Our Frugal February / Spending Freeze has come to an end and I think we have both been pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to limit unnecessary spending. To be honest, we just stayed away from the shops and kept ourselves busy at home.
Looking back over the last 4 weeks, there was only the unplanned KFC lunch, Valentines Day morning tea and the half price icecreams that could be considered unnecessary. We did however decide to pay for these out of our pocket money and not general household funds.
Our savings has increased significantly which is fantastic considering Darren has had little work for the last 2 weeks. Due to his unstable work and applying for another 2 jobs, we have decided to continue the Spending Freeze for March. Hopefully by then our income / work situation will have changed for the better. This seems like the responsible thing to do.
Here's how Week 4 looked -
Day 22 - $5.46 at Woolworths
Day 23 - No Spending
Day 24 - $24.16 on petrol
Day 25 - No Spending
Day 26 - $3.79 at IGA
Day 27 - $2.60 at Coles
Day 28 - No Spending
NOTES -
Day 22 I needed carrots and mushrooms for a beef casserole I was making. Darren found sliced mushrooms on clearance and there was enough for the casserole ( 8 serves ) and another 2 meals.
Day 26 - The $3.79 was for a dozen eggs. Our only laying chicken has not laid for the last 10 days or so. I haven't bough eggs for such a long time I just grabbed the cheapest I could find. I made lots of whole orange cakes and zucchini fritters with those eggs and had a few left over.
Day 28 - The $2.60 was for milk.
We had 16 No Spend Days out of a total of 28 days for the month. We got a lot more gardening, baking and bulk cooking done during the month which has set us up for more savings to come.
How did you go with the Frugal February / Spending Freeze ?
Congratulations on finishing up February so strongly. I don't comment much, but enjoy reading your posts. I hope your husband finds some more work soon.
ReplyDeleteI will be doing the spending freeze in March so I am calling it No Money March!! I do have to travel to a family reunion, to Melbourne to house sit and also to Mooroopna for a CFA commitment but I have budgeted for all this and I can take food from home except for the catered reunion which will cost me $20 plus fuel. I intend to work a nursing agency shift when in Werribee to earn some extra dollars. Hope Darren gets more stable employment soon.
ReplyDeleteJanine
Great work Wendy, thank you for sharing. I’m sure your savings are growing nicely. I’m looking forward to following along this month too. Wishing Darren well for his work opportunities.
ReplyDeleteAt this point we are just trying to keep costs down. So many people misplaced due to flooding, we feel blessed we got through it safely. We might see some minor issues with supply continue, due to flooding and the roads being cut off. But I am grateful for our small stockpile and have also witnessed some genuine kindness for those in need.
Stay safe everyone.
Rachel :)
Wow, that's great no spending and great cooking. I work in a supermarket and I'm always spending but will be only getting things on special for now due to many many price increases and they aren't just 10c increases either!!! Also the cost of fuel will be a big hit to the pocket due to the war. Good luck with no spending March.
ReplyDelete