Ahem.
I spent more on Thursday and Friday on personal spends then I have in some months. In fact it is very easy to say I spent more this week than I have in some months.
It was all stuff that I needed, and also included The Boy’s birthday present, but the thing was I couldn’t really afford to buy any of it, so I put it on my credit card, reasoning that I had about 6 weeks before the next statement and therefore next due date to find the money. I figured I would do it in instalments.
But it turns out that I have such an aversion to owing money that yesterday I paid the card in full, even though none of the items had cleared yet so my account will be in credit first.
It may mean that I have to not have any fun until I have money again, but I’m glad my debt is cleared.
Let’s get down to business.
FOOD AND HOUSEHOLD SHOPPING
Milk £1.10
Bread, Cookies, Garlic Bread, Chilli Spices x 2, Spaghetti Bolognese Spices x 2 £6.10
Milk, Margarine, Pizza, Baguettes x 2, Pasta Sauce, Crisps, Baking Potatoes, Stew Pack, Apples £8.96
TOTAL = £16.16
Now let’s move on to the B I G spends.
DISPOSABLE INCOME SPENDING
WORK EXPENSES
3 x Cartons of milk £1.79
NON ESSENTIAL FOOD
Jacket Potato and tea £6.70
Coffee and Biscotti £4.15
GIFTS
Sweets for a work colleague £0.75
The Boy’s Birthday Treat Number 2 £63
BEAUTY
Hair cut and tip £25
Hair Mask, Special Hair Brush and Hair Clips £7.72
CLOTHING
Running Trainers £108.05
16 Pairs of Pants/Knickers (4 x 4 packs) £20
Dressing Gown and Slippers £22.50
SOCIAL
Baguette and Wedges £4.15
Comedy Gig Tickets £6.50
Indian Takeaway £16.10
HEALTH
Dentist appointment £14
TRAVEL (DAY TO DAY)
Bus Ticket £1.60
(Let’s add up this scary amount of money)
TOTAL DISPOSABLE INCOME SPENDS = £302.01 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
TOTAL COMBINED SPENDING = £318.17
The funny thing is we are now £1.31 over the food shopping budget after doing the weekly shop, and I knew we only had a little bit left so I was saying to The Boy I wanted to restrict our spending to just the essentials. The Boy, who has plenty of money began ‘It’s great that you have a food budget and that you do all this, but….”
‘You don’t want to be deprived because you have lots of money’ I said.
‘….Yes’
Now, in order to try and claw back some self respect from you all, I will go through my ‘wombles’.*
10% Discount on the Running shoes = £12
Multi Buy savings on the Hair Products = £1.25
Free Biscuits that The Boy has brought back from work = £1.25
Using vouchers I had earned on the Dressing Gown and Slippers = £22
Watching a film for free at the Cinema through volunteering = £7.90
Total savings this week = £44.40
So it could have been a lot worse.
*Womble = Saving money, getting money off, or getting something for free. Based on The Wombles, a UK Children’s TV show about furry creatures who ‘make good use of the things that they find’ (that is a line from their song, yes, they had a song).
