I am feeling the pinch!

Supermarkets are good at Marketing when I go in to buy some milk, I come out with two large bags of shopping and I have spent £50, and I am not sure what I have bought!  I get sucked in with all of their buy two and get a discount offer.  I then find I am throwing items away at the end of the week as I have not used them, what a waste.  My new protocol is to focus on what I have gone in for and only buy one rather than two!  You may think this is easy, but they are clever and know how to appeal to your retail spending habits.  I find it irritating that they put half price on items that were never that price in the first place, the full price of the item is three times the price, who do they think they are kidding. 

I am definitely feeling the credit crunch pinch.  I really live quite frugally, I do n't have a mobile phone contract and I own my car.  I have noticed that recently my money that I earn is not going as far.  For the first time in my life I can see it is easy to go under financially, keep over spending by a few hundred pounds every month and you are there.  I work part-time and I now can not afford to buy anything other in a month than essentials, I am treading water.  Food and petrol has gone up but lets face it no-one's salaries are going up with it.  I have worked at the same firm for nearly ten years and during that time have only ever got 2 or 3% pay rises every year that do not cover inflation (apart from the last two years).  I know I can not leave to get a better paid job as I would not be able to get the hours I am currently on to fit in with my Children. 

With supermarkets I have decided to paint the picture in my head that they are enemy and I am on a 007 Bond mission to not spend as much money.  Since, I have been practicising my new found technique, my food bill has halved.  Mission accomplished, maybe I should drop wearing the balaclava and moustache for the local shop, as the security guards keep following me around!