Is this typical?

[ZigZagWanderer]

Everyday I find I'm spending money on something.
We are always running out of stuff and feel I'm in the shop everyday. Bread and milk every other day.
I try to go a day without spending but something comes up no matter how small.
I feel as if I have a spending problem, even though I rarely treat myself, if I do it's an eBay jobbie.
Today I ordered vitamins which ended up being £20, that was including discounts.
Yesterday it was a gift for a friend having a baby.
Basically, do other people find or is it just me?

*find this

£20 is a hell of lot for vitamins.
I suppose it depends on whether you can actually afford your current spending - are you in debt? Or are you spending within your means?

It occurs to me that you need to spend less time shopping and more time planning your shopping. Why are you always out of bread and milk? Both freeze well. When you top them up, is it from a cheap supermarket or an expensive corner shop? Shopping online is a good way of figuring out what you actually need to get you through a week, and is good at stopping impulse buying.

Agree that £20 is a lot of vitamins. Why do you need vitamins anyway? You should get all you need from eating a balanced diet.
In a great believer in lists. I only buy stuff from my list, and if its not on the list it doesn't get bought.

Hi, I shop online now and do it in advance so I can add stuff, we do run out of stuff quickly though. 2 adults and 2 children that eat well.
The vitamins I buy are actually cheaper than in shops but I guess the p&p makes it quite a lot more. they are not just for me.

A meal plan would perhaps solve the food issue, if I could find 5 minutes to sit down and do it is this really effective?

We are not in debt, I'm paying off a small loan from 3 years ago.
I'm a SAHM and it seems like we are spending more than what's coming in. We're not otherwise we would be in debt, it just feels that way.

I do eat a balanced diet but I'm breastfeeding and HV recommends vits for me (because I don't eat red meat and I'm exhausted) and multi vits for DS, who also doesn't eat certain meats. Most children are recommended to take vits now.
This is a 3 month supply btw.

So I'm the only one?

You can't get vitamin D from a balanced diet. You can get it from sunshine, but not in the winter (assuming you live in the UK).

I do 1 fortnightly shop and buy enough bread for 2 weeks (i use a small deep freezer), in that fortnight i make sure I have enough for lunches, dinners, breakfasts, all toiletries etc, and then at the halfway point i top up on milk fresh fruit and veggies. So I pretty much just go into shops once a week. It pays to be organised - have a list, plan meals, make sure all your basics like herbs, flour sugar, oil are stocked up, and i totally recommend a deep freezer even a small one helps heaps not rushing out to buy stuff all the time - I even make larger dinners and freeze portions - saves on take-aways on those busy days.
Oh yeah and for stuff like up coming events where you need to take gifts just do it online or add it to your fortnightly shop in advance.

All the best

You're not the only one!
It seems that every day brings a small 'bill' or cost, whether it's bread and milk or school trip or a gift. I rarely spend on frivolity and even more rarely on myself but money just keeps leaving my possession and entering other people's.

Buy a panasonic breadmaker, it makes nice bread so you won't be popping out.

Meal planning and shopping at Aldi make a huge difference.

i make my own bread and order in 14 pints of milk with my weekly supermarket delivery, and i find this keeps me away from popping in to buy milk and spending £20 on other stuff for most of the week.

saying that i walk past the Co op almost every day for our toddler groups etc and i just have to pop in and see what reduced stuff they have... i cant resist a whole pack of chicken thighs for 35p or nice sausages for 83p or even a bag of apples for 30p, but i tell myself these mean i dont buy them for the next delivery as already have them in my freezer.... but i try very very hard to only by absolute bargains

It's normal if you're scouring the cheap cabinets. What is suggest is doing one big shop a fortnight, then each time you run out of fresh, buy a three or four day supply.

Yes it's the vitamin D that I need.

That's baisically what I do, big shop twice a month then top up, only that top up seems to be a big bag full. Maybe I need to be more disciplined.

I borrowed a breadmaker, my kitchen is EXTREMELY small, I ended up giving it back because it wouldn't fit anywhere, we also can't have a microwave for this reason.
Same with freezer, I do buy most veg frozen and lots of frozen fish and butchers meat, I don't think milk and bread would fit because it's a small freezer. I'll try and shuffle things.

I think Aldi is my next big shop, is the food ok?

Ted thank you so much for that information, I'll have a jolly good read of your links.

I spoke to a chemist and was told both myself and my 13 month old shouldn't have more than 400iu each. I'll look into that.

I think good quality natural vitamins are essential as it's hard to get everything from our diets. Easy to be lacking in various areas especially after having children. Giving birth and breast feeding does use up so much of our stores. I've had low zinc, low iron etc despite a healthy diet.

I always shop online
One big shop a week. I never top up unless it's a treat.

Seriously,menu planning will solve this for you. The only thing I buy now is milk.
And yes, you need to consolidate your other shopping, especially if online - saves delivery charge.

You can buy generic vitamins from supermarkets now for a few £s. Even Boots and Superdrug do their own and it'll cost much less than £30 for three months' supply.

Agree that meal planning and lists are the way forward with regard to food shopping. Have you tried doing No Spend Days? You aim to do, say, two NSDs per week and don't spend any money at all on those days.

Btw, if you're paying off a small loan, then you are in debt.

Sorry, £20 for three months' supply - fat fingers!

I'm trying no spend days, it helps. Sticking to meal plans is taking some getting used to, I try to plan the day before at least.