Modest march

[ProjectsGalore]

Following on from frugal feb. Assemble all those wanting to manage money better this month. I've managed to actually put some money into savings this month to start an emergency fund. I'm determined to make sure that my council tax bill savings go straight into savings this month too!

Oh, and welcome, Margo! I hear you on the food related challenge. Shopping less often does seem to help - as long as the meal plan is realistic. I try to take leftovers to work for lunch, or sometimes we eat it another night that week.

@Amdone123 😂😂😂 I dread to consider how much money I’d have saved if I wasn’t a lush 🤣 case in point I went to the pub yesterday (a Monday!!), quick change of scene helped me solve a work problem I’d been wrestling with. Bought some essentials too and some yellow sticker veg, total £11 spent for the day so not bad at all really but I definitely didn’t need a drink!
Welcome @Margo2023 meal planning is a faff but saves so much time money and stress in the long run. Supercook.com is good for finding recipes with random ingredients also.
I have to buy sausages today but other than that, NSD planned. Packed meals and left my wallet at home!

Some planned spends: £20 on food bits today and I went to see the Pixies last night, £25 on drinks.
However, some money made from cat sitting, an item sold on Vinted and a refund on a top which didn't fit. I also discovered some money on my lottery account, played a couple of instant win games, was £6 up so withdrew all the money. Shame it wasn't more!

Not sure where or what happened this month but I've gone significantly over my groceries budget and I have £3.70 in my personal account to see me through to the end of the month. Fortunately the fridge is stocked and it's two quiet weekends planned but definitely hope to get back on track next month!

Crossing this month off I think. Literally spent more than every month usually. New lawnmower as ours broke last Autumn, new bike for Ds birthday, new car seat for Ds, new baby gift for nephew born overseas.

I have spent all morning sorting phone contracts, internet and electricity provider which should be now saving about €50-60 from next month

@HowDidThisHappenDinesh and @Caspianberg Me too! Last week i thought id done really well but with 3 days to go until payday i'm not seeing the pile of money id hoped for in my accounts.

Think we may even have to fund the joint a bit as i think we need to pay for swimming lessons and DH wants to go to a restaurant supply store to stock up on some things.

I've definitely taken my eye off the ball this month with the grocery spend and need to keep a tighter control of my impulse shopping. This month hasnt been helped by illness. Note to self, tired me likes to shop!

Better me has looked at some of the items i planned to buy for our garden and have decided i don't need them. I was looking at fancy sun loungers and they had gone up a nice bit in price. I've already got some (fairly crappy ones) and last year i purchased an outdoor sofa towards the end of the summer so i'm thinking this will actually do the job. I've also inherited a good few bits from my mother who's downsizing so i don't think id have space for them all. we do have a very big garden but have 2 patios and neither is that large. so much better to get it all from the shed and once i see what i have and can upcycle. I am also seriously hoping we get a scorcher of a summer! the way i buy outdoor stuff you'd think i lived in spain.

I'm joining you all on the write off train... being ill has not helped at all.

I've bought trainers for the family, they were 50% off and everyone needs trainers but I hadn't planned on buying them all at once, or this month. I've also bought the limited edition Easter Air Up pods for the kids for Easter, but they have been going on about needing pods for a few weeks and again I got them much cheaper, but still added expense. I also needed purple shampoo, combined the £5 off £15 amazon voucher with the two for £7 book offer and the shampoo, used a £5 gift card and paid £2.09 for the lot.

The only saving grace is my disposable income has increased, but if I'm spending more, I'm not really seeing the benefit.

I mean I'm getting very good value for money here, but I'm not saving money (besides the £50 into savings).

Not looking forward to adding my spend days and totals in to the tracker app, but maybe it will give me some better insight and perspective to my shopping habits.

Keep going everyone, almost at the end of March (it seems to have flown by!)

Slightly against the tide here, March has been as predicted for me given that we knew we were paying lump sums for insurance. I did have to buy padded shorts for the Peloton but it has helped me to keep using it when I was genuinely so sore it was interfering with my ability, no matter how motivated I was.

We're now 2 weeks beyond when DH said I'd have the data so we can decide on budgets and the mortgage offset vs ISA decision.

Yet again, promised it for this weekend…

Just dug out various baby and toddler things to sell to try and contribute towards new items. Brand new ergo baby sling (ended up with one gifted and we had already bought preferred one), travel car seat, old adult scooter dh bought years ago (to pretend he was still young, rarely used).
And realised Ds current car seat can be sold once he’s in new one in a month or so.

Finally managed to wrangle DH into a financial discussion. We came to a decision that we're using some of the money in the offset mortgage savings account to increase our ISAs for the year.

We'll take a ghastly hit for the first 3months (the mortgage payment will double) but we'll be able to whittle it down from there as DH and I each have an RBS 7% account that matures (his in April, mine in June), so we'll have around £7K between us to transfer as lump sums to the offset account. After that, we'll just need to keep saving as much as we can to build it back up again.

We spent about £20 on a screen Echo from Amazon today. It's a combination of the current price drop, combined with trading in a current device for a voucher, plus a 25% discount, plus a voucher that we already have. The screen Echo will make it easier for the family member we're looking after to use it like an intercom and call into other rooms.

Paid out £850 for the car insurance in a lump sum (I still can't believe it).

Peloton still working out well for us so I have no regrets about it nor the additional expense of the shorts.

I seem to go absolutely off the rails the weekend before payday, mind you I haven’t done so well in March. January I absolutely smashed it!

I seem to always need something so I end up spending £10 or less, everday. It’s mainly on groceries

I’m wondering if I should change tactic in April & maybe give myself a £10 daily limit & if it’s not spent at the end of the day I’ll move it across into my savings. Thoughts??

My new month starts today as its payday. I've transferred money to the Joint and Savings accounts and now have to manage on my own spending money (which seems so small!).

This is the second month where i have automatically sent a larger amount to savings. This is definitely helping me with spending only my spending money. its a form of 0 based budgeting but it can be disheartening not seeing a larger amount in the current account.

I also don't get that buzz at the end of the month of having a nice bit of cash leftover that can be sent to savings. I know this is a better way for increasing savings but it does lack the dopamine hits!

@Disneyland2022 i think anything that can trick you into saving is a good idea. I've found that my mind (more likely my emotions) was working a certain way and these challenges/accountability have gotten me thinking more logically about savings and spending. So perhaps a little challenge like you have described might help in the same way.

Not spent anything the last two days!
Cat has his annual MOT and booster tomorrow.
I am wondering if I'll ever get my credit card down and start saving again. My work isn't consistent which makes budgeting my personal finances tricky. I'm seeing a friend on Friday, who I've not seen in ages, which may involve lunch out.
Was hoping I may get some Easter cat sitting via Cat in a Flat but it's been quiet.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I had a NSD on Saturday after spending £40 ish on groceries Friday. Then took ds to swimming pool on Sunday morning followed by charity shop £14 then lunch out - we were starving, and DH joined us, so it was about £45 for that (all in).

Today has been a NSD, although I almost spent nearly £3k on flights to U.S. family. They jacked up the price almost £100 after taking payment and while I was trying to decide with DH whether to still go ahead, it timed out, I guess. They've refunded the cost (immediately, thank goodness) but the whole process/snafu scared me a bit, so I haven't re-booked it yet. The odd thing is that the cheaper priced ticket is still appearing on the website (to suck people in, I guess).

Sigh. I'll try again tomorrow after I psych myself up for it! Want this done during the month of March so that I can stop thinking about flights and focus on the more fun parts of travelling!

@Disneyland2022 Definitely put 'fun money' into your budget, that way you expect to not have it by the end of the month so it's covered and it doesn't ruin your budget, and well, if you do have some left from it - bonus.

@2024Hackathon Nice discount stacking there, see - they are the offers that reel me in. Glad you finally ha dthe money talk. We have seperate fininces as DH wont have the talk at all, but it seems to work ok, for now at least.

I've been good and not made any purchases, talked myself out of a ninja speedi we don't need, it would be very handy but we don't need one. I have put off my hair product purchases until my gift cards come through, and put off a spend for DH until later this year - will still buy but there is no rush.

Today was a good day, made £45 extra partially thanks to the free spin games on a betting site, to put back in the bank to help cover my splurge last week on trainers. Going to give it a good push to replace that money by the end of March.

I have to go to the shops tomorrow for a 'unicorn' Easter egg apparantly, but I'll also be stocking up on the cheap 15p veg and use my clubcard vouchers I thought had expired didn't realise I had.

Very intentional no spend week as the kids are off from next week for Easter. In holiday club for one week, DH was thinking a holiday away for the other but I think we have settled on some days out instead.

Nice work bringing some extra £ in, @psuedocream3.

Two NSDs this week so far, but I finally managed to buy flights for our holiday to the U.S. to visit family. Thank goodness that is off my to-do list now and I can focus on the fun parts, and on saving up for expenses during the trip.

Tomorrow is a very early payday for me, due to Easter holiday, so I'll be able to put a wee bit back into savings then. Need to buy Easter sweets and ds needs some new size 7-8 pyjamas, too.

Good luck all.

I'm rubbish at this - got a few family birthdays to buy for this month and Easter obviously. My dc are not little so I don't have to buy novelty eggs and can do the more economical thing of buying huge bars of chocolate instead. I mean, they still cost what an egg costs but you get more chocolate - that still counts right?

It's also the school holidays so have been spending on some things to keep dd entertained, but cheaper than going away.

I'm going to try for a couple of no spend days. Must stay off Amazon!

Officially claiming defeat this month. I went over my groceries budget by £150!! That’s unheard of and mostly to do with me overspending and not the COL. And it’s gone on the credit card so next month is frugal month again to pay that back. My personal money is basically non existent for April too but my wishlist is miles long so self restraint will be needed. Sigh - I was doing so well!

Hows everyone doing, hope you all had a good March?

Just updated my app, I had less spend days (9/31) but ultimately spent more. The saving grace is that I didn't spend more than I earnt, I've broke even give or take pennies. Looking at my spends, there have been one off spends such as Mother's Day, Easter bits for the kids, anniversary presents and I did spend to get us all trainers because they were half price and needed.

Feeling positive for April. No events to buy for, besides keeping the kids entertained over Easter, if anyone has good ideas for cheap days out I'm all ears! My focus will be increasing savings and puting away half of the cost of car insurance that's due in June. I do need to get some bits to dye my hair, although I think I'm past the point of caring at the moment - if I do I will use vouchers.

I feel you on the wishlist @HowDidThisHappenDinesh I always seem to be at the bottom of the pile when it comes to spare money!

How is everyones plans for next month looking?

I am dying to spend money! There is something about nice weather that makes me want new things. It’s so much easier to not spend in January/februayry.

We went out for lunch on Friday and while we had a lovely time out in the park etc the food wasn’t worth it. We’ve decided from now on with this place a coffee and pastry is better as the foods not good enough and it’s expensive.

OH wants to go to decathlon today and it some of my danger places. Might try and give myself a budget.

We managed to have the ISA vs savings for offset mortgage conversation, so, slightly nearer the deadline than I liked, we transferred money into the ISAs.

We'll have a horrible increase in the mortgage payment but it's better to have the money in the ISAs in the longer term. By July, between the ISAs and the savings, we'll have enough to cover the mortgage payment when it's due.

After that, we need to ignore that money, and start to save for all the normal things (while knowing that the house is covered but not relying on it, IYSWIM).

Our expenses have gone up as we have additional relatives to care for. So, we just have to move on from here. Still no holiday on the horizon, just hard saving.

It's been so gruelling to get DH to this point that I resent that I don't feel better. But, it was literally when we went into lockdown in 2020 that I found out about DH/our debts. Since then, we've repaid those and by this Summer, we'll effectively have enough to pay off the house. (I can't begin to describe the deception and poor planning about the mortgage.)

I should be a lot more upbeat about March and able to celebrate achieving so much despite the lack of cooperation from my DH. And DH, has, this year, been able to have 2 very brief conversations about money which is huge for him.

You're carry a very heavy load being the one in charge of the finances and having to cheerlead your OH to doing the minimum needed to keep you on track.

It's gruelling being the one to have complete responsibility, even when you take that role willingly. so sending you a virtual hug.

That's amazing progress, @2024Hackathon - although it does sound exhausting, too. I hope that having the decision made will make things a lot easier for you and DH going forward. The daily upkeep will hopefully be easier to manage. But it is unfair that so much has fallen to you. Also sending you a virtual hug.

In March, I managed 9 NSDs out of 31, which is great. I did spend loads more than I earned, but it was by using budgeted savings on flights to the U.S. to visit family. The goal until we leave in late July is to restore savings as much as possible, and save up some spending money for the trip.

This month we have an expensive quarterly utility bill, which is putting a bit of a dent in my monthly savings goal. I did put £200 aside for now and hopefully won't have to touch it. But in May, I should be able to get on track again. Fingers crossed!

I agree that the (slightly) nicer weather makes it harder to rein in the 'extra' spending. It has also coincided with ds needing clothes and new school shoes in the next size up. Hopefully being on these threads will keep me focused.

Is there an April thread or are we going to keep going here?

You're all being so kind that I'm almost tearful.

I had hoped that this would feel more like a milestone and less than reaching the foothills of a mountain. But I have to accept that the foothills is so much better than where we were.

Thank you for the support.

@moimichme id be up for an April thread. but what would be call it Affordable April?

Any other ideas?