If things get tougher?

scuzz

Got to say I'm worried as I'm moving away from home in the new year to my own flat. My mortgage alone will be over £400 a month (nearly half my wages after tax)

I will

> give up going to bingo (although I only go once a month or less)
> no booze in the house apart from what I take from home
> walk into town

Don't really know what else I'll be able to do until I get there. Hoping my BIL and his friend have fixed my car, otherwise it'll be a new one needed - another expense I really don't need. It's been off the road for three months now with a cam belt problem. It went and took part of the engine with it.:eek:

anniewoo

I live on my own so my expenses are less than a family,but rises in gas and electric are beginning to worry me.I have my heating on very little as it is,I just put extra layers of clothes on and I often sit in the lounge of an evening watching a dvd with a fleece blanket wrapped round me and candles burning instead of having the light on.Good grief,it's like being in the Middle Ages !!

I don't drive,so I haven't the expense of a car to worry about
I cook eveything from scratch and batch freeze loads of stuff and I make my own bread,my Panasonic was one of the best things I ever bought
I only buy 1 bottle of wine a week,but that may have to go if things get tough
I have a bus pass now,so that saves me bus fares

There is not really much I can cut down on

CRANKY40

I love my hot water bottle. My friends laugh at me, but I am a very cold person, and to be honest I would be cold with or without the heating on. The best solution for a comfy relaxing evening for me is a hot water bottle and a blanket.

I'm not sure of the cost comparison of boiling a kettle as opposed to having heating on, but it must be cheaper (especially in my case when the heating doesn't seem to make much difference). The hot water bottle lasts for ages too.

MissEyre

Since I started reading the boards a few months back, I have done as much as I can to cut back-no TV, got rid of the car, walk everywhere and with cheapest suppliers for gas and electric, which I use sparingly. I still have some stretch in my food/housekeeping budget, which is quite high for one person (£200 a month) so I could try to cut that down a bit, and have moved to a house where I have a garden for the first time ever, so I will be looking for advice from you lovely people when it's a bit warmer about what to grow! But if price rises keep going the way they are, I may have no choice but to get rid of the cleaner - the one luxury I have left

COOLTRIKERCHICK

since this thread came back to life so to speak.....i have been mulling over where i can cut back.....i done another budget planner.. a few weeks ago.. and realised that i had slipped back into spending more than what i had coming in.... this was since we re- mortaged to get back on track, and we had surplus money in the bank account..... which took us into a comfort zone of spending....

so we were spending more than what we had coming in.... which is sooo easily done when you have surplus money hanging round.....

up until now it was hard not to spend because of christmas etc... but now most that has now been bought....

this is why i am now.... starting to try and get this back on track.... and its mainly the money we spend on food is where we can cut back.....

over the next few weeks i an going to start working out how much things cost per gm etc.. so i can work out exactly how much a peach and appricot crumble costs etc...

patchwork_cat

Hi
Just found this thread and wanted to say that sometimes there are no other solutions than to economise, but something my son said and remembering mortgage free in 2 years programme - sometimes it is better to spend time generating more income than saving too harshly. Don't mean to disrespect anybodies efforts - life is seriously hard and getting harder, but, I know it won't work for everyone due to certain circumstances, maybe generating income might be a better option for time managament as Sammy Kaye said.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Hi
Just found this thread and wanted to say that sometimes there are no other solutions than to economise, but something my son said and remembering mortgage free in 2 years programme - sometimes it is better to spend time generating more income than saving too harshly. Don't mean to disrespect anybodies efforts - life is seriously hard and getting harder, but, I know it won't work for everyone due to certain circumstances, maybe generating income might be a better option for time managament as Sammy Kaye said.

i totally agree to a point... but there is only soooo many hours in a day....so sometimes taking on extra work/job.... is out of the question.. for some peeps but as you say it could be an option for some peeps...

patchwork_cat

Thanks cooltricker - yes I know particularly with a family and work. Just wondering about taking up a lucrative hobby? I did mean as well though not spending the same level of time economising, but bringing money in. Also have people looked into oil filled radiators as a cheap source of heat - I haven't done the sums, but it might be worth looking into.

katieowl_2

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Just wondering about taking up a lucrative hobby? I did mean as well though not spending the same level of time economising, but bringing money in. Also have people looked into oil filled radiators as a cheap source of heat - I haven't done the sums, but it might be worth looking into.

Hmmm...Well it would have to be a hobby that had very little intial outlay in order to make any dosh - I find the cost of crafting material (for example) getting very expensive.....

Re oil filled rads, I have one in my hall, under my Victorian style pull up airer, so it heats the hall, and dries the washing at the same time. I don't have any central heating, so it does make a difference, but I think my bills reflect the cost of having it on all the time - even though it's on a thermostat and low....One thing that they don't tell you on the packet though, is that they can go wrong AND SPRING A LEAK!!! This happened to us earlier this year when we heard strange cracking noises, and I finally worked out it was the rad when I stuck my hand over it and it was spraying hot oil into the air :eek: ....DH then spotted the pool of oil on the floor :mad: .
All I can say is thank GOD we didn't have it standing on a carpet :T ..... It took ages to clear it up off the hall floor - what a mess. Good job we were in when it happened too, otherwise if the dogs had paddled in it, it could have ended up all over the house....so you may want to bear that in mind when choosing where to put one

Regards

Kate

lilac_lady

I definitely drive less because petrol is so expensive. I have a blanket on the sofa and use it when it gets too cold rather than use more gas. I saved for Christmas using the £2 coins method (£212) and am so glad that I did! Single people pay threequarters of Council Tax and 100% of gas, electricity and petrol so it's like running hard to stay still. Maybe the one weekly bottle of wine and the free range eggs will have to go.