Friday 8 February 2013

The February Challenge

 
 
The February Challenge ... or Oops I've Already Spent All My Housekeeping for the Month
 
As I have gone 'wild in the aisles' this week and have already spent the grand total of £36.13 (yes, if you read yesterdays post you will notice that this has gone up by another pound -  3 boxes of paracetamol from the Pound Shop purchased today while we were in Reading for Lovely Hubby's eye test), out of my monthly budget of £36.92, I have decided to set myself a mini Challenge, you know how good I am at them .... although I do occasionally drive LH mad :-)
 
When I got back from Sainsb*rys the other day waiting for me in the postbox at the farm gate were my two favourite envelopes.  My money off vouchers for using my two credit cards (we pay them off in full each and every month so incur no interest charges).  M and S vouchers to the value of £15 and T*sco vouchers to the value of £13 plus some coupons for things we regularly buy to the value of £1.90 and 25 extra points.  I have therefore decided that these vouchers and coupons are my housekeeping money for the rest of the month.
 
 
 
Because obviously you can't spend exactly the amount of the coupon (although I am going to do my  very best) I am also being super generous with myself and putting £10 into my purse to pay any difference over the value of the vouchers.
 
If I struggle or need anything else I have a back up my stash of saved up Nectar points, which at the moment stands at around £19, (don't I just love that the price of diesel is so high and that LH's truck hold a whopping £90 worth of fuel for each month ......not really but it does get me a great big wodge of points every month).
 
So this is my Challenge, of course I have loads of food in the freezers and cupboards, neatly added to by this weeks purchases, so I am going to continue to use up the stash and hopefully just have to spend my vouchers on the top up fresh fruit and veg that we may need.
 
After all I'll soon be needing some onions ......... I still have only 2 left :-)
 
Sue xx

11 comments:

  1. I enjoy reading how you cut your food costs down. We are blessed to be able to garden and have animals so that really keeps our food bill down. Planning on growing even more this year.

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    1. So true, I can't wait to get planting again, and without our abundant supply of eggs, I doubt we would be able to survive on this limited budget for a whole year :-)

      Sue xx

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  2. Nice challenge! I'm going to be using Nectar points and a stashed Morrisons voucher to eke out my budget this month too. Clubcard vouchers though get stashed away to use on fun stuff - train tickets, days out etc.

    How are you going to use the remaining two onions then?!

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    1. Great minds think alike!!

      Half an onion will be fried today to go on sausage butties for our lunch, I have yet to decide on the fate of the other one and a half :-)

      Sue xx

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  3. Hi Sue, thank you so much for the blog award, I'm quite boring really and dont usually take part in these. I can never think of enough interesting stuff to say about myself :-) I have mentioned it in a blog post and credited you with it also put links to your blog. Please forgive me if I appear rude but thank you anyway. I love reading your blog and know you will succeed with your latest challenge.

    Karen x

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    1. There's absolutely no problem if you don't want to do it. I had forgotten completely that my Blog is in fact 'Award and Tag Free' ...ooops!!

      Sue xx

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  4. Let's hope we get a good year for growing fruit and veg. Jx

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  5. I collect my points 'Clubcard & Nectar' for a year & use them at Christmas. It will be interesting to see how you go this month.

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    1. I was tempted to do this, but then I realised with the yearly budget being so low (£480) I will need all the help I can get in the form of vouchers, coupons, points etc.

      Sue xx

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  6. Good luck with the challenge. I never use my Clubcard vouchers on shopping, I try to make them work a bit harder for me by buying magazine subscriptions as gifts, or restaurant vouchers. I've even used them for a recording session for the last couple of years as a gift for Eleanor on her birthday, which she loved, she's asked for this again this year. I've just been doing a bit of veg shopping, it's so expensive. I do hope we get a decent summer this year so that the harvests are good.

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