Going "old style"

tillymama_2

Hi all,

I'm new round these parts!

I'm on a mission to cut our costs, mainly on food. I'm currently on maternity leave having had our first baby in July, and October is the start of the dreaded SMP!!

My main aim is to be able to be able to become a SAHM, rather than return to work next year...but in order to do that, we're going to have to make some major changes as I was bringing in about £1200 a month.

DH earns £1400 p/m, and our bills come to just over £1000...so we think it will be more than doable for me to stay at home :j, but we'll need to be smart about it.

I've started meal planning, but we're still spending over £50 a week on groceries...which having read some of the threads on here, is still way above what it could be.

I have a few questions:

1) How much is realistic for our new grocery budget per week? I don't want to go totally veggie, but am happy for 2-3 veggie meals a week. I just need to feed me and DH (big appetites!), and get milk and nappies for DD.

2) Is it worth (financially & time wise) making your own bread? And if so, is it easiest to get a bread maker? We get through a lot and I don't know if it's feasable or not.

3) Am I best to meal plan for the month, or just for the week? I will be doing weekly shops. But is it easier to economise one way or the other?

4) Does anyone have any tips for money-saving Online? Neither me or DH drive, so we do all our shopping (except for emergencies!) on Tesco.com at the moment. I know a lot of the tips for saving money are to do with getting bargains at the supermarkets...but we just can't do that

5) Does everyone include housey bits (ie. loo roll, washing powder etc) in their budget, or do you have a seperate monthly(?) one for those items?

Sorry, this has turned into a bit of an essay!

Hope someone can help!

Helen x

ifonlyitwaseasier

welcome to the board!!

it might be worth doing your own verison of the grocery challenge (see near top of board) and keeping all your receipts so you know exactly what you spend and can work out what you waste.

as you use tesco.com are you getting delivery's in the cheaper timeslot (i think late evenings are a bit cheaper from memory)

breadmaker, yes and no, i love ours as i can't knead (get bad hands!!) but i also make some quick no knead bread that takes a few minutes to mix and is ready really quickly.

mealplanning is a great idea, you might be best off starting weekly to get into the routine then you could expand, but it's how you feel best able to cope with it that determines how far ahead you look.

are you getting your clubcard points? how about trying mysupermarket and comparing the costs between your local stores?

personally i include the lot, except for newspapers and special occaision dinners

good luck and if you have any other questions just ask

ioiwe

debtmuncher

tillymama wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm new round these parts!

I'm on a mission to cut our costs, mainly on food. I'm currently on maternity leave having had our first baby in July, and October is the start of the dreaded SMP!!

My main aim is to be able to be able to become a SAHM, rather than return to work next year...but in order to do that, we're going to have to make some major changes as I was bringing in about £1200 a month.

DH earns £1400 p/m, and our bills come to just over £1000...so we think it will be more than doable for me to stay at home :j, but we'll need to be smart about it.

I've started meal planning, but we're still spending over £50 a week on groceries...which having read some of the threads on here, is still way above what it could be.

I have a few questions:

1) How much is realistic for our new grocery budget per week? I don't want to go totally veggie, but am happy for 2-3 veggie meals a week. I just need to feed me and DH (big appetites!), and get milk and nappies for DD. set yourself a realistic budget then reduce it from that, everyone is different (families etc) so what works for one doesnt mean to say it would work for someone else. it needs to be realistic to yourself only. how much do you normally spend or how much can you set aside? you might want to think in a "maternity leave" mode now so you have plenty of time to get yourself sorted and still have money in your emergency fund.

2) Is it worth (financially & time wise) making your own bread? And if so, is it easiest to get a bread maker? We get through a lot and I don't know if it's feasable or not.
i would try making a hand made bread, delia smith does a fab easy recipe, see how you get on with that then consider the bread maker but even if you do decide to go and buy one they are pretty re sellable if you odnt get on with it. not jsut handy for bread, i make pizza with mine but hardly any bread as its not worth it for me (i feed a family of six)
3) Am I best to meal plan for the month, or just for the week? I will be doing weekly shops. But is it easier to economise one way or the other?
start off with the week or a fortnights shopping but seeing how you dont have other means of transport i would advise weekly and get all your shopping done in the one session. do you have a wee corner shop for milk etc?

4) Does anyone have any tips for money-saving Online? Neither me or DH drive, so we do all our shopping (except for emergencies!) on Tesco.com at the moment. I know a lot of the tips for saving money are to do with getting bargains at the supermarkets...but we just can't do that
plan your meals first then see if any of the offers that are available are of any good to you. everyone has different ways so remember because something is on offer it doesnt mean you have to buy it. some folks are able to buy more as they have a larger freezer whereas i dont so there is a difference in that.

5) Does everyone include housey bits (ie. loo roll, washing powder etc) in their budget, or do you have a seperate monthly(?) one for those items?
i include them in my food shopping, again personal choice, you wont have to be buying them every week though.

Sorry, this has turned into a bit of an essay!

Hope someone can help!

Helen x

hope that is of help, others will pop in to advise you as well, fab lot here.
how about starting it all of by doing a weeks menu planning, put up what you have in the house and the forum can help you out by advising what to cook with it etc.

have fun!

apoligies! just noticed you are on maternity leave!

Pink.

Hi tillymama,

Welcome to the Old Style board :hello:

As everyones needs/wants are different it's hard to put a figure on what is a reasonable amount to spend on groceries, but this thread should give you an idea of what others spend on their grocery shopping:

Grocery Shopping budget threads

It might also be worth joining in with the September 2009 Grocery Challenge thread. It's not a competition so you can set a reduced amount that you feel comfortable with and if you manage that then try to reduce it a little the following month. Everyone sets themselves a personal grocery budget and try to encourage and support each other throughout the month to stick to their own budget. What you include in your budget is entirely up to you.

For lots of tips and ideas on cutting back your grocery bill have a look at Martin's article on Supermarket Shopping and we also have a new board where grocery offers are posted regularly: Food Shopping & Groceries Also the Discount Codes 'n Vouchers board has vouchers and codes that should help with online shopping.

Regarding meal planning, it's a great way to save money by making sure you don't buy unnecessary things. Again whether you do it weekly or monthly will depend on what suits you. I agree with ifonlyitwaseasier that it might be best to begin planning on a weekly basis. To get some help with it, have a look in The Complete Menu Plans Collection.

For cheaper meal ideas have a look here: Cheap recipe threads

I have a breadmaker and it has it's place but lately I've been making more and more bread by hand so it might be worth trying that before you decide to invest in a breadmaker. It may be worth having a read through The Complete Breadmaking Collection to help you to decide. This thread in particular might be useful: Bread Maker - worth it?

I'm sorry to have bombarded you with links but if you take the time to read through them it should save you some money. Good luck with reducing your bill.


Pink

ktpie

Hello!

This doesn't actually answer any of your questions but in your situation my tip would be to start saving all of your maternity pay now and try to live on just your husbands pay. This will give you a buffer of savings and allow you to see if it is possible to live on just your husbands pay.
My little boy was born in July 2008 and I am now a SAHM, and loving it!

Our grocery budget is more than yours, although I am trying to cut it down a bit more, thanks to the grocery challenge, we eat mainly veggie stuff during the week then get some decent meat at the weekend, so to me your budget sounds reasonable.
Would you consider reusable nappies? I've saved a fortune using these over the past year. There are loads of threads on here with info about them.

I make my own bread but I am partial to nice tasty bread so never bought particularly cheap stuff in the first place. You have to get into the habit of making it regularly but it is saving us money.

I include all the money spent at the supermarket in my budget, I don't seperate out household items. It's up to you, at the end of the day it's all money spent so needs to be accounted for somewhere.

valk_scot

Make a point of finding out what benefits you're entitled to. Everyone gets Family Allowance but there are healthy food vouchers for some families (these replaced the milk tokens) and some lump sum vouchers as well. Free prescriptions for you till baby is one year old and free dental treatment too so if you're NHS at the dentist get anything you need done now. Also Family Tax Credits? I'm a bit out of date but your Health Visitor will have all the leaflets.

Not food related, but National Childbirth Trust nearly-new sales are a fantastic place to pick up toys, clothes and equipment for babies and toddlers at a fraction of new prices.

As to food and groceries the usual tools of meal planning, shopping around and working in cash are your best friends.

Olliebeak

Make sure you check out if you're entitled to any benefits as a family.

Have been considering shopping on-line myself as the delivery charge would save on taxi fares AND it would be delivered direct to my doorstep for me.

What has stopped me so far is the fact that I'm a 'whoopsie addict' and the thoughts of all those delightful yellow stickers sitting on the shelves would drive me absolutely potty - ie I spent around £1 on bread last night and got four loaves (2 granary tin, 1 white bakery sliced and 1 50/50) AND a bag of 24 barm cakes :j. I couldn't have got those with on-line shopping .

jackieglasgow

tillymama wrote: »

Hi all,


1) How much is realistic for our new grocery budget per week? I don't want to go totally veggie, but am happy for 2-3 veggie meals a week. I just need to feed me and DH (big appetites!), and get milk and nappies for DD.
I would suggest keeping your receipts, and do a sort of mealplan with them, to see how much you use for meals, etc. and how much is snacks, biscuits and so on. Then see what you can trim easily without missing it, and what you can replace with H/M if you want to try that. This will give you an idea of how much you should aim for in the GC and then try it for next month, and stick to the "rules" that you've set yourself e.g. only one bag of Sensations, Steak only on Saturdaya or whatever. Nappies, have you tried reuseable? There is an excellent thread on here which is very informative, and has a link for a site where you can try some before you buy!

2) Is it worth (financially & time wise) making your own bread? And if so, is it easiest to get a bread maker? We get through a lot and I don't know if it's feasable or not. We are bread eaters and used to eat a loaf a day, now we're making our own it's about one aevery two days. MY OH bakes it by hand as I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and it kills me to knead, but there is a good recipe for noo knead bread on Weezl's thread. Don't buy a BM til you've tried it a couple of times at least.

3) Am I best to meal plan for the month, or just for the week? I will be doing weekly shops. But is it easier to economise one way or the other?I plan for a week to ten days ahead, and go to Mr T once a week really. If you can go by bus or taxi for not too much money, it might be worth thinking about it once just to see what bargains are out there. I've also become a mad couponer, and this adds a lot to my budget at Mr T, which for you might negate some of the extra costs of travel? Even if you tried it only once, to see what kind of difference it makes.

4) Does anyone have any tips for money-saving Online? Neither me or DH drive, so we do all our shopping (except for emergencies!) on Tesco.com at the moment. I know a lot of the tips for saving money are to do with getting bargains at the supermarkets...but we just can't do that Sort of answered that above - I use My supermarket to search for best value, and if something branded I want is cheaper elsewhere I get one of my sisters or MIL to get it for me when they're doing theirs. EG one shops at Morrison, one at Asda and one Iceland and Farmfoods

5) Does everyone include housey bits (ie. loo roll, washing powder etc) in their budget, or do you have a seperate monthly(?) one for those items?
If it's in my trolley, it's in my budget.

Sorry, this has turned into a bit of an essay!


Hope someone can help!I hope it does.

Helen x

And congrats on the baby!

HTH Jackie X

dazzle21

Hello! I became a sahm last year when my son was born, i went os as money was going to be tight, now we're in our routine it's all going well! My big tip would be don't get upset if you can't do it all at once, i tried to do everthing os straight away and failed so take baby steps! and allow yourself the odd little treat!
Breadmaker - love it! My dh is in charge of it now as he likes to feel he's 'cooking' he does a loaf when he gets in from work. I got it from freecycle, so cost us nothing! Bread flour is fairly cheap, and you can't beat the smell of fresh bread!
Discover carboot sales (i'd never been to one until i was a sahm!)they're great for baby bits and well...everything!
Budget wise we come in between £150-£200 month for groceries but that includes everything (nappies,milk,baby snacks -when i'm feeling lazy, toiletries etc)
Look out on the freebies page for things, i have a tube of bepanthen i keep in the change bag which was a freebie - every little helps!

Good luck sure you'll do fine xxx

tillymama_2

Thanks so much for all the advice so far guys, really helpful!

I think we're claiming all we can benefit-wise, just got our tax credits award through which is another £90 a month at the minute, which all helps. I've let them know my income is due to drop, so that may give us a bit extra...not sure.

I'll get reading some of these other threads I think.

So much to think about when your income drops isn't there!!

Bitsy_Beans

tillymama wrote: »

1) How much is realistic for our new grocery budget per week? I don't want to go totally veggie, but am happy for 2-3 veggie meals a week. I just need to feed me and DH (big appetites!), and get milk and nappies for DD.
I budget £40 per week (but I don't pay for nappies - my grandparents do ) and my youngest is 14 months so now on cows milk. Formula and nappies are going to eat into your budget big time. Can you switch to washable nappies? (can't ditch formula now that your LO is established on it). I meal plan and buy pretty much 90% Sainsburys Basics and even then it can be a real struggle
I'd suggest looking back at past receipts to see what you spent and what was essentials and what was not and perhaps try and work out a budget using that.

2) Is it worth (financially & time wise) making your own bread? And if so, is it easiest to get a bread maker? We get through a lot and I don't know if it's feasable or not.

We get through loads of bread but I do prefer HM. It's more satisfying and keeps me going longer.
3) Am I best to meal plan for the month, or just for the week? I will be doing weekly shops. But is it easier to economise one way or the other?

I can't be bothered to do it for every week so I have a 7 week meal plan that I just put on rotation

4) Does anyone have any tips for money-saving Online? Neither me or DH drive, so we do all our shopping (except for emergencies!) on Tesco.com at the moment. I know a lot of the tips for saving money are to do with getting bargains at the supermarkets...but we just can't do that

Can't help here as I walk to supermarket or drive.
You could try Freecycle for any things you want, just don't be too greedy like some I've seen (wanting a Wii Fit Board etc etc :rolleyes:) Also try car boots and NCT sales for nearly new stuff.
I rarely get any bargains at the shops as they reduce the stuff at the wrong time for me ie kids bedtime etc.

5) Does everyone include housey bits (ie. loo roll, washing powder etc) in their budget, or do you have a seperate monthly(?) one for those items?

My weekly budget includes all washing stuff, toiletries, loo roll etc.
I buy Basics bleach, Stardrops (these are fab and only 73p in Sainsburys - it's a multipupose cleaner), basics loo roll and kitchen roll and tissues.

I agree to the suggestion of trying to live on your H's salary now. that way it should be a culture show when SMP runs out
Make sure you've registered for Child Tax credits (unlike me with second child - completely forgot and at 10 months old just remembered. They could only back date the payments for 3 months :doh:

I bulk out meat with lentils and veg etc. I try and cook from scratch and have the mentality of "can I make it myself cheaper".
I have also realised that I the portions I do the kids are waaaaaaaaay to large so am mindful of trying to be sensible there. We don't buy cakes and I only buy crisps if they are on offer. I make our sweet treats, biccies, cakes and stuff like tortillas. Most ideas have come from this board

It's a challenge but that's what I like. Only works though if you are both in on the money saving ethos. No point scrimping if OH is going to blow money elsewhere (not saying that your OH will of course).

Good luck and enjoy you new arrival. Sadly they're not like that for long