Lulabelle's MFW Diary

lulabelle1 · 8 November 2011 at 3:02PM

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newgirly · 8 November 2011 at 4:00PM

The big one that sticks out seems to be the spends of £650, why don't you do a diary for a month and write EVERYTHING down to see where it all goes as that is quite a lot that maybe could be reduced a lot without too much "pain" as martin says!

Do you use vouchers for entertainment and food deals in restaurants? also check the grabbit board for fab bargins and if you have sky, then have a look at their reward section as you can get free preview tickets for lots of films, I have had 3x pairs this month alone, my dh goes and takes a mate or my brother as I'm not too interested.:D

If you have the time (probably not!) you can do online surveys to earn vouchers and also makesure you join topcashback and/or quidco, good luck.

lulabelle1 · 8 November 2011 at 4:13PM

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CathT · 8 November 2011 at 4:20PM

Hello and good luck. There are lots of tips (i think) on the Old Style forum. I mean to have a look but keep forgetting!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS · 8 November 2011 at 4:42PM

Hi, I really understand your DH points. I actually wouldn't start a diary until he was on board as I felt the numbers were too much for me alone.

Not sure if this will help you but this is how I handle the shopping. Hope you love spreadsheets......

Depending upon whether i am using a 4 week or 8 week menu plan, once a month, if I am using a 4 week plan, (every couple of months if an 8 week plan) I do a freezer stock check, cupboard check and fridge, sounds a big job but I have 2 fridges and 1 tall freezer, 2 cupboards and it only takes about 35 mins all in. I then sit with a coffee, lap top in front of me and plan every meal. That really does include breakfasts, lunches, kids lunches, after school snacks, dinners etc. I do this on a weekly chart showing kids activities as well. That helps me to understand if it's a quick night, and I have to take something out of the freezer, or, it's an OK night and I can cook after work.

I then cross the ingredients from my larder/freezer list as I use them up. This allows me to look for 'whoopsies', offers etc and use them up sensibly. I often pop stuff into the slow cooker on a Saturday and then portion it up, box, label and freeze. This truly has saved a fortune and I only go to the bigger supermarkets if I am on a grabbit hunt. I cook 1 or 2 veg meals a week and my DS and DH will now eat them with no complaints..... I spend for two adults and 2 teenage kids around £100 including dog/cat food, toiletries, cleaning products etc. In the last year I have found that Aldi is capable of fulfilling far more of our needs than years ago.

We do grow fruit,veg which doesn't save a fortune but I grow tons of salad in the summer for pennies which definitely does save money. I also go blackberry, plum foraging which is great fun. It takes me away from excel sheets and work. I then prep them and freeze. There are some links to menu planning on this site somewhere and I am thinking of starting one up as well. All helps give us inspiration.

Last suggestion for now, change your habits so that you stop going shopping as often, do something new with the kids, go for a walk, swim who knows what, but I have found breaking the cycle of how you do things allows you to change without too much pain.

Sorry if I have gone on but your post struck a chord and I wanted to help if I could.

Good luck

lulabelle1 · 8 November 2011 at 4:54PM

Thanks Tilly I really appreciate you taking the time to add a post to my diary.
I love your suggestions. I think it's great how you go through the cupboards and ff etc with your lists. I thought I was organised with the weekly shop until I read this!
I'm kind of organised, I do a meal planner and then just buy what is required to cook each of the meals. But, I only do this for the main meals and often forget about doing it for lunches which is where my desire to pop out for a nice lunch comes from.
Most of my "other" shopping tends to be done on the internet. I never take the kids shopping or spend any time on the weekend shopping as I prefer to spend quality time with the kids etc. As I work from home most days I tend to spend a lot of time in front of the computer and during quiet moments can be found "shopping" so this is definitely a habit I need to change and will think of some ideas as to how this can be done.
DS1 is a really fussy eater which does not help matters. Thankfully DS2 is much better and pretty much eats what he is given.

lulabelle1 · 8 November 2011 at 4:55PM

CathT wrote: »

Hello and good luck. There are lots of tips (i think) on the Old Style forum. I mean to have a look but keep forgetting!

Thanks Cath, am following your diary so will look out for tips!!

lulabelle1 · 9 November 2011 at 9:46AM

Had a chit chat with DH last night about my MF dreams.... He kind of seems to be on board and has promised that he will work with me on reducing the amount of spending that we do on the weekly shop - it's a start so feeling very happy about this.
He's off to do the shopping after work, so let's see how he gets on.
Haven't told him about me being on here though as I'm not sure how he would feel about that, he always looks at me like I am some sort of crazy lady.
Off in to London for work today, so I shall be good, my only treat will be my first Christmas coffee from Starbucks, a treat that i shall not be giving up!

lulabelle1 · 9 November 2011 at 9:53AM

Out of curiosity I checked my mortgage balance just now so that I could work out how much interest I'm paying on a daily basis. Presumably I just need to take yesterdays o/s balance away from the balance today and that's the figure..... £19.69 difference, so interest of nearly £20 per day, wow - this is actually a pretty good motivator!!!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS · 9 November 2011 at 10:47AM

Morning, hope you enjoyed your coffee, my DH is like that when the XMas range comes out. I also have a Xmas countdown on my 'phone!

Good news regarding your chat last night. I popped out with DH yesterday as he was on a mission to buy MW3 for DS. By going to the orange supermarket, we bought it for £29 bar a penny, using a double points voucher and spending £30 in store. The dish washer tabs were half price so I bought 6 packs of them to store, bargain for us and also for DS who has saved his pocket money to buy the game - woo hoo

The reason for sharing the above, I too look at my daily interest and it makes me question the value of buying something ie. Do I really want to spend x% of my daily interest on that?

It doesn't necessarily stop me buying but it does make me question the decision which provides an opportunity to change my mind.

Good luck in the London - hope you have better luck with the trains than I did the other evening

Lulabelle's MFW Diary

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