Austere October continues here!

[PeoniesforMissAnnersley]

Impressive that we've filled a thread already

Fluffy ah ok thank you, I will do that

£28 tesco, otherwise NSD for me but DH took DD swimming so quite spendy including train fare etc. He did sell some old games at the exchange shop so got £5.35 - paltry but TBH it's a great little shop and I'm glad they can sell them for a decent profit.

I think I've just bought two bottles of Lanson black label for £6.50 each, but it could go horribly wrong.

I usedThis offer, I added the tesco orchard £4.99 voucher & a £1 voucher for a friend.

I paid on a credit card so I can refund if it doesn't work.

I will hide them from dh until our Christmas break.

Please can I jon? Things are getting out of control and I really need to save 400 per month. At the moment it is nothing.

Everyone's welcome

Do you have a plan on how you're going to save £400 a month?.

Thank you! The first thing I need to do is meal plan consistently rather than sporadically. I also need to stop buying clothes for my DC. I walk around with holes in my shoes but they wear lovely John Lewis clothes - I need to stop this!

Good plan. Buy some shoes though!.

Main areas to save ime;

Meal plan.
Try shopping at aldi/lidl if you have one.
Stop frittering. Magazines, coffees out, random purchases and top up shops.
Switch energy providers if you find a cheaper one, use less energy in the home. Negotiate with suppliers of the broadband etc for a lower price by saying you want to cancel.

Thank you will look these up. Bought some boots today for myself - 25% off at Sains and had 30 pounds of nectar points so they only cost 11 pounds. Was thrilled - they are my Xmas present this year!

Singme welcome yes, meal planning is the way forward and avoiding little top-up shops where you go in for a pint of milk and end up spending £30. I avoid top-ups as much as I can by substituting items in meals, for example, if we have run out of potatoes to go with say sausages then we will have it with rice and vegetables instead. It does make for some interesting combinations but it does save money. Also, your boots sound lovely

Stopped half way on the drive to my mums and had burger king and then some chocolates from the service station. ..omg the price of a small pack of minstrels! Such a long drive in pissing down rain thou, it broke up the journey at least.

Sold a toy for £8 on fb selling site. ...dds bday on tues so making a tiny bit of space.

Spent £80 odd quid on playmobil but most of that will be got back from rellies for Christmas.
Tried to spend £50 in matalan but the £10 off voucher wouldn't work. Will have to ring them today.
Waiting for a Smyth's toy voucher too as need some Christmas bits from them
£5.11 in aldi on top up.
Saved £4 as never got to fitness as held up at work.
Need fruit today but might just bite the bullet and order my shopping to be delivered

Should be nsd today. Have friend coming over for an indoor picnic

Good ideas thank you fantasea and fluffy - I have just paid for a 12 month delivery pass from sainsburys so will do detailed meal plans and have a delivery. As it is unlimited I can always do a top up shop by delivery too so I am not tempted by end of aisle treats! Have a good day everyone. Taking my dc on a picnic rather than eating lunch out

£4.05 on lunch (visiting another office so couldn't take something to reheat) £29 on takeaway dinner for 8, have SIL and 2 nephews staying for a couple of days and had to get something on the way home from the theatre.

Friends baby boy was rushed to hospital so drove to hospital early morning with the stuff they forgot in the rush, had to tank so 25£ on petrol. Will go back later with some snacks food kind of things so probably spend around 20ish on that

Only bus fares and 95p for my breakfast yesterday . DH was out last night and it took all my willpower not to treat myself for something 'nice' for tea and eat what was in the cupboards instead.

Out tonight with friends we've not seen for ages so will be quite spendy. But already made a spag bol on tues for tea tomo night in preparation - saving money and not having to cook when we might be a little bit 'jaded' from tonight.

Morning all!

Definitely going to start posting here again as I have got terrible at tracking my spends.

I've decided I hate my new job so the £70 a month payrise I received is going to be put to one side so if a job comes up in my old department and I get it, I'll have to take a wage cut but won't be used to the money.

Hope your friend's baby boy is okay Italian

NSD yesterday and should be today too. Listed some more clothes on eBay and am hoping for enough to go towards Xmas pressies. Really annoyed that my bread maker is broken - only had it a month, so will need to get a refund on that!

I've decided I'll start my cutbacks from November 1st.

I'm just waiting excitedly for my first ApprovedFoods order.

Need to have a nofunvember :(
Dh and I are both well overdrawn (5 week month and birthdays and a forgotten bill :()
So...aldi here we come :)
Also trying to sell some stuff on e bay.

Thanks all for kind wishes

I have an appointment with my consultant tomorrow so hoping he will have a plan for the way forward. Can't imagine working while in this pain but equally really can't afford to take more time off. So gutted, I really thought this was sorted after my op in September!

The very small silver lining is that I'll save more money as now cancelling planned trip to Oxford for lunch with a friend, so £17.80 train plus lunch cost saved. Pretty small consolation though

MissA really hope you can get some answers tomorrow and that they can sort you out, living with constant pain is so draining.

Italian hope your friend's baby is getting better.

NSD here, first one in ages

Fingers crossed MissA. Hope it goes well.

Italian fingers crossed also for your friends baby, they are having a really tough time, you are a lovely friend.

badvoc - November will be tight for us too. Sounds like we save loads at £750 per month, but it's to cover some big expenses coming up, which we HAVE to pay for, so we can be counting the pennies together.

Well, won't need any veggies or fruit for two weeks I reckon, judging by how much stuff was delivered by the local market today. Meal planning needs to begin as I hate waste. DS is currently making a pear crumble, with some home grown raspberries thrown in.

sing I find that ordering on line and having a delivery does save money, even if you have a delivery charge. I am usually brilliant at staying away from the shops mid week, but these last two weeks I have been popping in to various stores, and the few quid here and there really add up.

FWIW I pay everything I can D'Debit, then budget for other stuff right at the start of the month, which can be as diverse as hair cuts to dog food to things for the pony to a Christmas fund, MOT's etc. I also find dividing our remaining disposable income into a weekly amount helps, as it stops me getting carried away early on.

At mums having half term fun, went swimming and soft play with a cold snacky lunch thrown in for dcs -£13 total, bargain!

Then asda for a couple of tshirts as dc have to wear something red for rememberance day, and £32ish in harvester for us 4, mum and I had the £9.99 meal deal - extra frugal as we ate so much it covered lunch and dinner and we were there so long we saved on heating

£39 aldi
£15 tescos and a poppy. I'll get £5.50 back by using try me free offers & checkout smart app.

It's way over my usual food budget but I bought a beef joint & no beige food.

Good luck MissA.