As you might have guessed I am still struggling with this challenge and finding it hard to keep within a sensible budget. For anyone not familiar, a few months ago I set myself the challenge of trying to spend no more than £125 in a year on household and cleaning products. It's turning out to be quite a difficult challenge to do. This month I succumbed to a very good offer on the Approved Food website that I couldn't ignore, and although I hadn't run out of the items concerned, it does mean that I have a good supply of the same for a large part of the coming year.
In total I spent £18.73 this month, which was £8.31 over my monthly budget, on top of being over budget for the previous two months of the challenge, so I'm not doing too well. I have now spent £59.75/£125 in just 3 months on this challenge so I have a long way to go to get back on budget.
Spending this month consisted of the following purchases:
Branded Dishwasher Tablets x 110 £9.99 - This was the offer I succumbed to from Approved Foods which makes the tablets less than 10p each and should last for approximately one third of the remainder of the year, so after my last disaster purchasing dishwasher tabs from Lidl and being overcharged, it was difficult to ignore.
Toilet Rolls x 36 £5 - I bought these from Poundstretcher. Two packs of 18 for £5. These are the cheapest I have found anywhere. They almost lasted the entire month but not quite. I'm not sure if this was because we stayed home the whole month and a couple of us had upset stomachs this month (sorry I know that is too much information) or whether there was slightly less on each roll but either way they still turned out to be more cost effective so I will be returning to purchase them again next month.
Value Disinfectant 30p - I bought this thinking I had almost run out only to find another full bottle in the cupboard when I got home. Luckily it wasn't a very expensive duplication.
Black Bin Bags x 15 £1.49 - I went through the 10 pack I bought last month quite quickly due to using a few for garden waste that needed to go to the tip when I did some pruning and tidying up. In addition, I sometimes have to double bag the rubbish if the foxes rip the bags open or they split.
Toilet Bleach 69p - Ran out of this in one of our toilets so bought another for the convenience of having one in each bathroom for ease of use.
Washing Up Liquid 59p - Completely ran out after also using mini bottle brought home from hotel stay in US.
Smart Price Toilet Rolls x 4 67p - Well it was either a mercy dash to Asda or sharing one toilet roll between two bathrooms for the last day of this month's challenge, so the mercy dash it was.
As you can see if I hadn't bought the dishwasher tablets and duplicated the disinfectant I would have been well within budget, so hopefully if I'm not distracted by another bargain offer or make any more duplications next month I should be able to keep within budget for a change. This is bearing in mind Christmas, whereby a few extra bags of rubbish will materialise, extra guests means extra toilet paper usage and some turkey foil will be required. If I do manage a relatively inexpensive month however, I can start to get back on track I hope.
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