Tackling This Debt One At A Time

Blackcats

Hello MrsBB.  It's so easy to overspend at the supermarket - most of us with diaries on here are nervous of the "big shop" or top up shops.  Going in for milk and bread and coming out with a basket of things, and our purses/wallets £20 lighter. 

 I remind myself that supermarkets spend fortunes and employ people just to ensure we do exactly that.  The layout of the store, the positioning of products on the shelves, the smell of the bakery, the confusing pricing strategies (I'm always amazed by how many ways there are to price tomatoes and how difficult it is to quickly compare prices).   ..... the leading brands spend eye watering amounts on advertising and packaging so it's no wonder it works and we feel somehow good about the extra spend on their products.
so I can see how Mr BB got lured in.  

I read on one of these diaries a few years ago a mantra - the supermarket is not your friend.  It wants to take as much of your money as it possibly can, so by only buying what we actually need we are playing them at their own game.
I sound very anti supermarket and I'm not I just realise what their motivation is as a business .
I dread to think how much I've spent over the years.  I used to think that if my trolley was less than £100 that I should just too it up with flowers or magazines etc.  Then when I went over £100 I somehow thought I must be really getting lots of good things for my family.  

I still spend lots more on food than many of the clever people on here but I do feel that it is on my terms.  

Good luck on your journey.  There is so much support on here and lots of good advice that will help you beat your debts.

enthusiasticsaver

Totally agree Blackcats. Supermarkets employ marketing experts to lure people in. I do online or click and collect these days and rarely even look at offers so it is wasted on me. If I would not buy something at full price I don't bother when it is on offer either and don't like the multi buys as I would rather they brought the price down. 

[Deleted User]

I think this will be the way forward.  It will be nice to have one less CC in the mix.  I have a click and collect on Tuesday, already started a list of things we've run out of already.  Will finish the weekly meal plan tonight but Monday and Tuesday will be using up what we already have.  As I'm off this week, I will have time to pop into Aldi for the basics, to make it cheaper..I tend to use Tesco for the gluten free items, I don't seem to ever have a problem spend £25 on gluten free and fresh fruit.

[Deleted User]

Been quite busy this morning.  I've sorted my shopping list as well as ordering my click and collect.  Also, planted my shrubs I bought last week, they seemed to have flourished since I had them and now I've finally had a break in the rain I thought I'd better do them.  Little BB needed some support this morning but has mainly been live lessons this morning.  Feeling rather calm today...quite like the idea of being at home.

[Deleted User]

Proper spend day today eek! and the cupboards are full! Also had to buy a birthday present for my brother, I was hoping to of made a cake, like I did for my sister, but that idea had been taken  I've really reined it back this year so far and I don't feel guilty about it.  (Hoping to get away with it this year without anyone knowing - or complaints from the inlaws). Also tidied up the garden but couldn't mow the lawn as I couldn't get the lawn mower to start  Hopefully, MrBB can sort it and will do that tomorrow.  

Just out of curiosity on food budgets! How much does everyone spend on a weekly basis?We are a family of 4 (two adults, teen and tween) I feel sometimes we spend far too much but I meal plan and also have to accommodate gluten free for one member of the family.  I do the drop a brand level too but seem to always have a huge bill. 

southern_chick

In answer to your food budget, it’s just me and my DD she’s 20 and also gluten free. I spend around £40 a week.  Some weeks it’s a bit higher some a bit less. I meal plan, cook from scratch a lot and batch cook to fill the freezer with home made ready meals.  That does include cleaning products and toiletries, oh and cat food.  HTH xx

Aspiration

MrsBrownBear said:

Proper spend day today eek! and the cupboards are full! Also had to buy a birthday present for my brother, I was hoping to of made a cake, like I did for my sister, but that idea had been taken  I've really reined it back this year so far and I don't feel guilty about it.  (Hoping to get away with it this year without anyone knowing - or complaints from the inlaws). Also tidied up the garden but couldn't mow the lawn as I couldn't get the lawn mower to start  Hopefully, MrBB can sort it and will do that tomorrow.  

Just out of curiosity on food budgets! How much does everyone spend on a weekly basis?We are a family of 4 (two adults, teen and tween) I feel sometimes we spend far too much but I meal plan and also have to accommodate gluten free for one member of the family.  I do the drop a brand level too but seem to always have a huge bill. 

Evening,
Lockdown has probably thrown us out a bit but we spend budget £500 for two adults, a nearly teen and two other children. 

Usually we wouldn’t spend this so after any underspend can be taken as a nice takeaway treat for being good.

I know it varies depending on family, but we’ve kept the routine now of just getting one delivery a week and it has definitely saved us money as not in a physical shop to spend.

We use the fresh produce/salad in the first few days and then switch to veg etc with dinners for the last couple until the new shop comes. We’ve also been stocking up on offers so again probably lower than the £500 quoted as we’ve got over 50 toilet rolls, 200 dishwasher tablets as an example!! 

Sounds like you’re doing great recognising where your budgets have not been stuck to so that sounds like really good progress. 

[Deleted User]

Provisional budgets and expenses mapped out today, monthly freezer shop done too!  Hopefully, Mr BB will have his wage slip either Tuesday or Wednesday next week for Friday payday to confirm.  Opened a second account to manage monthly spends when CC3 is closed. Unfortunately, I couldn't open a joint account online with Mr BB, I have had to open a sole account and request it to be joint.  Then (through message chat with the bank) I was advised that I would have to physically go into my local branch to arrange an appointment for a telephone consultation.  Bearing in mind they are only open between 9am-2pm Monday to Friday, Mr BB works from 8am till 6pm Monday to Friday and has to endure a 45 minute commute.  Why is making a simple sole account into a joint account so hard, considering Mr BB and I are existing customers and already have an existing joint account.

Also, some other possible good news: Mr BB is hopefully on track for an end of financial year bonus but will not be confirmed until the end of March (I hope he does as he's worked incredibly hard and on reduced wages too - this was more like the company dangling a carrot on a stick scenario.) He has agreed that if he does get this, we will use it to pay at least £1000 into a savings account and forget it as this will be our emergency fund.  This will hopefully and finally break the cycle of falling back onto CC's. Will use the rest of the money to say goodbye to CC3 (and will actually close the account this time) and any money left over will go on treats for the family, admit it won't be much but at least Mr BB will get his dartboard

Blackcats

Fingers crossed that your OH gets a bonus.  An emergency fund of £1000 is a really good idea.  It's sufficient to cover many unexpected costs and gradually when your debt is going down you can build up savings pots for anticipated costs like car repairs, vets bills etc but for now that £1000 will be great and fingers crossed you don't need it.  I've only recently started a range of savings pots.  Ironically as someone who used to spend other people's money very quickly and easily by heavily using credit cards I found it really difficult to spend money from my vet pot when my cat needed dental treatment.  

Honeysucklelou2

Re the food budget...I try to keep to £100 a week I have a larger than average household! I cook from scratch as much as possible but tend not to batch cook as most people’s idea of batch  cooking is one meal for us all 😊.