Abstemious April ... the trials continue

[roguepixie]

Righty-ho, here's the April thread.

After a disastrous March I am more than ready to get to grips again with all things frugal.

Becaroooo my friend works in Sainsbo's and the clothing 25% finishes at the end of today - so get down there fast!!!!

not doing too badly so far this half term, i thought it was going to cost me a fortune! went to a NT egg hunt yesterday but it was free to get in, only £3 for the hunt and free parking. spent £7.85 on drinks and scones afterwards but money well spent for such a lovely family day out :)

have got next week all planned out with seeing friends/cheapo activities. well, i say that - will probably be doing soft play tomorrow as the weather is awful, but that's not too bad.

only splurge is that DH spent £100 in the supermarket still, we've plenty of food in the house now!

Apart from my big spend at Aldi(£50) on Friday I am still doing well on spends, having no money in the bank works wonders on your spending habits
Did a little veg run at Coop and got some reduced things as well£10 and that has been it.
Oh did a fundraiser on Saturday and spent about £15, had all the dd's with me and if we hadn't of been there all day I wouild of got away with about £10 but we did get hot dogs, a couple of raffle/tombola goes and some books and toys for them.

Weather is still pants and due to stay this way so our only day out is going to be tea at Pizza Express which will cost me £15 in clubcard vouchers plus drinks and car parking

I have spent nothing all weekend, but only because DH has paid for everything! He's probably spent about £200 on shopping, petrol, a takeaway curry and lunch out yesterday. We've also had 2 days out at National Trust properties, but we're members, so just food in the cafe and the entry fee for an Easter egg hunt for DS.
So, on the whole, not too bad for Easter weekend, especially as we often go on holiday at this time.

Well, after all the shopping I bought over the last two weeks I only need fruit and veg this week

Weekend costs were, let me think, £2.40 on the roads, £15 wasted in Pizza Hut, t'was horrible, but the DDs got a second meal out of the left overs. £60 supermarket, that included winter PJs, slippers and dressing gowns for the DDs, oh and some underwear. Today I spent £4 on the roads and nada more

I've caught a stomach bug, again, from the DDs but at least I can rest a home because I got rid of the fanatic.

leila I went yesterday! Got loads of nice stuff for dc for £40!

Well, this month not going too well Been to dentists (badly needed!) and that was £60!!!! and I need a filling too (made appt for May to give me time to save up

My aunt is taking me to the theatre tonight but I will need car parking and petrol money as I will have to drive.

Will take some water and rolos with me for the interval

Need to spend absolute mimimum on food over the next 2 weeks....

Well, off to bad start. Humungous spend in Waitrose but this will cover all store cupboard needs to the coming month or two - only need fruit and veg and some meat (possibly).

NSD yesterday - mainly because we didn't go out . But good to keep the plastic in the wallet.

Spent £52.00 today buying tickets for the Horrible Histories Barmy Britain live show at the Garrick Theatre. Anyone wishing to go - if you want to order tickets for shows BEFORE 31st May then phone Garrick Theatre or book on-line (google Barmy Britain or phone 0844 412 4662 or go to www.barmybritain.com) and quote 'METRO OFFER' and you get 2for1 on prestige tickets (normally £25.00). Sadly, I couldn't take up the offer as I needed the tickets for after this date (DS's birthday and it needs to be in half term) but some of you may be able to take advantage.

Dinner tonight - spag bol for the boys (DH, DS and DS's friend) and celeriac bol for me (no wheat) - all store/freezer. Cheap and cheerful and goes a looooooooooong way . My MIL taught me how to cook an authentic Italian bolognaise years ago and it is a great 'go to' recipe that always goes down well.

So Aldi turned out not to be as good as it could of been. I ended up today at Morrisons getting more veg and cheese and fruit. I think I need to just stick to meat and cereals at Aldi.
Still have some money left but not spending apart from that Morrisons shop. DD's did an easter craft today for £1, dd2 and dp are going swimming tomorrow, Thurs is an open day for Doulas so dd's will come with me and Friday dd1 and dd2 and dp are off to see the Gruffalo. Everything is paid for so I shouldn't spend anything really for the rest of the week

My aim is to minimise car usage as far as possible. Filled it up as I was at Sainsbury's on Saturday and don't go there that often - £35 for half a tank of unleaded.

So, today I walked to Aldi to do the weekly shop. Loaded up the pram and a rucksack and it was fine. Stopped impulse buys as I had limited carrying capability. That was £22.

Coup of the day was Mini Spew's 1st b'day present from my parents. They gave me money to buy him a Smart Trike (£55 on elc website). But then found a 20% discount code. That meant it was under £50, but had to pay postage (free over £50). Every time I added something, it applied the 20% discount meaning I would have to keep adding little things, so in the end I got something for £10 and still paid £55 in total. Not that great a deal, I grant you. But I was happy.

Dinner tonight was a bargain!

Waitrose Korma sauce - Reduced to 12p!!!!!!!!!!
reduced organic chicken - 99p

so I made a curry.

and served it with rice and a Waitrose reduced to 45p Dahl.

Bargainous!

I've had a really good weekend, the shopping was delivered on Friday and that was £145, but since then we have collectively spent less than £20.

I am taking the boys out for the day tomorrow, so that will probably be £30 realistically, but then I am aiming for a cheapish Waitrose order on Friday (£75 is my aim) and we have my Mum coming up for the weekend to help out with the boys while DH and I get some gardening done.
I have fuel, and a freezer full of meat.

So far April is turning out much better than March.

Spent about £70 yesterday on a day out to a adventure park with the boys, but as we had a fairly quiet Easter weekend apart from that, wasn't too bad! Have cancelled our cleaning too so that will be a saving, plus have listed a load of stuff on eBay too.

Today spent £10 in Aldi on nappies, fruit, veg and cheese and have ordered another shop from Tesco, totalling £40, so will be cheap week for food if we stick to my meal plan.

Splashed out on pro-biotics for myself and the DDs, £38, that's two months worth for me but only 15 days for the DDs. I need to go further afield to get another bottle of the junior ones. This is an attempt to stop us picking up every bug that does the rounds. Our diet and general health is good so I'm hoping the good bugs will ward off the other bugs.

Been too tired to do anything else, the saga of the stomach bug, but had to get a ready roast chicken today, and shampoo which was on BOGOF. We had a scheduled power cut today but we had a week's notice, so not a problem.

Meal plan has gone by the way this week as I couldn't face thinking about food, the children have eaten though, that's what freezers are for

So, today's tally
Roads-£4
Bacteria-£38
Supermarket -£8

I'm seriously considering not hiring another maid, that would be a saving of £400 salary and about -£300 benefits per month, there are lot's of pros and cons to be considered before I make a definite decision.

Thursday I need to get the car cleaned, apart from that I can't think of any other costs for the week.

pixie I also have a bolognaise recipe I rely on, great for emergency meals from the freezer

I think there are a few recipes that are just 'must have's' and bolognaise is one of them isn't it, chile. Another staple is chilli and a boeuf bourguignon that keeps well in the freezer and is ready in minutes.

I did have a chuckle with your "today's tally" - £38 on bacteria . I love the idea of a big bag of bacteria ... well, not 'love' exactly but you know what I mean .

Off to a crossfit class tomorrow (already paid for) so will spend about £5 on tube oyster fares. Will take water from home and a snack so no further expenditure there. DH is working from home tomorrow so he will keep an eye on DS. Thursday is a trip to the cinema (Grandma is taking us ) then Friday DAunty is taking DS to the Lucien Freud exhibition - so a fair bit to be looking forward to and no major expenditure.

Thanks pixie your "bag of bacteria" made me chuckle

You've reminded me actually chile, I have a bottle of bacteria in my fridge . I must use it as I think I could do with a 'healthy bacteria' boost .

Calzone, I am always very jealous of your waitrose bargains! ours is miles away so I have to confine myself to morrisons, asda and sainbos.

Coop had a great deal on stir-fry sauces today. £1.09 each, or two for £1. Go figure.

fluffy - I too am most jealous of calzone's amazing Waitrose deals . I do have a Waitrose nearby but they never have deals like that.

I had a voucher for comfort, £1 off. So I got the big 42 wash bottle in sainsbos which is on offer for £2 for a £1 , then I used my aunt bessies 50p off voucher for yorkie puds that were down to a £1 anyway.

I had to like their fb pages to get them. It's stuff we are going to use anyway so at least I havent paid through the nose for it.

Hello everyone, sorry just to breeze in again but am ill ill ill (My DH went to France and all I got was this lousy flu).

Recent purchases include 63 pounds something in Sainsbos yesterday- I decided to top up early as I could feel myself getting ill and didn't fancy shopping on Thursday when truly sick.

Also 4.50 for coffee for me and a friend on Monday. Also gave DD1 and DD2 20 pounds on Monday to pay for DD1's buffet birthday meal at a restaurant (she's now 17 and organised her own party with friends at the restaurant). Apart from that I think all NSD as have spent all Easter repainting.

Our Waitrose does fab bargains!

They HAVE to reduce everything in the evening so I go at about 6.30pm and grab the bargains.

Tis worth trying as they give the reduction to the customer which is brilliant and unlike other supermarkets.

We have 35p posh Waitrose sausages tonight.

The cash-only budgeting is working, sort of. With bills taken care of on direct debit at the start of the month, for the past two weeks I have only allowed myself £100 a week for groceries, petrol and day-to-day expenses (for a family of 5), which I've withdrawn as cash on a Sunday morning. DDs were away for a couple of days last week so their budgeted grocery money went on a couple of cheeky glasses of pub wine.

Now down to my last tenner, though, which will pay for DS's haircut tomorrow and some veg, to make a soup with the chicken stock in the freezer, and we'll be able to limp through to Sunday with mince-based leftovers from the freezer.

I hate this, though. Literally counting out the pennies to feed us, and drinking tap water in the pub over the weekend, when we met up with friends.

Hello,

Can I join?
I want to give up work and if I do we will have to cut back big time, so want to start now so I can prove to DH we can afford it!
I think food is probably our biggest outgoing, any tips/menu's/recipes?
thank you!

Hello Karbea!

I have started seiously budgeting about a month ago for similar reasons to you! I have cut back my shopping bills dramatically by devising (and sticking to) a meal plan, switched my shopping from Ocado and Waitrose to Aldi and Tesco, and buying own brand value products.

Other tips I have picked up on these boards include:
turning off radiators in rooms you don't use;
only boiling water in the kettle that you will use;
only using half a dishwasher tablet (no difference noticed);
Washing at lower temperatures (check your manual for which cycles are the most economical)!

Check out the recipe section of Mumsnet for ideas and Tesco and Sainsburys both have budget meal-planner sections on their websites, which should help to get you started!