Since ending my other Blog '365 Days - £365' recently my spending has gone to pot.
Yes, I'm still using my coupons, vouchers and points but not having to be accountable to myself and the blog has meant that I have on occasion bought more than I should, more than I want to and more importantly more than I need to.
I need to reign it in big style ..... so in the interests of running down the large chest freezer and breaking this spending habit I have decided to have a No Spend/Low Spend September. I will only be buying the absolute necessities of everything food wise and absolutely NO books, clothes or other bits and pieces. As we still have a bit of August left I could go out and buy in what I think we will run out of .... but I won't !! I have enough, more than enough in the cupboards and freezers to cobble together anything that gets used up.
Bread - no problem, I have flour and yeast. Biscuits - no problem, I have flour and oats and butter. Fresh fruit - no problem, I have frozen berries and rhubarb in the freezer an apples on the tree. You get the picture. I also have quite a lot of frozen vegetables, so before any fresh veg is bought they will be used up. The only thing I will have to buy regularly is some milk for Lovely Hubby's coffee, but that's only a couple of pints a week, I don't need to stress about that.
I have to do something for my own sanity. I have gotten out of control so quickly it was worrying, well worrying to me anyway. From spending £3 here and £4.50 there to suddenly spending £30 to £40 pounds every week it was a shocker.
Coming up soon is our mortgage overpayment, we are allowed to pay a 10% overpayment each year without any penalty and to be able to add the money that would have been spent on food for September to the amount we have saved to do this would be fantastic.
This photo shows why Suky IS on a diet!!
While the weather was hot and we couldn't walk her much, playing with Charley has been getting her nicely breathless a couple of times a day.
... and she loves it!!
I hope you won't get fed up (and I apologise to my brother) but I have a feeling that this Blog will be all about food and saving money next month, I should be able to squeeze in a few doggy photos though, the baby is growing very quickly :-)
Sue xx
That sounds like the perfect blog recipe, saving money and lots of doggie pics. I did a small shop yesterday, ahem I have to say that it was a small sop in 3 shops. When I got home I had to squeeze it in the cupboards. I will be reading avidly as I now have more food than money.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh ... I know that feeling so well.
DeleteI suppose you do agree with me that having all these (your) lovely pets weigh up to their costs. They're nice as long as you can afford them. Sometimes I really wonder why people who don't have a spare penny left often have more than 1 expensive pet.
ReplyDeleteHas 'cutting down on pets' ever been considered by you?
By the way: I only see Charley 'moving', Suky seems to be a statue :-)
NOPE ... don't agree with you AT ALL. My shopping for the pets comes out of a completely different budget and is never included in my supermarket shopping total!!
DeleteI DO have a 'spare penny' left over and always enough for those I love.
I would not consider cutting down on my pets I would, however, consider cutting down on my Blog readers!!
And Suky WAS moving almost as much as Charley ... it is a photograph not a video film ... hence no apparent movement.
I understand from your recent Blog post that your lovely little dog has recently passed away and as he was the spitting image of Rosy I have lots of sympathy for you, but surely that makes you more aware of how important pets are in a family and whenever possible cost is not a consideration. Pets can be as cheap or as expense as you make them.
Each to their own.
Apologies!
DeleteI did not at all intend to say that I consider you being a person without a spare penny left, on the contrary. I meant it more generally, because it occurs so very often that people purchase pets and in the end find out they cannot afford them.
Apology accepted, thank you. Possibly written and read with different mind sets, easily done.
DeleteI have a fat cat who is a big on the heavy side, he's just knocked a fence post down he's that round. If your starting a boot camp let me know lol x
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea, we could all be two bikini sizes smaller by next Summer and Suky could be smaller than Charley ;-)
DeleteI foolishly went into Sainsburys to get gluten free stuff and spent a fortune, back to Aldi for me! It is so easy to slip back into bad habits x
ReplyDeleteSo easy to do .... my worst habit but one that I have so far resisted, is buying the Pringles. Yes they are THE Pringles. Aliens from a carbohydrate planet always coming in pairs as 'buy one get one free' in that glorious green tube (cheese and onion) that tempt me soooooo easily :-)
DeleteI had just the same thoughts on my food budget this week. I feel I have really slipped up this August and need to get back to it. Maybe your other blog was keeping me on the straight and narrow as well so will appreciate a few spending posts for the next while. And dog pics as well x
ReplyDeleteIt does inspire you doesn't it reading about other folks challenges, budgets and shopping. I shall have to find something similar that someone else is doing to inspire me, to keep me going through September.
DeleteAny excuse to go blog-hopping, I'll just go and make a coffee ;-)
I shopped on line with morrisons and over spent,, will have to write a list next time.And I have a full pantry and 3 freezers.Maybe I should do a no spend. we have 3 cats and a overweight dog. who is on a diet.
ReplyDeleteMaybe September is a good month for us all to empty the cupboards and freezers, AND put the pets on a diet.
DeleteIt is so easy for the spending to shoot up, well done you for thinking ahead. we are on a no spend whilst I look for a job.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to slip back a notch or two. I had a fight with ,myself yesterday, Pringles in Poundstretcher were £1.25. I picked one up, it almost got into my basket, then I noticed that they weren't cream cheese and garlic, my favourite. It went back on the shelf. Phew, that was close. Then I let myself down by picking up a bag of cheese and onion crisps, multipack, five in the bag, for £1. They were lovely.
ReplyDeleteMy spending has reduced but not intentional, there are no shops near by and a trip into town means having a list so I dont forget anything. I will read with interest how you manage to cut your spending. I am making more of an effort to use coupons and like you we have the 10% mortgage payment option that we hope to take advantage of and bring our payments down.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard, isn't it, to juggle ALL the projects we want to do? Polytunnel, trees, plants, beds, food, pups, socializing. Sometimes something slips through the cracks and all we can do is pick it up, dust it off, and carry on. Good on you for setting your September goals, Sue. Lately, over here, my weekly shops, while buying the same, the prices have jumped 15-25% due to our truly awful winter last. Good luck with your September plans. Don't forget to keep us updated on the gardens - your future personal grocery store!
ReplyDeleteI need to read more money saving and food blogs for the next few weeks. Just received a whopping estimate for some very essential repairs to our boiler. Although we had budgeted for this and saved up for it, the estimate is almost double what we'd thought it would be. Like you, we're eating out of the freezer and cupboards, accepting apples and rhubarb from neighbours and friends, and repairing everything we can instead of replacing.
ReplyDeleteI think our dogs actually save us money. They keep us incredibly fit (no need for a gym or a fitness class) and take up so much of our time walking and looking after them that we don't often go to the cinema, shops etc. And they're wonderful company, especially when you live in the country. I'm trying to get weight on to one of our dogs - she's like a toast rack again. The vet says it's nervous energy burning off the calories so no cutting back on the dog food for her! Looking forward to reading your money saving tips x
I love the pics of your woofers. My sis-in-law had a lovely barrel shaped Pug called Barnie, who sadly died earlier on this year. He was a real character.
ReplyDeleteJean x
We all need a wake up call & with the big C around the corner!!
ReplyDeleteHi Sue, isn't your 'baby' growing up fast! I follow another blog where they got a second pug and only then realised what an overweight guy their older one had become, and for them the new addition really helped take some pounds off the older dog. I hope it helps yours too. As to the spending more than intended, the only way I could ever control that was to have an account and once the money was gone ... we starved!
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should watch " Dogs. Their Secret Lives" about obese dogs. It was on last Tuesday at 8pm on Ch4.
ReplyDeleteI watched it and picked up some useful tips, thanks. All Suky's food is now weighed and Lovely Hubby has been well and truly threatened .... HE is the one who gives her treats and falls for those lovely puppy dog appealing eyes!!
DeleteWe all need a kick up the backside once in a while to get us back on track! My let down this month was going with my Sister to a Fabric Guild place and although I only spent £8.48, it would have been better spent or rather saved and put towards the greenhouse (only a plastic one at the moment) to help me get started a bit earlier on the veg front next year. Having said that, the stuff I bought will be used and not just stashed away.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to build up the 'staples' in my pantry, to help make winter a bit less expensive as, I know that I will succumb to having the heating on and try to not put it on regularly until as late as possible, the latest I've ever managed was mid-November! That reminds me, must change the pole to curtain track over the front door as it will fit more snugly. I have the track already, brought it with me from the previous home.
Hooray! Food and saving money posts are my favourite :) I've been keeping a spread sheet of food costs for the first time ever this month, and that has certainly helped me to stick with my budget. I'm sure I will pick up more tips from your upcoming blog posts :)
ReplyDelete