£90 for family of four for a month, help!

milliemonster

Rightyo, I am starting a new job on 7th Sept:j GREAT!!, but, my current employer pays me on 20th each month, in my new job I am going to be paid on last working day of each month (same as hubby) which means things are going to be very tight for us in September. This is because I have all my direct debits to come out on 21st of the month so in effect am going to have 2 lots on 21st August (day after I get paid) and 21st September, before I next get paid.

I am due a salary from my current job on 20th Sept for those first few days of Sept but as I owe my employer £250 for the float they gave me when I first started, this will cancel out what I get paid then. So in effect the salary I get on 20th August will have to last until 30th September with 2 lots of payments to come out of my account for bills due on 21st Aug and 21st Sept

I have moved a lot of my DD's forward but some I can't, like my credit card repayments, this means I have to find an additional £500 to pay for my 2 lots of CC repayments before I will next get paid on 30th Sept.

What I have done so far is amend all our debt repayments for Aug/Sept to minimum only (we have been overpaying) cancelled Sky and worked out we can get through it but it means we will only have £90 for food. Fortunately we are on holiday from 24th August until 4th September anyway, my freezer/storecupboards are stocked up, I have plenty of washing powder etc so we SHOULD be able to manage as we should just need essentials really like milk, bread (although I do make my own) fruit and veg.

As we are going to France, I had wanted to take some food with us though but this will have to come out of this budget too (although we have separate saved for the actual holiday, about £1000)

Therefore I have budgeted £30 a week to do some shopping on 5th Sept (just after we get home from holiday) 16th and 28th

Is this doable?, our family is me and hubby, kids aged 10 and 6

Hardup_Hester

Make a list of what you already have so when you go shopping you won't waste money on stuff you don't need.
Make a meal plan, this will also make sue you only spend on things you really need.
Good luck.
Hester

LilacPixie

Whats your store cupboard and freezer like?? Can you eek anything out of this months grocery budget to use??

I think its do-able but may be very basic depending on the contents of your cupboards and freezer.


plan and list is the key.

pennystretcher

Check out this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1157641

...plenty of great ideas on how to manage with very little money...

GettingHitched

Have a root round in the freezer ( make a list of what you have in cupboards/fridge too ) and then go through what you have ( maybe post a list here and see what peeps suggest )

WartimeScrapingofMarmite

I second what Hester said - I've been meal planning the past few weeks and am managing to feed 4 of us (and two cats) for £30 a week - sometimes less.

I've also been making sure we use up everything we can for evening meals before shopping for more - it has resulted in some unusual combinations, but we haven't gone hungry!

milliemonster

Thanks for your suggestions, yes I have been mealplanning and yes our freezers (yes that is correct we have 2!) are full to bursting, we have a chest freezer in the shed that is full, loads of fish, meat, quorn veg etc, my freezer in the kitchen is the same and I have a walk in pantry that is full

I need to sit down with hubby and look at what we have, plan our meals for the next month (aside from the holiday) and see what we need around what we already have.

I know I will need to top up on things like coffee (but I can get Nescafe from B&M for £2.49 instead of £5 in tesco!!!), have tried downshifting on coffee but can't find anything cheaper that I like. We will also need milk, juice for the kids for pack up when they are back at school, fruit (although we have an apple, pear and plum tree in the garden that are almost ripe!) veg - I have grown a lot this year so have plenty of things like runner beans, french beans, potatoes, salad, courgettes, spring onions, cabbage, carrots

We have been mealplanning for the last month or so and I think we have spent around £150 but some of that has been on wine and beer (we don't go out tho so it's our only luxury really) but we can do without that for a month.

I have lots of rice, pasta, grains and lentils, pulses etc in the pantry, loads of eggs which we get free from our chickens!!!!

Butterfly_Brain

I agree with what everyone else has said - check your store cupboards and freezer first and see what meals you can make with what you have already.

• Cut down on the amount of meat in each meal by slicing thinly and bulking out with veggies,
• Oatmeal and lentils are good for bulking out mince
• Buy a chicken and make it do 3 meals (see Rubber Chicken Thread)
• A tin of tuna and mash makes a good quantity of Tuna fishcakes.
• Plate Pies are a cheap way of making ingredients go further as are filled pancakes .
• Try downsizing to Value/Basics/Smart price items.
• Check out prices online before you shop
• Write a list and only take cash that way you can see what you are spending.
• When all else fails see if you can go to someone in the family for a meal
• Check out this thread it is inspiring http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1129333&highlight=mbaz

LilacPixie

farmfoods are £1 for a 4 pint carton of milk.

if you have 2 full freezers then it should be a doddle

Butterfly_Brain

Check out Aldis for fruit and veg offers, This month Cucumber 29p, Tomatoes 29p, 2 pack webs lettuce 29p, Mango 29p, Avocado 29p and celery for 29p.
Try your local market - when they are closing for the day they reduce the prices.

LilacPixie

Aldi is also good for bread flour etc. 67p for 1.5 kg which does me 3 large loaves