What else can I do?

nicola1982_2

I'd get a used car instead. Cars devalue so quickly that a good runner can set you back as little as £500. Your food bill is too high - do you have a big freezer? Bulk cook, buy huge 6pt milk bottles, decant into smaller bottles and freeze (Asda sell a 1.5 l bottle of orange juice - I save the empty bottles for milk freezing!), DON'T BUY SNACKS - I'm assuming that you have teenagers. Teenagers have little concept of the cost of stuff so will eat anything they can grab. My partner, although not a teen does the same (as does his toddler, but that's another story) so I don't buy snack food. If they're really hungry they need to make something or buy their own snack - otherwise wait until dinner. Make sure you pay the bills first - then you'll see how much you can spend on the rest. You'll soon find a way to cut down believe me! And try Aldi or Lidl rather than Asda. Firstly they're cheap, secondly less stuff so you tend to buy just what you need and thirdly the food is nicer than the Asda value brand.

ChrissieI

Hubby is going to the market at 3pm, with a £20 budget, for that he will have to get enough fruit and veg to last us until Friday - that might sound like a lot, but middle child eats so much fruit.

£20 for just fruit and veg. Friday is only four days away. I know you say your middle child eats a lot of fruit (and it is of course very good for him) but £20 for just fruit and veg is very high.
Has your husband tried going in to vehicle rental companys and asking if they have any vacancies. Where I work people often walk in and ask for jobs. We need drivers to collect and deliver our vehicles. Its not as well paid as lorry driving but it is still a wage.
If I was in your position I would only be buying meat for Sunday and then it would be a small amount filling out with vegtables.
You should stand up to your mother in law tell her the way it is and if she doesn't like it thats tough. If she cared about her son and grand children she would be treating them to pizzas to take the burden off you.
I must add that Christmas meals here are also £75 a head. But if you can't afford it don't go. Can the inlaws pay for you as your Christmas present?

I wish you good luck with what ever you do but I feel like some of the others that your light bulb moment hasn't happened yet.

Sending you a hug hope it helps

Greenwellies_2

nicola1982 wrote:

I'd get a used car instead. Cars devalue so quickly that a good runner can set you back as little as £500. Your food bill is too high - do you have a big freezer? Bulk cook, buy huge 6pt milk bottles, decant into smaller bottles and freeze (Asda sell a 1.5 l bottle of orange juice - I save the empty bottles for milk freezing!), DON'T BUY SNACKS - I'm assuming that you have teenagers. Teenagers have little concept of the cost of stuff so will eat anything they can grab. My partner, although not a teen does the same (as does his toddler, but that's another story) so I don't buy snack food. If they're really hungry they need to make something or buy their own snack - otherwise wait until dinner. Make sure you pay the bills first - then you'll see how much you can spend on the rest. You'll soon find a way to cut down believe me! And try Aldi or Lidl rather than Asda. Firstly they're cheap, secondly less stuff so you tend to buy just what you need and thirdly the food is nicer than the Asda value brand.

I'll pass on the car... Just because where I live they sell cars without MOT's etc for £500!
Anyhow looking at your other suggestions, I do bulk buy bread and meat, I don't freeze milk as the children never get bread out, so I doubt they will get milk out either.
As for snacks, when one of them says "can we buy crisps" I usually offer them a slice of lard! I'm sure it's about the same nutritional content!
They have enough fruit and vegetables that they can pick from and I also make houmous from time to time. I stopped buying processed foods about 3 (maybe 4) years ago. So we don't have biscuits, cakes, jars of pasta / chicken style sauces, ready meals, frozen pizza's etc.

Thanks

GW

Greenwellies_2

Ok, I think the lightbulb is flickering - here's the idea
Monthly
Overdraft Cost 5
Mortgage 700.44
Household Maintenance 0
Water Rates 38
Gas Bill 10
Electricity Bill 17
Home Phone Bill 18.5
Internet Bill 15
Mobile Phone Bill(s) 24
Food & Household Shopping 300
Pet Food 15
Car Maintainence 50
Petrol 50
Car Loan Repayments 300
Personal Loan Repayments Owe £1000, but on 0% so not paying it 0
Credit Card Repayments 300
Mini Cash ISA's 0
Pocket Money 10
Big Days Out 0
Family Days Out 0
TV Licence 25.3
New Clothes £25.
Optical Bills £25.00
salary -1040
benefits -670

This is me on my new 'budget'.
If I sell the car, I will clear the credit card debts.
That will save me £300 a month in repayments. Also without the additional car, I can put the £30 saved from the car budget account. So that would instantly bring me within my limits.

I have looked at auto trader, £55 *cringe*
I can't list it on ebay as I have reached my limits.

I could ask a friend to list it for me. Here's hoping!

Thanks

GW

lynzpower

2 things

1) you say loan on 0% so not paying it, what do you mean? you are defaulting?
2) if the ebay "has reached its limit" what do you mean?

fizzel81

ebay reaches it limit when you have listed so much i.e listing and final value fee's you cannot list anymore untill you have paid fee's oweing
sorry to butt in.

Emmzi

Greenwellies wrote:

Can you show me where it is? I haven't quite got used to this website yet!

GW

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1139914268,92033

what's hot and what's not at lidl, aldi, etc..

Annie_Fanny

Greenwellies wrote:

Anyhow looking at your other suggestions, I do bulk buy bread and meat, I don't freeze milk as the children never get bread out, so I doubt they will get milk out either.

Do they not have hands? If there is no fresh milk they will have to get it out the freezer - for fook sakes? My partner's grandad had to cycle from Doncaster to Leeds for a window cleaning round when he was young!

ChrissieI

Greenwellies wrote:

I'll pass on the car... Just because where I live they sell cars without MOT's etc for £500!
Anyhow looking at your other suggestions, I do bulk buy bread and meat, I don't freeze milk as the children never get bread out, so I doubt they will get milk out either.


GW

Cant you get the milk out?
Sorry got to stop reading this thread.Now i'm getting annoyed.
I hope your husband finds a job soon. As you really haven't had the light bulb moment yet and I'm thinking that soon you will be in an even bigger financial mess.
You asked for help and then just keep making excuses (which is your right) but you dismiss most peoples ideas. I don't mean to sound unfair or upset you but you really have missed the point.

climbgirl

ChrissieI wrote:

Cant you get the milk out?
Sorry got to stop reading this thread.Now i'm getting annoyed.
I hope your husband finds a job soon. As you really haven't had the light bulb moment yet and I'm thinking that soon you will be in an even bigger financial mess.
You asked for help and then just keep making excuses (which is your right) but you dismiss most peoples ideas. I don't mean to sound unfair or upset you but you really have missed the point.

Agreed. It might be tough love, but you have to take some of this on board, you're making crazy excuses 'can't freeze milk because the kids won't take it out'. They'll soon learn to if there's no milk!

The comment about not eating foreign foods and meats always makes me laugh (you're not the only one to say this on these boards, believe me!). The UK has some of the most 'relaxed' food health & safety regulations in the developed word. Your meat will be much safer coming from parts of europe and australasia!

I hope you start taking some of this advice on board and stop excusing it all away. You asked for help, you need to listen to what people are saying. The people here have been through what you're going through, they know what they're talking about, they've learnt it the hard way!