Meagre May ... watching our bank balances go up instead of down

[roguepixie]

New thread for all of us .

We went to national trust places over the weekend too, I joined through quidco but I havent had my cashback yet .

I worked out my packed lunch for two of us cost £4. I am very, very sad like that. I even took aldi's magnums with us because they are £2.10 there!

Aldi are doing camping stuff this Thursday. Cheap flasks and stuff

Hi everyone - latecomer joining in. We seem to be permanently overdrawn these days. Once all the stuff like mortgage/household bills/insurances/endowments come out then hardly anything left. Our boys are at uni ad we help them out and are trying to pay more than the minimum on credit card bills. Guess no holiday this year which is really depressing. and aim to get back in the black! Anyway, will start a spending diary from today. Have a biggish internet shop coming from Tesco tomorrow (£131) mainly stock stuff - washing powder/cat food/soft drinks/milk/eggs/butter/bacon ham plus a meal deal. but it does add up. Our local Tesco is now closed so I have been popping into M and S or Waitrose on the way home from work so need to stop doing that. Also should eat in the work canteen which is free rather than take sandwiches. Must stop spending on Amazon (cds and dvds) - and e-bay - although it us stuff for DH or DSs. Usually meet up with a friend for lunch once every couple of weeks so guess should cut that out and no cinema or theatre treats for a while. Don't drive but monthly travel card is £62 a month. Sadly I can't see it getting much easier. I am unlikely to change jobs now and DH is freelance and it's getting harder and harder to get work.

Hello Motheroftwoboys, it's not easy is it? I've tried hard to cut back in every area, but there always seems to be something that we need to spend money on!!

Yesterday was £27 at Aldi on our fruit and veg. Today I am taking the dc to the wacky warehouse to meet a friend, so have budgeted £5 for that and I need to pick up some nappies for ds2, so probably another £5. Hopefully that is all though!

Name changer here (the poster previously known as Spew).

About to post an ad for my car on Gumtree. I am doing this! Does anyone know if you can get reimbursed for insurance if you cancel a policy? I'm guessing not, but it would be a nice windfall (six months left on my policy).

I've also started getting £100 cash out of the machine at the beginning of the week and using that to pay for everything. It's really made me think twice before buying something. But I do have to be very careful not to lose my wallet (I am prone to leaving it in cafes...).

Fluffy, I think I've got a claim with Quidco for Debenhams -bought something through Quidco a few months back and still not had my cashback.

Welcome, motheroftwoboys. Hope this thread helps to keep you on track.

Oh, and have scored some nappy liners and random terry and disposable nappies on Freegle. Happy days!

economy, I think that most insurers will refund whole months that are left on a policy (sometimes you have to have a minimum amount of months left). Give them a call to find out. Ditto road tax.

Thanks, rogue - my car tax actually runs out at the end of June, which is why I'm selling it right now! But some money back from the insurance would be nice...

Economymode let us know how you get on with the insurance, that will be a nice bonus! I paid for my insurance monthly so I didn't get anything back! But I didn't have to keep paying out either. I wonder how many people have gone down to one car because they are feeling the pinch. Not many people down our street, it is chocka block at nighttime!

Motherof3boys hello, I know how you feel, we have cut back on lots of stuff but still feeling the pinch. I am sure there are other things that we could cut out - like wine! But where would be the fun in that?

I am off to check out this quidco that you keep mentioning and also freegle!

£7.30 total spend today, on some shopping and bus fares.

Good luck with selling your car, economy mode.

Just realised that I have nearly had a NSD! Just 70p on a toasted teacake. Damn!

Hello motherof2boys and welcome.

I had an unplanned after school snack with one DD, -£5 followed by £14 in the supermarket and £4 on road tolls.

Tomorrow I have to go into town to test drive a much more expensive car than we were talking about OH keeps doing that, spends weeks stressing about money, we have to cut right back etcetera and then spends a pigging fortune on stuff we don't need. Right now it's a third dog, so we need a huge car to accommodate 3 dogs. It's all a ruse to get the car he wants without admitting that he wants that car. He hasn't bought the dog yet, but he will because he's got the DDs excited about it.

Oh - sorry Motherof2boys, I misread your name!

Andorabell - my DH just like that, will go mad at me for buying a magazine for DC but then will spend a lot of money on big one off items - TV, bike, new car! The car we have now guzzles petrol but DH just had to have it. And when I protest he argues that he is the one that pays most of the bills .

Payday! What a relief. Right - top tips please for budgeting and staying in the black all month rather than my usual pattern of having a couple of decadent weekends and then scrimping and scraping for the last two weeks?

Hi everyone,
I'm back from hols. Overspent a bit last week but no drastically. DH also found out he had passed a very important exam so I blew £50 on some champs and a Chinese takeaway.
It means he's on line for a promotion so we need to make so very big decisions about leaving/stating in London.
Anyway yesterday was a NSD. Today I'm hoping to be in the positive as need to take a top back!

Greedygirl have you tried taking a set amount out of the cash till at the start of the week and then just carrying that with you and leaving your cards at home, meaning that you can't spend any more than you have budgeted? Don't know if that would work for you?

Yesterday I spent £10 getting Ds1s hair cut and then another £12 at Sainsburys on some nappies and chicken (again I forgot to defrost the chicken I had already bought) [annoyed face]!!

Today has already set me back £25 on diesel and £5 on horrible petrol station lunch!!

Will have to go to supermarket tonight to get the food for our Jubilee party on Sunday, although the forecast is for heavy rain [annoyed again!]!!!

If you visit this link you can get free cake from mcvities.

Spent about £55 yesterday, although £35 of that was on dinner at Pizza Express for DH, DS and I.

Spent just under £17 today, on bus fares, Olivio spread, chocolate bars for DS and me and paying the childminder.

£35 on a christening present and card plus some bits of shopping. I did m&s meal for 2 for a tenner. Going to take the bottle of wine to a party on Saturday and have put the steaks in the freezer ready for BbQ weather.
Got the weekly shop left to do tomorrow, then hoping for a quiet weekend money wise.

greedygirl

Tell me about it!!, that's exatly what my OH does. He says he can more easily justify spending £10,000 than a tenner. re budgeting, do you plan your meals in advance? It really helps to keep food costs under control. Do you buy lunch at work, or take your own?

Yesterday was going soooo well, it was so close to being a NSD day, and in fact I didn't spend anything, but I did write off an almost brand new tyre on the motorway. On the plus side, it didn't blow out (no idea how) which meant myself and DD2 were not injured, no cars, either ours or other's, we're damaged. So in reality I saved potential medical costs for potentially countless people- it was rush hour- and the cost of replacing potentially countless cars. So really, we're quids in

In addition, the car has just been sold, OH signed on the dotted line today, I didn't mess that up. All in all, a good day

Today I spent a fiver on lunch out, walking dogs for longer than I planned, and £3 on road tolls. Being car-less and stuck at home can have it's benefits, occasionally

Fluffy, McVities seemed to have stopped giving away cake for now, but it says they will start doing it again after the weekend.

We've got an allotment

Soooo excited! Have to hand over a cheque for £16.50 for the year (and a £4 key deposit for the gate and loos!) Will be having lots of NSD's now, as there is so much work to do there, but will definately be worth it.

Will have to lay out a bit first to get some better tools, some plug plants and seed potatoes. Going to wait to get the expensive bits (waterbutt/shed etc) as the shops will be stocking Xmas stuff soon so will need to make room!

Try your local council our sells water buts cheap.

Eeek another spendy day.£20 in boots on toiletries and a new beaker for DD, £10 on 2 quiche dishes that I have to take tomorrow to a christening and £30 on gifts on water stones. I bought DD 3 new books for the weekend to pull out in desperation when she's grumpy. Dh is on nights so I'm left with a grumpy toddler and all my pals have left London for the weekend

Congrats on getting the allotment, Leilandri.

£6.50 or slightly under was my spend for today.

Thanks guys, I have been intending to take out a set amount of money for a while but I never actually do it so I think this is the month to try it! I do try and plan for food but there always seems to be something I have forgotten and then you have to go to the shop and then you are tempted by all the lovely stuff...I did a massive online Tescos shop yesterday and I am aiming to stay out the shops all weekend. I am totally rubbish at making sandwiches to take to work. Must try harder!

I have signed up for quidco!

Is there a June thread now or should I set one up? Struggling to think of money saving adjectives beginning with 'J'!!