WHAT WE SPENT, WHAT WE DIDN'T SPEND AND WHAT WE SAVED WEEK 3

This is what we spent:

Petrol:  $36.65
Onions: $2.99
Aldi: $5.98
Ceiling Fans: $408

Petrol: Prices around here are crazy, with as much as 16c/litre difference. Even with the 4c/litre discount and any possible Flybuys/Rewards points, our local 7Eleven has been the cheapest petrol this week @$123.9/L.  Filled my car, cost $36.65 - a saving of $5.12 over Woolworths, which was again cheaper than Coles this week. Shifted $23.35 to holiday petrol account and $5.12 to savings.

Onions: Joy was able to get me a 10 kilo bag of onions for $2.99, which is my buy now price of 30c/kg. The cheapest I've been able to get them locally is 80c/kg, so a 50c/kg saving. $5.00 doesn't sound like much on its own, but when it's added to all the other savings we make, it adds up to a lot over a year. Watching the small spends has a big impact on overall savings.

Aldi: Milk, $2.99 and I splurged and bought a box of icy poles on Thursday, when it was so hot. Yes, I could've made them, but freezer space is at a premium so 20 for $2.99 made them 15 cents each, and I used my pocket money to buy them (and we all enjoyed them).

Ceiling fans: This was  a planned and saved for expense. We are gradually updating all the ceiling fans in our home. This week we replaced two in the family room and one in our bedroom. After spending hours online and even more hours tramping from store to store, taking photos and sending them to Wayne to approve or ignore (that means he didn't like it, but if it was what I wanted he'd be OK with it - he's a keeper!), I finally chose the two styles. Cost for the three fans came from the home maintenance account, for a total of $408, a saving of $429 (it really pays to shop around and compare prices online and instore before buying. Yes, I had to go to two different stores but the saving was over 50% - well worth it!).

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Meals: All our meals were cooked at home, using ingredients from the pantry, fridge and freezer. According to a survey (Eating Out in Australia 2017)  http://www.the-drop.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/EatingOutinAustralia_2017_Respondent-Summary.compressed.pdf, Australians spend an average of $94 a week on eating out and takeaway meals, and that's per person. Using this as a guide, we've saved $376 by eating homecooked meals! That's a month's grocery budget for my family, for just three meals! So glad I cook at home.

Lunches: Packed Wayne's lunch and snacks every day this week. He's still taking a MOO latte every morning in his keep cup. Saved $21.35 on lattes ($24, the cost of five large lattes, less  $2.65, the cost of five MOO lattes). Saved $60 on lunches and another $30 on snacks.

Baking: This week was card making week, so I made a batch of vanilla slices to take for afternoon tea. Because it was hot, they were my favourite no-bake style. The batch cost  $7.50 to make (a little more expensive than usual because I used biscuits for the base rather than pastry - it was just too hot to put the oven on). Vanilla slices sell for $3.20 each at our local bakery. My batch made 24 for $7.50 or 31 cents each; a few minutes in the kitchen filled the cake container and I didn't spend $69.30  ($76.80 less the cost of ingredients, $7.50) on vanilla slices!

Nails: Years ago I used to splurge and get my nails done at a salon. It was so long ago it only cost $10. This week I did my nails myself, using tools and nail polishes and hand cream I already had. I didn't spend $60 on a set of gel nails.

Made a batch of Miracle Spray. This filled the dispenser for a cost of $1.75, or 87 cents per litre. I didn't spent $9.90 per litre, a saving of $9.03 per litre or $18.06 for the batch.

Total spent this week: $453.63
Total not spent this week: $1070.71
And moved to savings: $452.35 (leftover petrol money  and saving on ceiling fans moved from house maintenance account)

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.