Fiscal Fast

BBH123 wrote: »

Thankyou both some great ideas.


As a goal I need to reduce my mortgages before I plan to retire in 5 yrs and what really was an eye opener was that I could have been retired at 50 if I had spent wisely and carefully.


I use the KAKEBO book to focus me on my incomings and outgoings and again sometimes I fill it in religiously and other days I miss out. Overall it is very good for helping me see in black and white what my financial month will look like.


I do make lists as soon as I get paid and take out in cash to put in envelopes any expenses that month ie June is Fathers day month so an amount is put into an envelope for presents and a meal. One dog goes to hydrotherapy once a week so that goes into an envelope etc etc


My food is not budgeted separately and I do not have a freezer which is a nuisance tbh so no batch cooking can be done and I have to buy fresh weekly what I intend to eat.


I have also started two savings challenges on the forum which is great as last year I hadn't anything put aside.

I do have some areas I wont compromise on ie my dogs eat a very expensive food and it is nutritionally superior than other brands. I also wont buy meat / eggs from anywhere other than the butcher who guarantees ethical food from within 70 miles of the village. This is very expensive , think £11 for a small chicken, so I'd rather not eat meat, we don't have to every day anyway.


I think planning is the key but the other problem I have is that I treat myself too often and don't focus ie if I want something and my budgets are gone I'll just transfer money from my savings account. Maybe having visibility of my savings on my phone app is too easy and I should start saving with another bank lol.


Thankyou ladies I will dip in here and there to check progress and more hints and tips. Being frugal is easy short term but I need to dig in deeper to make longer term changes.

What keeps me focused is having a fixed income which is very low

I take home on average £160 a week. When that's spent there is nothing else because once money is tucked away in savings, it stays there and that is only used for major purchases such as a replacement boiler. Not ever used for every day spending


My take home pays for my road tax, insurance, petrol, maintenance of said car, phone, groceries and household , coal and personal spends - clothes, make up etc

I also have a monthly bill of £82 as I treated myself to a laptop on interest free credit early this year

So not having anything to start with keeps me focused on getting the best I can for as little as possible

It also makes me think about what I'm spending money on as a 'treat'. What do I want more, a £3 nail varnish which will give me joy for weeks to come, of a cup of really not great coffee?


Don't get me wrong, I like a treat, we all do , and sometimes I go mad, get the nail varnish, the coffee and throw in a cake as well, but I know I can't maintain those spends every day without dipping into savings and if I spend the savings today, whilst I'm still earning, what treats will I have when I'm on SP?


So I spend wisely and waste nothing. We make do and mend wherever possible. Like Jackie, I freeze single sausages. I freeze before cooking. After a while there's a lot of single sausages in the freezer, that's a free meal for the 3 of us

I remember saying to you before ( different username ) that I didn't add crisps and sweets to the grocery spend. If someone wants them, they buy them themselves out of their money. If DH wants beers in the house, I take the money of him , I'm not buying him beer out of housekeeping

Scratch cooking saves me a fortune. We eat pretty well I think. We have at least one roast a week, if not 2. We have chinese and Indian and pizza same as everyone else, difference is we cook our own, from scratch, no jars or pastes

We even eat out or get a takeaway now and then. We eat at tea time or lunchtime instead of evenings, usually the same menu for 1/2 the price and a free drink included. Takeaway is a real rare treat and even those left overs are my packed lunch on a Monday, even if all that's left is rice and noodles and a bit of sauce

We go to the cinema on half price Tuesday's. It's the same film for £3 as it is for £7 so why pay the extra?

And charity shops are my clothes shopping shops of choice. I look in them all weekly, them and TK and snap up bargains My Best Buy this year so far has been an as new Hobbs dress for £12 ( website £159), ideal for the wedding I'm having to attend in the poshest hotel in Belfast lol


I could spend more by dipping into savings or not putting so much aside for savings but I really enjoy the challenge of getting by on so little. And seeing our savings grow is a great spur on