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

[roguepixie]

New thread for all of us .

Had 2 NSD's at the weekend. 1 because dp went out for the day so I had all 4 dc's at home and there was no way I was taking them all out and yesterday was a bank holiday so we stayed at home.
Spent about £5 today on some milk and chips and postage for DD1's ebay sell, she gave me that back though.
No spends planned till Friday when the main shop will set me back about £160

Will look again. Chopped toms were.33p a tin in Lidl last week,pasta 29p for 500g. Will do some more hunting

Total spend of £3.17 today on bus fares and a treat from Greggs.

Thanks everyone for all the recent tips.

A pretty high spend day for me yesterday! Went shopping for my hen night outfit, spent £45 on dress, tights and necklace. While I was there spent £18 on a few bits of school uniform for ds1 and £2.50 on car parking. Another £5 on posting out my eBay sales (which technically didn't cost anything as the cash is in my Paypal account!).

Really pleased that I didn't buy any crap like coffee/snacks etc.

I'll have to have another look at Approved foods. Had a quick look the other day but they didn't seem to have anything that I would usually buy, but I definitely buy toilet rolls, fruit and lentils (!) so will give it another go.

Total yesterday was £7.49 as I had to post some parcels. I am hoping for a NSD today - here's hoping I resist buying my usual coffee.

Have already spent ?16.70 today whilst still in pyjamas on DD2's class photo. Have DD3's nursery photos to buy as well. Gulp.

Also will have to buy DD1 and DD2's Ten Tors pictures at the weekend I daresay (it's a pretty big event so they have to have them really).

£8 so far , cheese, beans, buns, fruit.Still need bread as nowhere had any.

So far, £14.18 on bus fares, 2 Confirmation cards, a 2nd class stamp and after school/ pre - swimming lesson snack in a café. Add another £1.10 for a single fare for DS to get home, to make £15. 28 altogether.

Did quite well today, I bought tights and a top for DD with a giftcard she got for her birthday so i'm hoping that doesn't count (was £14) and the ice-cream van turned up for the 1st time this summer and we got a bit excited and spent £5. I also spent £60 changing a flight but will claim that back on expenses.

Tomorrow is likely to be a big one, I have a trip to London for work but most of that will be expensed and a night out with my favourite collegue wh is emmigrating in a fortnight so I may spend a small fortune :(

On a positive note I think we found a house today (new build and early stages so no massive time pressure) so we have a great incentive to step up the saving.

Mama

Welcome, and, the credit cards- do you pay the minimum amount? If so you're only paying pennies off the bill each month. Are they on DD? That lowers the rate of interest, or used to.

Today I need to get a mould remover for the shower, that's all I think.
This morning I spent £3 on the roads. DCs are doing cross country at the weekend, again free but they'll need to take food for the day.

I have the minimum on direct debit and then the amount i pay extra varies from month to month... until christmas I was paying the whole balance each month but since then its only been about £150 a month.

mama exciting about the house, good luck!

NSD here for both myself and DH
I resisted buying tickets to see the Wiggles LIVE

Just £12 here, stocking up on some birthday cards for the next batch of parties that the DS's will be going to. Oh and £20 on ordering bags and uniform bits from DS1s new school for September.

My top tip of the day: don't let your toddler play with your fancy smartphone. Mine dropped mine on the floor this morning and crawled all over it, resulting in a very cracked screen. Thankfully, I have insurance, but there's still a £25 excess charge to pay.

With regards to birthday cards etc, I usually buy mine at M&S - they do some decent ones for £1 and they also have a loyalty scheme, where after you've bought six cards you get the seventh free. They're nice enough and given that they're probably going in the bin/recycling after, I don't want to pay loads!

Virtual NSD yesterday (only £4.00 on postage for ebay items).

Think it will be a NSD today - not going anywhere so just need to control myself on the laptop ... ooooooh, internet shopping .

Have also earnt some money by making a cake for someone!!!

£40 ish this am. Market for fruit & veg &cheese= £9. £3.20 on plants and £19 in the Co-op on bread, chocolate & pop. . I did get some RTC bread for the freezer though too.

That doesn't add up does it. Must have spent less than I thought!

Mama

Good luck wth the house, fingers crossed. I changed my credit cards to full payment at the tail end of last year. Being abroad with bank still in UK can be very awkward and it ended up with me not having access to anything. That meant almost a year with no cash here and no way to pay the mounting bill over there. And now of course I don't dare spend more than I have.

Well, didn't get the anti mold thing, must try harder today. This week I'm struggling with period pain so I really don't want to do the housework, or the cooking or the shopping, or the dog walking, or anything really- I just want to curl up in bed- but the kitchen looks like something exploded and on Saturday we're hosting a business barbecue which is probably the real reason- deep down on some psychological level- for my lethargy.

OH told me yesterday the bank account has diminished far more than we anticapted, so spending must be reigned in etc etc, then told me we need to get about 30 kilos of steak for Saturday, plus other meat and all the associated BBQ foods. I can't help thinking this does not compute

Anyway, I'm going to console myself by baking - once the kitchen is useable

Hope the period pain is better adorabell. 30kg of steak? Blimey!

Another NSD here! I'm going for a trio.

Today I spent 9.95 on a haircut for DD3. She was beginning to resemble an afghan hound, it was time.

I also spent 63 pounds in Waitrose on the weekly shop.

Just £3 here at Aldi on some fruit and veg.

Thanks Spew, will look at M&S for birthday cards next time, 7 for £6 sounds like a good deal :)

Face. That's what I thought when he told me, it's madness I tell you!

So, today I had lunch with the aforementioned OH, which meant driving to the capital. Roads cost me £3, OH paid for lunch and then I spent £40 in the supermarket. At least I remembered the mould spray, hate using strong chemicals but needs must occasionally.

I really need to sink into a long hot bath but the boiler has broken down and because it's a fancy European one it can only be fixed by the company OH bought it from, and they haven't answered e-mails. I have thought of decamping to a hotel, because I can be really stroppy when the mood takes me, but there's no money. I'll have to make a chocolate cake to scoff for the children instead.

Free insertion weekend on Ebay this weekend - free 100 listings starting at £1 or above.

After the early morning phone breakage, I also had to spend £45 on a new tyre for the car. My neighbour has been monitoring it (at least someone has been!) and knocked on the door yesterday to report that there is definitely a slow air leak. So, am booked into Kwik-Fit next week - if you booked and paid online, it was £10 cheaper than doing it on the day. It's worth paying to get it fitted as I'd end up making a pig's ear of it. I really do need to learn to do stuff like this though.