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OK so we are staring again!

From now!

The creditors meeting is not until the 20th but we are starting this month as we mean to go on.

Normally everything is paid from the account until there is no money left and then it is time to start on the credit cards.

So in preparation for starting we have bought a small safe and installed it. In it we have placed a whole range of envelopes and we will start and put money away each week/month from our budget for things eg car tax, insurance, heating oil etc.

Then we are lifting our housekeeping money out of the bank and again in it goes to the safe and we take what we need during the month.

We are starting as we mean to go on. We are working in cash as much as possible because then when it is gone it is gone.

When we want something we have to wait. Something we are NOT used to doing.

So in the safe there are envelopes for days out, christmas, emergency.

So i am hoping that this will work. Do othere so this?

Any advise about this? Anything anyone else has done?

Thanks,

N

Excellent post and a very good idea to start as you mean to go on.

I think your ideas are great and hopefully you can build up a nice little sum for those treats.

Yeah we budget too like yourselves. Its not easy but you do get used to it. Great at end of month with sometimes a little left over and everything paid for by your own money.Even got into a routine of checking the bank account every day, just to double check all well. Its really satisfying not seeing it in the red!!!! Good luck.xx

Thanks

Now that the new account is up and running we have started to look every day. And it is amazing to see money in it! Of course it will go out lol! But it is wonderful that when my salary went in at the start of the month it didn't just about put us in the back, it was all there!

Any more hints or tips?

All welcome!

N

Make sure that when you go shopping you have a list. Stick to it and subsititute own labels or value stuff for branded.

What I used to do was a virtual shop at Asda and Tesco so I knew how much it was going to cost.

Ooh you're good! Very impressed with that!

I have to say that i never really take a list. That is another thing i need to start doing.

Also making a weekly meal plan. Which again i never do.

But i am going to start!

The amount you can save on groceries if you look through the cupboards and freezer and make a meal planner for the week ahead is unreal. You only buy whats on the list and only ever buy stuff on offer if its actually going to go to use. Shopping will never be the same again!!

Paul

I have a master list which has everything on it I ever need to buy grocery wise so e.g; Soap Powder, Fabric Softner, Bleach, Toilet Roll etc right through to meat, veg, fruit, tinned goods. Then each week I make a meal plan and write down first what bits I need to buy in to make those meals. The I go through each room and check off the other bits on the master list like Soap Power, toothpaste etc.

I also shop between Tesco and Aldi - for example Tesco charge £1.53 for a four pint bottle of milk, Aldi charge £1.09!! Don't get caught out with the smaller bottles of milk either like Farm Foods sell, theres is £1 for 2 litres which is less than 4 pints!

At the moment our Tesco is selling the 2 litre cartons of Creamfields milk for 50p.

Never do a meal plan, the freezer is always kept stocked up with meat and veg and tea is usually decided on the same day.

Our shopping is pretty much divided between Asda and Tesco. Tried Aldi and wasn't impressed.

Our microwave has never been used so much before, the 5 meals for £4 offers are always put in the trolley. Chicken ping ping and a few slices of bread with a liberal splash of imagination makes for a stout dinner meal. Put all your small change each day into a tub or jar, at the end of the month or a few months you will have enough to pop out for a pub 2 for £10 dinner, believe me you will appreciate them.

We save 5p, 2p and 1p coins which I bag up and every so often go to the Coinstar machine and cash them in. I don't mind paying the fee.

Afraid the two meals for a tenner is no good us because I can't manage anything more than a starter. We have the occasional Indian or Chinese takeaway and that's our treat.

So how've you found your first month?

Liverpig, Chiken ping ping [:D] but pouring Guiness over it....not sure about that [:D]