Saturday 1 March 2014

March money & shopping

We were paid on Thursday & both of us transferred money into the joint account. I did an online shop at Mr T's £94, on Monday I shall go to the butchers & spend another £30 to £40. I have put cash into a tin to pay the milkman £14, the egg lady £8, petrol £45.

My supermarket shop included potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, onions, apples & bananas, we have cabbage & lettuce in the garden. I also bought tea bags, sugar, butter & cheese, baked beans, soup, tinned fruit & tinned fish (pilchards & sardines) tuna is too expensive. I needed washing liquid & dishwasher tabs too. By the end of last month my cupboard was nearly bare, on the last day of the month my lunch was a tin of peanut soup, it was nicer than it sounds, fortunately.

There is less & less left in the joint account at the end of each month as the bills keep creeping up, we increased out mortgage payment by choice, but everything else is going up too. I'm cancelling both phone contracts, they were £15 but have now gone up to £18 & we will go back to PAYG. I'm having a smart meter fitted soon, which may help with the gas & electric costs, though I can't cope if I get cold as I seize up. 

I still need 2 more summer dresses, so I check the charity shops regularly  & I'm keeping an eye out for new to us bedding as well as ours is very thin & wear into holes soon.

5 comments:

Justine said...

You sound like you manage very well on very little!

janipi said...

This sounds very organised and I have done similar things today. I just hope the shopping lasts until next pay day. Keep looking for your dresses. I saw a lovely one from Monsoon for 5 pounds in our local charity shop (Animal rescue)I didn't buy because it was wrong size. You might be lucky next time you look :)

Floss said...

Hester, what size have you ended up at & what style suits your new figure? We have a wide selection of charity shops here so will keep my eyes open for you

frugal freesia said...

Life is a struggle at times, still, it strengthens us if it doesn't kill us! lol.

Good luck to you.I can never get cheap items in the charity shops generally as they sometimes charge just as much as supermarkets for things like clothes!

Any chance you could post the recipe for the peanut soup, as it sounds like something my youngest would like?

Hard up Hester said...

Hi FF, the soup was out of a tin but here is a recipe for something similar.
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/african_chicken_peanut_stew/

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