Im over £3000 into my overdraft, and the charges are crippling me

ACon

Its hard when they are old enough to realise they are getting less. My daughter is 7 nxt mth, and Im only buying her a cheap digi cam, and some art stuff. So that will be around £50 instead of a usual birthday spend of £100, and no party, which she is going to hate me for.
Christmas is going to be cut down substantially too, and thats where she'll really notice, but it will have to be done. I usually spend £200 each, will try cut it down by half.

ACon

notlongnow wrote: »

I spend definately no more than £40 a week on groceries,loo rolls, washing liquid etc. £15 of that is a fruit and veg box delivered from Abel and Cole. We are a family of 2 adults, 3 children age 10 and 8, a 2 year old, a dog, 2 guinea pigs and a hamster. £80 to me seems very very high.

This could definately be lowered and there are some fab boards on here to help you.

Good luck.

omg, I cant imagine doing it for that little, I do 2 shops a wk, and each are around £40. My dog is raw fed and costs £15 a wk to feed though, thats why we just sold one. :-( We also have two rabbits, two hamsters and a gerbil, my daughter would be too hurt if we got rid of any.

BeautyandtheBeast_3

have you tried ebay for goods or even that freecycle website. She wont hate you for it at all for not having a party. Has she asked for a digi cam?

BeautyandtheBeast_3

ACon wrote: »

omg, I cant imagine doing it for that little, I do 2 shops a wk, and each are around £40. My dog is raw fed and costs £15 a wk to feed though, thats why we just sold one. :-( We also have two rabbits, two hamsters and a gerbil, my daughter would be too hurt if we got rid of any.

what kind of dog do you have? your children do seem to have lot of pets - how much does it cost to feed the rabbits and hamsters - just wondering if you buy hay and straw from pet shops or farmer, the farmer will be a lot cheaper and you can get bales as cheap as £1.50 for hay and £1.00 for straw. You could shred free newspapers and use that as bedding also???

ACon

Yeah shes very much into photography and art, so Im encouraging that. Id rather that than a games console.

BeautyandtheBeast_3

ACon wrote: »

Yeah shes very much into photography and art, so Im encouraging that. Id rather that than a games console.

totally understand!!

ACon

I have a siberian husky, very very fussy and sensitive stomached. The hamsters and gerbil are pretty cheap to keep, the rabbits quite a bit more. The rabbit food is about £3/4 and lasts 2 weeks, the hay/straw/sawdust all come from a pet warehouse, cheaper than pet shops, all in all about £6 for a mths supply to do all the animals.

notlongnow_2

Can she have a tea party at home? I think 'proper' parties are so much better than the £6-per-head-get-out-when-your-times-up places. Cheap bread to make some sarnies, make your own buns, cocktail sausages on sticks etc. You could do it for £20 max(Id also get a cake in that £20 too but appreciate not everyone is as thrifty as I am....YET lol) Do you have any car-boot sales nearby? Either you cvould sell some of your own items or keep an eye out for suitable toys for your little ones.

She wont hate you for not having a big party?

ACon

All her friends have big parties in the local hall, bouncy castle etc. So Id rather do no party than one she can only invite a few to iygm. The hall and castle cost around £50 to hire, and then the food for 30 kids, its well out of my reach atm. I did think about a cinema trip with her two best mates, on the £2.50 night. We'll see. (My mum will make a cake either way, so thats not an expense)

BeautyandtheBeast_3

tbh - i think you really need to cut your cloth to suit.