Just essentials June

[Disneyland2022]

Here we go people..
A June thread to keep us all accountable.
Let’s keep striving for minimal spends.

good luck everyone :)

Managed 3 NSDs this week! Partly made dinner for tomorrow night so no Friday night temptation of take away.

Argh, unexpected lunch out yesterday. Managed to bring it in at under £20 however was definitely not in the budget, but that was the only spend.
Plus I picked up the TGTG veg box which was packed with stuff so I made soup (4 large portions), stewed some fruit to go with yogurt, made a couple of veg dump bags to go in the freezer and tried to work out what to do with a big bag of kale😀

NSD today. Hoping for another one tomorrow.

NSD today because we are stuck at home potty training. Likely to be the same tomorrow

Low spend day yesterday £1.45 on cottage cheese and £2 on potatoes
NSD today
Getting there 😀
I'm enjoying the challenge of using up things from the fridge/freezer/cupboards and seeing how little I need to buy.
Payday on Tuesday!

This month has been tight!

payday Thursday and I’m down to my last pennies!
no money sent to savings but equally I’ve survived without touching any savings. Just.

Spent £6 at our local shop this morning. So a LSD. Not planning on spending anything else today.

Well done everyone for keeping on track

17/23 NSDs

Hmm mixed week for me, I ended up buying a bunch of presents because of the large savings, but the budget is in check as the money came from the 'gifting' pot.

Finances are ok, I have some extra work booked in for next week. If all goes well, I should be able to put extra into savings, although eldest DD has mentioned she needs some more clothes so savings may not happen but at least I will have spent within my means.

Good luck for next week all, we can do this!

Low spend day here- just a bottle of water while out plus some blueberries.

Well to date I have managed 10 NSDs - rubbish really! But I have sold another item on vinted and also received backdated funds from HMGov!! DH has also been given a backdated recalculation for his pension so the extra funds have been squirrelled away and also chipped away at the debt mountain.
I'm thankful that this coming week is the end of the month - it has felt twice as long for some reason and all the food shopping at the beginning of the month felt like a huge amount to spend - but a few weeks into June and the freezer and cupboards still look full so hopefully it will all settle down in July and we can squeeze in a few more NSDs between now and then.

NSD yesterday and today. Payday tomorrow and I've not had to touch the contingency fund.
16/22

Well done, everybody - you are inspiring!

I've had 11 NSDs so far this month, including two so far this week. We went bowling over the weekend and swimming at the local council pool and then played basketball, which was fun.

I'm feeling very tempted to buy a few more items for our upcoming holiday, but trying to wait until payday on Friday. Mostly kept to budget, but spending is going to ramp up at the end of July, so I need to keep being mindful of whether things are actually needed or not. Such as a bright, summery handbag that I can bring on holiday - definitely just a want!

Keep up the good work, everyone!

21/27 NSDs, almkst gave into temptation today, but being accountable here stopped me, so thank you to all who post and keep us motivated!

As we are nearing the end of the month, I've checked over my accounts. All looking ok, still have money leftover and once my pay clears I 'should' have made my savings target.

July expected spends, two eldest DC birthday's beginning of August, I'm expecting to hand over money and gifts already bought so will put half the money aside next month (from present budget) and half in August. Next two are October but I have enough gifts for them so my present budget should be ok until December. Will need to budget for cake ingredients and decorations too. And the dreaded MOT, car has had a new engine late last year and not been used much so I will not be pleased if it fails. I have leeway in the budget for things like tyres of needed.

On reflection as we are half way through the year, I have a much tighter handle on my finances, no last minute struggles or worries so far, let's not tempt fate and I have actuially been able to spend on myself without feeling guilty as well as treats and days out, and saving. Here's hoping the second half of the year is as positive.

How is everyone else getting on? I hope you've all been well and doing good...

Payday today and sent £500 over to fund our holiday later this month. I ought to be feeling more excited by now - we leave in less than 4 weeks! It'll be good fun once we've arrived.

Low spend yesterday - £3 charity shop on a white t-shirt for ds' school play outfit and a nice sparkly pink top for me (not needed, but it's lovely, so never mind).

Spent £8 on lunch and coffee with a colleague at work today, which was nice. And £26 takeaway this evening because DH said we didn't have enough veg to cook with.

Only a couple more days left this month. Hard to believe we're nearly halfway through the year! I am so pleased that I've got a nice cushion of funds set aside for our trip, hopefully meaning I won't have a monster credit card bill when we come home. It's in no small part because of the accountability of these threads, so thank you, everyone! 😊

I’m too late for June, but if there’s a July thread then I’m in! Started the year full of good intentions, then in Feb the washing washing died, followed in March by the dishwasher, and it all went tits up from there. I need to get back out of the red and on track again!

I'm going on a 3-week trip to visit family at the end of July, which I've budgeted for, but it'd be good to stay accountable as much as possible in the meantime!

Today I spent £6 ish on sunscreen (despite the rain today!) because we've run out. Low spend at least.

@moimichme That's brilliant on the holiday savings, you wont have to worry about the cost so much and can enjoy it fully.

I finished June with 23/30 NSDs, I spent £37.00 yesterday on essentials for DD. I earned more than expected so it was covered. Managed to put some money into savings, I'll take that as a win and moved this months budget into their designated cashpots.

I'm in for a July thread, if anyone else wants to join in?

Well done, @psuedocream3 - that's very impressive!

The holiday savings was a very big motivation for being frugal since January. Wish the weather would improve here, but I'm hoping at least there will be some sunshine on our holiday!

Just realised that a gas/electric quarterly payment is coming out this month, but it should all be OK.

Maybe we should continue going on this thread? Ask MN to add July to the title alongside June @Disneyland2022, perhaps?

Evening all!

will update the title to include July.
let’s keep going everyone! Halfway through the year now - cannot believe it!

determined to have a better July than June!

today was a good day. Took the kids out on a day trip but was organised with picnic & drinks so only had to pay for parking, £3. 50.

sold an item on vinted for £1.50, tiny wins and all that.

I have found my people! Currently out of work due to a fixed term contract ending, usually I wouldn't worry but the job market in my field is abysmal and I can't really take anything on til September now with school holidays looming and some planned trips away. So I'm frugalising - which as a lifelong spendy person/shopaholic is difficult to say the least. Given myself a budget out of my savings for the odd treat/social event etc but trying to make my spending pot last the summer so I will have to be careful.

Currently planning to do at least 2 no spend days and 2 low spend days per week (<£5). This week I've managed 2 low and 1 no so far.

Tried to stay home all day on Sunday to make a low spend day, but it was a false economy as it meant I left the car parked at the tram station and forgot it was there - you can leave it on Saturdays for free but Sundays they fine so unfortunately my attempts to save money have backfired for that day - expecting a demand for £60 or so in the post.

Can't be helped now though and my intentions were good (just not my memory)
Also doing a massive clearout with the time off - I've 'found' a couple of things I forgot all about whilst clearing out the understairs cupboard - some fancy shoes that will do for a wedding in October and a couple of rucksacks/backpacks one of which my son will adopt, saving the need to buy him a new PE bag.

Well I spent a lot in June. The scary thing is that there were no impulse/random purchases, it was all planned for/allowable. Need to work out where I can rein it in.

Groceries were £50 over budget but I did buy a steak box that will last us over this month and into August too.

I think I said earlier in the thread that I had downloaded a budget app. It’s actually been really helpful in keeping a proper tally of how much I have spent in various categories. Eg I had estimated that after my contact lens subscription I spent another £10-15 per month on health and beauty. But the app has shown me that once I’ve bought toothpaste/loo roll/deodorant/ antihistamines/vitamins&supplements/calpol/suncream etc it’s actually more like £30/month. Which was pretty shocking to me. Some of those things obviously last more than a month so it will be interesting to see how it compares over a longer period.

No NSD for me so far, big grocery shop yesterday and Costco delivery today.

Sunday - GD was performing at a local vintage car show rally. So spent a bit just having a good time with the family and GKs on Coffees, Bacon/Sausage Butties, a few tombola tickets for charity, a whippy ice cream (not had one in ages!!!! 😋) and a few fairground rides for the GKs. Didn't total it up - don't think I want to know 🙄
But into July now, spent £25 in Iceland, £24.06 in Lidl, £2.30 for GS at playgroup and a £10 donation to help pay vet fees for a poorly cat at our cat rescue where we got our nearly new kitty!! Can't believe she's nearly a year old now. 😺
But on the positive side did have no spend day yesterday!!

OK day yesterday, spent £4.50 on weight loss class and the decluttering yielded a lost sandal which I've been missing for a while....unfortunately it had lost the ankle strap so i ordered one on ebay for £4 but given I was considering buying an entirely new pair at £50 or so that's still a steal.

Quiet day today, may treat myself to a coffee if I go out.

Slow day for me today, maybe even a total no spend day!

ran some errands this morning & LO is just playing at the library before going home for lunch!

got some overripe bananas to use so will let the kids make a banana bread later!

@TheMainCharacter what was the app you have used? I’m a big YNAB fan but the cost is going up to nearly £90 a year which seems a lot.

Im back for July! Despite my best efforts in June (or not if I’m honest) the grocery bill hit a whopping £700. That’s two months in a row which is not only unsustainable but ridiculous!