Low spend May

[Orcubed]

As previous months, trying to stop the non essential spending. All welcome

Placemarking, thanks. Just paid for a school trip for DS2 which was thankfully not too expensive. Also some new school trousers. There is always something.

We have an automatic top up thing for school dinners and noticed one DS seemed to have this happening more than the other. Came out last week. Anyway onwards and upwards.

I'm in

I am in too

I’m in

I had an unexpected vet bill this morning so I am in cos I am stoney broke at this point.

I'm in, too! Dentist appt this afternoon, but hoping for some no spend days later in the week.
Good luck all!

I'm in too! No spend today, so far.

I'm in. Sorry I missed most of April. Was crazy busy and lost track of it all. Spent way more than I may proud off. Now need to claw back over May.

Unfortunately I had a vets bill of 220euro this morning to cremate one of our babies :(
Tesco shop for lunches, dog food and beer cost 73euro this afternoon.
Cancelled a lash lift for tomorrow because I just cannot justify it.

I'm in too! I've also had a dentist appointment today, so £25 on that, and I need to do a mini shop on the way home for kids lunchbox items, but that's it until big food shop Friday 🙅🏼‍♀️
I've also had a school trip to pay for today but I've used my round up account that allocates all the spare pennies on my debit card spending for that, as I've allocated that as a "school bits" account

Sorry to hear that @Pseudonamed

Really sorry to hear about your pet @Pseudonamed - we have a cat and I'd love another and/ or a dog, but the vet bills do put me off, it would be heartbreaking if one of them needed £££ of treatment and we couldn't afford it (no PDSA etc in our area). I can understand why rescues are overrun TBH, people are having to think more carefully about taking on pets.

I'm in for May - have a big shop to do and also some toiletries, vitamins etc that I've been delaying buying - I'd like to visit my DF as well but he lives around 5 hours' drive away, which usually means around £50 in fuel + place to stay (no room at his) + meals + entertainment for the DC... I'll see if I can afford it towards the end of the month.

Joining. Need to save some money as work looking uncertain

Joining in for may! Sorry for your loss @Pseudonamed .

Yesterday was a spendy day so not a great start to the month as I took DC out for lunch as schools were closed so spendy but lovely and we rarely eat out as a family .

Also new shoes and wellies needed for DC but luckily got some off vinted. Tried on in the shop then found on vinted! I used my balance from selling things to pay. Also I needed (well it's not an essential) hair mask as it's the only thing that tames my hair. Was about to buy new for £16 but looked on vinted and got it for £7! Brand new obviously!

We need to pull it back this month as have a few expected but not monthly bills eg tumble drier repair, radiator repair. We do have a small rainy day type fund for these sort of things but need to keep adding to it for any emergency.

Sorry @Pseudonamed 😢

Spends so far
£27.25 groceries
£28 other (haircut £25, mesh bag for in washing machine £3).

Think there’s going to be a fair bit of moaning from family members this week as am trying to make meals from what we have in. I will need to go to the shop for bread/milk/fruit in a couple of days though.

Thank you all for your kindness. It has been a tough few days x

No spend yesterday. Today I might have to part with a few quid as we are down on teabags and milk/bread/cold meats but I have 33 quid on a card/voucher thing I can use in tesco so not going to count that really as it is not coming out of the bank.

Morning, I'm in.

In April we spent £330 for groceries for 2 people and £117 for other stuff like toiletries, cleaning products, going out day etc. Cats £53.

This month there will be less for groceries, because we're going on holiday, so not exactly cheaper.

My midwife asked me to come for growth scan, because my bump didn't grow as much as it was anticipated (although I think last time it was bloating from Easter food). It's so much faff, I need fit to fly note from GP and note sure if I get it now. I'm waiting for call from the hospital when I can come for my scan and then will book with GP. Next pregnancy, I'm not flying anywhere past 26 weeks.

I'm so sorry @Pseudonamed , this is very sad 😔

@Pseudonamed Very sorry to hear your sad news. Pets are part of the family.
NSD yesterday and £1.75 spent on lunch (subsidised by work) today because I forgot to bring my leftover pasta.
Not sure of our plans for this long weekend, but probably will be having some family spends. It should be OK for the budget this month, if we keep an eye on it.
Good luck and keep up the good work, everyone!

Small amount of spending for me today as school have (at the last minute!) asked for contributions for a Coronation raffle. I don't begrudge them too much as I know how short their funds are although frankly so are mine but it would have been nice to have a bit more notice... so about £10 spent on a nice box of biscuits and a candle.

@Decafflatteplease I get lots of bits from Vinted, I much prefer it to ebay - you've reminded me to look for some summer sandals! DP repaired our tumble drier last year as the manufacturer was going to charge us £120 we pointed out that it was still under warranty and they said why yes, it is, and the part will be covered by that - but the labour isn't frankly the machine only cost £150 so £120 for a repair wouldn't have been worth it! Thankfully we were able to buy the part for around £20 and DP fitted it. The joys of YouTube

Sorry @Pseudonamed - always terrible when that happens.

I'm in for May as we are saving frantically for a re-conditioned powered wheelchair for my husband - I'm aiming for the end of June if possible but it means there's no spare money for anything between now and then.

Having said that I need some fabric softener but I might search online and see what's a cheap home-made sub.

Went to Aldi today and stocked up on lots of cereal while there so spent £111 😬

Also spent £10 in M&S next door on a few things Aldi didn’t have. And there are still a few things neither had so I’m going to have to go to Tesco at some point too.

@FlipFlops4Me I stopped using softener a few years ago. We live in a hard water area and the first few washes the clothes were really stiff but now all the softener residue is gone they’re the same as they used to be when I used it. Stains and smells wash out better now too. It’s just a shame the washing doesn’t smell as good now (I know not everyone likes the smell of softener but I do as long as it’s not too overpowering)

I would love a low spend month of May. But to begin with it won't look like it!! Need to fill up the freezer with meat as last delivery was in January but as there is generally just the two of us - it can last quite a while. We feed the grandkids when we look after them 4 days a week so can run through food like it's got its own legs!! We do tend to shop for things when we run out or are about to - so a cheap week one week usually means eek!! the following week!! So annoying though when everything seems to run out at the same time!!
We started a portion caution way of feeding for us as we felt we were eating huge meals which wasn't necessary and as a result both of us have lost weight in the past year. Which is no bad thing! There's nothing stopping us having a dessert if we are still hungry an hour after tea but at least now there is very little waste. I cook enough to eat unless doing stew or lasagne which go for 2/3 meals and we are not bothered if we eat the same meal a couple of days running.
We are already using lots of stuff from the cupboards - not bought shower gels or shampoo in months as we were given loads for Xmas so loving the space we are gaining just from using bits and pieces. So decluttering going well too!!
Just need lots of low spend months as we are clearing debts.

@FlipFlops4Me, try white vinegar, it makes clothes so incredibly soft (& they don't smell of vinegar, promise), it's ace!

I have reorganised the kitchen presses/cupboards here to actually see what we have. Kids have another month of school so anything 'lunchy' is now far easier to get at so it is all gone before they finish up as they dont eat that stuff in summer (weirdos) and all cereal has been looked at and oldest/open put to front etc. Determined to use up all the stuff that just seems to lurk in the kitchen.
Going to meal plan this evening and then do a shopping list out of that.