What does my £25 per week cash allowance cover?
I was asked this question the other day when I was talking to someone, so I thought it would be a good idea to put the answer on here so that if anyone else is wondering they will now know. 😀
Basically to really simplify things it covers all my shopping expenses at the supermarkets or the food shops that I visit. I buy most of my food and most of my cleaning supplies at the supermarket, washing up liquid, bleach, fabric conditioner ... I now use about a spoonful of this in each wash and have given up on vinegar. I get my laundry capsules from smol, so they come through the post about three times a year, so will not be included. As you saw the other week it also includes toilet rolls and other paper products which I always try to buy when they are on offer.
Ginger's cat food comes from untamed through the post every month. It's the first food that he actually eats all of so I am happy to pay for this outside of my own food allowance and to balance it out Alan pays for the dogs food.
My monthly allowance also pays for any personal items such as deodorant, hand-cream, shampoo etc. but I usually try and ask for things like body lotion and hand-creams for Christmas or birthday so I tend to get stocked up as and when I can.
What I do to make some of my products last as long as possible is to decant things like washing up liquid, shampoo and cleaning products into push-top dispensers this makes things last a long time, well it does for me. Some people might be more heavy handed but I find that just two presses is more than enough for a bowlful of pots or to wash my short hair.
I have my cleaning spray that has refills, so after the initial purchase of the spray bottle I do not have to buy a big bottle every time. I also only use one multi-purpose spray cleaner for everywhere in the house. One type of shampoo, one type of toothpaste and usually just one type of washing up liquid.
The two dispensers in the photos have just been filled this week, so putting it on here will enable me to see how long each fill-up actually lasts.
To help make the most of everything that I currently have in stock, since Christmas I have been using up any free samples that I have found in the cupboards, all the little miniatures of shampoo, hand-cream and face-creams that I had around the lodge, generally just making good use of what I already have. Obviously one day all these will run out, but it's helping me realise how little of a lot of things I actually use. It also makes me aware of what I will need to buy in the future to replenish supplies and also what I do not need to replace.
With January ending midweek I was sort of in two minds the other day about whether my allowance is £25 per week, (25 x 52 = £1300) or £100 per month (£100 x 12= £1200), which is a difference over the course of the year of one hundred pounds. But I decided that as I get paid monthly and the allowance will be topped up monthly, it will be £100 drawn out of the bank on the first of each month, I think that this was my first thought at the start of the year.
Now that this months money is in my purse I can show you on the very top photo of this post what I had left over at the end of January. A grand total of £14.79 ... yes I have just realised that there is a penny missing!! Where is my other penny? I'll have to have a rummage in my bag or raid my little money box to replace the missing coin.
So the first month has gone really well, of course I expected it to be easy as I have the freezer and cupboard still looking very happy for themselves and there is no worry about running out of most foodstuffs. My first five weeks shopping trips have been quite eclectic, with me just buying things that I needed to replace fresh items eaten or things that I fancied for one reason or another.
January was a good month for the start of my Eating Well on a Small Budget.
Clicking on the links will take you to free samples of smol products and a great starter trial offer of untamed cat food. They are not affiliate links in any way, just products that I have used for a while.
Sue xx
You did great in January! I budget $100 per month for groceries, but, that includes only food, not household products and toiletries. So, I'm very impressed that you are including all the non-food items, too!
ReplyDeleteI guess I just don't use too much of the cleaning products with their being only me and living in such a small home. We'll see in a few months if I struggle to replace things on this budget though won't we. :-)
DeleteBrilliant. It emphasises how much one can waste without even thinking about it. xx
ReplyDeleteI think using as little of anything ... as long as you are using enough for it to be able to do it's job ... is good for both your purse and the planet isn't it. :-)
DeleteThank you, that’s really helpful. Enjoy a happy, healthy week. Pam
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it, and it was useful. :-)
DeletePutting cleaning products and shampoo etc into pump dispensers is a great tip. I've noticed that washing up liquid is very easy to over do.
ReplyDeleteSpending cash only on groceries would certainly be an eye opener for me, it's far too easy to flash a card in front of a machine.
Alison in Wales x
I dilute my washing up liquid with about 25% water but still I found I was causing vast amounts of bubbles in my bowl with random squeezes of the bottle, so I started doing this a couple of years ago ... it's a game-changer.
DeleteI like your idea of using a pump dispenser, might steal that! I'm also on a £100 a month budget for everything at the supermarket this year but I'm not doing as well as you are!! After yesterday's beef debacle I've got about £8 left for the rest of February!! LOL! :-) xxx
ReplyDeleteI simply treated myself to some nice products in dispenser bottles and then soaked the labels off once they were used up. I hope that your diamond encrusted expensive beef was delicious. It's a lesson learnt the hard way, as all the best lessons usually are. I bet you won't fall for that one again. Oh gawd ... thank goodness February is a shorter month, January seemed to be seven weeks long!!
DeleteMy budget is $40 a week (£31.66) for two of us. So roughly $16 each. That doesn’t include toiletries and cleaning products (or wine 🤭). But I had a very expensive month because I ordered toilet paper (Costco), some bulk baking items and wine (Walmart) and sent cows off to the meat locker. Those costs will even out over the year but yeesh it was hard to see that much go out the door at one time. I reorganized my freezer so I will have room for the beef and boy, do I need to focus on eating down what I already have.
ReplyDeleteSue, you always do so awesome with your budgeting and are so thoughtful about your spending! I really admire that. Have a great week! ~Carol
It's hard to see so much go out all at once but in the long run it's really worth it isn’t it. 🙂
DeleteI took your tip about pump bottles a while ago and now buy the biggest size of shampoo etc and hopefull discard less plastic too. Catriona
ReplyDeleteIt's so much better for the planet to buy a great big bottle and refill the dispensers over and over isn't it. And if you get the timing right there are some good bargains to be had in the larger sizes, especially shampoos.
DeleteSome really good ideas. May I ask if you are just shopping for yourself? And do you need to factor in petrol? I find that making a note of everything I spend helps me keep track.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's usually just for me, although I do occasionally cook for Alan too if he's had a busy day. Petrol goes on my business card, although I don't have to fill the car very often as we mostly use Alan's for long journeys.
DeleteMy body wash is in a pump bottle and I have lots left, even after using it for 6 months or more. I use just a tiny squirt of shampoo and no conditioner (the conditioner sometimes makes my very short hair slightly greasy). However, I am not as disciplined as you when it comes to dishwashing liquid. We have very hard water and one dollop does not cut it.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I find the same with my short hair if I use conditioner. In fact on the hairdressers recommendation I only use shampoo every other day now although I 'wash' my hair every day.
DeleteThanks so much for introducing me to Untamed, Sue! Despite William being a street cat for most of his life, he hasn't half fussy when it comes to food. I think we spend more money on him than us! I've just ordered him a starter pack! xxx
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've gone for the starter pack, that's what we did a few months ago. Ginger loved it from day one, although he's not as keen on the fishy flavours ... which is weird as he used to love a tin of tuna. I have adapted our order each month to exclude more and more of the fish flavours.
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