Affordable April

[pistachiosanscream]

Following on from Modest March https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/cost_of_living/5019071-modest-march?page=4&reply=133950296

Here's hoping for an affordable April

@Rainbow1901 switching providers is such a good idea. i really must look at moving my electricity provider and getting a cheaper one. we are moving to a smart meter and i need to do some sums to see if its better for us to stick with a nightsaver rate or move to a smart metre rate!

@Cuwins its so hard with toddlers not to spend money. They want something NOW! While im generally prepared with snacks etc theres still plenty of times when we buy something as its just easier

Well done on all the NSDs everyone. I've had 4 in a row but think i will be spending today.

Things i have done to keep m self out of the shops were to prep fruit, salad and vegetables and grate some lingering cheese. That sorts us for lunches and snacks and means we eat whats in the fridge. I'm trying to eat down the pantry and freezer so that means keeping low fridge stock and prepping food is essential as otherwise it looks like we have nothing to eat. We have lots of ingredients but i do need to be the one to turn these into food as im slightly controlling about my kitchen!

Today i think i will be spending on a new moisturiser as mine is almost out. though i might just have a look at whats lingering in drawers etc first. I will have to do a small food shop for next week. DH is away for 10 days and while i could martyr it and only eat whats in the house i think my sanity would be saved by not having to do so many mental gymnastics over what the child will eat and i'll be happy with. I'm being ruthless however and only getting what we exactly need. No stocking up! i will report back on how that goes....

After a lovely independent shop was forced to close recently I said I would try to do less of my shopping at Tesco/Lidl etc. and try to give my business to the other independent stores still remaining in my area. The difference in prices is crazy though. Going to see at the end of the month how much of a difference this makes to my monthly outgoings as I'm definitely buying less, but spending more...

So far my daughter is pretty good with that but she is only just 2 so expecting the 'I want' to start soon!
I find the problem is entertaining her at home- so I often end up buying things for activities.

Great progress everyone, it's motivating seeing everyone with their strong resolve and not giving in to temptation.

No spends to report, just the two from the beginning of the month. I do have some toys in my amazon basket, because they are reduced and extra 15% code available. I'm due some Amazon vouchers soon so shall wait for those and if the prices are the same then I'll use those.

I'm also working through the food we have in, a few chicken breasts and a pack of mince, we've done chicken casserole, spaghetti bolognaise with pasta and fajitas with mexican rice and salad. I can manage a macaroni cheese, burritos with the leftover mexican rice as I made far too much and will make some potato salad and salad to go with it. I'm thinking I could make a quiche with wedges and salad, homemade pizza and jacket potatoes before I'll have to give in and go shopping again.

@Cuwins My youngest is two, he sometimes cons me into a pack of sweets whilst shopping but luckily not much else! We do free toddler groups twice a week and lots of arts and crafts. Mr Maker has lots of short videos where they use basic things from the house which is quite good, or could do some baking or pizza making. Printing off coloring pages, making homemade playdoh, colouring rice to sort and mix, gluing pasta/rice lentils to coloured paper and my sons favourite, big washing bowl of water and toys :)

A family member nearly fell for a Euro Car Parks scam letter the other day. If I hadn't intervened, they'd have not only have paid the £85, but have used a shonky phone number/website and handed over their financial details.

I'm so sad and mad about how easy it is to fall for these things. (Although the number of times this family member falls for these I'm beginning to be very irritated that this person is not remembering what to do to check something out from one occasion to the next. No cognitive issues involved.)

I suppose I'm also posting this as a vent and public service announcement.

I’m glad my lack of self control makes you feel better. I’ve done it again and bought bath stuff and stuff to entertain as planned but also bought some stuff on Vinted that wasn’t strictly planned. Need to go list some stuff to make up for it!
Tomorrow I will need to buy some wine and lunch bits. Today was a NSD though.

Not doing too well this week (as expected). We've been out and about while we're at my mum and dad's so lunches etc.
Hopefully get back on track next week!

@2024Hackathon my mother was scammed last year. She’s normally great at these but it was such an unfortunate set of circumstances and the scammers can be very sophisticated. Luckily we caught it on time and the bank got everything back. But I’ve done silly things myself shopping online it’s so unfortunate that we need to be so vigilant as anybit of distraction can mean you falling for a scam.

thursdsy I spent €52 in Lidl but €22 was plants. A recurring theme with me and Lidl is plant shopping.

Friday we got a pizza takeaway so €27, it’s dinner for 3 days for me

yesterday I spent €2.30 on the toll dropping OH to airport. I’m not solo parenting the 4 year old until Monday week.

im thinking of bringing her to the cinema today and she needs some socks snd a summer cardigan so expecting to spend between €30-50 depending on what’s available

my car is filled with petrol and I have approx €200 in the joint account to last until payday. Fingers crossed it will suffice. April has been a brutal month for one off bills. We do have a sinking fund for these but it wasn’t enough full enough.

I had 4 NSDs last week - that might be a record for me!

My banking app says I've spent £300 more than this time last month, which is quite good actually, considering that our quarterly direct debit to British Gas was paid today and it was over £600.

Tomorrow is likely to be spendy due to another work trip at the end of this month, but it'll be reimbursed later on.

So far I haven't touched my £200 in savings for the month. Still hoping to leave it alone - wish me luck!

Keep going everyone - even if we aren't perfect, every day we have a chance for a new start!

I rare NSD for me yesterday- technically did spend on some balcony cleaning stuff at Homebase but as it's the wrong thing and going to be returned I'm counting it as NSD! Managed to get some kids hangers free on Facebook so that was good.
Definitely will be spending today as we are off to a bird of prey centre later.
Then on Monday it's the expensive dentist visit! Hoping Tues, wed, Thursday, Friday will be limited to no spending though.

I’m so proud mon - fri were no spend days!! Wahoo!
Saturday was a planned pub lunch and I did spend £27 on clothes at H&M.
Today was just a small shop for £35.

let’s see how I do this week! My petrol light is on but I might manage another slow week, until Friday, and resist any temptation.

Good morning all. Great progress with the NSDs, it's very inspiring.

I'm on a 11 NSD streak, a record for me too.

I decided to give YNAB another go to get my finances in better order, I spent an hour watching the starter guide so I've set it up properly this time - I gave up before when I didn't have time to learn how to use it effectively.

I have my budget drawn up, funds allocated and if I stay on track should have my fully funded emergency fund by the end of the year. I'll need to keep days out and personal spends to a minimum for the next two months, but my budget will be better in July to work those things in. Having some shorter term goals is helping me keep motivated to not fritter away money.

Carrying on with using up the food leftovers to delay a food shop. We have leftover mac and cheese, which will be mac and cheese balls with chilli sauce, and some mince which will go into tacos, if I get a chance to make some tortilla shells.

Ds birthday coming up. Have just spent €100 ish on extra garden toys so we can host it at home. And they will then be used for several years so figured it’s cheaper than paying to take 10 kids to a paid venue.

Ds also keeps going on about being so excited for Lego for birthday, even though we have bought him a bike. And I know he won’t get from anyone else so I’m tempted to order him a bit of Lego also.

Managed to swap phone contracts , saving €40 ish a month (dh and I have 4 between us - private and work each). Swapped internet provider, €28 less a month. Electric has also dropped in kw so monthly direct debit down €42 compared to last year. Ditched Spotify, €12. So should be saving around €100+ on our basic utilities each month from now on.

That's a good saving.
Could you get him some 2nd hand Lego?
I think you need to either gently prepare him for not getting any or buy some, or you risk a difficult morning despite the lovely (and expensive!) bike.

@Cuwins - I have just ordered him some!.. He’s pretty good and doesn’t usually ask for much. And I figured the bike is a gift, but also kind of an essential as I want him riding.

Second hand is very limited where we live, managed to get a white base plate, arctic boat, and Arctic snow mobile for less than €32 for everything which is pretty good. I think I will enjoy it too

Sounds like a pretty good deal. I hope he enjoys it

I just found this thread and this comment really struck me, so thank you!

I’m sometimes a mindless spender, so will save this response. Went out yesterday for a few items - £30 in my purse - ended up spending an extra £25 on my card. Then got back home late, so instead of cooking, spent £30 on a takeaway.

No spends today, so will start doing better from this point.

Thanks again.

NSD Wednesday and Thursday this week- that's not that unusual as they are my working days so no toddler to entertain!
Also Tuesday only a very small Lidl top up on real essentials.
So great week so far.
Tomorrow is a library trip and will probably have a look round the charity shops while we are in town too but no big spends.

I think it's Abandoned April for me! After NSD on Monday, I've spent every day, it's just too difficult this month

Work has been manic, but I've wakened up early so here's a wee update. After doing quite well up until the 20th (2/3 through the month), there was a marked shift in my spending patterns! I blame the weather...

Not done too badly on NSDs, in truth, but a lot of money has gone out of my accounts, including some expenses on a credit card. But I always pay that off in full, so it will be OK. Hopefully I can remember everything here for accountability.

£103 Sephora for ds' and my skincare needs
£5 ish for coffee with a work mate (my turn)
£20 to watch The Motive and the Cue with work friend in May
£24.23 groceries top-up
£3.50 snacks/lunch at work (subsidised)
£12.35 Costa with ds as a treat before jiu-jitsu
+Rent payment (today)

I now have about £50 left for the next few days, not including the credit card. I'm sure some expenses will go onto that because of a work trip to Edinburgh this weekend, but needs must. And most of that will be reimbursed later.

Hoping for a low spend day, although I have no clue what we're eating tonight. Possibly some kind of cheap-ish pasta dish.

Good luck all - not too many more days until the end of the month and a hopefully positive reset.

Abandoned April for me too @Vinorosso74 I kept meaning to put some time aside to sort out my finances and meal plan for the month, it never happened, I must find time to do it this weekend so I'm sorted for May...

Good morninhg everyone, one week left of the month, it's the home stretch...

I'm on 20 consecutive NSDs today, I've found the habit tracker has helped alot with that. And using YNAB for budgeting, I've been overpaying my emergency fund which means £20 less needed monthly freeing up my budget elsewhere. I only need to put £10 petrol in the car on Friday and that 'should' be it for spends this month. I went out for coffee on Monday but Iit wasn't my turn to pay, and will be out Monday again, but will use vouchers so I'm counting that to be no spend too.

Had an excellent result though on the car insurance front... just did some price comparisons as everyone is saying car insurance is up 50%-70% this year and was expecting to put aside around £700, but my quotes are actually coming up £200 cheaper than last years premium and I can get £24 cashback too.

It should free up my budget to save a bit more and for enjoying life a bit more too.

I was looking forward to July this year as we'd have enough in the savings and ISAs to cover the whole offset mortgage. And, after July, we could actually start saving for other things and to have a buffer that we could use (as opposed to dipping into savings that represent the mortgage pay-off).

However, with talk of bringing in additional taxes on savings and ISAs, I now realise that we need to save for an additional 2 years to cover the interest on those being liable for additional taxes.

That, or we use all of our savings vehicles to pay off the lump sum and see if the penalties would be less or greater than needing to make additional savings. But, this would leave us with no savings…

I’m glad I’m not the only one who has fallen off the affordable April train. It’s going to have to be a miserly may here. I’ve drained my house things fund to buy picnic tables for the garden.

nicer weather means I got down the summer clothes and realised I’d dry little work appropriate stuff as last year I wasn’t in office much. Spent €120 in new bits.

payday was yesterday snd I’d an event to surrender last night. Hair cut, eyebrows and nails done. These have really gone up in price. A file and polish used to be €15-18 and it’s now €24.

also had to buy a new clutch as my old ones were for when phones were smaller. Then today I bought a new bag. I’d planned to buy this but it was still €120.

I need to really rein in the spending now or I’ll end up pulling from savings which I don’t want to do.

I did my big shop in Lidl yesterday- list written partly around what vouchers I had on the app, unfortunately I forgot to activate the vouchers 🙄