JANUARY MONEY CHALLENGE!

Hey folks,

Well i disappeared into the ether for a little while there, but 2014 is my year to clear all my debts and start saving for an amazing christmas holiday next year and the only way that is going to happen is if i don't waste money on crap i don't need

So my own rules for me are:

Can you afford it?
Do you need it?

If the answer is no then i have to wait, simple really but so so hard in practice!

And if that doesn't work then:

Why do you want it?
Make myself wait for a week and see if i still want it or if it was just a passing "ooh that's pretty"

Feel free to jump on the money train

Consider me on board!!

Hey guys :wave: x

Bircheys Saving Tips:

- Don't buy what you don't need or can't use - Buy within your means!

- Enjoy shopping prior to store close, make the most of the very low cost items, but keep it S/W friendly!! I found Muller Light and Fruit Bags cheaply in Co-op tonight (Yes will be technically out of date but ok for a couple of days)..

- Value products can sometimes be good value, other items you need to get the 'brand', Make the most of special offers/coupons etc and if you have time shop around a little.. Some items are always on special offer somewhere esp toiletrys so I make the most of these..

- I've saved loads buying cleaning products that need diluting - I mean why pay for water!!

- Watch your savings, even putting away 20p a week would make a saving of £10.40 a year.. Think what more than this could do..

- Is there a need to buy a newspaper or will BBC news online etc be a free viable option..

- Good luck with saving I'm a nightmare!!

OO Im in!

I want to start saving in case someone pops a certain question (optimistic haha) failing that it would nice to take the kids on holiday either this year or next, when they're a bit older and can appreciate it more.

I'm quite bad for impulse buying and my son gets spoiled with him being poorly.
My food shopping is usually ok, I buy mostly own brand and I plan what I need for the SW meals Im going to cook that week.

You'd be surprised how much you can save if you put all your small change in a jar at the end of the day (1p,2p, 20p etc). I've done it for the last two years and its added up to around £150 each time. Thats my christmas food and drink shop paid for and i didn't feel a thing

I am hopeful for next year as I will be starting a new job with a higher pay band and more overtime options, mind you I also have quite a few ideas of what I want to spend it on...just got to earn it first!

Love that there's so many people, we can all pinch idea from each other

I do buy shop brand mostly bar a few things that I have to get branded. I always split my washing up liquid into two and get double. It's so thick nowadays you don't notice!

Umm I do have more but I appear to be brain dead lol

Did I say if you want something wait?
Idea being if you really want something try and make yourself wait til the next day or next week, it kinda helps with the impulse buying...I sooo need to try and curb this been doing a lot of it lately

Keep the ideas coming guys, how many of us really want something big and our frivolous ways make it impossible because we keep spending on the little things

I worked out *shame* we spent £100 one week on takeaways and munchies :cry:
That will stop now with SW but I added it up over the year and it would have been a fantastic holiday! X

cavegirl13 said:

Sainsburys I had shop of just over £100 and ended up paying £1.23 by using coupons and a gift card that was given to me by BT and some of my Nectar points.
View attachment 117416

Click to expand...

Now THATS my kind of shopping! haha

Fantastic cave girl! I wish i was that organised lol

Have done a months food plan that has used up most of what is in the cupboards and freezer so that will give me a bit of spare money to chuck in the petrol tank to go and visit some family i didn't get chance to see yet so yay to that.

Going back to Gibraltar for a week in Feb for our anniversary (we got married on The Rock) so all spare money (on my part anyway, hubby goes through money like water lol) is going into the spending money pot. I have £500 so far and i usually like to have at least £100 a day for us to get food, day trips, etc.
Breakfast is included, my MIL usually takes loads from brekkie and uses it for lunch to save money but i always seem to get caught lol!

ejd said:

You'd be surprised how much you can save if you put all your small change in a jar at the end of the day (1p,2p, 20p etc). I've done it for the last two years and its added up to around £150 each time. Thats my christmas food and drink shop paid for and i didn't feel a thing

Click to expand...

We did this last year but I put money saved on coupons, lotto wins in when me & OH opened it there was £900 in, we've put that away for our 'special trip' we're hoping to go on the Transiberian train from Moscow to Beijing but 1. I keep spending holiday money on other holidays! & 2. It's going to cost a fair bit of money.

pixie-gem said:

Fantastic cave girl! I wish i was that organised lol

Have done a months food plan that has used up most of what is in the cupboards and freezer so that will give me a bit of spare money to chuck in the petrol tank to go and visit some family i didn't get chance to see yet so yay to that.

Going back to Gibraltar for a week in Feb for our anniversary (we got married on The Rock) so all spare money (on my part anyway, hubby goes through money like water lol) is going into the spending money pot. I have £500 so far and i usually like to have at least £100 a day for us to get food, day trips, etc.
Breakfast is included, my MIL usually takes loads from brekkie and uses it for lunch to save money but i always seem to get caught lol!

Click to expand...

Hey I've started filling my car with petrol from different garages & seeing whose petrol takes my car the farthest, so far it's shell, I got 312 miles out of a tank instead of the 265 I generally get from shops own petrol. I know shell is more expensive but when you work it out (yep I have), it's more economical.

So I need to knuckle down with my spending, I went o/d in October & haven't managed to get back in the red, so I need to do that, I also want to go away in September to Ecuador but at the mo, I can't afford it. It's DD birthday in March & I'm taking her to see Lion King in London & we'll be having lunch so I've that to save for otherwise I've no major spends going on.

I've also started going to Lidl on Monday for some food shop & then Asda for other bits, but I need to make more of an effort to also go to Aldi for bits.

Good luck everyone, we can do this

Ecuador wow! You have the best holidays HH!

Ecuador may be wow or may remain a dream!!!!! I'd love to go but need those flights to come down in price, or a nice little lotto win!!!!!

BTW it's no wonder I've no money, lol

I've been trying not to but I think we may have to spend some money on a new bed.
I wake up and I can barely move without my back spasming like an electrocuted something or other and I keep waking up to find hubby asleep on the sofa where he's woken up in the middle of the night with a bad back
Wouldn't mind but it's not even that old!

Ooh can I join?
I need to finally clear my credit card and I want to start saving for a deposit to buy a Buy to Let property as a pension fund.
My company are also conducting a productivity review at the mo and are making redundancies - will find out in July if I'm for the chop - so need to save to cover bills for that too.

OH was made redundant last year and is now a stay at home Daddy (worked out cheaper for him to stay home for a few years than to pay childcare and I'm the main breadwinner anyway)

We shop mainly in Lidl and pop to Tesco's for the odd few bits. OH has a tendency to go shopping a few times a week and buys far more than we need so need to rein that in.

Soooo....the economy drive begins...

Oh, and the couponing on Sainsburys is very good - wish I could do that x

pixie-gem said:

I've been trying not to but I think we may have to spend some money on a new bed.
I wake up and I can barely move without my back spasming like an electrocuted something or other and I keep waking up to find hubby asleep on the sofa where he's woken up in the middle of the night with a bad back
Wouldn't mind but it's not even that old!

Click to expand...

Maybe it's not the bed but a new mattress is needed, I was waking up with aching hips & bought a memory foam mattress (on offer from G****) & it's brill, I don't wake up with aches & pains anymore.

Happy Holidays said:

Maybe it's not the bed but a new mattress is needed, I was waking up with aching hips & bought a memory foam mattress (on offer from G****) & it's brill, I don't wake up with aches & pains anymore.

Click to expand...

We have a memory foam topper with a sprung mattress on an bed knobs and broomsticks slatted frame.
I've been looking online (whoops) and found an adjustable bed (some days hubby has to sit me up where it's locked) that has a tv that slides out of the footboard, I don't think i would ever get out of bed lmao!

flabtofit said:

Ooh can I join?
I need to finally clear my credit card and I want to start saving for a deposit to buy a Buy to Let property as a pension fund.
My company are also conducting a productivity review at the mo and are making redundancies - will find out in July if I'm for the chop - so need to save to cover bills for that too.

OH was made redundant last year and is now a stay at home Daddy (worked out cheaper for him to stay home for a few years than to pay childcare and I'm the main breadwinner anyway)

We shop mainly in Lidl and pop to Tesco's for the odd few bits. OH has a tendency to go shopping a few times a week and buys far more than we need so need to rein that in.

Soooo....the economy drive begins...

Oh, and the couponing on Sainsburys is very good - wish I could do that x

Click to expand...

More the merrier Hun!

pixie-gem said:

We have a memory foam topper with a sprung mattress on an bed knobs and broomsticks slatted frame.
I've been looking online (whoops) and found an adjustable bed (some days hubby has to sit me up where it's locked) that has a tv that slides out of the footboard, I don't think i would ever get out of bed lmao!

Click to expand...

Oh so it does sound like it's a new bed that's needed, the problem with those beds is once the tv breaks can it be replaced?!?!?!??! can you tell I'm not an impulse buyer!!!!!!!!!

Happy Holidays said:

Oh so it does sound like it's a new bed that's needed, the problem with those beds is once the tv breaks can it be replaced?!?!?!??! can you tell I'm not an impulse buyer!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Hehe that I don't know! Hubby thinks it may be better to get an adjustable and just a separate tv (which is much cheaper when separate) to put on the wall
Going to drag him up dreams and wherever I can find that does 0% interest because I refuse to pay it lol