Does anyone want to go on a spending diet with me?!?

[roseylea]

Yes, I need to go on a spending diet!

Dh and I have decided that this time next year we want to be looking at moving house so if this is going to happen we ned to cut down on spending generally, save up to get our house suitably House-Doctored ready for sale (it's got a very old-fashioned kitchen and the bathroom needs a tart-up) and hopefully to end up being able to afford to move to a bigger house.

So that means much less avoidably spending. The prob is I do love shopping and enjoy mooching round the shops - I see it as a relaxing hobby. So I need to really change the way I think aboout money and also how I spend my leisure time - I need cheap / free hobbies / stuff to do at the weekend. Eg - we are lucky enough to live near a beautiful forest so I'm going to get my mountain bike out of the loft and go off for bike rides.

And I love my food so I need to think of cheap but yummy meals to cook.

Also I need to think of free / cheap things to do with the dcs (nearly 3 and 4 yo).

Doe anyone else want to do this kind of thing? I'd love a saving buddy to keep me on track and share money-saving ideas with.

Hi Roseylea

Yep I need to go on a spending diet (and a food one too - but that's another thread).

I am on Mat leave until June so money is not something we have loads of.

As I have just had a beautiful new DS, and already had a gorgeous DD I now have loads of pink clothes I will no longer need. So first operation for me is to sell on e-bay.

Can you do something like this - as it would also help you get rid of stuff you dont want to take when you move.

You can then either leave this money in a paypal account to fund internet shoping or withdraw it to save or spend on other stuff.

Have loads of nice recipies for delish soups with not too expensive veggies etc.

I'll be your buddy - or one of if you get other offers!

Message withdrawn

i have given my cards to dh, have no access to money without asking him

can't go anywhere this morning till he gets up cause I need to ask for petrol money

Hi BaileysMilkshake!

Congratulations on your baby boy!

Thanks for your reply. I've never either bought or sold anything on E-bay (am I the last person in the UK not to?!) My sis does regularly tho so I'll ask her for advice. In fact she goes to jumble sales and buys things for next to nothing and then sells them on E-bay at a profit!

Hmmm I love soup - I have been eating gallons of the stuff lately as I've been on a food diet too (Covent Garden soup - eek, a bit pricey - that sort of thinsg's going to have to go). Do you make big batches and freeze them? I've decided to start using the local market for fruit and veg - it must be cheaper than Sainsbury's!

So we are not going into town today - the dcs are happily playing with their christmas toys and I have to keep telling myself we don't actually need anything in the sales - I must be strong! I feel a bit like an addict going cold turkey...the rest of my family are spendaholics (altho never in debt, just rubbish at saving) and dh isn't any good either. We both need to train ourselves to be better with money and hopefully to get rid of our bad habits and to get some much better habits.

Mellowma I don't know if I was just unlucky but whewn I did internet food shopping a lot of the fresh food (fruit and veg, bread etc) was very close to the use by date and really didn't last so I ended up having to chuck it away.

The only supermarket which was any good was Watrose/ Ocado which unfortunately is a fair bit more expensive than the others...so I'll be doing the Asda / market / swings circuit instead.

TR are you trying to cut down on spending too?

We've got a Debt Free 2007 thread going if you wanna join us?

yep have a serious spending issue
only thing we can do at the mo is me not having any access to money

I'd love to.

I have most things I need tbh. I got my coat and boots before Xmas. My wardrobe is bulging and I need no more clothes.

Plus we spent so much on DS for Xmas we're fine for his birthday in July so I need to be more frugal and save like mad.

That means...Keeping away from eBay (so tempting...'yep I need a potato ricer'....STOP!) and finding cheap and cheerful things to do with DS (there's a donkey up the hill and a new building site with diggers etc).

I get about 300 quid a month of my own cash. I save for DS but I will commit to squirriling 50% away to a bank account.

HOw about if we join the Debt free 2007 thread? I'm not in debt as such but I do want to sory our finances out this coming yer so there are lots of money-saving tips on that thread.

What do you think Baileysmilkshake? (as my buddy)

Yep, I'll come over to over to that thread, although not in debt dont realy want to spend anymore either!.

We hit the shops today wth two children for the first (and last time) DD has a cold and was tired so also was in her buggey. we took one child each and made our way through the crowds.

DH and I were given £50 of dDbenhams vouchers each for Christmas and went in there - there is nothing in that shop that either of us are remotely interest in buying so not sure what we will do with them. But it's so frustrating knowing there's £100 just sitting there that cannot be spent!

Went to H&M to get bottoms for the DC's to go with all the tops DH bought in the Next sale, and spent my £20 note I got for Christma as well as a further £50 on the credit card!!! This is the only shop I actually bought something in. And all DH managed was a newspaper!

But it is probably a good thing that we did not enjoy the experience and will not be going to the shops for rather a long time now.

DS has £20 of Mothercare vouchers and £10 of Woolies that can be spent when we have a need of something, but thankfuly both those shops also exist outside of the shopping centre.

As for the soups Rosey I have an excellent leek and potato soup recipe and a really tasty sweet potato one too. Nice and thick and tasty - might even be better than Covent Garden ! Will dig them out and post on here later.

I will join tuesday!I am eating out this weekend and it has been planned for ages so can't wriggle out of it

i'll do this. my plan is to have a big holiday in cuba with everything paid for before we leave the UK. even want to have spending money set aside.

we have had a total money diet in 2006, started the year in debt, now have small savings, also managed to pay for our wedding, have a holiday and redecorate the bathroom.

A useful tip for your credit cards is to put them in a freezer bag of water and freeze the blighters. Then should you really need them, you can defrost (they still work honestly), and if it's some impulse shopping you have to go to all that effort of retrieving your cards, so it gives you time to have second thoughts!

I also recommend signing up to the moneysavingexpert.com as has loads of budgeting advice. Good luck

I'm up for this too. The things I msut do are:

• Make lunch every day rather than spend a fiver a day in a coffee shop (that's £100 a month!)

• Stop frittering on magazines

• Meal plan so we use everything we buy. Plus buy from organic box scheme plus farm shop and not Tesco

• Convert another card to 0% and concentrate on paying that one off

What's I've already done is save £300 pa on my car insurance and £200 odd on home contents insurance.

This is from the debt free thread

A round up of a lot of the tips/links so far:

• Decent food budgetting/planning - Email Flamesparrow at gmail dot com for a copy of Capp?s spreadsheet! (Didn?t want to tell everyone to CAT you Capp unless you wanted them to )
• uswitch
• s/o for savings AND a s/o for treats
• Work out the birthdays that will be coming across the year and make sure I put aside enough each month to cover the hell months.

BUDGET
Work out a spreadsheet for your monthly/weekly spending. Spend a couple of months tracking every penny you spend ? you will be able to see where your money trickles away to!!!

SHOPPING
*Shop online if you make a comprehensive list (it will cost more if you miss lots off)
*Menu plan ? easier to make a stickable to shopping list

• Use Quidco to get money back on shopping
• If you can be trusted to pay it all off before the end of the month, do your shopping on a Tesco credit card to get the points to use elsewhere
• Eat before you shop
• Buy extras like milk and bread at the corner shop ? what slight extra you pay for the milk, you save on not seeing tempting offers!! (4 pts of milk is actually CHEAPER at my corner shop than Tesco Express)
• Sign up for anything that will send you free vouchers
• Pay at the self service machines in Tesco as they accept all vouchers regardless of purchases
• Avoid gift/cleaning aisle in shops ? you buy things you don?t need FOOD ? Menu plan! It can be a 2 or 3 week mix n match type thing, but have some plan to help you shop ? Work out which foods can be economised on, and which are just not worth it ? value mushrooms are just an odd shape, value mince is more fatty, but if you strain it it is fine, but frozen mince tastes like disintergrated cardboard ? Cook bulk meals and freeze ? 2 packs of mince can often make 3 meals, where as 1 pack makes 1 n a bit ? Bulk meals out with lots of veg ? again, a Bolognese sauce goes a lot further if its filled with peppers, grated carrots etc ? Take drinks out with you so you are not forced to buy ? Get Fruit and Veg at markets (have discovered that DH works next to the people who supply the organic veg box people ? we are now getting organic veg for less than basic tesco veg prices

GIFTS
? Keep a list of birthdays with you so you can buy presents as you spot bargains
? Save for Christmas NOW ? Use a club or a separate savings account with a standing order - don?t wait and see what you can afford at the end of the month ? you won?t be able to

GENERAL
? Save up spare £1 coins and coppers etc ? You can get it changed at most Sainsbury?s in a machine ? it does take some of your money in a charge, but I never get it changed if I have to take it to a bank, so it makes more sense.
? Claim back you bank charges if you have them
? Cut up credit cards ? If it is not a matter of starvation or eviction, it is NOT an emergency
ITS NOT A BARGAIN IF YOU DIDN?T NEED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

I will join you all on the spending diet. DH and I seem to spend lots of money but never have anything to show for it. Have started to gather ideas about weekly meal/menu planning in a bid to cut down our food shopping bill. Would love recipes for soup

courgette soup

2-3 courgettes, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
vegetable stock cube
1 litre of water
salt, pepper, thyme
boursin (optional)

fry the onion, add leek and courgette. add stock, thyme and water. bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until courgette cubes are soft. liquidise, mix in the boursin and bring back the boil. season and serve.