No Magic Money Tree....

Katieowl · 10 December 2017 at 9:23PM

...is my new Mantra!

Following the price hike in Lloyds bank charges, I am being super uber careful not to go into my OD if humanly possible. We are making lots of jokes about taking one for the team, but what do you do if you need to cut back hard and you are already the most frugal person you know

?

I've started an Excell spreadsheet, and I'm logging all my shopping in various categories, so far the only pattern that's emerged is that the dogs eat more than we do

Linda32 · 10 December 2017 at 9:35PM

Okay, so what do the dogs eat that can be altered.
I don't have pets myself so not sure on diet etc.

What about other areas, how long has it been since you changed energy suppliers, phone or broadband? can they be cheaper.

Just some quick thoughts.

skogar · 10 December 2017 at 9:51PM

Made me laugh about the dog food, we say the same sometimes about our cat. Obviously she eats less but seeing as I buy most meat yellow stickered and she is mainly fed wet food (my preference - I know it's extravagant) we do think in £/kg she is more expensive!

A thought on dog food. Do you know that there is no VAT on dog food sold as for working dogs so it can be cheaper. A number of my family have retrievers and buy this.

Give us some clues on what you are doing now and we will try and come up with some ideas.

I already did many of the things that people recommend to be frugal too. The best thing I found to do was to list every single purchase and then consider whether it was essential or not / worth the money. I used to regularly have a coffee after going swimming and buy magazines. I hardly ever buy books now. I request them from the local library and am a member of multiple libraries so can access a good range of ebooks that way. I don't buy magazines, I read the ones that are available on Zinio through the libraries. We also reduced the amount that we eat out. I also had a look through some of the suggestions you find for cutting back on costs. This one probably isn't the best but has a lot of the more basic ideas on it so it's worth having a look at it and seeing if there's anything obvious extra that you could do. https://www.thesimpledollar.com/little-steps-100-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-those-just-getting-started/

Good luck. I'm sure it's possible.

Katieowl · 10 December 2017 at 9:51PM

Ummm yes, working on the dogs food. One is raw fed, she was really sick, so that's not negotable. She's got a severe wheat allergy, so feeding the other as safely as possible incase she gets into it. Have swapped out some of their canned food with cooked rice, and frozen mixed veggies, they seem to like it and I don't think it's compromised the nutrition too much. I wouldn't have had three by choice but my DD had to move last year (relationship breakdown) and she couldn't find anywhere to rent in hurry to take him

Electricity - nightmare. House is rural, we have an oil Rayburn, and a log burner (no central heating though - except electric in a small annexe) so my direct debit is £142 a month. I have struggled to try and get this down since we moved in. Currently with BG who consistently don't seem to be MUCH dearer than anyone else...I signed up for Martins Fuel deals thingy last week, I need to have a really good look at that,

With Talk Talk, but being stalked by BT. Would knock a fiver off but it's only introductory offer.

Katieowl · 10 December 2017 at 9:59PM

I think if you looked in my freezer you'd be hard pressed to find anything that wasn't YS for the humans

I used to feed working dog food from the local farm shop, mixed with some tinned before the poorly one came here....but OH is as blind as a bat and if he scatters kibbles he won't notice. Vet trips are probably more than I'd save. Belive me I have considered this carefully!

I don't eat out, I also have gluten problems, and have decided its safer not to bother as it makes me so ill, so nothing to save there. I tend to buy secondhand books, but am currently not even looking as I have a small stockpile. Mags come from my Mummy... LOL Read news online.

Getting the leccie down would be my biggie that and the council tax are my two biggest DDs

skogar · 10 December 2017 at 11:28PM

Katie,
What sort of dogs have you got? My family all have golden retrievers and any food going will be eaten so completely understand about your fears about the dropped kibble. I know the grain free stuff is expensive as my sister feeds grain free dried to hers and has to feed the same to both although only 1 needs it. I know some dog food companies do send out free samples if you contact them directly so it may be worth emailing a few that have some dried food that sounds suitable and seeing if they will send you a sample to try. Of course if your dog can't eat dried then ignore this. I certainly can't talk as i know it would be a lot cheaper to feed the cat on dried rather than mostly on wet food but as cats don't drink as much as dogs it's a choice I've made to do it like that.

I used to buy my books second hand as well. I've been surprised how easy it has been to not buy books as I love to read. The only ones I have bought recently are my german reading books where I can't find anything simple enough in the local libraries.

Another random suggestion - food waste. Is there anything you tend to buy and doesn't get used up in time?

How good are your food stocks could you do an eating out of the cupboards / freezer challenge for a bit to try and build up a small float to keep you out the overdraft?

Sounds like you already have some good ideas of where to go with things.

K.Mack · 10 December 2017 at 11:45PM

Katieowl wrote: »

Ummm yes, working on the dogs food. One is raw fed, she was really sick, so that's not negotable. She's got a severe wheat allergy, so feeding the other as safely as possible incase she gets into it.

Have you heard of Tails.com? they tailor make food for your dog and you can choose a gluten/allergy free version i believe. I've just checked and they have a 1 month free trial at the moment. Obviously it depends on whether it would work out cheaper for you or not as don't know what you currently spend.

Katieowl · 11 December 2017 at 7:57AM

I'm pretty good at not wasting food, we eat any of the leftovers, and I regularly go through the fridge and I'll say DS you eat this and this, Dad can have xyz and I'll finish off this. Thats saved me a bomb! I am trying to work my way through supplies and the freezer, I do have a lot of stuff in house. I'm self employed and my work is a bit seasonal, so it can be useful to have a bit of a store cupboard this time of year.

That's also partly why I'm worrying, because this is exactly when the OD runs up! Although Jan and Feb are council tax free months. Not bothered about Xmas. Even though my girls will be here too with the kids, everyone decided last year enough was enough and we only buy pressies for the kids. I've bought mine already, spent £20 each on the grandkids! I've also got £65 worth of çlubcard vouchers , and my turkey (breast joints) in the freezer. Spotted them in the local cash and carry I use for work a couple of months ago, and bought before they bump the prices up for Xmas.

This is why I am worried

I think I do all the right things, and there is just not enough money coming in to stretch around all the bills! It's not going to get any easier is it!

Dogs are all rescue Staffies, one is old and I think she'd struggle with kibble, but the other two would I think eat almost anything! I've looked at big sacks of grain free decent quality food and its sooo expensive! Like £80 a sack expensive! I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a reduced bag in Tesco

to experiment. I suppose if I took complete charge of the food I could keep them from eating each others? At the moment I've kind of come to the conclusion that if I can pick up meat under £2 a kilo and pad it out its cheaper and prob healthier. Frozen chicken is pretty cheap.

C_J · 11 December 2017 at 9:54AM

I buy meat from the local butcher for my dog - I can get a carrier bag full of lamb's hearts and ox liver and various meat scraps for £5. I chop all this up in batches in my food processor and mix it with cooked rice and beaten eggs (including the crushed egg shells) then bake it all as a number of meat loaves. I then slice these into thick chunks and freeze them - it makes enough to last a month and works out cheaper that tinned wet food. The dog loves it, and the happy side effect is that it has cured his windy bottom !!!

It's a bit of a faff to do, but I only have to do it once a month so it's not so bad.

enjoyyourshoes · 11 December 2017 at 10:00AM

We have never fed dogs meat (except one which owe tried the raw meat diet, but did not solve the problem)

All our dogs eat dry working dog feed an own brand from an agricultural merchants.

Dogs thrive on it, and its £9.99 per 15 KG bag

Katieowl · 11 December 2017 at 11:04AM

C_J wrote: »

I buy meat from the local butcher for my dog - I can get a carrier bag full of lamb's hearts and ox liver and various meat scraps for £5. I chop all this up in batches in my food processor and mix it with cooked rice and beaten eggs (including the crushed egg shells) then bake it all as a number of meat loaves. I then slice these into thick chunks and freeze them - it makes enough to last a month and works out cheaper that tinned wet food. The dog loves it, and the happy side effect is that it has cured his windy bottom !!!

It's a bit of a faff to do, but I only have to do it once a month so it's not so bad.

I'll try that, there are two butchers in town, when I asked for bones for broth for dog one of them was proper sniffy, so I never tried the other one. Good Idea. Think I have seen that meatloaf recipe. I have all the gadgets, including a mincer so that would be a doddle.

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No Magic Money Tree....

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