You are doing well Flo at adjusting to your new normal.

The Times has a £10 off £40 spend valid until 11.04.
Sure it costs £2 for the paper but that is still 20% off

Scott-Weiland

Fla603 wrote: »

Another post to note my grocery spends. This includes baby items & cleaning products.

Ended up spending £24.74 in Lidl. When I got back I quickly added the same/equivalent items to Tesco online and they came in at £34.13 so a saving of £9.39. A large portion of this is using the Lidl brand nappies vs pampers but I did buy really expensive free range chicken fillets by mistake. Not sure if I would make it to Lidl every week with a baby in tow but defo motivated to try!

Can i challenge you too try something??? You know the baby products and cleaning products you bought, try pricing next time your passing the same items in either of the following

ie home bargains
b and m
or poundland

You hopefully will find it cheaper again

Fla603

Thanks doingitanyway, I must check that out!

Hi Scott, thanks for stopping by! I am already a big fan of home bargains and love the stardrops and astonish cleaning products which are usually really cheap. I also switched recently to Tesco softener for £1 odd and I’m really impressed with it compared to the leading brand which used to cost me £4! I am probably guilty of buying more than I need though, so now I think I will try not to buy anymore for a while until I’ve used up what I have!
I’m going to give the Lidl nappies a go this week, they were only £3 compared to pampers which are usually around £8! Will take your recommendation and try the other baby products too when my supplies start running out!

Scott-Weiland

Fla603 wrote: »

Thanks doingitanyway, I must check that out!

Hi Scott, thanks for stopping by! I am already a big fan of home bargains and love the stardrops and astonish cleaning products which are usually really cheap. I also switched recently to Tesco softener for £1 odd and I’m really impressed with it compared to the leading brand which used to cost me £4! I am probably guilty of buying more than I need though, so now I think I will try not to buy anymore for a while until I’ve used up what I have!
I’m going to give the Lidl nappies a go this week, they were only £3 compared to pampers which are usually around £8! Will take your recommendation and try the other baby products too when my supplies start running out!

Excellent post up if the bits and pieces are any cheaper.

Another lil thing i would do is down an app called shoppix alot of us on here use it. Basically anything you buy where you get a receipt you upload a pic of the receipt and you get points that you can eventually convert into paypal funds.

Fla603

Thanks Scott, I will defo check out shoppix! Might as well eh!

Just when I thought I was getting somewhere I’ve had our electric bill for the next quarter. It states it’s going to jump from £40 to £72 a month and mentions our “account balance is now £118.93 debit”. I’m perplexed because I don’t really understand how they calculate these figures and I’ve never given it much concern before as it was always around the £40 mark but £72 is a massive hike per month.