10 Ways I Save Money On The Weekly Shop

Photo By Grant Cochrane

With the "big move" looming, a new baby on the way and Christmas around the corner, I've been thinking alot about money. I've cut down on groceries and other bills, improved on the payment plan I had on the single debt I have and had started putting money away for emergencies (a process that will have to start again as I've had to buy a new laptop!). Whereas I'm not overly worried about the subject, keeping on top of my money by budgeting and seeking out the best offers for things etc has become something of a new hobby! This will no doubt be a useful hobby to have in years to come, as I will have to tighten my purse strings even further when Big Bear and I move in together!

Here are my own 10 tips to saving money on the weekly shop!

Treating Vaginal Thrush With Yogurt

Super-cheap miracle treatment or old wives' tale?

Pregnancy and thrush, for me, go hand in hand. I got lucky with Goldilocks (either that or she just loved me a lot!) and didn't get it at all, but being pregnant with Little Bear more than made up for that - I had thrush almost constantly from the middle of the second trimester. The NHS must have kept Canesten afloat just from my own treatments!

This time when thrush began to plague me guilt led me down a different path. After all, if I can afford to treat an ailment myself (within reason) then isn't it only fair to give the NHS a break? After nearly fainting at the price of Canesten in my local Asda (£7+ for a pessary and cream I knew I'd end up buying several times by the end of this pregnancy 0_0) I decided to look up the less traditional method of using plain live yogurt as a treatment.

I was mortified when my mother informed me that I would most likely be putting the yogurt on my vulva and vagina - and found that the Internet did not give me the answer I was looking for.

Avoiding Back To School Madness!

Well it's August and that means only one thing: the kids go back to school soon. OMG. There's so much to buy - uniform, stationery, new coat, new bag - then there's the queues...

Erm, hang on - haven't they only just got out of school?

I just don't understand why everybody goes mental this time of year - it could be so much cheaper if we all learned to relax!

Here are some handy tips to bear in mind when you're close to pulling your hair out.

Making a Budget Planner with Excel

Sometimes it's easier to stick to something if you have a visual to go by. This is definitely true with budgeting. Different people find different methods work best for them, personally I found the best way for me was to use Microsoft Excel (I have Excel 2007). I would check out my statements and update my budget accordingly, Excel worked out all the totals by calculating formulas.

Some people find Excel difficult to work with, I did at first! That's why I'm putting up my method to using Excel for a budget into cyberspace. You can download budgets directly from Microsoft Office also, but I found most of these, whilst easy to work with and convenient because it was all done for me already, were made for other people who had different needs to what I did - this meant a lot of deleting things and adding them in. So I thought - screw it. Let's make my own :)

Step 1 - Setting up the "Income" section.

-Clicking a cell will enable you to type in that cell. Use the first column (A) to type in your different "categories" of income - "Wages" for example. Do the same for every source of income (I leave several spaces marked as other, because you never know). Add the word "Total" for the final cell in that column.

-Click the next available cell over (bearing in mind the longest text for previous column) add the "projected" income from each source. This means an informed guess (estimate) of how much will come in from each source. It doesn't have to be exact, but it's better to round down than up. You will use this to create your budget for expenditure that month. In the last cell in the column (next to "Total") type =SUM(x:y). Replace letter x with the top cell number (D4, for example) in that column. Replace letter y with the cell at the bottom (the one above the "Total" row).

-Click the next available cell in the "Total" row. Add the same formula: =SUM(x:y). Replace x with the top cell in the column, and y with the one above the "Total" row. This is where you will add your actual income.

-You don't need to do this part in the income section, but I do.
Click the next available cell in each row individually, and add the following formula: =IMSUB(w,v). There is a reason they are the wrong way round. Replace w with the cell number of the Actual value for that income. Replace v with the cell number of the Projected value for that income. Repeat in every row.

Now you have a neat looking table showing your projected income, your actual income and the difference between both :)

Step 2: Setting up the "Expenditure" section.

-You'll want this part a few cells over from your Income section, for neatness.
Type in your first Expenditure column your different categories. Think "Rent/Mortgage", "Water Rates", "Energy" etc. Be honest and remember to include a "Misc" section and a "Total" section.

-In the next available column, add your Projected Expenditure for the month for every category. Try and be as honest as you can stand. In the "Total" section add the formula: =SUM(x:y), filling in the top cell number and the bottom cell number respectively.

-In the next "Total" cell over, add the same formula, adding the top and bottom cell numbers for that column.

-In the next column over, add to each individual row the formula: =IMSUB(w,v) filling in the cell numbers the same way as step 1.

You should now have your completed Expenditure section.

Step 3: The Summary Section.

-You should be able to know how well you're doing at a quick glance, which is the purpose of this section.

-In the first row, put Profit/Loss. In the cells underneath, add categories for each thing you'd like to save for right away, keeping things realistic. I have four rows: Emergency Fund and Holiday Fund, leaving the other two rows for the only two debts that I have (which decide how much extra they get on top of my payment plan for that month). Usually, it is best to avoid saving until your debts are cleared. My debts are interest free (for now) which is why I'm saving.

-In the cell next to Profit/Loss, type the formula: =IMSUB(v,w). Replace v with the Total Actual Income cell number. Replace w with the Total Actual Expenditure cell number. This will show the difference between what you brought in for the month and what you spent that month.

-For the categories, insert the formula: =x/10. Replace x with the Profit/Loss cell number. this will calculate 10% of the Profit/Loss section for each category. You can adjust the percentage accordingly by changing the number - 4 for 25% or one quarter, for example. I recommend you leave at least half of your profit each month in your bank account rather than transferring it into other accounts. This means you may have to keep the percentages down.



You now have a working budget planner! Remember, budgets only help if you are honest about what you spend. If you're the only person viewing it, then you're the only person judging it - so there's no need to lie. Staying honest will help you see where you are overspending, so you will know where you need to make adjustments.

If anybody has a faster way of doing it with Excel, please share it. The good thing is, you only have to do it completely once - just delete the values of what you put in, excluding cells with formulas in.

If anybody would like to share their budgeting method, feel free to do so :)

Summer's Here!

With summer comes that wonderful period of time when you get to enjoy your child's company constantly for six whole weeks, without having to share him/her with anybody else. Such a blissful time of year, it's only fair to fill it with as many activities and adventures as you can...

Who am I kidding? Let's face it, those six weeks may start out blissful, but unless you have an actual holiday to break up the monotony, then your "time together" may turn out pretty hectic. And you may end up bald from pulling your hair out.

Still disagreeing? After the first week, you've exhausted all your summer savings on trips to your local soft-play, arcade, cinema etc. The rest of the 5 weeks are spent listening to "MUM CAN I HAVE..."

Over. And over. And over. Remember the advert - "MUM CAN WE HAVE A RABBIT MUM CAN WE HAVE A RABBIT MUM CAN WE HAVE A RABBIT..."

Yes, you get the point - I'll stop now. We could all do with a few days out to posh but child-friendly places, but the money just isn't always there! Unless you're rich, in which case - lucky you! Not only that, but here in Blighty, the weather isn't often here either!

So, to make sure I don't spend the last few weeks before summer a nervous wreck, I've decided to research as many "cheap options" as I can. I was surprised at how much of it was just down to common sense. Now I'm chilled, I'll just watch the rest of you suffer for six weeks... :)

Just kidding. Look forward to some posts on cheap activities and if you have any ideas, by all means - share them.

Sorry ASDA Man (and bank account)!

So there I was, same as every Saturday afternoon, doing my food shop online because I'm a lazy cow and won't slug round a supermarket three times a week because I'm unable to carry an entire week's worth of shopping up the four flights of stairs to my flat at the same time. Longest sentence ever? Quite possibly.

So, baby's in bed, my daughter is quite happily playing in her room and I'm doing the shopping. Almost ready to finish, then I realise that I need a few more other things. This happens several times. I book my slot, and happily check out without seeing how much my bill has come to.

I swear my heart stopped. £105! For me, a 5 year old and an 8 month old! How the hell did I manage that? Usually I spend about £50, can go up to £80 at a huge stretch! I can't even remember what was on my list, I bet I forgot things too!

So, yeah... sorry to the ASDA man, who has to carry it all up the stairs tomorrow, and sorry bank account... I really did a number on you today!