Ok, it is the beginning of a new week and I want to try my best to cut back my spending. It’s not that I spend a lot of money, but I am starting to annoy myself with the little, unnecessary things that I keep picking up. So, as it is the beginning of a new week I am going to tighten my purse strings, stop spending and start saving!
The reason that I feel the need to do this is because as a stay-at-home mum, there are some financial sacrifices that we have had to make. However, what I think has happened is that because I have cut back drastically on my big spends, I have then created a habit of buying lots of little things. Also, there are a few things on my long list of ‘what the boys need’ that I would like to sort out soon, so I have decided to save the few pennies each day when I stop myself from buying something little and unnecessary and put this money in a jar to save.
So, what is it exactly that I can cut back on? Well, the first thing is candles. I am a huge vanilla scented candle fan, but my problem is that I like to burn them every day, so what is a cheap 99p candle then turns into around £3.00 per week spend because I go through them so quickly. My alternative is to use my scent free tealights instead. I already have lots of candle holders, so instead of buying the scented candles which are 99p per candle, I can buy a bag of 100 tealights* for around £3.50 – £4 which will last me ages and use my oh so pretty tealight holders instead.
It isn’t just candles that I am going to cut back on, I am also going to stop buying pretty little things for my home. I think that most women can relate to the whole nesting instinct, where we want our home to be filled with the nicest things possible. However, I have now filled my home with lovely things, and if I don’t stop buying more I run the risk of having a house not so dissimilar to my mother’s! I am not sure how much it is exactly that I spend on things for the home, but I do know that it will be enough to make a difference to my purse.
The last thing that I am going to cut back on is unplanned extras whilst doing my food shop. Today for instance, I just happened to go past the clearance section in the chilled aisle at the supermarket and noticed some tropical fruit dessert pots. They obviously weren’t going to be dear, but once I picked them up I then noticed some reduced Stilton and Brie cheese. Now none of these items were on my shopping list, and they weren’t on there for a reason, I didn’t need them. So I was very proud of myself when I put them back and went to the till knowing that my shop was a few pounds cheaper than it was going to be had I not put them items back.
I know that looking at these little areas where I am going to stop my spending isn’t a lot, but they will make a difference, and knowing that every time I stop myself from spending unnecessarily I am that bit closer to getting my boys the extra little things that I want for them, it just spurs me on to stick at it and save the pennies. 🙂
Are you cutting back on your spending to save for something exciting?
Leave a Reply