Weekly Round-up and Low Spend November Final Report

I'm quite pleased with how Low Spend November went- especially in the Personal Expenses column, I was very restrained!

This is what I wrote at the beginning of November....my version of the depressing Thomas Hood November poem.

No books

No clothes

No pensioners Fish and Chips

No Ingredients for Christmas Cake or Puddings

No Advent calendar

No coffee and cake out

No random spending on hobbies

No food except fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and cheese and anything I don't want to run out of

No suddenly buying things I don't usually buy (make up, jewellery, magazines etc)

No Newspapers or TV schedule magazines

No flowers

No more Christmas food things for me

I managed to avoid everything listed except for £5.50p on a second hand books and £2.50 on a jigsaw puzzle - and they were all from charity sales so it counts as a donation to charity! 

Changed my mind about the food spending and just shopped as normal otherwise it was only putting off buying replacements for things used until December which seemed pointless. So all in all I count it as a small success.

This is the final weeks spending. I spent on a couple of things that would have waited until December but I wanted to get them done while I thought of them including some Christmas things such as locally produced chipolatas(vital for pigs in blankets of course) which made food spending more than other weeks. So.........

 Diesel for the car, tube of sealant to re-do the en-suite washbasin/splash back tile join; charity raffle tickets; Christmas postage stamps; Exercise group; One grandchild Christmas present sorted; Food; Monthly Electric Bill , Smol dishwasher tabs; Over 60's group; Wild Bird Food.

Total for the week so far £223 .31

Brought forward £391.05 + £223.31 = £614.36 + today*

IF  I'd not bought anything other than what HAD to be spent (ie not left the house for visiting charity Christmas Fayres, Exercise and Over 60's groups therefore NOT needing diesel for the car) and then not bought ANY Christmas stamps, Christmas presents and Christmas food or wild bird food and NOT sent a present for the new Great Niece or NOT bought new jar lids and made Red Relish  or NOT had a window cleaner it would have been over £100 less!! But it would have been a dull and mean month! It could be done but I'm glad it wasn't necessary. 

(Glad I went to Over 60s group, we had mince pies and I discovered I don't really like them anymore, so won't even bother to buy any - another small saving!)

*There is one hitch with that total above because today I'm going to a Christmas Fayre in Son and DiL's village church.

We've been going together ever since Colin died and the two Grandchildren will want to have a go on the tombola stall and the other children's things and eat cake and Nanna will be treating them for sure!

There are 3 other Christmas events on not far from home tomorrow and two on Sunday, I'm not planning on visiting all of them!

These are this months tiny savings................looking after the pennies.............

• Lots of Christmas Fayres visited for fun rather than spending
• Eating  batch made meals from freezer
• Huge stalk of Brussels sprouts for £1.50
• Using up card making bits to make Christmas cards
• Beetroot from BiL's garden
• Leeks from my garden
• Making sure to close curtains as soon as it's dark
• Avoided using tumble dryer all month until Wednesday, when I forgot to check the forecast!
• Home made bread with the bread-maker
• Bargain butter find - all in freezer
• No coffee and scone out all month
• Dishwasher only used every other day
• Quickly using up one of my stored butternut squash as it was starting to go mouldy
• Reading library books for free
• Found out via youtube how to fix my TV remote when putting in new batteries wasn't the answer. 

Have a Excellent Weekend - Oh, I forgot, I'm blogging everyday until Christmas (Blogmass or Advent 2024).... so...................have an Excellent Saturday and I'll be back tomorrow! with news on the antidote to No/ Low Spend November .................. Decadent December!!

Sue