Sticking to a budget...

[Kina]

Is bloody hard work!

We've got to clear an amount of debt that I accrued making Matt take us on holiday. So currently we're paying off £200 a month (which is the most we can afford) and this month was the first of 'cutting down'. We set what seemed like a reasonable budget of £90 a week for food, Ella's stuff, going out (groups and things) and any other little bits but it's really hard to stick too! Tonight we had jacket potatoes and I'm not being particularly frivilous buying stuff at Tescos or the butchers, but it all adds up.

Anyone else finding it hard cutting down?

 

[Arcanegirl]

We live on £88 a week so pretty much cut down already! If things got really desperate then id probably give up the cable TV

 

[ablaze]

nooooooooooooo not tht tv!!! i h8 budgeting!!! but i need 2 atm and i suck at it...

 

[Kina]

We live on £88 a week so pretty much cut down already! If things got really desperate then id probably give up the cable TV

Ours only costs £5 a month, but we don't get that many channels

 

[loulou1980]

we closed our contract with sky and basically just had the sky box as a free view box,only prob is lily has hid the card somewhere so we cant get hardly any channels downstairs

there is only soo much cutting down you can do,if you cut out everything it makes you more lax so you end up having a splurge,kind of like dieting in which i wish i could take my own advice

 

[Kina]

I'm just crap at it. Like the breadmaker this week! Last week Ella got her first pair of shoes so that was nearly £20 out of it.

 

[Iwantone!!!]

they dont say how much it cost to run a family its hard to balnce everything u need and want espically if ur kids r trying to keep up with there mates and u feel let down if u dont give them what they want

 

[Wobbles]

We found dieting worked out more expensive!

I'm on £80 a week thing keeping in mind 10 fags & drink weekends if we bother! Not done so great it's MOnday & spent £20 already HUH?

 

[Hels]

Im loving my budget Kina, i find it a buzz!!!
I have £60 pw for me and Charlie (OH away all week) to cover everything that is not 'bills' its fun!!!
I have saved up the money ive had left over and now i have£70 to go buy some new clothes with wooohooooo!!!
I enjoy seeing if i can do it, and like to make cheap meals and stuff that lasts or freezing batched. Your right though dieting is bloody expensive!
Make it a challenge, I 'justify' evrything i buy, getting obsessive hahahaha

 

[Kina]

I'm just going to have to get better at it! Especially if you're managing to squirrel away some dosh for shopping!

 

[ablaze]

im getting a (tiny)but better.... i can go into tesco and buy wot i need and nothing else,(some days!!!!)

 

[Layla]

we struggle every month to stick to our budget, i hate it.
on paper there is no reason why we cant do it, but it never works out like that, something always happens and we end up paying out for something.

xx

 

[Kina]

I know what you mean Layla - this month the car is due it's MOT, next month is Christmas, January is car insurance..... All expensive things!!

 

[Tam]

Cutting it down?!?!?!? What the hell is that?!?!?! We say it every month, but never manage it......one day we might do, but there is always something else to come along that needs paying, so you have to rob Peter to pay Paul.....

Our aim at the mo is getting Xmas pressies, then after Xmas we have to get the stuff for Alfie, all we have is the crib & some clothes .....but it has to come out of the next few pay packets, which means we really have to cut back on other things not easy!