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 :)

We are hosting friends tonight
4 board games
I bought nibbles earlier in the week

Just guna get some cheap fizz from aldi

Nsd yesterday which was actually payday!

£18 spend today in Tesco on 2 party gifts, cards and new p.e kit for DD.

Should be Nsd tomorrow too!

Been a no spend week, except today. I needed purple shampoo, had £20 SpaceNk credit so bought that with 20% off and a Christmas gift for DD. Spent £20 in total.

I'm offsetting it by a vinted sale today for £22.00.

Only a few days left of September. No spends expected and should be able to put money into savings. £50 Less than previously planned unless a few things sell on vinted, but pretty good considering my big splurge earlier this month.

Set my budget for next month, ready to go.

Not a no spend day for me... had to buy a replacement charger cable for my phone at £7 for 2 but kind of essential. Then went out but 'pre drank' a 4 pack of peroni which kind of worked as only had 2 drinks when out plus bus fare so £20 plus £7 for peroni which is good for me on a night out! £35 in total inc charging cable.

Out again tomorrow with a pal for Sunday lunch but got a groupon deal of 3 courses plus a glass of wine for £23pp. Don't dare eat out without a deal these days!

No NSD for me yesterday - DS2 has an activity where I need to pay for parking, for a start! - plus bought a few bits in town (cleaning stuff, birthday cards etc). Not a massive spendy day but sadly not zero either.

Bizarrely @IDontHateRainbows my local beautician doesn't offer laser, just checked - that's why I got mixed up! Unless they are calling it something different, there's some 'special treatments' listed but I don't know what those are good Groupon deal there by the way! We tend to eat in cheap cafes or Wetherspoons if we're out, DS1 is such a fussy eater that it's not worth spending £££ on a nice meal as he only really likes Pizza Express but we're not going there now they're not on Tastecard any more and anything more is a waste TBH.

I banked a cheque for £200 yesterday which was from a long forgotten work saving scheme - woohoo! But sadly it's pretty much all accounted for already; I desperately need a haircut, some decent shampoo & conditioner, some new trainers and some new bras as mine are tatty as can be

Made it to payday! Ours is the last working day of the month. We’ve done ok, gone over budget on groceries a little, despite my best efforts, I think we’ll need to up the budget next month.
Spent £4 on Saturday on some strawberries and sausages but other than that it was a NS weekend. Same today all being well. We are doing sober october and started early which will probably save us a fortune next month 😅

Lowish spend day for me, taxi to pick car up £6. Forwent the usual coffee out as have had a sore stomach/ esophagus but this meant I had to buy a bottle of gaviscon so no saving there!

Have done well this month with my side hustle, buying beauty deals/ boxes and splitting them up to sell on ebay but as it's peak advent calendar season most of my profits will be going on buying more stock next month although I will take a few treats out for myself of course. Should be able to get a few spare bob for the festive season, as don't know when I'll be back in work due to rubbish jobs market. The best thing is, I've not had to spend a penny on makeup, skincare etc since I started doing this a few years ago as i have an endless supply!

My other top money saving trick this weekend is, rather than put my thin floaty summer trousers away and get new winter ones I've just worn them over a pair of plain leggings and it's worked really well so that will mean I can extend the life of my lightweight summer trews. I had some lovely thick ones from m and s last year but the quality was awful, they bobbled terribly after a few washes and got chucked.

This month went quite well, although we've gone slightly over for groceries. We've not bought anything too crazy but the prices are just high at the moment.

One real win was swapping my sim only deal. My contract ended with O2 last month so I called to cancel, as I found a great deal with Asda. They didn't want me to leave, so matched the deal. That's my monthly phone bill down from £25 to £6!

I hope you don't mind me asking, but do the advent calendar products sell well on eBay? I've been eyeing up a couple of the calendars but inevitably won't want everything in them so have thought about selling, but not sure how easy it will be.

Been a no spend day, but overall over budget on the month,but actually feel fairly good about it: massive improvement on the two months before, and I can see where it's gone,and feel it's been more conscious spending. Food still hight, but allergies and just the cost of things is most of the reason. Definitely will keep an eye on October's thread,it's helped. Though a few birthdays,and half term to navigate whilst having fun too 👍a good line to aim to walk👍

I've had a pretty good month, 26/30 NSD's. I did have a not so little splurge on beauty items for myself mid month, but I made a few last minute vinted sales and I ended up only £8 short of my savings goal, instead of the predicted £50 short.

Budget set for next month, not sure about petrol being higher as the prices seem to have come down a bit so we shall see. DS and DD birthday, all sorted, just cake and sweets for school/nursery to get. Should be an easier month.

It depends on the product - I tend to go high end as the lower end stuff isn't worth selling - Charlotte Tilbury, Elemis, clarins etc sell well. I have managed to get rid of all the stuff I wanted to sell from the Harrods and Liberty ACs. Next was cheaper but probably I'll struggle to see much of a profit on that one.
I've been doing this a while and you get a feel for what will sell and what won't - expect to get half the RRP of anything you sell on ebay, then take off the fees (15%) and postage (£2.50 odd per parcel) and you can see that it's not massive margins.

I have managed to stay out of my savings/emergency fund and use my ebay takings for pocket money since I finished work in July (DH pays household bills/mortgaage) so something is working! I do sell quite a lot on there - probably make a few hundred a month after costs which is enough for pocket money.

Thanks @IDontHateRainbows, I think I might give it a go. Those are the kind of margins I was thinking of and as long as I can either break even or get close to that then I'll be happy 😊

Well done everybody! Some great work on staying frugal and also bringing in additional funds via selling. 🙌

I'm checking in for an end of the month review. Work has been so busy in the past week (and ongoing) that I've not had much chance to buy things.

Somehow managed 4 NSDs in a row as of today and kept to my overall budget, despite having several birthdays earlier in the month. Proud of that because I'm always tempted to buy a few extras for birthday presents.

October should be OK even with a £££ utility bill because I have a wee bit of side gig income halfway through the month. I've sent some money to savings and hopefully I won't need to dip into them. I also have £500 saved up for Christmas that I've been slowly adding to during the year.

Feeling positive and grateful for this lovely thread to keep me accountable!

As a lifelong spendthrift I think I am finally changing my ways! Autumn is usually a trigger time for me in terms of buying new clothes/shoes etc. This year I have bought a 2nd hand winter coat for £12 off ebay and as it's a M and S one from a few years ago (but in good condition) it's probably going to last longer than some of the new ones now that are made with such shoddy materials.

I've also got an old coat dry cleaned and am having my suede boots re heeled. I know this may sound really obvious to lots of people but in days of yore it would all be new new new stuff. Which I've realised you really do not need if the old stuff is still functional. It's just pure desire.

5/5 NSD's.

Moved money into my car and gift sinking pots. Just petrol on Monday and phone bill to come out now this month. Made a little extra this week on vinted to put into savings.

I'm not doing as well as I want to! Yesterday, I bought two birthday cards. Today should be a NSD. I am going to do a big food shop tomorrow. Meeting an old work friend on Wednesday lunchtime for a chat(and return some books), a coffee or soft drink and bus fare but that should be £10 tops.
I've got less invigilating shifts for mock A levels later this month than I'd hoped! Obviously, everyone else is available so the school need to be fair. There's more exams in November so hoping for more shifts then.
Some old school friends want to get a date in for a weekend away (we live in different parts of the country). I just can't afford it so am currently keeping quiet.

I managed 5 NSDs in a row and then spent £120 over the weekend on work drinks (we almost never do this, but we've been very busy and wanted to celebrate having done such a lot of hard work) + groceries top-up + coffee and cake with DH while ds was at a friend's house + a couple of stocking stuffers for ds + a pair of heatgen leggings for the winter. Not all 'needed' expenses but a nice weekend and it's rare to have a chance to shop without ds asking to leave every 2 minutes because he is bored!

@Vinorosso74 I sympathise - we are in a kind of similar situation with friends wanting to get together for a weekend away, but we think it will be too expensive, especially since they do not want anyone to bring children along - we don't have family anywhere nearby to babysit overnight (two nights probably) so that makes it extra challenging. One friend seems desperate for us to come, but it's not going to happen this time!

Today ds is home from school because he was randomly sick at midnight last night, after being 100% fine all day, so I'm hoping for a NSD to start the week. Good luck everyone!

@moimichme Glad I'm not alone. They are my oldest friends but don't get I have less money than them. They also have preferences for different things to me and one likes to book an activity or two which further adds to the cost of the weekend.
Last weekend away with other friends wasn't too spendy and we're all quite happy to mooch!

8/9 NSDs.

Put £30.00 petrol in the car yesterday, seems to have filled the tank which is nice, the price of fuel must have gone down. It'll last the month. Also bought the last Christmas present for DH, spent £4.19 as the rest I had vouchers for.

Very determined to keep up the NSDs, if I keep on track, I can reach my next savings goal by the month end. There is alot of month left though so it's going to take alot of willpower.

I hope everyone else is doing good this week.

What are the rules for no spend months? I needed to spend a lot of money Replacing my wardrobe this month That was necessary

@ZanyPombear I don't think there any specific rules, if you fancy having NSDs you may not want to include things that are already budgeted for like bills as a spend day, or you may track every spend, whatever works for you, and if you feel it keeps you accountable and being more mindful.

I think for me, as my income is variable, I have to be more mindful with outgoings so anything outside of my basic outgoings or budget gets included.

Spendy day here - I had tickets to a musical show that I'd bought with my premium bond winnings, so they don't count towards budget but I did buy a couple of drinks and a roast pork sandwich which came to £16. Plus tram £4 and a bottle for spritzing perfume, £3 . £23 in total.

Oh ok I went over budget but needed to and I think I will pay myself back because there will be months I don’t need to buy more clothes hopefully. Things don’t really last any more though

@ZanyPombear It sounds like a needed spend, and at least you'll be able to make little changes to absorb the cost. I agree, clothes don't last very well at all these days, and the cost doesn't reflect the quality anymore. I was just having the same conversation with my husband not long ago, the not so cheap jumpers I bought him last Christmas, from different brands, all have small holes or loose threads.