It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

wendybird

What a lovely new thread!

We are doing ok still, but I'm worried about my job. I'm looking for another, but in the meantime we've been working to build up food stores and emergency supplies (wind up torches, camping stove, etc). I've started to experiment with batch cooking and taking more interest in our food in general - DH usually does the shopping and cooking. We're attempting to grow some winter veg in our small shady garden and plans to build some raised beds for veg in the spring. I've become brutal with the budget - we're spending as little as we can to try to build up an emergency fund ASAP. I've also taken out income protection insurance in case I do lose my job.

I think I'm becoming a bit of a survialist - all this economic volatility has got me a bit freaked out

On that note, I tried to place an order with approved foods this morning, but they aren't accepting any orders as they've been swamped. I wonder if that's anything to do with getting mentioned on here? :rotfl:

exlibris

I have found a problem in cutting down on the heating! My body is now used to needing less heat but not being uncomfortable.

I went Christmas shopping yesterday and found I could only spend a little time inside the shops as they were too hot for me and I started to feel quite light headed. This meant that I could not wander around the shop three or four times before actually deciding if something was a bargain. I did go outside and then back in but this took ages.

I found myself having to make the decision much quicker than usual.

As I actually hate shopping (Yes honestly I do) The thought of having to go back to town more often is not very appealing!

Olliebeak

Doing ok so far here - fingers crossed. My job is secure and 'reasonably well-paid'. Union didn't get the payrise that they asked for but we've had an interim one (back-dated to August) while they continue to thrash out the final amount.

I've never had a credit card at all - so no debts there. Holiday was paid for in advance - no debt there either. I'm well in credit with gas and electric, just had £189 rebate from BT due to overpayment and everything else is bang up-to-date with payments.

As far as Christmas is concerned, I've told the adult kids that I'm cutting right back on grown-up's presents this year to concentrate on the young children (5 grandkids aged 4mths - 10yrs, no.1 son's g/f's little boy aged 3 and my OH's sister's dds aged 1 and 5). OH and myself aren't buying for each other BUT there is a glass TV stand that we want for the living room TV, so we're paying half each (works out about the same a pressie).

I've done the storecupboard/freezer challenge this month to reduce food spending and may even be able to take it much further. I've got the makings of a Christmas Lunch and a few extra special meals for over the holiday period - would only need some ' christmas goodies' as well as fruit, veggies, eggs, milk and bread.

All that is food-stash is courtesy of shopping/cooking tips learned on here over the past 18mths - so thanks to everybody for their inspiration, recipes and ideas :T.

elona

Approved foods have gone from abou 20 intenet orders a day to about 700!

They are working their little socks off so rather than have people waiting for goods for a week they have closed the site till Monday (I think!)

I have a turkey crown (Lidl) stashed in the freezer for Christmas and have been buying presents online for months and got some really good bargains.

Going out soon to look for an outfit for DD(23) for her hospital's Christmas meal out.

Lentil soup is in the slow cooker for DH if he gets peckish while I am out.

DD(14) had an "own clothes" day at school on Friday and came back wondering why people who always said they had no money were the ones who wore all designer clothes and went abroad at least once a year. She then realised she had answered her own question!

taplady

I have just spent a very interesting half hour reading this thread so thankyou to all who have contributed:T

we are coping ATM. We are on an IVA with just under 2 years to go till we are debt free but we live within our means have no overdraft or credit cards and mainly use cash. We cook quite a bit from scratch although not everything as like Rockie said when I am at work I leave easy stuff for DH to pop in the oven such as Pizza and fries.
I too am a Tightwad Gazette fan and think I might re-read it soon!
I make good use of my wheat bag to keep me warm and we have lots of fleecy blankets too. I always share my tea bag(Yorkshire tea so nice and strong) and we dont tend to get leftovers with careful planning!;)
We grow our own veg, compost everything too and recycle everything we can.
We run 2 cars as we live in a rural area with no public transport and need them for work but we always use DH's at the weekends as its diesel and cheaper to run.
I budget throughout the year for cartax and christmas etc.
we have a new Aldis opened this week near where i work so I'll be popping in there a fair bit!
thats about it for now but if I think of anything else I'll be back.

mother_noah

Another Shirley goode fan here ,Try to read her blog most days .Just been leafing through a copy of Have a Goode Year to get some ideas for christmas.

ceridwen

....errrr....and I've just added to my collection of reference books courtesy of this thread. I'll blame you lot then when I get 2 Shirley Goode cookbooks turning up then courtesy of Amazon:D

Burp_2

I hate to say it but we're not doing too good

... bought our first house and weeks later OH loses his job and is still looking months later ... we are struggling like hell to make ends meet and are slowly sinking

... the only thing we are succeeding at is keeping our shopping bills down thanks to this place

I really hope things start to look up for us soon as I can't take many more months of this!

Burp x

sunflower76

Surprisingly, we're now better off that we ever have been. We bought a new (to us) house 18 months ago that needed a lot of money spending on it and we're now coming out of that first year in a new place where you live off baked beans and you never have any cash what-so-ever! Part of the reason we're now doing so well is because of this site, and 'that' thread - some of the tips are fantastic.

Some of the thing's we've done / do are below:

• Have a weekly veg / fruit and salad box (and milk) from the local organic farm, buy meat from the local butcher and only do an online supermarket shop when we really need to. This has meant that we don't need to go to the supermarket or into town and therefore we don't spend money unless we need to
• Learn to cook, Meal Plan and have a good storecupboard. I have a good look at what we've got in and what I can make when my veg box arrives on a Thursday and then try to stick to it. Remembering to get things out of the freezer is a bit of a problem when I'm rushing around but because I've now got a good idea of what goes together tastewise and a good collection of recipe books, I can pull a meal together from the cupboards without too much fuss. I always use leftovers too now and being a canny chopper has really reduced the amount of waste we produce, we can go 6 - 8 weeks without needing our bin emptied.
• Wrapping up and finding alternative heat sources. We didn't put the heating on until mid October and even now it's only set to come on at sensible times to 15 degrees. If it's cold (like today) we crank it up to 18, but it's now a standing joke that MrS isn't allowed it on any higher. We do have a multi fuel stove in each living room which makes a real difference and we haven't paid for wood or coal while we've lived here (we trade coal for other things (mainly IT support, heavy lifting and baking) with my parents for the limited amount that we use. and wood is scrounged or sourced locally via freecycle etc)
• Quidco, surveys and shopping around. Quidco has been fantastic for us, I've received over £550 in 18 months which I wouldn't have seen otherwise and most of this has been paid off our house loan. I've also completed at least a £100 worth of survey vouchers and used those to help fund Christmas. I now usually think before I buy - need or want? - and when I do buy I make sure that I'll get my moneys worth and often spend ages on the internet sourcing the cheapest or best value.

This doesn't mean that we don't splurge every now and then, or that we have cut down to the bare minimum; we've found a level which we're comfortable with and don't see that we're making sacrifices. I did try to reduce the shopping bill by cutting out meat once or twice a week or by padding out mince etc, but the earache I got from MrS just didn't make it worth it so we stepped back up a level. If thinks get even tougher though, I'm sure we could manage as MSE gives you the inspiration and support to get you through the tough times.

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi Guys!

We are now debt free:D

I bought a Remoska about 4 months ago now and have only used the oven 3 times since then when I have needed to cook a roast joint, spuds, yorkies and roast veg and another when we did a huge Lasagna when friends were over. I wont know exactly what we have saved in electric till our new bill arrives but Im guessing its lots as we had the oven on before at least once a day:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Our food budget has been increased to cover the food inflation and to buy better quality food etc as we no longer pay any money towards debt. It is still low I suppose at £75pw but this includes food and diesel. We now only buy FR eggs and are buying better quality meat.

I do 4 Boots orders each year using voucher codes and profiting from as many points as possible. I average at about £45 every 3 months but then get back at least £15 in points if using vouchers wisely. In these orders I buy all hair products, shower stuff, teeth stuff, sanitary wear for DD & I, soap, baby wipes- I go through a packet every other week:rolleyes:, shaving stuff for OH...everything really.

More named items like my Clinique products and hair styling products I buy from Ebay using only money in Paypal from items I have sold. This is something we did a couple of years ago. All proceeds from sales are used to reinvest in items we need but may not have the budget for normally IYSWIM.

I buy most pressies for the year from Boots using points that I have saved after Xmas in the 50% 3 for 2 offers and it costs maybe £50 for all general birthdays and anniversaries etc....but in effect these are FREE using the points.

HOTDEALS saves us soooo much money. I view the website daily and take advantage of any mispriced items online and any stupid cheap offers. I honestly must save hundreds each year doing this. I also buy on behalf of friends like a personal shopper as they dont have as much time as me.

We found an excellent designer shopping discount outlet which is the best ive been to in the UK (not wuite as good as the USA but close!) and we visit there twice a year and buy clothes, shoes,trainers, household item etc if we need them. I normally get a £9 travelodge room and we stay overnight. Last time we went, we saved over £300 and only spent about £140 if I remember right.

Mealplanning is stuck to most of the time, so this saves money and energy.

Remembered also that we bought an energy saver plug for the big freezer outside. This saves a huge percentage of electric and keeps the freezer at the needed temperature....its an amazing little device and bought from Ebay for £10.

Bought a MW bunny for £3.99 from Play to keep me warm.

Also fill the kettle in the morning and put the remains into a flask for the morning and do the same in the afternoon as I need hot drinks throughout the day.

I have to attend hospital alot, so we take a small 500ml flask with a sandwich each and biscuit as I never know how long I will be there.

Take adavntage of supermarkets doing 5p off a litre if we need to do a big shop.

Quidco for everything. I have been given over £250 this year alone.

Rang Sky and bartared (sp) with them. OH now has HD with everything but sports for £40 a month for 12 months and they gave us the box for free which would normally be £149. I know this isnt saving money, but we dont go out much anymore...only to friends really or the hospital and Im up through the night alot, so this is our entertainment. We dont smoke and I dont drink.

Our friends go to France twice a year and USA so they buy us crates of 6 bottles of Chenet for under £1 a bottle. Each time they go they get us 6 each of Red, White and Rose....so for 18 bottles of good quality wine it costs us £18 and these are great to put away for Xmas/birthdays etc, take to someones house for a pressie or as a small gift in a bottle bag. When they go to the USA they get OH his Black Label which is £15 instead of £30. They also buy perfume if I need any or aftershave that can be bought much cheaper at duty free.

Poundland is brilliant. I buy the Pledge Aloe Vera wipes there which are over £2 in supermarkets, Nescafe which is over 50% cheaper and t-bags. Also giftbags, bottlebags and cards etc. They do huge tins of Heinz Tom soup at 2 tins for a pound.

Probably will think of more later.

TC

PP
xx