Still trying to stay in the black

PinkHairbrush

No chance of coming in under £80 for the food spends this month. Had to get cereal today. Going to change it to £100 and hopefully this will be a bit more realistic. January seems to have been a long month budget wise!

Not much else to report today. Still being mindful about spending, using up what’s in the cupboards, fridge and freezer and still keeping my spending diary. 

PinkHairbrush

Today has been very productive and have (finally) made a bit of clearance in the roof space - wahay! Brought a few small boxes of stuff down to my office, a few boxes broken up and put to the recycling and a bag in to the rubbish. Managed to sort and tidy a good bit up there so was a decent start. 

Am really trying to use what we have instead of bringing more in to the house. One of the children has been asking for a sewing kit so I have managed to pull together a plastic needle, different colours of wool and a plastic lid off something that is full of holes. I’m pretty sure they’ll get as much enjoyment out of this as if I had spent a tenner on something off the internet! Reduce, reuse, recycle lol. 

PinkHairbrush

Have booked a service for the boiler at the end of the month so am really going to have to re-commit to sensible spending!

If we are careful I should be able to make the petrol last and other than a few fresh bits we have enough food. The kids are at that age though where as soon as you go out for a walk they want to spend money in any and every shop! I’m quite good for taking snacks and drinks with us but I think I am going to have to be a bit more creative to avoid spending unnecessarily.

Mended a jumper today and all meals where from stores. Really happy that my take away spends have been so low this month. Long may it continue!

IzzyBee

Your doing well it’s hard when kids are small there’s always something to buy but you’re doing well with the mending it’s hard been a single parent and working long hours I’ve been there but it all works out in the end good luck on your journey 

RelievedSheff

I am seriously impressed with your food budget. Even if you raise it to £100 that is still cheap to feed a family for a month.

There are only two of us and our food budget is usually over £500 per month!!

Mind you there is a fair amount of beer on that list  

PinkHairbrush

I agree Izzybee, there is definitely always something to buy for the children. But I try and keep a list of what is coming up that they need so that I can take advantage of reductions/exchange gifts that don’t suit etc. 

Thanks RelievedSheff - we just do all the usual things like use up left overs, shop with a list and cook from scratch. I think half the battle is knowing what is in your cupboards so you don’t buy more of what you already have. 

PinkHairbrush

Direct debits went out today for the car insurance and tv license. 

Had to get milk and escaped Tesco after only spending about a fiver. But this also included a couple of reduced items to complete a gift and a few 19p packs of stickers for the kids. 

This month has been heavy on the present buying but I have managed to get everything in the sale at really decent prices so hoping the overall total for the month will reflect this. 

It can get a bit tedious all this trying to be sensible with money but feel it’s important to get a bit of an emergency fund together. This is going to be made harder as the outside of the house needs a bit of (no doubt, expensive!) attention once the weather improves. Have just finished sorting the inside, hence the need for a new emergency fund!

PinkHairbrush

Not much to report from yesterday - just all the usual going on here. Trying to keep spends down, using up left overs and tracking in my spending diary. 

Managed to get rid of some old papers from my office - tip of the iceberg!

We baked a banana bread which always proves popular and everyone got stuck in so it did the supper and there’s a little left over. There has been a request for dinosaur gingerbread which is fine by me as it’s delicious and we have all the ingredients in. My waist line might not thank me though...

Managed to get out a walk yesterday despite the icy weather. Am trying to drop a few pounds and would usually be a faithful follower of ww but am refusing to pay and going it alone! Weigh in tomorrow, fingers crossed!

IzzyBee

I always went to WW found it worked for me have tried all the others but it’s a few years since I’ve been but some things stick in your head I couldn’t do it myself so no point in paying I am trying to lose some weight and I have been using MFP and am finding it really good for keeping me on track plus a good walk every day and a you tube fitness plan called walk at home that was recommended to me when we had some really bad weather and I couldn’t get out good luck 

PinkHairbrush

I’ve used MFP in the past Izzybee and I agree it’s good for tracking! Changed the weigh in to this morning and 2 pounds off so well pleased. Only have about another half a stone to lose so definitely manageable.