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Original poster

During May I will only spend money on food and petrol.

266 replies

Collision · 30/04/2011 20:54

I have decided that I spend far too much on silly bits and pieces and that after a while this really adds up.

The children do not need ANY clothes or shoes at all.

Neither do I. Or bags.

DH needs nothing.

So I have declared that May will be an eco month and i will only buy food and petrol. We are in school for the whole of the month so no trips out are necessary and if the weather is nice we can take our bikes out.

Anyone care to join me or make comments to support me!

OP posts:
nannynick · 02/05/2011 11:00

Wokingham - ah another local.
I'm at the gym, doing classes which are part of my membership so no extra cost. My mum has come, so I hope she may buy me lunch.
Waiting for Bodyvive class, being good and not buying a coffee.

Adair · 02/05/2011 11:06

Dh is taking kids to friends, taking them some chocs from the cupboard... Then got family coming over for dinner - that might put paid to the leftover-chicken fajitas this week Grin. But don't think we will spend any money today... and will all have a good day!

Am sat with baby on me and on internet though... and with money with in paypal... too tempting!

Looking at dd, they need a haircut. Vowed last three times that i would get them done properly , but ran away when she tried to charge £17!! So will prob do again myself...

Original poster
Collision · 02/05/2011 14:50

Well we did quite well.

Took drinks for kids and did not buy myself coffee.

Did a few crap tombola things for boys and they bought themselves a keyring with a real dead bug in it which they loved.

Went to Waitrose as I had no salad for lunches this week and spent £18 as lots of fruit was half price and DH said he wanted some for lunch. No impulse buys which is very good for me.

OP posts:
bustersmummy · 02/05/2011 15:06

I have not spent any money at all so far today.

I need milk, so I'll have to go for that later.

Kids away to the park on their bikes with water bottles filled with squash, and crisps from the cupboard

voodoomunkee · 02/05/2011 15:19

Been to the shops and spent £20 on packed lunch items (for me and the dd) AND 3 big evening meals worth of food to last til thurs (wtc day) and general items like washing up liquid, milk and bread. Did not buy junk and didnt buy anything other than food :) Happy with that

HauntedLittleLunatic · 02/05/2011 15:36

Hmmm how's this for cunning?

Dds have all ad birthdays over easter and (rightly or wrongly) tradition is that they take treats to school for all he classmates. Now I only got reminded of this this morning...so I have told xp that seeing as he will be the one dropping them off at school first day he could buy treats...all 100 of them Grin.

My spend so far this month zero...but I do have to get fuel tomorrow, and I am going out tomorrow (tickets bought by someone else, so I only have to buy drinks)

Original poster
Collision · 02/05/2011 16:17

Well done so far everyone!

Even if we do spend money at least we are thinking about where it goes as opposed to just spending it and wondering where the £20 went!!

OP posts:
Meglet · 02/05/2011 17:41

Well, I've done ok today. Had to do a grocery shop but down-shifted to Basics dishwasher tabs and went to Lidl on the way home to try their cheapo nappies - which have a 'Mumsnet Best' sticker on! They are approx £2 cheaper than sainsburys own IIRC.

follyfoot · 02/05/2011 17:49

Spent nothing so far today Smile but the expensive dog has now hurt her foot so off to the vet again tomorrow. Doing OK apart from that!

Instead of buying a sandwich tomorrow I shall make something interesting (haha) with couscous tonight...

shinyshoes · 02/05/2011 17:51

another no spend day for me !!

This week though I am chipping in towards a taxi for going out saturday night £4.00 which is about what i'd spend on petrol getting there anyway, but this is door to door and no parking worries.

I am not drinking either as i'm medication for an ear infection. So money saved there too !

I need bread, onions, 2 cards. so I will draw out a tenner and that should last me until next Monday when a brand new week starts

Carrotsandcelery · 02/05/2011 18:50

I have spent nothing today. Grin

Dh has spent rather a lot but he is not signed into this deal, it is me who has the spending problem.

Dh's spend was at the vets (for our poor bunny and regular worming stuff for the dog) and then a long preplanned shop in the garden centre which we do annually.

Even if it had been me spending, rather than dh, then I think both spends were within the rules anyway.

I did lots of resisting in the garden centre too - we stuck to the planned purchases and I tried hard to ignore all the other lovely things in there .

BlackandGold · 02/05/2011 19:38

Another no spend day for me too - didn't even buy a newspaper!

Tomorrow, however, will be a different story as it's back to work and then to do some food shopping.

voodoomunkee · 02/05/2011 19:41

Yay well done everyone! Like collision says least we are thinking about what we are spending!

Am all sorted for the week ahead, I know I will need to buy bread and milk and probably some margarine but can justify them!

Original poster
Collision · 02/05/2011 20:19

We had a very frugal meal tonight but it does help that DH is a chef and can make meals out of nothing!

We had a couple of pieces of forgotten bacon at the back of the fridge so he chopped it up and cooked it with onions and garlic, added tins tomatoes and fresh rosemary and stirred in cooked pasta.

He made focaccia yesterday so we had that with it and I am now very full!

Chicken stirfry tomorrow with frozen peppers (sound naff but fab!) and noodles and prawn crackers which have been lurking for a while.

DH said he will help me put some meals together out of what we have in the freezer and cupboards so that I only need to shop at the end of the week.

OP posts:
Carrotsandcelery · 02/05/2011 20:31

We had leftovers tonight which the dcs were not impressed by. I can't wait to see their faces when we have leftovers AGAIN tomorrow. Grin

nannynick · 02/05/2011 21:26

Pasta sauces are easy... bacon is so nice as a way of giving a basic tomato sauce that little bit extra. Does your DH have any easy Chinese stirfry sauce sauce recipes - they must be quite easy to make at home rather than buying the jars/packets.

I've spent: £3.85 today. Mum brought lunch, I got drinks.

Long work day tomorrow, won't be a no spend day either... though will try not to spend too much.

shinyshoes · 03/05/2011 10:20

I've spent £7.00 in Tesco Blush

This is all packed lunch stuff and other bits I needed.

I went to the cashpoint before I shopped and let out an audible gasp at the balance. Shock

I seriously thougt I had more than that. I seriously don't know where the money goes

shinyshoes · 03/05/2011 10:20

£37.00 that was meant to be

LawrieMarlow · 03/05/2011 10:44

Was thinking £7 didn't sound too bad Grin.

Wasn't too bad yesterday - did spend about £28 in Morrisons but that did include washing powder at £7. Did splash out on two magazines with Royal Wedding stuff in Blush for £4 but (tries to justify) had just taken back light bulbs which were the wrong sort and got £6 back (rather than letting them languish in a drawer).

Am about to go out and do need to spend money but it is Mystery Shopping so that is OK. Do feel a little full of money as got child benefit and tax credits and money from separated H and a mystery shopping payment but need to remember there is a lot of month left Grin.

Haircut this afternoon and then need to pay for Rainbows.

nannynick · 03/05/2011 12:47

Kettle would not boil this morning - made coffee by boiling water in a pan. So an unexpected expenditure later today if I get time to go to shops to get a new kettle.

bustersmummy · 03/05/2011 17:05

I bought chicken pie for dinner.

And a motorbike helmet and gloves (didn't buy the cheapest helmet but the one I got was only £10 dearer and it had lovely pink flowers and there was a donation to Breast Cancer)

Walked away from motorbikes because the dealer wanted a fortune for them.

Carrotsandcelery · 03/05/2011 20:57

We had to buy a swimming badge unexpectedly as dd achieved her 400m. Some things just have to be done, planned or otherwise (£1.30).

We also had to pay for the dog's vaccinations which were £38 but were preplanned.

We also needed milk, eggs, dishwasher tablets etc totallying £13. That was a vast reduction on what I would normally have spent diving into the supermarket for a quick dash round so I felt quite [smug emoticon]

So an expensive day but not as bad as it would have been without this thread. Smile

nannynick · 03/05/2011 21:06

Unexpected expenses crop up, think those should be allowed. It's the impulse buys when going round the shops that should be discouraged.

I went to town banked a cheque (so money in) and brought a new kettle - not the cheapest but something mid range so it should last a good few years. Resisted going in any other shops, so that was good.

Roll on tomorrow, hope to have a lower cost day then - though am off work, gym is shut (due to local forest fire) so I'll have to find something free to occupy myself.

Adair · 03/05/2011 21:17

Glad everyone is feeling successful!

i have nearly bought
coat-hangers, then decided to look in the spare wardrobe and found loads Hmm
A box for baby toys, instead using a hamper/basket that was under our bed

Free activity of the day: Kids made flower sticking - cut up lots of petal shapes from cards/paper/junkmail in recycling and they stuck them to make flowers.

Dh informed me that our car tax was way more than I'd budgeted for though. Damn. And got school dinners to pay for tomorrow...

LawrieMarlow · 03/05/2011 21:18

Quite a good day - did spend money but only what I meant to.

Did my mystery shops
Paid for DD's term at Rainbows
Had my hair cut

tomorrow I need to pay window cleaner (2 months worth Blush
Go into town to do mystery shopping (so need to pay park and ride fare)
Will be good and take food with me for lunch rather than buying something
Will also need to pay DS's term at Beavers.

On the plus side should get paid for two lots of mystery shopping in the next few days :)

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