Miserable News

MRSTITTLEMOUSE · 15 May 2008 at 12:37PM

I went shopping with my daughter to Tesco last night,she was in shock when she saw some of the price rises.In particular the value range sweetcorn,it's gone up since last week to 29p from 15p.I know it's still cheap but realy it's nearly a 100% increase.
I must admit I'm not shocked at what's going on at the moment, as is probably a lot of the older people on here.It's happened all before and all the signs were there for it to happen again.To be honest I think we're all going to have a bumpy ride and I think it is'nt going to be over for a long while.

bertiebots · 15 May 2008 at 12:38PM

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

Well its finally happened - my grocery budget is no more. I went shopping last night with my bog standard basic list for two weeks worth fo food and my cupboards were run down along with the fridge and freezer and what would normally cost me £40 cost me £65! (£64.96 to be precise) and that included whoopsies of two large puff pastry chicken an dmushroom pies (from £4 down to £1.70 each) so had two, a pack of chicken kievs (from £3.50 down to £1.25) a whole chicken (£5.03 down to £3.79) and a pack of 7 chicken drumsticks that had to be used yesterday (from £2.03 down to 50p). needless to say the drumsticks are cooking now to be used later and im plannign on cooking the chicken too to carve up for sandwiches and to go into roast dinner/casseroles/chicken tonight/pasta later

i cant cut down prices anywhere else - ive started trying to grow my own veg but since all the prices are going up i can afford to buy stuff to continue the growing on process! (need tubs and more compost) and i know its only a few quid but i cant squeeze it form my already tight budget!

ive just been nosing around the using less gas and electric this winter thread again, figure i can get a head start on saving money for them but hoping the nice weather will hold out a bit (even though its raining today).

No pay rise for me or the boyfriend either and petrified cos little one starts school in september and no idea how im going to afford school uniforms, packed lunches and everything else he needs. Its his birthday this month and thanks to the kelloggs cornflakes box we have a free trip to a zoo for him (my dad has offered to pay our entry and petrol becasue we are travelling up to his house practically - its like an hour from him) so we are saving him money but ive been saving for my little boys birthday since just after christmas!

Hi do you have a local freecycle group you could join...you could then ask there for school things ...so many people just throw away stuff when the kids grow out of it and its a real shame, but I do think the freecycle thing is becoming more popular so its worth a look. Its also a good way to get rid of things you dont need and helping someone out at the same time.
I am dreading getting uniforms this year as I have 3 little darlings ,well actually its me thats little as my 11yr ds is as tall as me now! His school blazer alone is £48 and thats just for starters!I was pipped to the post on freecycle last week when someone was offering one but never mind!...I got my ds 2 his school sweaters of the market (ex tesco) for £1 each and they are better quality than the school logo version selling for £10. There are quite a few kids at the junior school who have plain sweaters instead of the ones with the school badge so I dont feel like he stands out. Poor dd is still wearing ds1 old sweaters but not for much longer........of to the market I go to look for more bargains this summer.

calleyw · 15 May 2008 at 12:47PM

Going to start to have been even more careful. Due to personal circumstances I have had to drop two days a week :eek:

Will save fuel and wear and tear on the care but I will be down about £350 a month:eek: but I have no choice.

I will even now have to take money from my husband his only income is benefits :eek: I feel really bad as he has more needs than me.

So going to have super budget now. So you might see me around slightly more.

Yours

Calley

mary43 · 15 May 2008 at 12:57PM

Missed Martins programme last night...........for some reason we couldn't get channel 5 !! So, don't know what to do about the gas/elec at the minute
What I can't change is having to fork out what might be around £198 for dental work in June !!! There's money I can't afford, especially when we're due to visit MIL just after then which means petrol money from where we are to Liverpool.
Baby grandson is having his first birthday with us on 12th June. Thank goodness I got all his presents just after Christmas.

In fact I've been hoarding a lot of bargains from the charity shops for christmas baskets (and birthdays) and I think I've just about done it all so that expense will be spared later this year.

Don't know what else we can do.........we already grow as much veg as we can given it has to be in containers, haven't used the car for weeks (even bought paint locally -worked out cheaper that paying the petrol for a 40 mile round trip to get cheaper paint.
We're not great 'clothes' shoppers and when I do it's charity shops.
I'll have to scratch my head to think of some more ways of cutting corners

calleyw · 15 May 2008 at 1:03PM

mary43 wrote: »

Don't know what else we can do.........we already grow as much veg as we can given it has to be in containers,

What about raised beds rather than pots gives you a little more room and more options. And the raised beds can be small just a couple of feet either way.

Yours

Calley

thriftlady_2 · 15 May 2008 at 1:17PM

For the last few weeks I've been wondering why I seem to have less money left over from my weekly shop. I knew things like butter had gone up a lot, but it has really only just dawned on me why I'm spending more on food:doh: I thought I was being really extravagent. I'm fortunate to have enough -enough so that's it's taken me a while to notice the price rises but from now on I'm only buying what I really need until the fish and meat in the freezer has gone, all the lentils and beans have gone and all the half-full packets of couscous, bulghar and various types of rice are gone.

so my basic list will be;
milk, butter, cheese, eggs
ham and bacon
juice, tea, coffee
fruit and veg
flour and other baking supplies
wine

well, I can still find bottles for less than a fiver

Kaz2904 · 15 May 2008 at 1:24PM

It's worrying really. I want to ditch the car for the school run and will be able to when DS is at school.
At the moment I have to use the car when he has preschool because although it's only a mile from his preschool to DD's school it is up a huge steep hill. I don't think I could do the hill in 15 minutes and I know he can't.
We can walk the 1/2 mile from our house to DD's school in 25 minutes as it's the less steep part of the hill so we will be doing that!

The slugs have declared war on my tomatoes and a couple of my lollo rosso lettuces.
I'm desperately trying to get my freezer empty so I can refill it with homemade goodies.
I've not been shopping for ages but I know DH went to asda at the weekend for bbq stuff and probably spent loads. We've been eating it all week though!
I need to check my potatoes and see how they're doing and probably have a shuffle around and try to get my bean seeds in to see if I can get them growing.
I do think that people are starting to reassess their personal debt levels though. A lot of people I know are trying to become more and more old style. I would love to get a couple of chickens and a better veggie plot and am getting there with our garden!

trying-very-trying · 15 May 2008 at 2:22PM

I just wanted to remind everyone, that there should be a grant available from your local council to help with school uniforms. Obviously this is a means tested allowance, but for anyone on any benefits, even working families tax credit, it is worth checking it out.
The amount that you may get varies from one council to another, and it was certainly never enough to get everything, but it was always enough to get at least one pair of good leather school shoes.
I have been getting School Clothing Grant since my first dd started school 22 years ago, it was £50 then and it has remained unchanged since, at least in our local council.
I do hope that this might be of benefit to someone.

Bitsy_Beans · 15 May 2008 at 2:32PM

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

liz545 - that's all very well (and I agree with you) but I know that for a lot of people on this board, these savings have ALREADY been made, and there really isn't anywhere else to cut corners without really significant reduction in quality of life. Many have large families, fixed incomes and ever-rising basic costs - I fully believe that many, perhaps even most, people in the UK are still spending more than they absolutely need to, but many people on here are doing it all "right" already and are still barely scraping by.

I must admit when I posted my remarks they were aimed at people on here who already live OS and who any disposable income would be gratefully recieved to help towards costs rather than savings as they make every penny stretch as it is.
Having read the newspaper this morning (OK it was the Daily Mail so hardly going to be full of positive news) it does look bleak. And yet Mr Brown is claiming he's the man to see us through this storm as he's done it before? Eh have I missed a possible recession in the last ten years under labour? When has he done it before? Due to his "prudent" years as chencellor he's spent all the money he could have used to offset any tax reductions and yet he's going to save us from this? He's the reason we're going to feel it more than ever.

Sorry I'll get off my soapbox now.

pigpen · 15 May 2008 at 2:45PM

not being eligible for some kind of tax credits would imply to me the family has more income than they are realising.. if it is below a certain level you get it.. but.. it has to be applied for.. if people are struggling financially maybe it is time to look at the things they haven't applied for before.. maybe they weren't eligible 2 or 3 years ago but could well be now if income hasn't increased along with the basic rates of benefits.

Also.. so many are living beyond their means.. a night in would pay for a weeks worth of food.. even in my house! Time to look at switching credit cards again? utility providers? Drop a tariff on the mobile phone? ..

The mortgage, bank loan and council tax are paid in here then food.. necessary stuff.. then the 'extras'... thankfully we don't drive, smoke or go on holidays so save a fortune there..

I think it is a massive wake up call for those who do waste more than they should and continue to live a frivolous lifestyle.. but I am poor so can

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