Penny pinching progress

So it's been 3 weeks now on my austerity budget of £60 a week for food and treats.  Have scrimped and saved to the tune of £190 this week (and that doesn't include what would have been spent on clothes - about £25 this week).  Still have my overdraft to clear but at this rate I will be saving around £800 per month which is pretty much £10k per year.  Potentially could be mortgage free in 5 years, or could buy a motorhome in 3 years or could have £50k in savings in 5 years to rent the house out and do some travelling, maybe get hitched on a beach abroad with long honeymoon...the sacrifices made below don't even seem like sacrifices anymore - a sense of achievement - working to a goal is seemingly so far as enjoyable as frittering away all your wages with a few material possessions to show for it - and mainly just a thoughtless string of not well thought through purchases under your belt...

• Avoiding eBay/shop retail therapy or any form of online shops despite fancying some £9.99 total bargain destroy boots never worn (retail at over a hundred) and despite really needing some decent headphones for my iPod classic - plan is to borrow my sons skull candy headphones for the gym instead.  I also avoided a nice knitwear opportunity in Peacocks - but reminded myself that I actually do have lovely knitwear not dissimilar from previous years hardly worn. Impulse buying avoidance has saved dividends - this week.  Savings made on clothes purchases this week amounts to £10 - that was a very close call - the boots.

• Funnily enough I thought I would somehow have to treat myself to something with a price tag - however no extras apart from 1 glamour magazine which came with free gift anyway - nail polish worth £1 - purchase price £2.  So little tiny free pampering treats like that are good.  Treats that don't cost can be as simple as

• treating yourself to a ten minute break with your feet up and a nice cup of tea.   

• a nice walk with your iPod.   

• finding new things to wear from your newly sorted out wardrobe- putting things together in a different way.  These all have the effect of feeling treated.   

• losing a few pounds - then you can look better in the clothes you have and some you can't get into become wearable again. 

•  going into shops where you could buy anything and having a browse around - you get a nice feeling looking round a charity shop and don't get tempted into spending lots.  DO NOT GO INTO SHOPS SUCH AS TOAST IN LLANDEILO.

• Savings on treats on coffees and magazines has amounted to £10 per week.

• Exercise classes were my achilles heel, however free zumba classes now apply as I'm designing my instructor a website in exchange for 1 years free lessons starting now.  Also have free protein shakes from her as she is a herbalife nutritionist - which make my breakfasts free too.  That's a saving of £25 per week.

• Doing extra work apart from day job - a few websites for extra money for xmas and for Canaries next year means will technically still stick to budget. The Edu-Pets site will pay for my holiday money and the Zumba site cash payment for xmas presents for my son - who is only getting £100 worth of presents this year.  These extra sites amount to additional savings of around £100 a week but sometimes this will be much more.

• Have noticed budget also ties in with dieting - the less treats you buy the easier it is to diet.  Have lost more weight and am now a small 8 instead of an 8-10.

• Bulk buying and offers - Purchased civil servant gym points - 12 for 20 quid so can afford gym at just over £1 per session instead of a whopping £3.50 an hour.  That's a saving of £5 per week.

• Luxury forfeits...Wearing headband instead of getting my roots done at lara jonnsons for £300. Will buy a few more pretty headbands to match outfits.  This means that I only straighten hair with tongs for half the week so I don't ruin my hair...it has very curly roots.  By avoiding a bill of £300 this month that's a saving of £75 per week I normally would have spent.

• Wardrobe overhaul - Reorganised all my clothes - packed some away for a boot sale so only my nicest ones are displayed - makes me realise I have SO many clothes it's unreal.  If I see something now and then to add to this collection I will do - say up to £50 per month, but so far I have not been tempted.  Now wardrobe is organised to colour and style and drawers of clothes all garment co-ordinated...makes me question when tempted - do I really need this item? and the answer is so far no.  Think am saving about £25 a week on clothes shopping.

•  Finding the best place to food shop - Tesco in Carmarthen has much better deals.  Cheaper than Co-op and Sainsburys.  However, doing 2 smaller shops is also good in any store.  You buy the precise meals and no wastage.  Think am saving about £40 per week on food.

Have not cut back on

• 1 meal of salmon with fresh greens per week  

•  healthy food - all cooked from scratch and still getting fruit and veg and managing a roast on a Sunday.

• child 1's dinner money - won't have sarnies - have tried to persuade  

• fuel - although if I leave earlier for work can conserve up to one third by driving slow. This is potentially a saving of £500 per year.

Plans for further savings

• grow veggies - potatoes, onions, garlic etc.  Need to make initial investment in greenhouse first.
• advertise business in local free ads - budget websites.