Marvellous Money Saving March.

[CremeEggThief]

Hi All,
Thought I'd start a new thread for all regulars and anyone else who is interested in saving money in March .

pegleg I understand how it works its just such a generous pay it forward!!! I sometimes have kids on sleepovers to save their mom's paying for overnight babysitting but it's always at back of my mind ah they'll be there when I need something! I would've hugged her too!!

So day off today, went to Sainsburys to have a look at costumes for book day but they were all rubbish so didn't buy one!! Think she will go as Chloe from Mr Stink - so basically just dress up as a 12 yo girl might make her a badge that says 'I'm with Stink'

Did my weekly shop while I was there £45 which I thought was o.kay considering its Sainsburys!! Didn't buy any meat or fish though - will use up what is in the freezer.

£10 on 3 pairs on shorts for dd, bought the next size up for hopefully will do for 2 summers. Last year had a nightmare finding comfy shorts, dd is fussy when it comes to clothes (sensory issues) so am hoping these will be o.kay.

£22 on petrol (had voucher for 10p off a litre so saved couple of quid)

Got £20 out in cash to give £15 to dd tomos for a school trip.

I have worked out that I have £100 a week to spend on food, petrol and anything else. Its not a lot really but should be doable as long as there is no unexpected expenses.

€3. To DS1 for school.

Peg. Pay it forward can be something small or big and if it makes you feel better then do it. But don't feel bad. I have had a chronic illness for years, but that is just how life is for us!
It is lovely to hear nice things though.

Well done for the jobs Pass and NK I'm hoping the luck rubs off on me as I'm doing an application for a job I'd really like. Ohhelp I do People per Hour and have actually picked up repeat clients that way, it is a lot of work though as you have to put a fair few bids in and often do samples of work, but if you can get a happy client they often choose to come back and people I get on the site usually ask to contact me independently going forward so I don't end up having to pay fees. It is a good way to work flexibly as well.

Aldi shop yesterday so £109 after the voucher but loads of stuff for the month ahead so I wont need to visit shops very much. LSD today as just some milk to buy so £1.48.

DH had sad news that an old friend died in very sad circumstances so is feeling a bit his own mortality...

Sporting that's very sad

Nsd. Don't know what to do for dinner. Probably jacket potatoes as I'm feeling lazy but if the mince needs eating it'll be fakeaway.

Today I claimed some tax back. Which will pay last yrs tax underpayment and hopefully will be slightly better off next yr ie €5 per week but better in our pockets.

Renegotiated Sky package took half our but down €17 per month for nine months. Think I ll drop again then!

Now just need dh to play some hard ball with electric company! It's in his name so they won't deal with me!

Booty I changed accounts to both our names for this reason so infuriating!!

Sold ds baby chair for €15 it has done both my children so happy with that, will put it towards a stroller as au pair wants to walk on beach with ds & can't manage our heavy buggies in fairness I don't blame here there's a knack to both of them! Will sell on one of them now and that should pay balance on stroller & when I locate carseat adaptors for other one will sell that too.

Great work with sky booty
Well done to pass & nk too

Great to see positive job news on the thread

Mixed few days here. Have spent quite a bit on food but it should keep us going for a good while. Our house de clutter is almost done so we're just finding a place for what we have left now. Most things are being thrown out as there isn't anything that's ebayable.

Dh has gone to football tonight (miles away so set of at 1 and won't be back til the early hours). I sent him off having had a hot meal and with 2 flasks of coffee, sandwiches etc. ds and I are going to football tonight (I support a different team from dh) but it's already paid for as we have season tickets.

I've got an annual leave day today but have ended up doing some work in between cleaning etc. it's still better than being in work.

This weeks meal plan
Sun slow roast lamb
Mon HM chicken nuggets
Tues spaghetti Bol
Wed hot pot with leftover lamb
Thurs toad in the hole
Fri nachos
Sat soup

Will try to post more often.

£10 petrol.

Girlie, that's our budget too for everything except rent, bills, DS's Scouts and travel pass to school, and we manage. Just!

99p on rubber gloves and 53p on a stamp. Also £2.80 posting an eBay item(sold for £15), but I won't count that, and I got £3.35 for a large bag of clothes from the local cash for clothes place. So, money earned: £18.35 and money spent: £ 1.52.

Haven't had toad in the hole in ages might add that to next weeks menu.

Mmm nachos I haven't had those for ages.

Bank: £257.92 (was £280.33)
Purse: £0.00 (was £10.00)
Jar: £22.55 (was £19.50)
Grand Total: £280.47
Reduced by £29.36
Days to payday: 10

Spends:

£12.84 – Credit Card
£9.57 – 6 books for my Kindle (quite a few on my wishlist were reduced)
£1.50 – Easter Egg (for a charity appeal)
£1.00 – Pepsi Max
£3.46 – groceries
£0.05 – coppers jar
£0.94 – bus fare

Budget looks like this: 280.47
Petrol: £141 budget / £109 spent / £32 remaining
Groceries: £300 budget / £224.13 spent / £75.87 remaining
Interest: £12.40
Kids activities & bus fare: £24.80
My bus fares: £14.50
Leaves for everything else....£120.90

£8 in aldi replacing baking stuff. Lakeland have some flour tubs but a fiver each. Might try home bargain or wilko but don't want to buy cheap buy twice. I want proper airtight ones

I had weevils once too

Try ikea of you have one.
Good and cheap!

I'm feeling a bit annoyed with Davina McCall

I bought on impulse her sugar free in 5 weeks cookbook as was looking for ways to eat more healthily and cut out sugar. So basically all the recipes just substitute maple syrup for sugar, i was thinking 'well could try that' until I saw the price of maple syrup

She also recommends using wholewheat spelt flour instead of normal flour as its meant to be better for you so made some yorkshire puds with it tonight and they did not sure out well like little solid brown stones, although tbf tasted better than they looked!!

I think some of the recipes look lovely but they are obviously written by someone who doesn't have to think about the cost of anything. Really should have bought the girl called Jack one instead.

Davina you have let me down

babs have you got a dun elm near you? They do good value proper air tight containers.

Our heating comes on an hour before we get up .Thermostats on all our radiators, so rooms we sarent using come on verylow . . We try not to put it back on until 3pm (back of house is very sunny so works OK on a nice day ) Just wear lots of layers....

£1.80 on 8pts of milk ( will last a week isj)
75p for toddlers
£1.26 on bananas

Writing here really makes you conscious of spending doesn't it.

Need to make sure I've a pack up for Uni tomorrow as it's a long day. Then I only need train fare. (13.50 a time )

ood, do you get that train fare back? If not would moneysavingexperts tickity split help you?.

I wonder if davinas noticed maple syrup is just sugar in a different form?.

Library for recipe books next time girlie (admittedly I may be slightly biased)

Dunhelm is nearer than ikea so will try there first thanks. At the moment everything is is plastic bags

AAARGH I was weak - first in coop with DS getting bread, he asked for donuts... Then when DH phoned from coop (he's picking up DD from brownies) I asked for a juice that I'd resisted earlier!

Will post yesterday and today later on.

Getting so excited about our little trip on Thursday! Must decide for definite where we are eating and get some clubcard vouchers (probably just a tenner's worth as some places don't include drinks or children's meals). DD found out there's a hungry horse near the hotel so that's probably a winner

I thought I'd posted this earlier but thank you lilac and need :)