Must try harder!

CRANKY40

I couldn't agree more but gin and tonic water are also on my list of "not to run out of" things. I have one, maybe two G&Ts per week when I'm playing online games with my bestie but even though I don't drink much I like there to be some in the house. 

WinterWarrior

@CRANKY40 I love a g&t, but don’t like to drink alone (even 1) as I feel judged 🤣 I always have some in, but MrWW has to join me with something he likes, so it’s not as often as I’d like!
@teafor2 I was trying weekly, but it didn’t stop me having nothing left after a week or two 😳. I’ll try again in August. Apparently it takes some time to get into a habit…and I’m not there yet 😦

CRANKY40

I'm not drinking alone, bestie has a drink too and to be fair, since February if I opened our front door and shouted him he would hear me he lives that close. When we're actually in the same room together we drink coffee 😁

Both of my parents were alcoholics so apart from the year after my husband died I've always been cautious with alcohol. My sister is much the same. A couple of drinks when we're together is our limit. I haven't seen her since 2018 so I think we're due a few this weekend. 

MissRikkiC

WinterWarrior said:

@CRANKY40 nematodes? Worms? I just had to google…this is news to me! It all sounds like an essential list to me (barring the wrigglies)
I’ll try and class August as a 5 week month too as I get paid the last working day, so it will be mid week. The main thing is not to run out of books, coffee beans or chocolate 😊

I ran out of coffee beans last week and was pretty miserable for a few days - dont fall into the trap!

CRANKY40

The ants killed my blueberry bushes. I'm waging war on them now. The nematodes will eat the ants then die off themselves without destroying any more of my garden.

WinterWarrior

@MissRikkiC I have a prime standing order for 2 big bags a month…very occasionally it’s not enough and I have to panic buy and extra one 😬
@CRANKY40 oh ants! Shudder. In my last house they came into the conservatory through the cavity wall and under a gap in the windowsills. I was trying to vacuum them up in desperation and they were all swarming back down. I nearly had to burn the house down 😳 I often wonder if they came back after I’d moved….the buyers were so generous and kind I would feel soooo sad for them 😬

jwil

I've had a spendy month too, but less than last month so I'm slowly improving   Hope we both have a less spendy August!

Sun_Addict

At least you keep trying to stick to a budget, something will click eventually. One day we’ll all be coming on here to read your budgeting tips but in the meantime we’re here for the entertainment 😆 

WinterWarrior

Sun_Addict said:

At least you keep trying to stick to a budget, something will click eventually. One day we’ll all be coming on here to read your budgeting tips but in the meantime we’re here for the entertainment 😆 

Thanks SA 🤣 I’m nothing, if not entertaining 🤣
@jwil well done on your improvement. I could look like I’ve improved if I fiddle my spreadsheet figures….follow me for more money saving tips here…😅
oddly my spell check would like to change you to jail….

WinterWarrior

Good morning and happy Wednesday…it’s downhill to the weekend now ⭐️🌸
So I think I will do my July run down today as nothing should change.
The good - ending with zero on the credit card, some savings and £1k squirrelled into premium bonds. 

None MSE good - I’m now up to 53 books read out of a yearly target of 70 and another quilt finally finished.
The bad - still no sinking funds in those pesky pots, although I do have 1 locked savings pot I haven’t touched this month. Silly frittering and impulse buying went a bit overboard.
The ugly - I borrowed out of savings, which is practically the same as adding things to a credit card..basically spending what I don’t have and then having to pay it back! 

July was my birthday month and I had a big car service bill, so there are a few excuses! 

Now for August…I have sorted where my money will go. I need to pay my car insurance in one go (£230) and repay the borrowings, plus add a very ambitious amount to savings if I’m going to meet my targets. After all dd’s this leaves me with a measly £110 pocket money. If I split that I get £25 per full week and £10 for the partial week. As all pet food has been bought out of planned spends and fuel, prime, coffee beans, etc are all accounted for, the pocket money is really only to cover books, chocolate, random bits, etc. So it should be doable if I don’t cave! I will try to keep a tally on here and you can all be shocked at my extravagance, or cheer me on 😂
So in August I will be frugal, mindful and not fritter! 

I want to get to a first savings target by December, so rather than save to pots for Christmas I am hammering this target to complete by November, then I plan a month off to cover Christmas and back on it in January towards my next savings goal. Hopefully that makes sense. I am trying to get to a point where if my car needs replacing or something big happens I will be able to cover it without going back to loans. 

I have done a nice monthly spending tab on my spreadsheet to keep track of my £110 and have added 31 numbered boxes where I can colour in NSD’s. It looks pretty and kept me occupied for 5 minutes!
I think I’ve bored on enough so will go back to work.
Have a wonderful lucky day 🌺☕️