Shopping and halfway financials

It being the 18th, we are just over half way through Stoptober, and it is time for me to reflect on how we are doing.

(image from vanquis.co.uk)

I am keeping my records diligently, and they show that although I am not being as strict as I had hoped to be, I am still making good headway.  £700 has been moved to savings accounts this month, which is really good going, and it means that I am going to have to be really careful over the next two weeks to have enough money to do things with, especially with the holiday [3 nights away] now on the horizon.

I do find it more effective to pay the savings account first and then live with what I have got left, rather than save what is left over, as it is harder to make the pennies add up to savings that way - they seem to get spent if you are not extremely careful.   

(image from guardian.co.uk)

Today I have been to our local Sainsburys in one of the local towns; I have mixed feelings about Sainsburys these days, just as I do about other supermarkets.  Why didn't I go to Lidl?  Because I wanted a change, I suppose, and a fresh look at what was on offer!  In terms of temptations, Sainsburys for us here is smaller than Tesco, so there are less lines to be tempted by.  Lidl would be even better, but hey ho, I'll go back there next week refreshed!

(image from greatbritishbaskets.co.uk)

This was the first time I had been shopping since last weekend, so although it would have been nice to just spend a little, the fresh requirements were mounting up, and I managed to spend £29.14 on fresh fruit and veg, bread and fridge items, mostly.  I love those baskets and have one just like the larger, but the girls think that baskets are just too old fashioned and they refuse to let me wander round the shops with mine.  I shall do all manner of things when I am old and can please myself!!

(image from policyexpert.co.uk)

I also bought a few of the gifts I need for Christmas presents.  I wasn't planning it today, but then I saw the perfect item for two girls who are tricky to buy for, and now 16 and 17, so it is hard to know what they like as we never see them.  But I saw these items, at just £3 each and so easy to wrap and post that I could not imagine finding anything more suitable.  

Meal planning is definitely helping and I am staying out of the shops 5 days a week, just going to one shop or another on one weekday and on Saturdays.  Usually I might have gone shopping on Tuesday, but the girls weren't at hockey this week and I didn't need any fresh items, so I didn't go.  That pushed my "fresh" shop to today, which means that I won't need to go on Saturday, and I hope I can hold out now until next Tuesday.

(image from tangram.co.uk)

I will have to make a confession, though, for the sake of keeping this real and truthful - I placed an order at Lakeland this week.  Last year, I left it until late November to place my order, and it didn't arrive.  I complained, and they sent it out again by Parcelforce next-day, and then three days later the original turned up!  The chap who delivers parcels around here had got so snowed-under with parcels that he had just been packing them into his garage and had taken far too long to catch up with himself.  The companies kept delivering more than he could deliver in a day!  But this time, I needed some items fairly soon, like the cellophane bags I pack biscuits in for the cake sales at chapel, and other wee baking bits that I can't find cheaper locally [I do try, Susan, I really do!!] so I placed the order.  It has been dispatched today, and it is a wee one, I promise.  

I haven't looked at Amazon, I haven't bought more corned beef to add to my stash, I have avoided buying clothes, and the car is almost empty - that desperately needs more diesel tomorrow, but I have made it last as long as possible.

How is your Stoptober shaping up?