I am not very sucessful at the one spend day a week. I find it too tiring to do all my errands and shopping on the same day. Today I bought a top in the Orphans Aid charity shop for $3.50. Since I didn't really need it I put an equal amount in my Trans Siberian money tin. I now have $72.30 in there. All those small amounts add up.

Spent:
oats $5.10
flour $1.60
pasta 70 cents

My travel account had built up more than $5,000 so I transferred $300 to the EF. I now have over $3,000.

left in my cash envelopes:
food 0
misc $93
medical $258
change dish 70 cents
mta vouchers $50
bus pass $21.95

A fine sunny day, so I line dried the laundry. Then I went for a walk and on the way bought myself a packet of chips. What I gain on the swings I lose on the roundabouts. I shall have to tighten the purse strings to save for Christmas. I am actually thinking I will be buying gifts in India and giving them when I get back.

I looked at my watch this morning and thought it said 8.45. I hurriedly caught the bus, looked at my watch again, and found I was in town an hour early. I couldn't think of anything better to do than have a coffee in a breakfast cafe. Not only did it cost $3.50, because I haven't drank coffee in ages, it tasted disgusting.

It's true: you can get used to anything, including eating the same thing every day. I have been eating pumpkin for the last week and I'm still enjoying it.

Bought 2 bread rolls $1.38, and 6 brown bananas $1.74.

So I'm walking past the bakery and my debit card jumped out of my wallet, ran inside and came back out with a slice of lolly cake. So of course I had to eat it.

I have to start leaving my debit card at home and changing my walk home so I don't go past the bakery.

And every time I blow my budget put an equal amount into savings.

I paid my quarterly rates (council property tax) $492.32. Almost 6 months of food budget. Costs me more to keep a roof over my head than it does to eat.

Today in my $6 produce bag I got: 2 apples, 2 kiwis, 2 oranges, 1 head broccoli, 2 large carrots, half a pumpkin and 4 onions. Not sure what I'll do with the onions, maybe give them to Food Share and ask the people at All Saints if they could leave them out in future.

It is kind of fun not knowing what I'll get in my bag but it does make meal planning a little tricky sometimes. I'll do it a while before I decide whether I prefer choosing for myself.

I also bought bananas, bread and peanut butter at New World $5.20. I am limited to the same dozen or so cheap items but that's ok as it's the food I grew up on and I like it.

I decided to cap my House maintenance fund at $2,800 so was able to transfer $100 to my EF.

Bought a loaf of bread $1.

Today I bought a circular needle, $7, and a ball of yarn, $3.90, in order to complete a project. I'm not kicking myself over it as I've only bought 5 balls so far this year. I unsubscribed from some websites as they send me emails about what's on sale and I want to buy. One of my favorite lines is being discontinued and I want to stock up all the lovely stuff on clearance. I keep telling myself there will be more lovely yarns when I'm ready to buy again.

Ugh, after 3 months spending only cash from my budgeted $20 for food, today I impulse whipped out the debit card and spent $3 on raspberry slice. Not a good purchase as it was terribly sweet and made me feel sick. I usually feel that way after eating sugar and try to avoid it, but sometimes I binge. I think I'm addicted as I feel better without it. Never mind, it could have been the $112 shawl kit I've been drooling over. I'll take the $3 out of this week's food money and put it in the Trans Siberian fund.

I took $3.10 from my change dish and bought 2 Turkish rolls and 6 brown spotted bananas for lunch because I couldn't be bothered cooking.

Spend day. I went to lunch with a friend, $6.60 from my misc envelopes. It is going down quite rapidly so will have to put the brakes on spending. I will need a new pair of shoes soon so will have to save for those.

I went to All Saints for more fruit and vege. I got half a cabbage, half a cauliflower, carrots, yams, apples, kiwifruit and oranges. Pretty good for $6.

Missed a few days for website maintenance, but all I have done moneywise is put another $20 on my bus card.

Tonight I went to a soup and poetry night nite and spent $4 ON BREAD ROLLS. love 'em. I could eat them all nite with pumpkin soup.

I withdrew my weekly $60 today and then I spent from the misc at the thrift store $5 on 2 skirts, 20 cents on a knitting pattern and $3 on a Greek-English lexicon. I did a course on New Testament Greek some years ago and am getting rusty. Time to ward off dementia by keeping the brain cells active.

I spent another $18 on trash saks (ok, that's more than $20 from misc this week). We have to buy the ones the city council puts out and they keep getting more expensive. User pays. When I was living alone I didn't use many but now ds is back he can really churn out the rubbish. Here's me trying to leave a clean planet to future generations and him what inherits it is messing it up.

I decided to buy my fruit and veggies from the All Saints co-op. Saves having to go to 3 different shops to get the best price and as the produce is fresh from the market the quality is better. They do a bag for a single person for $3, but I find it doesn't contain enough veggies for me, so I went with the $6 bag. I think it's easier to budget when I know I'll be spending the same amount every week.

Bought peanut butter $2.29 and pasta 79 cents. Neither was on sale but I needed them. Otherwise a quiet day at home knitting a scarf with some of the fun fur I got given. I'm not enjoying the yarn and think I'll on donate the rest to the thrift store. Someone will like it.

Although I have only the weekly $20 in my wallet for some reason I was feeling flush today. So I spent $3 on frosted fruit buns and $2 on fries. I will regret it when I step on the scale, but for the moment I have a comfortably full tummy. I also bought for Sunday
hummus $2.69
milk $2.39
bananas $1.21
I have tried bringing various plant milks to morning tea. The younger people accept them but the older ones insist on their cow juice.

Payday. After 10 weeks drinking nothing but water I couldn't stand it any longer and bought 100 teabags for $4.

I stayed out of thrift stores today to avoid temptation. I nickle and dime myself to death in those places {but it's such fun finding bargains). I did go to the supermarket ans bought 5 reduced price bananas for $1.06 and a loaf of bread for $1. Also I found a dime.

I spent $14.30 on supplies for church morning tea and communion this Sunday. I used one of my mta vouchers and got cookies at the service station.

And I spent a dollar - yes, a whole dollar - on yarn at the thrift store. That was silly, I have loads already. I'm supposed to be cold sheeping this year i.e. not buying any yarn. Darn sheep bucked me off. Ah well, get back on and try again for the rest of the year.

Today was my day to volunteer at the thrift store. They had some nice bags so I bought a black and white striped one for $2 as my old black one is pretty worn. I also put $1 from my misc envelope into my Trans Siberian money tin. Now I have $12.70. It's such a tiny amount to be saving compared to what I need, but I want to get started now rather than wait until all my other goals are met.

Payday. There are 5 paydays this month. I went to Veggie Boys and bought over 2 kilos of carrots for $2.49 and just under a kilo of kiwifruit for $1.87. I also went to New World and bought 2 liters of canola oil for $5. That's all I need for the rest of the week.

I transferred $300 from my check account to my emergency fund. Now up to $2,383.38

I bought some B12 today, from my medical envelope as it is essential to vegan health. I can't get B12 in the supermarket so went to the pharmacy. 100 tablets for $22. I don't know why vitamins are so expensive here, but I have heard the cheap ones don't always contain the amount they should.

Also I put another $20 on my bus card. With the frost and drizzle we've been having I've been catching the bus more than usual. Roll on spring so I can walk in the sunshine.

And I got given some linen blend yarn. Think I'll make a lacy scarf for summer.

I got given some rhubarb today, but I'm running short of sugar. I bought a kilo of brown sugar for $1.99, and also a loaf of bread for $1, which I've half eaten already. 30 cents left in my change dish to last me till Wednesday.

The dentist sent me an appointment for a checkup, but I don't have quite enough in my medical envelope, so I cancelled it. I should be able to go in September.

Today I took some money from my change dish and bought
sultanas 1.79
lentils 2.15
tomato paste .79
I knew saving change would come in handy.

I also bought a Film Festival ticket for $12.50. There are several movies I'd like to see, but I narrowed it down to one: an Australian documentary about an aboriginal choir.

And I weighed myself. I am down to 79 kilos. I'd like to lose weight a little faster, but they say if you lose slowly it's more likely to stay off.

I wanted somethng dfferent from apples so bought 4 bananas for $1.36. I also bought some oats for $1.69 and peanut butter for $1.99.

I have received some free yarn. 4 balls of crochet cotton and 12 balls of fun fur. Not the sort of yarn I usually knit with, but at least it's vegan.

Payday. I picked up my prescription, $15.

I want to change my broadband plan but can't ring the 0800 number from my cellphone. Today I got to a landline but forgot to bring my account no with me. They couldn't find me under my name or cellphone no, and their system doesn't search for addresses. So I'll have to ring back next time I get to a landlne.

When I pay bills I enter the amount rounded up to the nearest dollar n my checkng register, for ease of math. This morning I balanced the account and realised I have $28.86 more than I budgeted. Think I'll leave it in there as a buffer.

My friend gave me the knitting needle, so I gave her the $6. There go my hopes of a no spend week. But since it was ordered last week I guess you could call it deferred spending.

And I found a half dollar by a parking meter.

I forgot I had to renew a prescrption this week, so I spent $25 from my medical envelope to pick up a script from the doctor. I will drop in the pharmacy on Monday, when it will cost me $15.

The only thing bought today is toilet paper. Normally I buy 12 rolls for $3, instead I bought 24 for $5.90. A saving of 10 cents!