Thoughts and tips please

Buddingblonde

I am working full time but I will out of a job by 1st April.

I am trying to squirrel money away to tide me over until I find another job. I feel that I am fighting a losing battle though.

1. We have 3 cats- they only eat Felix or Gourmet pouches - I will happily buy cheaper cat food and just give them dry stuff for a few days until they are hungry enough to eat the cheaper cat food but OH thinks this is cruel. I keep telling him that cats arent stupid and they will not starve themselves. Men!

2. We eat sooooo differently - my man and me. I am a veggie and he is a real meat eater. I explain that meat is expensive and that a few veggie meals a week would do no harm but if it isnt cereal or french toast (eggy bread) then there should be meat in it!! Argghhhhh

3. Branded diet fizzy stuff - my OH will only drink branded diet fizzy stuff - he drinks a 2lt bottle a day. This (if I manage to see it on special offer) is a min of £1 a day but more often than not it is up to £1.50 a bottle. This is nearly £50 a month!!!

4. Snacking - If there are crisps and biscuits in the house they ar gone within a day or so. I am bad for crisps but OH is more of a sweet tooth. A lot of it is just greed as I often bulk out meals with bread and spread if the portion looks a little stingy.

So I have filled the cupboards with value tins, pasta etc the freezer has 1 whole chicken in it (which will make 4 dinners and a large amount of soups), mince (for spag bol, lasagne and meatballs). I am going to go to aldi later to buy fruit and veg - I will buy a large bag of potatoes and make them into mash and freeze thm for meals. I will also make a weeks lot of sandwiches for OH and freeze them (for his lunch at work so he doesnt have to spend the £7 a day he is spending on breakfast and lunch at work). I will roast so veg for me and portion it off into accompanyment, a veg lasgne, roast veg soup and for wraps for me. I just hope that these actions will help over come the spending that cats and OH wont budget on.

Any other help or tips and advice would be greatly appeciated.

Ax

dealwithdebtdot

God, that is a bit tough for you.

The only thing I can think of is making cheaper cuts of meat really strech, if he will eat them!

I am planning a ham hock strech soon...

Boiled ham, parsley sauce and mash/jacket and green veg
Boiled ham and pease pudding
Pea and ham soup
There will probably be enough ham for a sandwich or 2, or to add to a pie (with some of your left over chicken)

Ham Hock/shanks are bout £1.50.

greenbee

We used to cook rabbits for our fussy cats... only problem is, it's really hard to get them back onto cat food after that :rolleyes: . You do have to get all the bones out, so it depends on how much work you are prepared to put into feeding them.

It might be something to try while you are off work rather than beforehand.

And to be fair, I don't know how much rabbit costs, as these were supplied by the local gamekeeper and skinned/gutted by my dad!

SailorSam

You have to decide who is the most important to you, if the poor cats have to eat the cheaper food or starve, then perhaps your husband should live by the same rules, if he want drink the economy fizzy drink, let him die of thirst.
If the cats come around so will he.

overlykeensaver

why not start to slowly reduce the amount of meat your OH has - if you cook his meals that is. You can bulk out mince dishes with red lentils (which disappear into the sauce so you can't even see or taste them) and then freeze the extra portions that are left.

Have you explained to OH your concerns about the loss of income? £50 a month seems a lot to spend on fizzy drinks! I would also slowly start cutting down on the amount of crisps and sweets you buy - it will be good for your health as well as your pocket! I find as soon as I have any crisps or biscuits in the house, I have to eat them - so it is best for me not to buy them very often!

Gracie_1827

Why not split food budget in half..you buy your stuff and let him see how far his will go...that might change his mind:rotfl:

Aril

I feed our psycho cat on James Wellbeloved. When she came to us [she was a rescue cat] she had been on wet food which had upset her stomach. You can order a free sample from their website if you want to try your moggies on it. I now order a 10kg bag online as it saves us £15 even when we have paid p&P rather than using the local suppliers.
If you do change their diet I believe that it's best to do it gradually mixing the old with the new.
Aril

Hardup_Hester

My hubby isn't keen on veggie food, some of things I serve include sausages, liver, stuffed lambs hearts & home made meatloaf, this is minced beef, sausage meat & stuffing mixed together, an egg to bind. If you don't have a loaf tin cook it in a casserole dish.
Hester

cuddlymarm

Hi

Have you tried taking your OH food shopping. Make a list for the week and then make sure he knows what things cost. I know its difficult (mines a real pain to take shopping but it was only when we were really struggling to pay any bills that he started to realise how expensie food is and that you can't always hae everything that you want. We compromise eg he really hates own brand cornflakes and cheap bread so we buy those but buy own brand other things eg beans, sausges etc

Hope this helps
Cuddles:rotfl:

annie123

I will also make a weeks lot of sandwiches for OH and freeze them (for his lunch at work so he doesnt have to spend the £7 a day he is spending on breakfast and lunch at work


With his attitude, why save him £140 per month? and tell him to buy his own fizzy drinks.
He needs to understand that you both have to make changes. or get him to do and pay for ,your weekly shop, that would give him an understanding of how much stuff costs.

Olliebeak

Gracie_1827 wrote: »

Why not split food budget in half..you buy your stuff and let him see how far his will go...that might change his mind:rotfl:

I did this with my b/f and it worked a treat - only had to keep it up for a couple of days as he soon learned his lesson!

For OS/MoneySaving to be really successful, you could do with your OH as committed to it as you are!

Would it make any difference to his 'branded diet fizz' habit if he could see that £50 per month is £600 per year - and how much that would pay for.

And his £140 per month for b/fast and lunch is actually £1680 per year :eek: - there's over £2000 that could potentially pay ftowards a holiday each year! Even if he doesn't spend that every week/month, there is a HUGE potential saving to be made. Not suggesting that the dear boy starves, BUT I'm sure he could make-do with an alternative.

Does he ever go shopping with you? Has he noticed the recent price hikes in just about everything? - and that's not counting the loss of your income from the budget every month.

Good Luck and here's hoping that he has his :idea: moment pretty soon .