NOvember!

Stoptober! went very well - better than expected really - mainly due to funds being non-existent to start with!
I managed no unnecessary spending at all. I stuck to my weekly 'envelope' system of grocery shopping, stocked up the pet foods from the 'Pet' envelope, set aside the weekly bus fares, filled up the car with only the allocated amount of money set aside for this purpose and still managed to give DD some pocket money!

I remember vividly going on a sleepover to my best friend, Tracy's, house. I must have been about 14 I guess. Tracey's dad was a postman, paid weekly in the little brown envelope. I was there on a Friday night when Tracey's mum 'did the books'.  She had an A4 lined hard-back book and at the top of the page she wrote the amount in the wages envelope.  She filled in the columns for utilities (I don't think she paid anything by direct debit - everything was cash) and set that cash aside. Tracey's school bus fare was dished out and logged. She checked the calender for family events coming up that next week, and set aside money for that. What little was left was allocated to the savings pots like Christmas, insurance, emergency - just like I do now. This weekly ritual really had an effect on me.

Something else happened that weekend that also had a life-changing effect. Because money was so tight, Tracey's dad had an allotment - and a thriving one, at that. On his way home from work that day, he stopped off at the allotment and pulled some carrots, lifted some potatoes and cut a cabbage. Dinner that night (on those clear Pyrex plates) was pork chops with home-grown vegetables and gravy. I had never tasted vegetables like it and if I close my eyes, I can still taste those carrots. I often wonder about Tracey and whether her parents' way of life rubbed off on her. I would hate to think that, growing up with money so tight, she became a spendthrift......

But I digress (again!)...... Bring on NOvember!  This is going to be a tight month anyway as I'm trying to get ahead for Christmas.  I only started my Debt Management Plan last April and haven't been able to build up any of the 'savings pots' yet. After Christmas, one of my New Year plans is to really get to grips with building the Christmas/Birthday fund, the Car fund, the Insurance fund, the Contingency fund but most importantly of all the EMERGENCY fund.  If this had been in place last year, the unexpected veterinary bill and the sort-of expected car repair bill wouldn't have had the impact that it did.

Saving money and cutting back has become an addictive hobby for me now! I'm really enjoying hunting out the supermarket bargains, getting one over on the utility companies and generally keeping those pennies in my pocket rather than the consumer giants.  I have been a fan of moneysavingexpert for some years now and taken on board many of the hints and tips on there. To anybody starting out on this simple lifestyle, whether by choice or by necessity, it soon becomes second nature. Many of the money saving ideas are now carried out without even thinking about it. I think the hardest thing is 'training' the rest of the family and getting them on board. Reminding teenagers to 'turn off the light' gets very repetitive sometimes but you will eventually get a break-through, especially if you point out that saving money on the electric bill means a little more for treats.

Over to you, dear Reader - will you join me for NOvember!?