How do you make sure you have the money for CD ? Help needed - maybe.

paul1978

DO NOT QUIT !
I (along with my partner) are up and down with money, it seems like we have been like this forever. It seems that whenever we think up a budget, it never works out how we plan. This obviously affects if I have the money to do CD each and every week/month. I do SS+ and normally costs about £35 per week. I really want to get back on this diet (although I may start today even though Ive already had weetabix for breakfast.) My question is, as Ive said we are always up and down money-wise, just like everyone seems to be, BUT everyone else seems to be able to find the money for CD easily every time. How do you plan your money for your CD each week/month. Do you take it out and keep it seperately so you always have the money (if you get what Im saying here.)

Any suggestions/help appreciated.
 
It's a difficult one. I had to stop CD last time round because I'm a student and my student loan ran out! This time I'm getting my CD packs a month at a time. I could probably do with keeping the money seperate, but I guess it's hard to know what other things I might need it for that have to be paid above CD. Do you work or is it just your partner? If you don't, you could maybe look for a part time job to pay for it. £35 a week at minimum wage is just 6 hours a week. So could be doable. Or you could set up a seperate bank account to keep the money in if that helps you not spend it on something else.
 
I do work full-time. Its just that there are so many bills that pop up. I need to go on a comparison website to see if I can get the bills down any lower, but that wont help the "here and now" of the situation. I dont know, maybe Im making more of this than need be, but after losing 7 stone on CD before and now putting a lot of it back on, I desperately want to and need to get back on it for the fast losses, but not sure if money will let me.
 
My oh gets paid weekly on a saturday and then i weigh in on a monday so i always have the money there before i can spend it on anything else. I think if your paid monthly getting a months worth of packs at a time is a good idea then it would be easier to budget for it.
 
How will you pay for your weekly food shopping? this is essentially the same question.

I save a lot on the food shopping when i am dieting, because:
1. i buy less food
2. i use less food when cooking, so what i have bought lasts longer
3. i refuse to buy all of the rubbish (treats) even for the kids
4. we don't have take-aways while i'm dieting

All in all i actually save money by dieting, which allows me to carry on dieting x
 
Hi Paul,

I am a single mum to two children. Whilst i'm not on benefits I am on a very tight budget. I have found that I am spending far less on CD than I was eating normally. I would do my weekly shop and in my mind think, oh I only spend so and so on shopping but in reality I can spend at least another £40 on top from nipping to the shop, bottle of wine here, snack chocolate there etc.

I will be buying extra packs some weeks to cover for the weeks maybe I can't afford to buy a whole weeks worth. Thats the beauty of CD you can buy things individually, which makes a huge difference when budgeting. :)
 
Oh I know the feeling, I'm on such a tight budget CD is difficult at times. I don't work though, but am trying to find a job to fund it all. Getting some lower quotes on bills is a good idea. Also take a look around the house, what stuff have you got that you don't need anymore and could sell. As you lose the weight you can sell your bigger clothes on ebay which will give you some cash to either buy smaller clothes with, or pay for CD with. I'm going to do a big sort out at my parents soon, hire a skip and throw a lot of stuff away, stick a lot of stuff on ebay and just generally dejunkify my life of what I've collected over so long! There's stuff in the loft I say about how I need or it's sentimental but let's face it, if it's been in the loft for 4/5 years and I don't know what there is up there, can't be that useful or important to me! Maybe when it's a bit warmer you could do a car boot sale or something.
 
Maybe when it's a bit warmer you could do a car boot sale or something.

I cant wait until its a bit warmer because I love doing car boot sales - used to do them all the time. I think what I may do is when I get paid, take a months worth out of the bank and keep it in a special "CD" pot until I need it each week.

Trim T - Thanks for your post. We have troubles affording the food sometimes when we done the weekly shop.
 
Perviously, we were spending about £120 a month on take aways. My partner wants to stop buying them too, combined with no weekly shop for me. I find the money that way. I'm going to take the money out of each wage at the end of the month for a months supply. I'll buy it weekly because, like you, something always seems to pop up that needs paying and I hate things going unpaid.
 
If you're going to take it out monthly, why don't you just get a month's supply at once? You can still go for weigh ins and chats each week. This is what I've done, and because of it my CDC has given me a slightly reduced bulk order rate too.
 
I put the money aside on pay day and then use it as needed to stock up on food packs
 
If you're going to take it out monthly, why don't you just get a month's supply at once? You can still go for weigh ins and chats each week. This is what I've done, and because of it my CDC has given me a slightly reduced bulk order rate too.

I'm scared to. Because I've got two kids. I'd feel very guilty if I'd spent £140-£160 on my diet stuff and then they need something.
 
its never 'easy' to afford CD, but if its a priority to you, you will always find a way! I work weekends and get paid well for my efforts, but i also have large outgoings. Basically I would spend the money on other things had i not been doing CD anyway! Theres always stuff I want/need, but I want/need to be slim more!
 
I do my food shop weekly and took the money from that as I am not eating, now its me and hubby doing it we save money as it only my 2 boys have food now
 
I'm having to stop when I finish my 4 weeks of supplies because like Caroline I am a student but I am having to pay my own fees and at £1612.50 each installment, I am seriously struggling. I haven't been able to get a job yet either and my partner doesn't earn that much.

My CDC used to get on my wick by telling me that I would spend more on normal food shopping which in my case isn't true. I only ever spend £20 a week on food for myself and that is eating healthily. I know another £15 a week doesn't seem much but it is when you just don't have it.

It's very hard to juggle the finances and I feel selfish for spending on CD for myself when we can't really afford it so my partner and I have decided to do SW together when I run out of CD packs. That way we can still carefully budget, plan our week's meals in advance AND lose weight.

Next year I don't have to pay my own fees as I will be eligible for a loan so hopefully if I need to lose any more weight, I will return to CD to shift it quickly! x
 
I understand what you're saying completely Gem. People kept telling me it's not much more but £45 (because I'm 5ft 9) is a lot more than I spend on food and drink in a week, even if I go out. And as a student it's tight enough anyway. I stopped in the summer because I ran out of money and couldn't afford it and people kept telling me I'd be spending more than that, but I was at my parents so didn't have to buy food. Even now I'm living in a shared house I think it's more than I'd spend by a fair bit. Though it does add up quickly. But even still, I don't spend that much and so CD is difficult. Especially when as a student you find ways to eat cheaply anyway. I'm going to try and keep going as long as possible this time though.
 
Ooh, it's difficult isn't it. Wonder if it'll ever be on NHS prescription! I'm robbing peter to pay paul I suppose. I'm lucky cause I now the moneys coming but some weeks I'll have to borrow it from somewhere else. It's certainly not cheaper than buying food, not with my OH and 4 kids. It's tough for everyone.
 
I hope you manage it Caroline. I'm really gutted I have to stop because this is the first successful restart I have had in months!!! But I'm going to try and shift as much as I can before I switch over and then stick to protein options for a while so I don't gain it all back again! Well that's the plan anyway!

It does annoy me that CD is so expensive because I'm sure it doesn't cost that much to manufacture. I suppose it is cheaper than LL though!
 
Thanks, me too! I really hope you do too. It's so difficult isn't it. I'm going to do all I can to not have to stop for as long as I can. Is there anything that you can do to get a bit of extra money do you think? I might possibly sell my wii as I hardly ever actually use it and it could pay for a month of CD. Final resort will be DVDs... but that's at a real pinch! Maybe you could move to a higher plan to make what you've got last a bit longer while still losing?
 
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