Week 41 already and I have started the week with a new months allowance so I must not let this go to my head and overspend in the first week. But you may ask how did I do in September – I have just been totting up the figures and this is what they look like:-
- Groceries, which for me includes cleaning products – £190.03
- Lunches at work – £25.66
- Supplements and food from Health store – £21.58
- Toiletries – £65.21 (this is the stock of No7 face creams I got on offer)
And just in case you were wondering – I confess to spending a total of £19.53 on magazines – my target spend in this area should be zero.
Overall I am quite pleased with the results – the toiletries were a bit of an outlay but I won’t need to buy face cream for a long time.
October Challenge
Areas for improvement – definitely magazines, closely followed by those lunches at work, however it should be noted that my grocery spend would go up slightly if I took lunches to work from home, so I wouldn’t be saving the whole of the £25.66 I spent. An easy adjustment to make will be to take my own bread – which I did do this week saving me £2.68 a week.
As I did very well the week before last by only shopping for what we needed during the week and not doing a big shop I am going to try this again. So I will do a bigger shop once a fortnight and then buy as I need on the alternate weeks.
I had 3 birthdays this month for special friends and on Sunday I made a card for each of them – (pictures of these will be over on my other blog where the journey takes me soon) saving me about £6-£7.
In November I have 4 birthdays and an Anniversary so my aim is to make these in October as well as beginning to think about making for Christmas.
I will continue with my store cupboard use up and making sure that nothing goes in my bin. I congratulated myself last week as I used up every last morsel…
…so this over ripe banana
added to these ingredients – the last 2 eggs, the end of a chocolate bar and some left over walnuts…
became these…Mini Chocolate, Walnut and Banana Loaves
They didn’t even get as far as having the chocolate topping!
The end of the Ciabbatta loaf…
became breadcrumbs
and eventually the topping on the Macaroni Cheesbake on Thursday…
and remember I froze the ends of tomato paste and some Barts Mediterranean Herbs in the ice cube trays which I have now transferred into my storage tubs ready to use.
Menu Plan Week 41
- Monday – Lasagne with Peas
- Tuesday – Lasagne with Broccoli
- Wednesday – Baked Potato with cheese, homemade coleslaw and salad
- Thursday – Macaroni Cheese Bake and Peas
- Friday – Cheese and Leek ramekins and salad
- Saturday – Meal out
- Sunday – Cheese and Leek Ramekins with salad
Spending so far this week – cash
- Monday – Lunch at work -Soup – £2.55
- Tuesday – Lunch at work Soup – £2.55
- Wednesday – Lunch at work Soup £2.55, Hot choc in Sainsbury’s £1.80
- Thursday – Lunch at work Soup £2.55, extra groceries £2.80
Spending this week by Card
Sainsbury’s – Groceries
- Lactose free milk £1.48
- Lettuce and watercress £1.50
- Bertolli margarine £1.50
- Organic mushrooms £1.28
- Blueberries £2.25
- Courgette £0.42
Total spend £8.43
Health Foods
- Blackcurrant Spread £2.49
- Rude Health Spelt Flakes £2.99
- Viridian Acidphilus £7.80
- Viridian Vit B comples £6.50
Total spend £19.78
On Wednesday I had to go to the out of town Sainsbury’s for Petrol and I called in to get a few items – but not to do a big grocery shop. Luckily I did the shopping before I bought the petrol so I was able to get £0.8p per litre off the total with the voucher I got for spending more than £20 on their clothing range.
This is what I got for hubby dear – 2 wool jumpers @ £20 each which I didn’t think was bad and I brought a pair of leather boots home to try (not pictured) price £40, however all these come out of our clothing budget.
I spent £22.27 on groceries and veg for my planned meals and items we had run out of. The Oatmeal is ready for making some Parkin.
I also took advantage of one or two bargains – I know the weather is only just starting to turn but I do not possess a heated blanket or have a microwave to heat up a wheat bag so I treated myself to a brand new Hot Water Bottle £5.99 (every girls dream eh!). Actually I put two in my mum’s bed when she visits and one of my old ones sprung a leak on me recently so this new one is just what I needed.
The Atrogel – Arnica Gel had a third off only £6.85 so couldn’t walk on past that and the dispenser £3.00 is for…you will have to wait and see…
Then it happened…unexpected item in the bagging area!!!
Well I never said no magazines meant no Christmas Specials – Prima Xmas Makes £3.99…and the red raffia – just what I need for my Christmas parcels £1.00.
My total spend at Sainsbury’s was £119. 41 with £80 of that from my clothing budget.
Reward points earned 481
New total 12050 worth £60.25
So that is the week so far – I have still to get through Friday, Saturday and Sunday but I should not need to spend any money on food shopping. I am now going to snuggle down in bed and browse through my Prima Xmas magazine looking for Christmas ideas.
Have a lovely frugal weekend.
simplism notebook 
There is nothing like a shiny new magazine! Your banana loaves look lovely. It’s smart to make cards, and more personal, too. Have a good weekend!
I really enjoyed making the cards but they did take up most of Sunday afternoon – I need to get a bit quicker at producing them. I had to disguise the ripe banana in the chocolate mixture as I am not keen on banana flavoured things – but these did taste nice and are very moist. Have a good weekend too.
You eat so well Viv – I want to move in!! And your post has reminded me to buy hot water bottles when I get home – it sounds like we’re going to need them this winter.
I hadn’t realised how hard the rubber had become on our old ones with age, no wonder one of them sprang a leak. The new one feels soft and flexible as it should be. I certainly got some mileage out of the old ones though. You can’t beat a hot water bottle to snuggle down with.
My downfall was Christmas magazines. In fact years ago I used to really splurge and buy around a dozen of them then two years ago I saw the error of my ways and stopped ‘cold turkey’, it was so hard. Last year I stood firm and I can honestly say that this year I am not even bothering to glance in their direction. I get my whole fix now from my copy of Country Living which is always bought on two yearly subscription.
I have my Country Living – but I find they don’t include enough craft ideas for me – so I find myself looking for more inspiration and that is usually down the magazine isle!!! I wish our library still did magazines on loan like they used to such a big saving. Good for you going cold turkey.