We’re back with another Money Diary of what I spend in a week and this time I’m implementing TWO no spend days and really trying to cut down on mid-week spending. Let’s take a look at how we did…
MONDAY
My first no spend day! Today we had the day off and chilled around the house. We ate from the freezer, took Toby for a walk and resisted a mid-day meal out. No pennies dropped just yet!
Daily Total: £0
TUESDAY
Today I had to take a trip to the post office to post an item I’d sold on ebay. I’ve been recently trying to sell a few old bits of camera equipment, jackets etc to boost the money in my savings account, and as they say – every little helps! My item cost £3.55 to post but the seller had paid that postage so I actually ended up with +£15 in my savings pot. Win!
Unfortunately though we couldn’t avoid the food shop and this one was a bit more expensive than usual as we needed a few house bits. Usually we get these from Home Bargains or Savers as they’re a little cheaper, but this week we needed the convenience of one shop so we bit the bullet and put them in the usual shopping trolley. £25 each for the week at Asda and you can see a haul of what we got in my vlog at the bottom if you’re nosy like me!
Daily Total: £25 (+£15 in savings)
WEDNESDAY
Today I was working all day so didn’t even get the chance to spend anything at home in the ‘office’, but in the evening I pottered off to my weekly Badminton Class! At £4.50 it’s a great hour of exercise with some lovely new people and I look forward to it every week – well worth the money I’d say!
Daily Total: £4.50
THURSDAY
Another no spend day – looking promising so far this week but we do still have the weekend to come…and it’s a long weekend for us too!
Daily Total: £0
FRIDAY
We had another day off today so we took a trip to Alton Towers! Last time we went we visited the brand new Alton Towers Dungeon and they very kindly gifted us with season passes which means we get in for free for the rest of the year – score!
We took a packed lunch that Chris bought in the morning to save a bit of money (and stay a little healthier) and although they’d hiked up the price of their pic n mix to £7 I still treated us to a big old tub…well the entry tickets were free after all!
At the end of our day I got us a round of beers in the sunshine for £9.30 and then we headed home to our fancy home cooked pasta and garlic bread for tea!
Daily Total: £16.30
SATURDAY
Date Day! I treated myself to a new dress from New Look for £28.98 (take a look in the info box here for a link to buy) which although a frivolous spend, will go with a LOT of different things throughout the seasons. Promise.
For date day this week we took a trip to the city (£11.70 return train) and went for a delicious pizza at Franco Manca (£15) followed by a couple of cocktails across the road (£14).
All in all, not a super spendy date but still so lovely to get dressed up, get out the house and eat our weight in sourdough!
Daily Total: £69.68
SUNDAY
Toby had his groom today but Chris picked up the ‘spa’ bill as I’ve got some expensive yearly jabs and a health checkup to pay for at the end of this month! Toby looked super smart with his new trim…up until he went running through some soil and got filthy pretty much right away!
We popped into Dunelm to get some light bulbs (boring adult stuff) and I picked up some cute little tumblers perfect for cordial (or gin) which all came to £15.50
In the afternoon we went over to see my mum and dad for a BBQ so I bought some flowers for mum, some red wine for Dad and a bottle of posh squash for me as I was designated driver (£13). It was such a lovely way to round off the week and the sun even came out for us too!
Daily Total: £28.50
WEEKLY TOTAL:
£143.98 (+£15 into savings)
Overall not a bad total this week with my two no spend days to help cap that mid-week spending.
We had a fun day out, did a big food shop, bought some pressies for the parents, I treated myself to a lovely new outfit AND we went out for a delicious dinner and drinks. And I even managed to save £15 with my eBay selling which is a bonus!
If you consider the food shop part of the house bills then this week only cost £119, and without my new dress it’s an even smaller total at £89. But life’s too short not to buy the dress sometimes right?
WATCH: This Week’s Money Diary
Would you try keeping a money diary to stay aware of your spending?
xax