Getting to know you........

chelseabun_3

Hi all :wave:

I've lurked around for several years, but haven't posted for about the last three

Finances are very tight atm, so I'll be following any and every tip I can find to make ends meet - and hopefully have some fun doing so!:D I've joined the grocery challenge for May, and will be slowly finding my way through the VAST number of recipes on the old style board!

I'm in my early forties (how the heck did that happen?!?) I work part time, and DH works from home, so we're both here quite a lot, supposedly decluttering and selling on ebay;) but mostly spending time researching on here! It's just us two humans, we're staff to one cat and a LOT of garden birds, who are all eating for birdie families at the mo!

Looking forward to "meeting" you all and chatting!

abitofhelp

Hello, i'm a mother of three & stepmother to two. Oh and i are both lucky enough to work full time & luckier still i am able to work from home when i want to. i love reading the oldstyle threads, its my guilty pleasure.

miasnanny

Hello

I am a former mse lurker who has just taken the plunge and clicked onto the forum boards.

I love browsing the boards and I have learnt so much. I have taken the downshift shopping to heart and have been really pleased with the results.

I am disabled so I am pretty much based at home, my children have all grown up and left the nest I have always been frugal and grown veggies and looked for bargains and freezer deals. My husband has a little boy who lives with us, so 30 years on I still have a child around the house who is a similar age to my Grandchildren!!! Please note that my Husband isn't a Toyboy, just a late starter!:rotfl:

Pennypinching is second nature in this house and I knit, sew, cook and generally upcycle whatever I can.

So thats me

Memphis-Belle_2

Hello,
*waves again*
I'm new here, as my post count will indicate and joined as I was 'drawn' to this section...
Old styleeeee money saving.:j

I'm not sure if I will become a postee-devotee or more of a lurker but, one thing I am sure of is I will be stealing some of your wonderful ideas!

Bit about me:-
Married for 9 years, two kids (7 and 4), 4 dogs, 10 rats and 2 african pygmy hedgehogs.

I am not in debt ( apart from my mortgage) and most months we get by...but thats what i want to change!
I want to do more than just get by!:mad:

We finish paying our car loan off in three months which will save us £136 a month and our new mortgage payments will save us another £100 so by August we will be better off by £236 a month BUT, I feel I could do more dag nabbit!

We so over spend each week/month on food and we're devils for buying crud from the local shop. At present it seems if we do one 'special' thing like buy tickets to watch Liverpool play as i did this week, we're into the overdraft and then i feel totally fed-up.

As an anxiety and depression sufferer i have a morbid fear of being in my overdraft! We have just used our savings on doing up a bit of our house, so technically, if we lost our jobs or something similar we'd be...ahem, screwed!

So, Hi and Hopefully all you marvellous savers can help me make a bit by bit change so that by Xmas this year we actually have something put by and I feel more relaxed!
LOL

LisaW123

Have you thought about planning your meals for the week so you can get your shopping all at once? Try to stick to your menu plan and avoid unnecessary shopping trips. I never go into a shop and leave with just the one item, even if that's what I originally went for. You will find lots of tips on different threads on here. There is one called something like "what are you having for dinner tonight?", where loads of posters have listed a phenomenal amount of meal ideas, some of them very cheap indeed.

Memphis-Belle_2

yeah, that was what encouraged me to join actually, the food savings thread...and living on a budget!

I guess 50% of the challlenge is simply changing your habits and getting some will power!

CH27

I find meal planning is the real key to stop overspending.

gibson123

Agree meal planning, sewing, growing some veg, cutting down on cleaning materials, buying second hand and selling anything you don't use and you will have a nice little nest egg by the end of the year. Good luck. We also have rats and a smelly, demented (yes he does have dementia) incontinent dog, no hedgehogs though! Good luck

Memphis-Belle_2

thank you, just got into the ebay habit...and have made £30 this weekend! LOL.

My problem is i'm so impatient... i want to see results like NOW!
like when i tried to play the violin... picked it up couldnt play like vanessa mae...quit!

LOL LOL LOL

ETA- ratrations is a great place to buy rat food for good prices and in bulk...

meritaten

hi memphis-belle!

seems that you know the cause of your 'just getting by'. Impulse purchases!
avoid the shop like the plague unless you have a shopping list and stick to it!
when feeling a bit broke - I avoid TOWN like the plague (not to mention ebay and amazon). if it aint in front of you screaming 'BUY ME' then you aint tempted and the money stays in the bank or your purse!
usually it isnt the bigger purchases (such as theatre tickets etc) which drains the resources - its those little impulse buys, bars of choc, magazine a few packets of crisps and a drink - and thats at least a tenner gone! do that most days a week and you can easily find that £50 has been 'frittered away'!
the best advice I can give is to know exactly where each and every penny has gone! Turn into a miser for a week or two and write down every single purchase - and be honest! you will soon see where you can save money!