Trying hard but weary

Having an afternoon nap twice this week may indicate that I am not getting enough sleep, I think!  On Wednesday afternoon, it was cold and I lit the fire so that I could do my work at the table without developing icicles, and then I got suddenly so tired that I couldn't read straight so I had a nap in the chair by the fire - a whole hour!  This afternoon, the YFG must have thought I looked sleepy when I was sitting again near the fire, just having had a cup of tea on our return from gym, so she covered me up, took off my shoes, and told me to have a sleep - so I did!

The busy-ness of the week since Wednesday has been reflected in the lack of blogging here - I haven't had time to think about my posts, let alone actually type them out.  I spent Thursday out and about until 6pm, and then the evening was spent typing the F&W Unit assessment up so that I could email it to the tutor.  The FH spent the day in bed with his gouty ankle, so there was a certain amount of nursemaiding to do there as well!

Yesterday was the Knit & Natter at church, come home to make the tea, have a sit down and a chat, then go out to gym, and come home at 8pm to eat the said tea, and then have a bath and relax.  Fridays are always a bit hectic.  Today has been gym again, some errands in town and then the second snooze of the week.  I have just cooked the tea and have a sponge in the oven for church in the morning, so I thought I would take the opportunity to say Hello here whilst it is cooking.

I've been thinking about "saving" and how people think of what the word means.  Seems to me that there are several different concepts in particular when we think of saving money.

I have been buying this this week:

  

(image from loorolls.com)

I have bought ten packs of it, because it is on offer at the supermarkets at the moment.  I had been buying it at AF when I had a delivery and wanted to make up the weight of a parcel, and it cost £2.60 there, which for 9 recycled rolls, is good value.  But AF seem to have run out, and other loo roll available locally is more expensive, and I do prefer the recycled stuff.  The Co-op are selling it at £2.55 and Tesco at £2.50.  Tesco claims that it is half the RRP, but I wouldn't buy it at £5 a pack - I'd look for something cheaper.  It is going down the pan, after all!  So I have spent £25 of my "household" section of my budget on a good few month's worth of loo roll.  I haven't "saved" £25 because I wouldn't have bought it at £50 for the 10 packs.  I may have saved £1 + delivery on the AF price, but they haven't got it available, so I might have saved more than that, given that I would have had to have bought another brand.  It is really hard to quantify exactly how much I have saved, but one thing is clear - I haven't got to look for loo roll bargains for several months!

To me, money "saved" most clearly is money in the bank, safely put away for whatever reason we are saving.  Claims on advertisements and websites like MSE about "Saving £1000 in a day" seem unrealistic to me, because the measures that they recommend would likely not result in £1000 being added to my bank account that day.  We are all looking for best value these days, I hope - and I imagine that if you come here to read my ramblings often, you probably are.  I know that there are people out there who cannot imagine dropping a brand at the supermarket, who are trying to bring up children on the lowest levels of income and still insist that only Walkers' crisps will do, for example.

Our "low-spend" January is progressing and we are almost at the middle of the month.  I have spent more than I would like on the groceries, and part of that is the difference in the meals that we are eating this year, compared to this time last year, and the even higher use of fruit and veg, but it is also down to the overall increases in prices, I am sure.  I do have last year's receipts somewhere, but lack the energy to find them tonight!  Cutting back drastically on the grocery budget for the year is the overall goal, as we overspend in the category every year, although I believe I set it at a reasonable level.  This year I am more determined to get this area under control.  Some areas are doing well - no books [I keep deleting emails from The Book People], magazines, stationery, toiletries [other than feminine essentials] have been required, for example, and we are staying away from the shops in general as much as possible.  Now we have our 2013 loo roll mountain, we won't need to buy any more of that for a while, either!  

Are you having a "Low Spend" January, and if so, how is it going?