It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

Marine_life

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Well, here’re the numbers so far this year…and it’s pretty much £900pm…(I’d not added in this weeks Aldi shop!)

Bills 2367.8
Usually £335 pm, but CT gets 2 months holiday Feb, March. This is further broken down to…
CT - £181
Water - £29
Gas/Elec - £63
Sky TV & BB - £49.50
TV licence - £13

Holidays/Ente 820.67
This includes 1x4 night break and 1x2 night break (both UK), including meals out, plus Sky PAYG films and magazine sub.

Car Expenses 313.89
Doesn’t include insurance due Sept - £200

Groceries 1680.43
95% of this in Aldi, includes household and toiletries stuff

Household 595.1
Includes Insurance, and general DIY stuff (no major works or appliances)

Health/Beauty 628.63
Includes new running shoes, dental, gym (swimming), hairdressers etc.

Clothes/Shoes 79.65
Hardly any needed so far, and probably no more this year! If we do, it’ll be a couple of bits in Primark.

Fuel 301.46
My commute was already very short – now unless we’re away, we don’t go far, probably annual mileage of approx. 5000.

Gifts/Cards 56.16
No Big Birthdays this year, and obviously no Xmas yet (but prob only £200 to be spent there)

Bank/ISA Fees 200.86
Fidelity ISA Fees

Phones/Calls 152.88
Includes new phone for DH - £130

Total of £7197.53, divided by 8 = £899

So there you have it…and that’s without trying. Just our natural spends. Yes, the back end of the year is more weighted for spends one way or the other, but even so, we’re probably going to come in around £13,000-£13,500 for the year, even with 2 or 3 more trips included.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Looks like you have your spending well under control.
What makes the difference for are two things.

1. Holidays (so far this year that is 10 days in Vietnam, a couple of trips to Austria, one week in Ireland and an upcoming trip to Portugal)
2. Children costs! (although shortly to start work so will be off the payroll).

Going forward I expect our holiday budget will be in the 20-25k range.

Sea_Shell

cloud_dog wrote: »

I am aghast... in an impressed way. You spend less than £240 a month on groceries.

We tend to shop at Aldi, I need to figure out how we can get anywhere near your spending... where does ours go!!!!

A typical days food would be something like this...
Breakfast - 2 Weetabix with Milk, with then maybe a Brioche or Croissant with coffee
Morning Snacks - Banana and a yogurt
Lunch - Baked Salmon fillet with pasta and Tomato Pesto (possibly with wine/fizzy)
Mid-afternoon snack - Cheese, Crackers and olives (or maybe a bag of crisps!)
Tea - Cooked chicken, salad and Mayo wraps
1 x Biscuit with our evening drink (tea/coffee)

To be honest we don't do much from scratch in that sense, in that we do use, packet cous-cous, risotto rice and jar sauces. We don't buy "ready meals" though.

In the winter, it probably gets even cheaper, as we're buying less fresh salad etc, and having more Chilli con carne, and Spag Bol, which I freeze half of (as it makes a big batch)

As for toiletries, we both just use the same shower gel, shampoo, face wash, so we don't have a myriad of different products on the shelf.

Slinky

I've just started a spreadsheet tracking our spends across the past year. OH tracks the savings and investments, but we haven't been tracking spends up until now as neither of us had time. I was running a business which I've just sold, and I don't plan to work again. Need to check the numbers to, hopefully, confirm to OH that if neither of us works again (he is a contractor) we should be OK financially.

nigelbb

cloud_dog wrote: »

I am aghast... in an impressed way. You spend less than £240 a month on groceries.

We tend to shop at Aldi, I need to figure out how we can get anywhere near your spending... where does ours go!!!!

Not pointing the finger but many people waste an inordinate amount of money on alcohol.

westv

nigelbb wrote: »

Not pointing the finger but many people waste an inordinate amount of money on alcohol.

Waste?!


....

Sea_Shell

Money spent on alcohol is not a waste!!!

Seriously though if you buy big brands/expensive then yes it is.

St Etienne beer is just as good as other brands
The Makaraka Sauv Blanc is a lovely drop as is the Chapter & Verse Merlot.
Orchard cider is lovely and
Their orange label Prosecco is lush!! Hic!!!

All occasionally make their way into our trolley, but we probably only drink 5-7 units a week each, tops. Too many calories rather than £££'s!!!

nigelbb

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Money spent on alcohol is not a waste!!!

It is by definition a waste as you don't need it & indeed whole cultures exist that don't waste money on alcohol. I thought this was supposed to be a moneysaving site?:)

Sea_Shell

nigelbb wrote: »

It is by definition a waste as you don't need it & indeed whole cultures exist that don't waste money on alcohol. I thought this was supposed to be a moneysaving site?:)

By that argument ANYTHING you consume over and above what you need to survive is a waste!!

We could all save money if we lived on bread, dripping and water...but it wouldn't be much fun!!:p

Voyager2002

nigelbb wrote: »

It is by definition a waste as you don't need it & indeed whole cultures exist that don't waste money on alcohol. I thought this was supposed to be a moneysaving site?:)

There are plenty of things that we don't actually need but virtually everyone in the UK buys. The point about alcohol is that the pleasure that it gives, in relation to what it costs, is pretty limited. For the price of a second pint (probably less satisfying than the first one) you could take the bus to somewhere beautiful and walk for the afternoon, which would probably be more pleasant and certainly more health-giving.

Marine_life

Sea_Shell wrote: »

jar sauces

Have you seen how much sugar is added to those jar sauces?