Noor77's personal budgeting thread

re

I definitely find things like bin bags, washing liquid, toiletries + cleaning agents really push the bill up every few weeks. Green bin bags cost 4 euro each. And I seem to only be able to use Persil non bio liquid as anything else irritates my skin.
But even apart from that its still expensive. I bring my lunch in to work every day, usually brown bread + one from ham/cheese/soup/beans, whatever I've bought that week really. I do find vegetables + fruit account for about a tenner each week as I try to eat a lot of both.
I'm hoping that since this week was my first week of actively trying to get everything in the one shop that that was the reason it was up a bit. Had to buy a few stock cupboard ingredients which I shouldn't have to get again for a while.

Re: re: food budget

"Missie may well be lucky but going on income alone you are not too badly off yourself on the equivalent of c. €38K gross as I pointed out here! "

Hmmmm Clubman...I know you really do like me, you just don't like displaying your emotions!

Looking at some of the budgets here, I probably spend way to much on food. I don't really eat red meat, in fact I eat mostly vegetarian but I still spend a lot - probably because I usually end up eating out a couple of times a week. All that has changed now though (since last week!). And I spend a lot on pestos and oils and tapenades ..and I adore asparagus, and they aren't really that cheap

Re: re

i find www.shoppingbill.com very handy for special offers etc.

I must buy about 10 tins of beans all for about 22 c each lol now thats living below your means lol

Re: re

I only like Heinz beans : )) Nothing else tastes quite the same!

What I really need to do is stop buying food in Spar / Londis / Centra. The mark-ups in those places are dreadful, but they are convenient.

Re: re

but they do good offers for easter eggs.

3 x galaxy or mars or cadbury's easter eggs for 10 euros.

I got 12 of them in londis for only 30 euros. those are for sisters, cousins etc.

Re: Easter Eggs

That is true about the Easter eggs. I refuse to buy them in advance now because I did that last year and managed to eat two of them myself!!! (not at the same time) Never again - I'm going to get them all at the last minute this year : )

Boots is a problem as well. I go in there with the intention of buying a shampoo, and then manage to come out with mascara, moisturiser, bath soak etc..... In future I think I will buy all of that stuff in the supermarket as it has less of a temptation factor.

The last Mr. Noor was a bit of problem re: food as he had religious dietary requirements and sometimes we couldn't even prepare food using the same utensils, so we ended up buying food for him, food for me and "joint food". It was like a military operation!

Re: Easter Eggs

I went shopping for food the other day having decided to cook as much as possible for the month and leave it frozen. I had vouchers for Dunnes so did most of it there and Tesco for the other bits I couldn't get - bear in mind I didn't make it out to the shops till Sunday evening so couldn't go to Lidl however I did already have a fair stock of tinned tomatoes and pasta. I spent €46 in Dunnes and €12 in Tesco. Most of what I got in Tesco went on buying foil trays to put the food in to go in the freezer - I wouldn't normally bother and would just use Tupperware but didn't have enough and just wanted to make things as easy as possible for myself this time round. Cooked shepherds pie, bolognese, chicken chasseur and roasted tomato/onion pasta sauce and also bought makings for stir fry, fajitas and sweet&sour. Also bought crispbreads and cheese etc for lunches although I will need to buy more in a week or so. The reason I spent so much this time was really because I bought quite a lot of meat and quorn. I also bought two or three toiletry products (shampoo etc., sunsilk is my favourite, I don't need to buy it for another couple of weeks but it was on special offer). I don't anticipate needing to buy much more than milk and fruit for the rest of the month - have cooked as many meals as I need taking into account those days when I know I'll be eating out.

Re: €100 Test

I failed! Fairly miserably, and all because of my spending yesterday. Spent €80 yesterday ( present, food for house guests, drink for house guests )...so my weekly total from Thursday to Thursday was €165 ( It's still a lot better than I usually do but I think it may be artificially low because I was sick and couldn't socialise.

Back to the drawingboard!

Re: €100 Test

Are you planning to put in place a budget for next week and try harder to stick to it?

Re: €100 Test

No Clubman, I am planning to do the following;

Get a credit card with a limit of €10,000 and budget as follows:

€1,200 - Ridiculously overpriced handbag from Brown Thomas
€600 - Pair of Chloe heels that I cannot walk in
€1,000 - return flight from Dublin to Buenos Aires
€50 - ticket to see Boca Juniors play in Buenos Aires
€700 - One way flight from Buenos Aires to Beirut
€200 - Trip from Beirut to visit the Temple of Venus at Baalbek
€500 - One way flight from Beirut to Paris
€500 - Hermes umbrella seen in a shop window in Paris
€2,000 - White gold and turquoise necklace from a jewellery shop in Montmartre
€200 - One way flight from Paris to Madrid
€50 - Ticket to see Barcelona play at the Camp Nou
€800 - Black Balenciaga cardigan
€200 One way flight from Barcelona to Dublin


There you go Clubman! What would Eddie Hobbs have to say about that!!!


Of course I'm only joking / fantasising : )
In reality I will be setting myself a budget of €140 to last from tomorrow (Friday) to Friday of next week

A girl has to dream though!

Re: €100 Test

All joking aside, if you are serious about budgeting but don't apply some discipline then you are hardly going to make progress. I know I'll be the bad boy for pointing this out but I honestly think it's necessary and you did ask for opinions in the first place.

What am I doing wrong???

When having friends over for dinner I operate a byo alcoholic drink policy, similarly when going to friends for dinner I bring my own. It can be expensive enough for the food without supplying drinks also

Clubman, or should I say my nemesis ; ), I don't think I did too badly for a first time effort. At this point in the month I would usually only have €200 in my current account (my only account!) but I now have €400, a direct result of my budgeting efforts. Everyone has to start somewhere.

With friends I always do the BYO booze thing too, but my houses guests were family so it was a different scenario. I don't want to become a mean budgeter or someone that sees everything in a monetary light, so I have to find a way to strike a balance between saving and enjoying life. I am by no means fickle and I only live according to my means, but now I have to find a place for savings in those "means"

NOOR....You've got the totally right idea as money is there to be spent to enjoy life as well as to make yourself secure.

I take that attitude but have started to cut out a lot of waste the last while like taxis, coffees on the way to work when there's a coffee machine in there and other things that don't impact your quality of life but ends up leaving you with more money to save, spend on other stuff or whatever at the end of the month.

Some people take things too far but if that's what makes them happy fair play to them but I operate on the saying: "There's no point in being the richest person in the grave yard."

Well done on your savings.

Another one I have saved a good few quid on the last few months is asking friends over to watch the game in my house instead of the pub or whatever on the nights I'm not training during the week and just buy a few cans as if you like a drink to chill out the difference between 1.50 a can and 4.80 a pint is something else!!!!

8 pack of Bud in tesco for 12.70 or something. Your only man

Thanks Rockboy

It's nice to know I'm not alone : )

I think Robert Burns said something along the lines of "drink and be merry today for you might be dead tomorrow". That's not exactly what I would advocate but it does have a element of sound advice. I would suggest something more like "Drink and be merry today and save some of your money for tomorrow" !

Rigid money counting, when you don't have to, can't be very healthy. It is completely understandable when you have to out of necessity though. I am budgting to save, not to survive. I don't need to budget as I do not live beyond my means (no loans, overdrafts, credit cards etc...) but I do need to budget to get some savings together, so that if I ever do need to budget out of pure necessity I will have something to fall back on. It's the first time I have ever thought about savings and I know that it is something I am going to take very seriously from now on.

Rockboy and Noor, while we're quoting, Martin Sheen said "Like I always say, money's something you need in case you DON'T die tomorrow"!!

Sherman, did you not read my last post correctly??? I said be merry today and save something for tomorrow. What do you suggest - that everyone should be miserable today and save everything for tomorrow?

I say a little of what you like is good for you, and there is no problem with spending in moderation and with due regard to the future

Ah I was only getting into the quotation spirit Noor!

I have absolutely no problem with treating myself today, I just make sure I look after tomorrow first. Your financial history indicates that you were treating yourself first, and then there was nothing left for tomorrow.

It just seems to me that your (hopefully) previous bad financial habits were causing you an awful lot of stress - am glad you're taking steps to get back on top of your finances - life is so so much easier when you control your money, rather than the other way around!

By just having a bit of discipline and control, you can basically stop thinking about money, and get on with enjoying your life, knowing that your finances are sorted.

No problem Sherman

You said earlier on in the thread that you manage to get by on a budget of €100 a week. I know I am being nosey, but what is the breakdown of this €100 over food / transport etc... and do you ever go clothes shopping?!

Noor

Freedom in discipline

That's exactly it Sherman, you've explained how I feel about money really well. By having proper control over it and making it part of the routine, it takes care of itself and I hardly ever have to think about money. Getting used to the discipline of a proper budget might seem tiresome or penny-pinching at the start but once you get used to it and build up a cushion of funds to rely on for a rainy-day, a course fee, a shopping spree, a holiday, paying off the mortgage or to cover emergencies, (or whatever floats your boat) then it makes life less stressful and gives far me more satisfaction/enjoyment than all the "rubbish" I used to buy myself and others without a thought.

Rebecca