Friday 1 July 2022

Day 7 and a new challenge

 


Today's job on the plot was to thoroughly weed the polytunnel!  The tomatoes are growing well with lots of flowers, the bell pepper plants are bigger and the self seeded nasturtiums and calendula are thriving.  But once the weeds were out I could see big gaps where I could easily plant some more edibles.  I'll take my seed tins tomorrow and see what I can do to fill those gaps!  Definitely lettuce and maybe beetroot.


I planted up the 2 barrel tubs beside my shed with some bargain echinacea plants I got from Sarah Raven last year and the rock daisies from my Dobbies haul.  They look a wee bit sad but hopefully they'll perk up.  I've got a few echinacea plants at home as well.  I'd love to have a go at making my own tincture as it's good for boosting the immune system when you've got a cold.


I picked some raspberries to freeze although I ate a lot more than I saved!! Ooops!  They were perfectly delicious 😋

As it's the start of a new month I thought I'd take a deeper look at some aspects of my spending in the first 6 months of the year.  I started with my supermarket shopping.  I added everything I spent in Sainsbury's, Tesco and Lidl since January and divided it by 6 to get a monthly average and then by 4 to get a weekly average.  Then I googled the average cost of food for a single household in the UK.  Interesting article HERE with some links to ways to save on food.

The average spend is between £27 and £40 per week depending on your income.  My average spend is £36.  Definitely on the higher end but that includes all my non food items too (toilet roll, dishwasher tablets, shampoo etc)  The article doesn't say if their numbers are just food alone.  

So I'm setting myself a new challenge to lower that amount to £30 per week maximum or £120 per month for all food and household items.  I've ordered a Sainsbury's delivery for tomorrow (Sat) using their saver slot (£2) to start off the month and hopefully can score a few Lidl veg boxes to keep me going the rest of the July.

I'm also going to allow myself a £10 treat allowance (stealing Vivi's idea!!) so if I fancy some crisps or a magazine then it's already in the budget!!

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the link to an interesting article. The other costs above the food budget sometimes take me by surprise-toilet paper is nearly a dear as petrol, toiletries vary greatly in price and washing materials are also variable. Our online order cost has risen dramatically since we first started two years ago but it’s worth it because there are no impulse buys eg clothes In the basket! Happy weekend.Catriona

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    1. I know what you mean about the impulse buys!!! I do my big monthly shop online with Sainsbury's. I choose a saver slot which costs £1 or £2. If I'm actually in the supermarket I'm guilty of adding a magazine and maybe a bottle of nice wine on offer and boom there's £10 added already!!

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  2. We are definitely singing from the same hymn sheet at the moment, Ali! I've just blogged about "finishing" after reading your post. I haven't written about budgetting lately but I track all my food/grocery shopping and my average weekly spend in June was £28.50 (i,e, £4.07 per day). I think we need to bear in mind that the figures in that very interesting article were probably from last year before food prices started to rocket.

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    1. Yes it will be interesting to see what the average spend is in a few months once all the price increases start to bite! I've already cut out all the 'luxury' food items and I'm eating very simply these days

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  3. It seemed to me that this was strictly food items so you are well under the national average if you were including non-food items. Probably allows you the occasional splurge. My splurges are lamb chops (horribly expensive here), coffee and chocolate bars.

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    1. I tried really hard to find figures that said 'supermarket average' rather than 'food items average' but had no luck. It was interesting to see how much the 'eating out' averages were as well. I rarely eat out or get a take away now. Not even coffee as I take my travel mug with me everywhere!!

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  4. I've just been looking up the same thing (average food spend per person) and came across the average of around £25 too plus another £13 on food out of the home and takeaways . I was trying to find out what I could buy for £15 a week - answer was Not a Lot!

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    1. Totally agree! It's really hard to buy and eat healthily (ie with fresh fruit and veg) on a low budget. I'm working really hard to boost my immune system so need variety in my diet. I saw that Frugal Queen said on FB that they've given up on buying fresh fruit as it's become a luxury for them. I can see what she means. Growing and preserving my fruit and veg is def a priority for me now

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  5. Since a broken wrist has rendered me unable to drive I’ve been ordering online. No saver slots here but clipping online coupons has kept down the total cost. I’m making meals out of what’s currently on offer, and not being in the supermarket is keeping me focused.

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    1. I got into the habit of ordering online during the pandemic and just keep doing it. Hope your wrist heals quickly!

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