This weeks budget is going well. Probably eased somewhat by the fact I had some Christmas Vouchers which I used for replacing used up make-up and some nibblies for my birthday tea last Monday.
I’m trying very hard to not spend mindlessly and paying for everything in my weekly budget in CASH is REALLY helping!
So just a refresher for anyone who hasn’t read any of my previous budgeting posts, essentially I have set myself a weekly cash budget to pay for food, car/petrol, and household (toiletries, clothing, batteries, loo roll etc).
Those weekly amounts are:
Food: £25
Car/Petrol: £12.50
Household: £20
TOTAL BUDGET £57.50 PW in CASH
In addition I have a payment in the food category that comes out every week from my bank for a small organic vegetable box for £11.50 (I allow myself £50 per month in organic veg boxes). Some people may ask well why don’t you save yourself a bunch more money and get your veg from Aldi’s? My organic veg box gives me such pleasure every week, it’s something I look forward to, it’s like my treat and I feel good about supporting smaller, independent growers in our country. To me it’s just a way of giving back a little.
This weeks cash budget is once again going really well! I’m on ‘Week 2 Day 5’ and so far my total weekly cash spend is only £14.24.
I’m pretty proud of myself!!! However I have to travel 200 miles down South on Friday and I will have to take money from the household budget to pay for the extra petrol I need. BUT DESPITE THIS by Friday night there is STILL GOING TO BE MONEY LEFTOVER. Hopefully about £20!!
I’m also glad I set myself what I perceive to be a doable budget, not too severe, not stripped back to the bare bones. I have space to breathe. To me its still about enjoying living but not wasting, being more mindful and trying to make do. My next debt on my ‘debt snowball’ list will set me back £317.68 and I hope to pay that in full at the beginning of February.
HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!!
C xxxxxxx
PS: How are you doing?
I’m trying the apartment savings idea. How is the eco egg going? But my best bit is not gaining weight over Christmas lol xx
Oh whats that? I’m just about to do my third EcoEgg was in a moment and the first two seem great! The only thing I am having to get used to is my clothes simply smelling of nothing, just like air. No heavy detergent or softener perfumes. These are the smells we associate with being clean but they aren’t really when you think about. Well done for not gaining weight over Christmas! How did you manage that?? LOL! xx
Carolyn, have you tried essential oil on a cloth tossed into the dryer? It works quite well to impart a subtle scent.
Oooooo! What a great idea! xxxx
Some pluses and minuses this week. I had an overwhelming craving for jordan almonds this week and ended up buying 1/2 a lb. for $3.23. Trying really hard to not eat so many sweets(and failing). My favourite crackers went on sale for “buy 1 box, get 2 free” so I stocked up on those. I have speant half my food budget to get the basics and now will spend about $10 a week for produce and proteins.
That sounds like you are doing really well actually!!! xxx Food wise had a good week mostly during the day but pigged out on my birthday and still binging on off ration stuff when I get home from work or later in the evening. Not losing any weight- I need to get to grips!! xxx
so glad you are feeling good about this budget Carolyn, its no good if one feels “deprived” by cutting back too severely. enjoy your box of fresh veggies, and your trip down “south” can be a break to be enjoyed too. keep at it, it takes 6 weeks or more to establish new habits.
best. ann lee bc Canada
Aww thanks Ann… compared with what I was wasting/spending before (and I was fairly frugal then) I’m thrilled. All down to the budget , being in control and sticking with it! xxxxx
Coming down to the smoke?
Just heading down to my Mum and Dads in Wiltshire for an overnighter so I can move Em out of Uni xx
So inspiring – since reading your blog Carolyn i.e from last week, I have got an eco egg and paid off my first credit card, plus written a meal plan till the end of the month using stuff I already have in the freezer, cupboard or fridge. Xx thanks! Plus looked up Dave Ramsey! X
I set a middle-of-the-road budget for this month, too. I don’t need to buy very many groceries, because my freezers/cupboards/pantry are all stuffed full, plus we just received our 1/4 beef from the farmer we buy beef from each year. So, last week, we bought groceries to catch some super good sales and stock up on produce, and this week, we’ve only needed milk.
Everyone does it different, but I still keep stocking my pantry when there are good sales, no matter which month is is, unless I’m doing a severe pantry challenge for some reason. (There have been a couple of months where I used only $25/week, but that’s been during the summer when my garden is producing well.). So, to that end, I bought an entire case of olives because they were only 79c/can. That is.a very good price for around here. I also got cheese for 99c/8-oz. That is a great price, too. I was allowed 5, so I got them all.
This week, I have made chicken soup, biscuits, cupcakes, turkey enchiladas, eggs, bacon, chili, from-scratch refried beans, and used many other items from the freezers and cupboards, like home- canned peaches and home-frozen blueberries.
I don’t know what your produce costs in U.S. dollars, but I think buying vegetables is a smart idea no matter what! I’m glad you can.
You sound really well prepared!!! Xxxx
Thank you.
I don’t have a freezer so mostly have to buy fresh produce that needs eating up within a few days….hope to do more preserving in the autumn xx
I cannot imagine living without a freezer, but it seems likely that those in 1940 probably wouldn’t have one. I saw one of my Grandma’s lists of preserved foods one time, and she took things out to a locker somewhere to freeze them, but I’m not sure when she got her freezer. I’ll have to find that note book again sometime.
What an interesting experiment. I shall be reading regularly. Good luck
Well, not quite as good a week, in spending terms for me, as last week, but not bad I don’t think. My total spend was £19.47, of which £8.94 was on groceries, £3 on bus fares, £3.25 for the dog, £3.99 on a bag of coal and 79p on a coffee ( since I wsited an hour for someone it was really unavoidable). Of the £8.44 grocery spend £4.77 was on tea! I walked the 4 miles to Tesco and back just to get it, as it’s the nearest place I can get tea I like, the bus fare would have been over £5, which I couldn’t justify, so I bought enough to keep me going for a while.
Please can everyone keep their fingers crossed for me, I hope that I can make my final mortgage payment at the end of the month! It will mean a tight month money wise next month, but not ridiculously so and I feel it’s worth doing, if just so that I don’t have put up with the banks ridiculous rules, ineptitude and genral apathy any longer.
I AM absolutely crossed hoping you make your mortgage payment, and I hope you have a bit over to celebrate in some way … if you follow David Ramsay and Gail Vax Oxlade, youwill find they recommend knowing all your yearly incomes, and ALL yearly expenses, for which you set aside the correct percentages to cover, each pay period. it begins to add up, so when the car servicing (or whatever) comes around, the money is there. (you may run a deficit in that column for a month or more, but it works out over the year) your only cash in the house should be in jars labeled Food, Gas, Entertainment, and when they are empty there is no more until next pay period. the remainder accumulates in a bank account to pay bills etc. You do not use credit. afn, hope you celebrate at months end!!! ann lee