I need help!

kit

Ok, so I read Old Style but find it hard to practice it.

Have just realised that my tax credit will drop by £40 a month in March due to DD turning 1.... plus we are TRYING to get on the housing ladder which will mean more money being spent on things like buildings and life insurance..... to put it bluntly... we wont survive!

I have cut my bills by changing suppliers, I have got rid of sky TV, I changed my lovely car (was on HP) to an older one that is owned outright, when my contact is up on my mobile I will change to PAYG and will try to stop using it (will only save me about £10 a month but it will help!).

The only thing that I am spending too much on now is food..... the bad thing is I have no real idea how much i spend on food a month. Try as I may, I cant seem to do thing OS. I know all the therory but am overwhelmed by it all and cant get my head around doing it in practice.

I'm desperate now....... I've got until March to find a way of saving at least £40 per month.

Is there anyone out that that can help me in baby steps?? Please???



EDIT - forgot to say..... my household is me, my OH and our 10 month old.

Pooky

Take one thing on board at a time - just one small thing that you can change now and incorporate into daily life...then choose another...etc

If you only buy ready meals or processed food/take aways etc then start by trying a few simple reciepes , luckily your little one will get used to your cooking and should be a lot easier to tame than toddlers.

Try and think of one thing a week that you don't need to buy - it's surprising how many bits you bung in the trolly without actually needing them.

Make a meal plan and stick to it and only buy the bits you need to make those meals - using anything you have to hand before replacing it.

It's got to be gradual to last, quick fixes tend to be faddy and you get bored of them.

Keep checking back for new ideas too - there's always something every week that I look at and wonder why I've not been doing it.

£40 a month is very easily do-able.

pavlovs_dog

well from the sounds of it, step one is figuring out how much you are spending on food...use the search thingy to search for price books, or try the mega indexed sticky (not my forte, im sure someone much more helpful will be along shortly)

then try to cut down....and that where us old stylers come into our own!

first things first....make yourself a cup of tea, and then arm yourself with any receipts, bank statements etc you can get you hands on, try to figure out a ballpark figure of what you are spending per week/month.

then register with tescos or asda online, construct your typical weekly shop, and see how the figure that comes to compares with what your initial calculations showed.

then, i would start thinking about keeping a price book to record everything you spend on food.

DONT PANIC - 3 months is a long time. 90 odd dys. you'll be amazed at what you can achieve in that time. just take lots of little baby steps. you cant eat an elephant in one sitting!

but one step at a time. first things first - deep breath, and put the kettle on.

kit

Thanks guys.

So... am going to start with working out what we do spend. Most of our food is home made... dont use too much processed stuff, rarely have take aways and we never have ready meals so I think I'm doing something right :j


I have 3 downfalls (it was 2 but just remembered another!):

1. I throw a lot of fresh stuff away.... ie meat / veg thats past its best.
2. I am useless at planning ahead
3. Due to number 2, my DD does end up eating about 5 to 7 jars of baby food a week

Am going to go through bank statements etc over the weekend and will post the results when I have them!

pavlovs_dog

is DD at an age where she can eat more grown up stuff, but very finely pureed?

i know people on here mention cooking in bulk, pureeing, then frrezing it in ice cube trays, and you defrost as much or as little as you need?

even if this only halves the number of jars you use, it would be a start

pavlovs_dog

and another thing...make sure you keep track of the savings you are making, so that you can see it IS making a difference, and the money isnt just being swallowed up somewhere else. really helps with self motivation if you can see that the cutting back and sacrifice is worthwhile

*hugs*

edited to add...

if you dont already have one, invest in a diary.

diaries are not just for recording birthdays, meetings and so on. a diary is your friend, and possibly the best place to do your meal planning if you use it properly - ie check it several times a day.

a good winding down task before going to sleep is getting out your diary and planning tomorrow. you'll feel much less stressed knowing your to do list is sorted, you know whats for tea, you going to buy a card so aunt mauds birthday doesnt slip your mind like it normally does and so on and so forth! and they are often cheap this time of year,s o you may just get yourself a bargain (if it looks pretty, you're more likely to use it)

AussieLass

Hi MSE:wave:
Pavlovs Dag has given you good advice. But I expect you know you will really have to *try* to get better at No 2. That's probably the key to successful OS cutting back. Money wise I mean. I would suggest you start off with a menu plan for the week & write out a grocery list. This way you are only buying what you need & you won't have to resort to No 1. But we do have some excellent threads here of what to do with such & such. I've learnt to use many things that I've thrown out back in the bad old days.

There is a website called OrganizedHome.com that has printable menu planners etc. I now do a monthly one but I always did a weekly one for years. Stick with the weekly one to start you off & you will gain confindence as you go. Good luck.

AussieLass

I meant to type Pavlovs Dog.:D

pavlovs_dog

AussieLass wrote:

I meant to type Pavlovs Dog.:D

its ok aussielass, i recently had to do a double take in a thread about Pavlovas :rotfl:

either my ego is too big or im having an identity crisis :rotfl:

magentadreamer

Have a really good look around this part of the board you'll find loads of tips.

I'm on a mega drive to reduce my shopping bill too. By reading up on the great tips I've realised that OS is getting back to basics. I'm getting a second hand breadmaker on saturday -dontcha just love people who buy things use 'em once and store them? :j I'm thinking about investing in a yoghurt maker as we get throw a litre of plain yoghurt a week. When my daughter was little I used to give her things mixed with plain yoghurt for puddings etc


I did a stock take of my cupboards - I've enough pasta to feed my street for a week. Meal planning can actually be fun, tomorrow I'm going to make pasta sauces dishes to freeze for during the week. Plus make a big stew and freeze that down. I've also done my very first online shop with Tesco's - a massive stock up on the basics and used some discount codes found on here. My main problem is I go to a supermarket and lists go out of the window. Now that I've stocked up for the month. I only need to go do a veg/fruit/cheese shop once a week and that will be done with cash in hand - no switch card in lidl or aldi. In Feb I might even join in the shopping challenge!

comping_cat

Hi Kit, i agree with everything everyone else has said so far, little steps, meal planning, stock take of everything in your cupboards and freezer (its amazing what you might find!!!) i also keep all my receipts, and at the end of the month, go through and see if there was anything that i could do without, and things that i had bought that i didnt need/wasted, when you know what extras you had, its easier not to buy them again!!!!
Catherine x