Sensible September

[HowDidThisHappenDinesh]

Back to school and back to budgeting… a thread for us to keep each other accountable in sensible spending.
New posters welcome :)

Well done everyone - NSDs at the weekend are impressive!

I'm also under the weather today, @Cuwins so not planning on going out at all. My fitbit noted a 1.5 C higher skin temperature last night (fever of 38.8 this morning).

Here's hoping we all feel better soon. Going for a NSD on Monday. May need to wfh although I'm leading a meeting tmrw morning; might end up a Teams call instead.

Bought my partner some xmas gifts today

Hopingto go away 4 few days over xmas

So budgeting money accross months

2 bottles of beer for hubby (£7) and a bag of shrinkflated buttons at £1.35 for me.

He offered to pay for his beer as he's working and I'm not, but he's paid for so many things lately, and basically subbed me, so I felt like buying them for him.

Out of tye family budget, cake ingredients for daughters party and a tin of heroes for her to take to school tomorrow. Around £20. This is turning into a money pit birthday, I'll be glad when it's over!

Ok coming in quite impressed with the weekend!!

saturday - £25 day trip tickets which has been planned for a while
sunday- £5 in Lidl.

always Nsd on a Monday as we attend a free group at the church.
weather looking horrific this week so hoping for lots of Nsd.

payday on Friday so almost there!! 💪

See rubbish weather always means I spend more as my free options for things to do with the toddler out of the house or mostly outdoors. Combined with a foot injury meaning I'm quite limited in mobility currently I'm predicting a bad week.

Feel better soon @Cuwins @moimichme

Spend day today but was expected. Spent £26.25 in total on 10 cards from Whistlefish, and three gift sets from Boots for DD for Christmas. Quidco gave me a £15 bonus on my spend, so it'll only be £2.70 for the Boots shop when that comes through.

Next week looking to be no spend, can't think of anything I need besides last payment on phone contract which I'm not included as it's in the budget.

@Cuwins My yungest goes to nursery four times a week, but we do baking, messy play with animal figures and foam, painting etc when it rains

Yes we do some stuff inside but I struggle to stay in for more than a couple of hours with her

Gearing up to do the 3 day NSD challenge again -that's NSD Monday Tuesday and Wednesday although Weds I will need to pay for parking when I go for an appointment. Last week I went a bit mad on the Thursday following the 3 day NSD spell, but I was away from home and had planned to go to the pub. It does seem to work doing the batch of 3 days for me -not so long that it's unbearable but long enough to be a challenge and once I'm in it, I don't want to break it.

Coming towards the end of the month I have not done too badly, a trip to London ended up being v expensive but I had saved some extra for it in advance. Main extravagance was a bottle of perfume at £48 and also some bras as my boobs have grown a size in menopause and totally changed shape, I found one in Marks which fitted really well so bought a bunch of them to replace all my old bras which no longer fit. So that was £80 odd quid but nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable all day in the wrong bra.

MOT due soon but I know the garage owner and he needs some HR consultancy so I'm hoping we can do a bit of a labour exchange - I'll happily do some advice/consultancy work for him to get a free or much reduced MOT! Of course it will depend on how much work the car needs - but I reckon I'll get a bit off or at least mates rates.

Was going so well here... Bit of emotional eating after a family thing, so takeaway tonight but overall still better than last two months. So at least it's thoughtful overspending,and much less than before.

Going to be have to be more careful the next couple of weeks as I'm signed off sick with a foot injury- good news is I only work very part time currently 1 day a week (looking for a 2nd day at the moment as was doing 2 till recently) so it doesn't have a massive impact on finances. Bad news is I won't be receiving any pay for the 3 days I'm signed off.

Hope you recover soon @Cuwins, I hope you get some good news soon on the job front.

Monday and Tuesday NSDs. I noticed that my petrol has lasted longer than predicted which is a pleasant surprise, it should carry me through until the end of them month. Perhaps petrol prices have been lower lately.

Sorted internet banking finally, so I can make sure that I'm not overcharged when the final phone bill comes in.

Just side hustling in my spare time this week to try and pay off my big purchase last week, need to do a vinted upload and get rid of some bits I reckon.

Hope everyone else is doing well so far.

A no spend day for me today. And pay day on Thursday.

Nsd yesterday and just a £1.50 spend today which isn’t bad at all!

payday on Friday but it’s looking like I’ll need petrol. 🤔
going to keep the momentum going and have no spend days until Friday, or at least as close to.

Thank you for the habit track app info @moimichme - sending get well wishes to you and @Cuwins

@Crazyhousewife23 sorry to hear about how tough things are for you at the moment. Our school dinners cost £3.35 per day and DS2 is always starving when he gets out - DS1 takes a packed lunch but DS2 likes to have a hot dinner, which is fair enough but I don't think they get a lot! The Feed Your Family for £20 a week website, Facebook page and cookbook are great - they often recommend Discount Dragon for snack purchases but I haven't tried it yet. I use Too Good To Go a lot as well, get plenty of cheap veg and bread that way, and try to hit the supermarkets at the right time for any reduced food bargains.

I have the cheapest SIM only phone contract I can get @psuedocream3, I'm not bothered about getting a new phone, my last iPhone lasted 5 years before it stopped updating and I replaced it with a newer (but still cheap!) model. I desperately need a haircut and to find some good haircare products - I'm not high maintenance in other ways (no facials, nails done, dye my own hair etc) but if I don't get a good haircut every few months I start to look like Worzel Gummidge

How old is your DS @Deckingroundtheback, will he be off to school soon? Depending on his age, you could try the local council website for any cheap/ free activities to keep him busy - when mine were small we did story time at the library, toddler groups at churches etc. (Apologies if I've missed something and he's a teenager, as toddler groups clearly wouldn't be very helpful then!!). Also sports groups/ groups like Squirrels and Beavers are low cost and would help him to meet other children?

I hope your ankle is better now @HowDidThisHappenDinesh? Very jealous of you living near a Lidl, we don't have one nearby and the journey to get to our nearest would wipe out any savings made

I love a YHA stay @IDontHateRainbows! We stayed at a lovely one near Richmond in Yorkshire a couple of years ago, the one at Whitby Abbey looked great too. I should have gone for the tastecard deal too as it was only £1, but really wouldn't use it that often now they don't include Pizza Express, that was the main place we used it at.

We have a big new B&M near us @Disneyland2022 and it's handy for all sorts of things, mainly snacks to be honest for us!

Almost a NSD for me today but then the milkman didn't deliver our usual two pints, so I had to buy some milk. Aarrggghhhh! I also ordered a Too Good To Go bag from our local Budgens for tomorrow, hopefully will get something useful

Since being out of work (June) I've had to really reconsider the things I was regularly getting done at the salon

Hair: I get a wet cut for £27 every 3 months, I have a boring bob so just get it cut a bit short and grow it out. To be honest I did this before anyway as quite like the flexibility of having it shorter then longer then cut again.

Colour: box dye every 6 weeks on the roots at £6 a box ( get 2 for 12)

Brows/ upper lip: used to get them waxed now use those flawless trimmer things as too lazy to pluck. I had laser on my upper lip and chin a few years ago which was an absolute godsend.

The only thing I still get done is a top up on my microblade brows every 18 months, but that used to be every 12 months.

Reckon I've saved a fortune especially on hair colouring.

Its actually quite addictive and fun seeing what I can save.

Had an email from PayPal. As ive downloaded the app and logged in - il get a ' free - 5 gbp within 2 weeks

Box hair dye here too @IDontHateRainbows - honestly I have no idea how the women I know afford highlights, balayage etc! I prefer getting my hair cut a bit shorter too, probably 2 - 3 inches off every time - my hair grows really quickly anyway. I think hairdressers prefer to just give it a tidy up and you'll be back there sooner!

I used to live in North London and there were loads of places doing very cheap threading for eyebrows/ upper lip/ chin, it was great. I really must start getting at least the upper lip and chin waxed again before I look like Santa

NSD today (apart from direct debits) - hooray!!

It would cost more at the time, but I'd recommend laser hair removal as a better option cost wise. I had 6 x sessions@£25 on my chin and upper lip and I don't really need to bother with it much these days at all. Maybe an occasional top up session. So for an initial outlay of £150 , well worth it. And I was plucking hairs out of my chin daily!

I was having my hair high lighted at £100 a time, and that's cheap around here I've been quoted £200.
Grew out the highlights and just use an all over colour now.

I have the chance to go out with a local meetup type group tonight. As I'm not working, I am missing the social aspects as I can go all day without speaking to anyone, save the odd recruiter ( although job market is slow).
Usually I'd be up for a few drinks but would then need 2 x taxi as too far to walk. So around £30 in total at least. Thinking to drive and have a couple of soft drinks which will feel boring but needs must and I can drive there and back.

Pre frugal life I was a bit of a 'baraholic'. Never drank at home and I wouldn't say I'm alcohol dependent but I'd enjoy the experience of going to a pub or bar and having a few drinks. Trying to restrict this to 2ce a month now, and I'm meeting a friend at the weekend, so it'll have to be a sober one if I want to do anything else. I guess it's not only better for the bank balance but my health!

Got my payslip this morning ready for tomorrow. It’s all looking healthy.

had to spend £20 on fuel yesterday and £3 on a drink but other than that no spend.

today I need a sauce sachet and a leek from the shop so low spend again. Last day today - I can do this!

@IDontHateRainbows I'll have to look into the electrolysis, that might be useful! Hope you enjoyed your meet up? I very rarely drink nowadays - I do like a glass of wine/ Prosecco but just never get the opportunity to go out - DP is so dreadful at putting the DC to bed that I don't go out in the evenings I'm well aware that this is his learned incompetence as well, he doesn't want to get better at it in case I expect him to do it more, but that's a whole other thread...

@Disneyland2022 my petrol gauge is creeping into the red but I'm determined not to buy any more fuel before payday on Monday! Depending on how long I'm going to spend in town when the DC do their activities in the shopping centre, it's sometimes cheaper to get the bus anyway. Our local council have recently hiked up their car park prices, which is really annoying when they're supposed to be trying to attract more shoppers!

NSD today, whoop

Not electrolysis - laser! They are not the same thing. Electrolysis was very painful and didn't work for me. I don't think many places do it now.

Managed two NSDs this week (aside from food essentials). Yesterday would have been a third but SpaceNK have 20% off, spent £35 on some bits for DD for Christmas.
Away this weekend but hope to have some NSDs this coming week.

2 x no spend days thurs fri
Maybe linked to 745am to 615pm work shifts