Giving every £ a job

Sun_Addict

I always cut the end off tubes, it’s amazing how much product is usually left in there. 

I think the same as you with online collections. You could bung a couple of quid in an office envelope but feel obliged to donate a minimum of £5 online. 

savingholmes

Sounds like brilliant progress.

When under similar pressure for online collection it put me off and I ended up giving nothing

[Deleted User]

Yeah, I get annoyed with online collections too!

Blackcats, the odd treat here and there is fine and well deserved - can you re-adjust your budget to allow for a little more?

Alchemilla

I like your approach to budgeting. Gentle and reflective xxx

Blackcats

Rebecca - don't worry I'm the queen of flexing my budget to suit myself 🤣 - I don't have any debts to pay off now (I've had plenty of debt over the years) and so my motivation is about being more thoughtful with my spending which hopefully helps me focus on what is really important to me rather than material possessions such as sparkly plastic cactus.  At the start of this journey resisting buying a sparkly plastic cactus represented great self control and a shift in behaviour.  

Oh Alchemilla - what a lovely thing to say .... thank you.

I've had a few money off vouchers arrive this week - £5 body shop, £5 hobby craft and £10 off wine or chocolate from Ocado .  I do my dad's shopping with Ocado - he likes the m and s ready meals so the voucher is a thank you (thank you for spending lots of money 🙃).  I asked dad if he wanted me to get some chocolates for his carer but he said to treat myself to some wine which was kind.  So a lovely bottle of wine will arrive with this week's shop - a treat and a boost to my attempt to stick to my grocery budget this month.

savingholmes

Love vouchers for guilt free spends. You have come a long way from the shiny object obsession. Shopping from home definitely helps

Blackcats

Thanks SH - I still have a penchant for sparkly things but perhaps I'm more in control of my urge to buy them.

did some baking while the oven was on for lunch yesterday so I have gooseberry and apple crumble (I found a tin of gooseberries in the cupboard - no idea when or why I bought it) and I made Jack Monroe's fruit cocktail cake, again using a lurking tin of fruit cocktail.

I had the dreaded gas/electricity letter this weekend - a 12 month fixed green tariff is priced up as .........£5174 per year or £432 per month 😱.  Staying on variable rate is priced at £1910 per annum or £159 per month.   How can the £5000 per year offering be realistic for anyone to chose????

I was saying to OH that the current cost of living costs are now setting the level for the future, so will compound upwards again year on year.  At least when petrol prices go up, they used to sometimes go down again.  I'm lucky that we have some leeway in our budget but of course others don't.  We will need to make choices about how/what we spend on over and above the essentials.  I do feel really concerned for people that will feel the brunt of these price rises.

foxgloves

I agree, @Blackcats. These are crazy increases & will be horrendous for many. The fact that inequality is so entrenched in this country exacerbates the problem because so many families are already struggling before the rises kick in. I am seriously re-looking at our household energy use.
F

savingholmes

The rises are scary. I had had a letter from BG saying my rate applied until June - but have now had one saying not new rates apply from 1 April. That uncertainty and changeability doesn't help either. I'm definitely moderating my energy use but whether it's enough who knows. Apparently I can get a discount by going with direct debit - which I can try - but I've had to call them so often to reset my account as something keeps messing it up - I don't know that it will work out. 

Well done BC for being able to manage and stay on track with your retirement plans.

[Deleted User]

Amazing on the baking - can you post some?!

Agree re the energy costs - it's just horrendous and many many people are going to struggle.  These are not easy times to live in economically and just hope it levels out soon