Help with further cut backs

musogirl295

Hi all,

DH and I have been trying to cut back a bit for a while now but this is the first month we've tried to stick to a definate budget. Financially we're doing ok, DH works full time and I am self employed working part time hours. If we were to stick to our budget figures we would have a very healthy amount left for savings however this hasn't been the case and we also have a credit card (0%) to clear . At the moment we have a tracker mortgage so our payments are low however come January our deal runs out and as we're about 25k in negative equity we will have to move to the SVR paying a couple of hundred extra a month. As such we need to start controlling our spending.

We set our budget for the month at £420 (a lot I know). This is together all food, general spending, tinned dog food (big bag of dried is bought once a month seperate from budget), cleaning products, entertainment, takeaways and going out. We have already spent nearly £340! The food in the house covers us until friday and there will be enough left so that I don't have to spend too much in shops for the last week of the month although I do have my mum visiting us for that week so will need a bit more. I don't know how we've spent so much, its just me, DH and our Labrador. I've got a spending diary and it works out that about £120 of that is what I'd call unneccessary spending eg. takeaways(2), cinema(1 using vouchers), gardening stuff and DVD rentals.

I'm loathed to cut out the entertainment stuff as we've already reduced that greatly and our weekends are pretty dull at the mo (can't even take dog for long walks as he's fractured his paw!). The takeaways are prob the biggest problem and again we have reduced those greatly already (at one stage we were having 2 a week:eek:)

I've been meal planning , using leftovers and going round the shops to find the cheapest of everything but it still seems to be quite high.

Can anybody make any recommendations of further things we can do to cut this spending down?

Thanks,

Muso x

kippers

Are you looking for general cutbacks or food cutbacks? General household cutbacks can be found in the debt free wannabe threads and there are some brilliant tips. They help you to cut back on all sorts of things.

If it's ways to cut back on food then have a read of Weezels thread..it's a real eye-opener.

By the way, you can make some really lovely meals that are the same as takeaways but loads cheaper. It still feels like a treat. We have 'takeaway style' pizza once a week and we all think it's as nice as a pizzahut pizza!

There is loads of info on the oldstyle forum on cooking cleaning etc...so have an evening of reading on your computer and you will really benefit.

P.s Try twinks hobnobs they are wonderful

musogirl295

I guess I'm interested in general ideas, tricks that I might be missing!

Will take a look at Weezls thread

Thanks

[Deleted User]

yes I'm with the other posters on this ,sit down one evening with a big pad and a pen and search through the postings on OS you wil be amazed at how easy it is to cut back without too much effort.But do take baby steps or you many get fed up and give up.Its a bit like dieting .Find something you like and enjoy and then use it as a replacement for the expensive stuff. You won't be able to go to a months shopping for £20.00 straight away but you should be able to cut back quite a considerable amount without too much pain. Meal Plan and only buy what you need ,and not what you want, is a good start Good Luck we have all been there and if you get stuck there's always someone who can help

Tashja

On the entertainment front have you tried the free trial DVD rentals (especially if done through Quidco) You can then have a movie night with some home made Pizza and popcorn.

How about inviting some friends around for a night in and someone supply a starter, someone a main and someone a pudding.

Tescos have had an offer on for a 9.00 meal deal with a starter, main, pudding and wine - even this is cheaper then a take away.

You will get there

T -x-

paulwf

Cinema/DVD - if you don't already try Lovefilm (there are usually free trials to be had), you pay per month so if you use it a lot it works out very cheap per film.

Dog food - again you might already do this but if not order it online, I find viovet.co.uk a third cheaper than my local shop for cat food.

Takeaway: if having a curry cook the rice yourself, it will take 10 minutes, taste the same and save you a couple of quid for 2 portions.

Good luck!

attentionseeker1

Second paulwf's idea- definitely sign up to lovefilm if you get a lot of DVD rentals- I have reduced ours as we weren't using it that much so we now only get 2 DVDs a month but that costs between £3-4 total i.e. half the cost of Blockbuster. It costs about £10 for unlimited rentals so I'm sure that could save you money.

If your mortgage is going to cost that much then I think you will have to cut back on some of the non-essential spending- try to find free things to do together- spending time outdoors, free museums, galleries etc.

If your grocery bill is pretty high, I'd do the downshift challenge- if you currently buy branded food etc then switch down to supermarket own brand/value and see if you can notice a difference. For cooking ingredients like flour, tinned toms etc etc, you probably won't.

[Deleted User]

My son-in-law gets his rental games for the children from Love.com Its a lot cheaper when you have four boys who all want the lastest games to rent them than buy them,plus when they get bored with them as kids always do they can try different ones

randomer

my only thought is I've saved a lot on unecessary products such as deoderant,conditioner,cleaning products. I don't look at such things now and must've saved a few quid that way.(don't smell or anything!)
It's a fine line between being economical and miserable so I understand your reluctance to cut out little treats.
Libraries are good and free.

LameWolf

No pearls of wisdom to offer, other than agree that downshifting to a less expensive brand of some things might help. (Value flour does the job every bit as well as an expensive one, in my exerience).

But as a doglover, I wanted to wish your labrador a speedy recovery with his poorly paw.

juliapenguin

I agree with the downshifting too - some of the Value products are just as good if not better than the originals - for example I really, really like the Sainsburys value tortilla chips much better than Doritos. Unfortunately our Sainsburys in the city centre doesn't seem to do Value ANYTHING!!!!