Thursday 30 January 2014

The Great Cleaning and Household Products Challenge - Month 5

This is a challenge I instigated myself to try to last a year spending only £125 on Cleaning and Household products.  I'm finding this a very difficult challenge as an awful lot of products are included in this challenge.  As a consequence, I am way over budget at just 5 months in.  This month was no exception and I came in over the budget of £10.42 once again, spending £19.57.

I have to admit that a few of the purchases weren't truly necessary, namely the toilet brushes and the tea lights and another was a luxury bought for convenience more than anything. i.e. multi-surface wipes.

Here's the list of purchases this month:

Firelighters x 4 boxes £2.76 - These were bought whilst in Yorkshire as I cannot buy them cheaper in London so I stocked up.

Toilet Brushes x 2 - Bought from Ikea - 90p

Tea Lights x 100  - Also bought from Ikea - £1.75 - I was, however, almost out of these and they seemed to be cheaper here than anywhere else I have seen them.  They do give cosy glow to the living room in the winter, but are a bit of an indulgence.

Wash Tablets x 20 £2 - Bought from Approved Foods

Fabric Conditioner £1

Bathroom Cleaner x 2 £1.20 - Also bought from Approved Foods.

Sandwich bags 88p

Kitchen Rolls x 3 £1

Black Bin Liners x 10 £1.25

Multipurpose Wipes £1

Toilet Rolls x 36 £5.83.  Unfortunately I was unable to get my usual 2 packs of 18 for £5 from Poundstretcher, as they were out of stock when I visited, so had to avail myself of Morrisons and then Smart Price/Value rolls at ASDA, Tesco and my local convenience store for the shortfall.  It worked out a little more expensive as a consequence

Food Caddy Liners x 2 Rolls - FREE  -  I finally got around to ordering these online from our local council and saved myself some money.  They are normally at least £1.49 per roll.

Total Monthly Expenditure £19.57

My total expenditure so far on this challenge now stands at £95.87/£125 which is pretty dire.  Not sure I can pull this one back now, as even just buying toilet rolls for the rest of the year will send me over the budget.  I need a really good month next month to even stand a chance of lasting as long as possible on this challenge.

2 comments:

  1. Hi and thanks for the comment on my book blog... about to do a post about the books read this last month, but thought I'd quickly pop over to thank you. I admire you for being so organised as to keep a list of the household cleaning products etc. Looking at your list, there are such a lot I don't buy...tea lights, firelighters, wash tablets, black bin bags. Loo roll, tissues, kitchen roll, cleaning products for bathroom and kitchen, soap powder, these are the main products for me, But I have never thought about how much I spend on them, just making sure I take advantage of special offers and so on whenever I need to restock. Good for you, being so organised.

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  2. I think I was a bit overly ambitious with the amount of money I allowed for this challenge so I'm struggling and suspect it will be a bit short lived. Never mind, we live and learn.

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