Low spend March

[Orcubed]

Following on from February.

I’m trying not to spend outside of our existing direct debits, standing orders, birthdays etc, also trying to keep groceries etc low. I failed badly in February, hoping March will be better!

All newcomers welcome!

Hello, I'm back in for March, this is going to be a tight month for me. I'm a self employed teacher, so when we have two weeks half term I literally don't get paid, so my pay packet at the end of February is not so good.

I finished February in the black, by the skin of my teeth, I do live very frugally but I have found that a lot of my money is going on food shopping. It's ridiculous the amount I'm spending for one person. I don't think there's anything I can do about this, I buy just enough food to get through the week. It's Friday now and the fridge is empty until I go to the shops tomorrow.

I usually have NSD from Monday to Friday, I'm so busy with work I don't have time to go to the shops, but I find I can blow 100 euros easily every Saturday, just on food shopping and buying pellets for the burner etc.

@Probablymagrat I have to stay away from charity shops, I go in to look for trousers for dd and come out with six crystal glasses 🤦🏻‍♀️

NSD yesterday, hoping for another today. Sold another item on vinted so now have £35 in my account which should help the next time someone needs something.

@brittanyfairies most of my spending is on food/groceries too. I’m actually pretty good at not spending much on other stuff and having nsd’s (last month was an exception because I splurged on beauty products which happens once or twice a year at most) but then spend loads on groceries. To an extent that can’t be helped but there are definitely ways I can spend less.

Joining a bit late but I'm here.

I'm attempting no spend from today. I have a freezer full of food, all toiletries and my bus pass purchased for the month. Barring emergency and fresh veg for pets (that comes out of a specific account), and maybe a small treat for my birthday next week, I won't be spending until 28th of march when I get paid again and the Dad's start. 🤞

*DDs=direct debits not dad's lol

I somehow managed to end Feb with some money still in the bank. Presumably because its a short month. I contemplated paying more off the credit card but then ended up buying the car insurance for the year and paying the DC annual cubs and scouts subs so that used it all up. At least I'm starting March with nothing looming. DS birthday in April so I'm going to get his presents and pay for his party out of March's money if I can...

I used the aldi app for collection to decide on what we are eating next week and screenshot it to my husband to buy to save on collection fee. I saved £20 this week sticking to it. Managed to save £100 on electric bill not having heating on as much and using an electric blanket. Using an airfryer instead of oven.

Saving £100 on the electric bill is amazing.

I have a spendy day ahead. Need to buy a wedding present & birthday present.

Grocery shopping (although mostly eating from freezer). Another week gone by with no new job for DH.

In laws made some horrible comments yesterday about us. We have a big holiday booked in the summer. We've saved for 8 years & it was booked & paid for before DH lost his job. In laws have called us feckless for booking such a holiday & have said we should reassess our spending. They were really nasty and basically said it's all our fault. 😭 Sorry, feeling a bit emotional today. And worn down.

Good luck @Lodgeornot , low spend is hard enough!

@KickHimInTheCrotch at least those are all paid for now so should help overall.

@mrsbitaly that’s an amazing saving. We’ve cut down our usage quite a bit too and actually had a credit on our water bill (sadly not in gas or electric ☹️)

@livingthegoodlife sorry to hear you’re feeling rubbish. Fingers crossed your dh gets a new job soon. People are so thoughtless with their comments, it’s not like you knew your dh wasn’t going to have a job when you booked it and it’s already paid for! Years ago I was on benefits to top up my wages for a bit after splitting up from my xh. My parents were going on holiday but could only get a 2 bed apartment so asked if I wanted to go along with the dc to use the other room. They paid for our flights as my birthday present (they were really cheap so was about £90 total), my sister gave me money for a meal out while there and my grandparents gave me cash for my birthday which I used for spending money. One of my friends was really horrible about it and said I shouldn’t be going on holiday while I was on benefits and that I should have asked them for the equivalent amount of money to spend on everyday living instead. It made me feel awful and really guilty but the whole point was that they wanted to treat me for my birthday after I’d had a shitty time and they wouldn’t have given me the money to just spend on my bills.

Thanks @Orcubed you've totally understood.

£15.99 on groceries this week - heavily subsidised by food in the freezer. Got some reduced hummus for 20p as a treat for lunch.

£20 m&s gift voucher & homemade cake as wedding present.

£15 garden rattan lantern as the birthday present.

Hopefully nsd tomorrow 🤞

Im failing already. Decided to get takeout last night and some drinks in for us and that cost 55 euro. I had totally forgotten one of the kids had a dental appointment so that set me back 90euro and I had an exam to pay for for myself which cost 140 euro. Now that was going to come out of the child benefit next week anyway so thats not too bad but the dentist was a total failure on my part cos totally forgot about it.

Sorry to those feeling judged. People see a snapshot, assume they know all and make harsh judgments. Please don't feel bad for the lack of understanding from others. At the end of the day we are all doing our best.

100 saved on energy in February is some good going. Well done.

I failed last night and get a fairly expensive take away but making up for this by batching cooking and being prepared for next week. We are off to the cinema later but going to buy a few treats from the supermarket before hand and have a quick tea planned, as it will be finishing quite late for DS.

After looking more closely at February's finances I did do better than I first thought. Although Bank balance was the same as the end of Jan my debts have come down some and we paid for a night away for April. So all in all happier with February but wanting to do better in March.

Crossing my fingers that Jeremy Hunt continues support on energy bills through to June, as is widely tipped. I've budgeted to make another overpayment of £100 this month, which should help wipe out the winter deficit built up; but further help would make a big difference while prices settle down.

I'm going to try shopping little and often this month to see if I can keep grocery costs down to no more than £6 a day through to 31 March. Can already see a challenge in that we need more dishwasher tabs, laundry liquid, olive oil...The reason I'm being so mean on groceries this month is that I'm trying to squeeze an extra £120 out of the month's account towards treating DS when I visit him later in March. So, beans on toast now to pay for a couple of nice dinners later!

OMG, how horrible 😥Sending you hugs. They behave like they don't know that life happens and there are ups and downs with job and money. Very shortsighted.

I spent a bit of money yesterday, but it was all happy day. Went to 20 weeks scan yesterday to find out baby is doing well and little lodger is a boy. We're over the moon with the good news and gender reveal. I was bit anxious baby won't show, but it was very obvious 😂(I would be OK with not knowing though, as I know this scan isn't about gender)

£6.20 for two hot chocolates in hospital cafeteria- I was told to go for a walk and have something sugary as they were trying to move our little boy into the right position to check brain and heart
£2.90 for parking
£45 in next for babygrows, little elephant rattle "born in 2023", comforter and two hats for hospital 😍I will be buying second hand now, but we promised ourselves we will do little shopping after the scan, so we did.

@mrsbitaly wow, well done on £100 saving on energy bill. It's a lot.

@Coffeecoffeeinmytummy try and give yourself and husband an allowance for coffee pastries etc per month and when it's gone it's gone, he does need to be on the same page, you need to sit down after kids in bed and plan, get your bankstatements up visible on the screen in front of you and show where the money went, it might take more than one session, maybe you use cash instead of contactless cards
does the odd pastry bring more pleasure than having savings having enough money for a holiday? for some people a weeks holiday is better than weekly coffee and cake, for others the weekly nice treat is not worth sacrificing for a weeks holiday only you and DH know your answer
same a set amount for family treats, when it's gone it's the park with sandwiches

How exciting @xogossipgirlxo a lovely little boy - congratulations. And the spend in Next is definitely a well deserved celebration. I used the love the next baby gros when mine were little.

@livingthegoodlife thank you 😊x

Congrats on the baby @xogossipgirlxo :)

Today was not too bad. The kids decided they wanted to go to the cinema (together which was the strangest thing) but still had a voucher to use from xmas so it cost nothing as the voucher covered food and drinks too. We ate at home and dp bought two bottles of wine so that is a spend of 20quid.
I had a free carwash on my garage vouchers which I used and a dunnes clothing credit note for 25euro so i used that too and got knew knickers for myself so once the kids have fecked off me and he can have some free fun over the second bottle of wine 😂

@Pseudonamed thank you x

Congratulations @xogossipgirlxo that's a guilt free spend for sure.

Today isn't going to be good. We have a family meal out tonight and 2 birthday gifts to pay for but can't help that.

I don't have children @Orcubed . I appreciate it would be impossible if I had little people asking for things. But I'm a grown up with plenty of DIY things to be getting on with and stuff. 💪

£105 from Costco, £30 petrol and £20 from Asda today. Everything is so expensive. 😢😢

€33.92 on lunch things for kids for the week in tesco.

I didn't manage my nsd today. Dogs needed food so £50 spend but Quidco cashback & will keep us going for a while.

I bought yoghurts for the week, Greek yogurt for my lunches and Activia for an evening, 7 euros just on bloody yoghurt. No wonder my shopping bill is so high. I ended up spending 40 euros the only non essential was a bar of Lindt chocolate. It's 7 euros in lidl for the cheapest olive oil. A loaf of bread was 2.20 with only 12 slices. I despair at these prices.

@Grey13 thank you 😊

£14 in tesco today, and £2.36 in coop yesterday. @brittanyfairies I agree, food prices are horrible 😕