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 :)

The decluttering is saving me a LOT.of money! Only done about 2/3 of the house but already I've found/ rescued 2 pair of shoes, several bags and numerous scrunchies. But the best find has been a lost usb for my wireless keyboard and mouse, I had ordered a new set at £30 which is now being returned as I can use the old one again.
..

@WhitegreeNcandle I’m using snoop (free version). It’s not perfect and took a little bit of setting up to get transactions into the category I wanted but I think it’s good enough to get me back on track. There’s probably more I could do to get it to work better for me but I haven’t figured it out yet. The main thing I don’t like is that it counts me moving money into my savings accounts as spending which then makes it look like I’ve overspent in the overall figures. Also I buy groceries on my credit card (for cash back) which it counts as spending, and then when I pay off the credit card I’ve ‘spent’ again. Need to look closer to see if there’s a way to avoid this. Tbh I only set it up very quickly to try to monitor my spending so it may be user error rather than a fault with the app. So far looking at the individual category spends is helpful to see what I’m spending where and having it flash up on my phone every time I spend is a good visual reminder and deterrent

To update I just went into it again while I was thinking about it and it was really obvious how to avoid paying off the credit card counting as spending 😳. So ignore that part!

@TheMainCharacter thank you. I’ve seen it advertised in Insta quite a bit. Do you know if you can have more than one budget and off budget accounts in it? Eg DH and I run a family budget and an individual one. I also track my pension etc on YnAb but not as part of my budget if that makes sense.

Am struck down with the dreaded virus going around at the moment. Feel like shit and could do without it in the last week of the kids being at school. But on the plus side I’ve had 3 NSD so far and it’s been good for weight loss!

£9.44 At Morrisons on Bread, Free from Cake for GS, and a couple of sale t-shirts for GCs but currently at 2 NSD out of 4!

Two NSDs so far this month.

But I spent over £50 yesterday and today, on groceries and ds' gymnastics class. Then £300 earmarked for hotel during a birthday visit to our friends who live far away. And £410 on quarterly British Gas bill.

Eek it's a lot set out like that! But all budgeted for. Mostly!

Re: apps, I have Emma (free version, it's all right but a lot of functionality is only in premium version) and just started with MoneyHub that gives you 6 months to try out before deciding whether to keep it at a monthly fee. The cost is (currently) less per month than Emma or YNAB (which I never got the knack for). So I'm deciding about MoneyHub still.

Aiming for another NSD tomorrow. Good luck all!

£7 spent today on groceries.
normally do food shopping on a Friday but I’m going to delay it for a few days.

got a couple of free kids activities on fri/Saturday to keep us busy.

will need to get petrol for the weekend.
not bad for the first week of July!
Let’s keep going everybody.

@moimichme thanks for that run down. Would be interested to hear how you get in with it as you go!

£55 in Aldi last night. Did go with a list but ended up coming out with things like 2 blocks of cheese and bleach because it’s cheaper than Tescos. didn’t really get food for meals so hoping to use the freezer stash to eek that £55 out till Tues/wed. I think where I’ve been going wrong is doing these “small” Aldi shops and then doing my regular £100 Tesco on top.

That’s my problem too. I have a Tesco shop delivered but pop to Aldi for some frozen bits for the kids, kitchen roll and bin bags. I never come out with just those though. I have found other things aren’t that much cheaper than Tesco now though.

4 NSDs out of six. Did go to KFC for a takeaway after working all day but our lovely neighbour insisted on treating us so I really did not spend anything today! 😊

Ok ended up ruining yesterday with an unplanned spend! - purchased a summer pass for the local farm for the summer holidays - £40 for 2 people. Really didn’t want to purchase yesterday but I’ve justified it by thinking of it as spreading the cost of the summer holidays.

spendy day today £8 on some picnic bits and £20 petrol which was absolutely essential.

Tomorrow we’re at the garden centre for a workshop which is free & I’ve got 2 free hot drinks to use so that will be nice.
think ill have to do a food shop too but that might put me in good stead for a no spend week. Fingers crossed!

What a result!! Well done you!!

@WhitegreeNcandle sorry I didn’t get back to you before. It doesn’t look as though you can have two concurrent budgets in the free version at least, I think you’d have to put eg personal as a category within your family budget but then wouldn’t be able to subcategorise further. So may not do what you’re looking for. I will add though that I tried Emma first as a pp mentioned and you can do a lot more in the free version of snoop than you can in Emma, I felt like Emma was just a taster version whereas snoop is actually usable.

I do the same with Lidl/Aldi. I do my main shop with Tesco as I have Clubcard plus then go to Lidl for washing powder, washing up liquid refill pouches, Greek yoghurt and giant Oreo’s (the kids think they’re better than normal ones) and come out having spent £60 on stuff I’ve seen as I go around. I’m not doing it quite as much now though as like @Pumpkin40 says a lot isn’t any cheaper now (and some things are more expensive)

Had a NSD yesterday, only on 3/6

Thursday was a NSD amd today should be. I met up with friends yesterday and Friday, train fares were about £40, both were treating me for belated big birthday. I spent £20 on some bits for some upcoming birthdays.
Got a little bit more cat sitting coming up
Not as much as hoped but it's something.

4/7 NSDs as I bought some birthday presents and a few cards Wednesday for £53.50. Car MOT Friday, went for a coffee and lunch whilst waiting (DH paid) and MOT was a pass, which is always nice. Bought all the cards I need until next summer and a lovely storage tin for £25.60 and £120.00 on course materials needed for exams coming up.

Today I've gone through my budget, updating my gift list to see what is left to get and set my budget accordingly. It's not looking like I'll be able to save this month but, I'm within budget (just). I just need to make sure I have NSDs, and I do need to do a vinted upload really so I could possibly put some extra money into savings if I'm motivated.

Spendy day yesterday although managed to use voucher and free prosecco offer at Bill's to get 2 courses each plus a Bottle of fizz for only £18 pp. Would have been OK if we had stopped there but went on to a bit of a pub crawl and spent another £30 on drinks. It was an occasional treat, not to be repeated for a while. With bus ticket on top came to around £53.

NSD today so far intending to keep it that way.

I used work voucher to get money off my weekly shop plus nectar card. Woohoo!

Another NSD today. Although my daughter wants a Sylvanian Families house for her birthday so I bought her one but the money was in a savings account ready for any presents she asked for so I’m not counting that! I looked on Amazon and popped it into the wish list and it was £37. Googled it and found it £10 cheaper somewhere else.x

5/7 NSDs - but deliberately not gone out today and been at home sorting out some paperwork for my next door neighbour. Made a chilli and home made chunky chips but there is plenty to go at again tomorrow. Made a list of everything in the freezer and on a rough count up, we could go most of July and not buy anything major - but not going shopping just won't happen! As sometime this week we will need butter, bread and to replace the tins of staples and herbs that have gone into the chilli and other meals made this week. Just need to keep the spends low!!
Chipping away at the credit cards by snowballing with cash saved. Even the cash round ups on the bank account are paid over every time it hits £10
Iceland trips have been rounded up after the pensioners discount and halfway through the year now have £13 saved in dribs and drabs but will start adding a quid to that each time I go now towards Crimbo. Xmas stash cash is going okay too - used to save with Park but found that I was shopping less and less in the shops that count so put the money away in a savings account instead.
During a tidy up and declutter at home found two voucher cards for restaurants - one is partly used so need to get my DD to check that for me when she goes to work. The other is a £50 voucher for an Italian in town so will use that for our anniversary meal out. So quite a profitable weekend all in all. 😎Maybe I should tidy up more often!? 🤔

I've found a recent declutter very fruitful... found/ rediscovered a lightweight coat ideal for the summer weather we've been having, 2 pairs of shoes and a couple of backpacks. Also a picnic blanket lurking at the bottom of the understands cupboard and a lost usb for a wireless keyboard... saved me a fortune.

Old spendy me would have bought new shoes and coat by now, so I'm glad I didn't and now can use the rediscovered items

Well done - on the de-clutter and for saving your money. I have been doing vinted too but that has gone very quiet - so may need to post up a few more items which won't be too hard, as I have lost weight and it has stayed off but now clothes look too big unless hidden under a cardi. If no success will drop them off in a few weeks time at the charity shop. Even those sales I have done also went to the credit cards and I have resisted buying more.
I need the space in my house and cannot wait until the school holidays finish and I can move toys out of my living room too. DH is building a new shed and we will declutter the stuff normally stored there - will need to buy more timber to finish off the job but the weather isn't helping right now.

Another NSD today to make up for spendy Saturday... I didn't really leave the house as I struggle not to spend anything if I do, I call this 'financial lockdown', but I need to get better at going outside on NSD days, or I'll be spending a lot of the summer indoors.

I have £17 left out of my allowance for the week to last until Friday. This doesn't include food shopping which comes out of a separate budget... put my asda order through for pick up tomorrow. I do find ordering online is the only way to control the food shop. Managed to knock 30-40 pounds pw by doing this plus careful planning.

5/8 NSDs But I knew I would have to go shopping this week so spent £16.35 in Home Bargains and £46.38 in Lidl. On the plus side, I have sold an item on Vinted and got rid of a huge bag of bits and pieces to the charity shop - I have a gap in the spare bedroom and space in the airing cupboard!! 😆

Just a little shop yesterday at £25!

today I’m taking mum for a coffee and cake as a birthday treat so hoping for a spend under £20.

Wednesday will be Nsd! I’m determined! Xx

No NSD for me yesterday, spent £3 on a fruit salad whilst out, and £4 on some trousers in the charity shop. Also £5 on some insoles to make a pair of shoes fit a bit better
So not a great day when I add it up, £12

Must do better!