New to this~need to chop costs

Hay_2

This is my first post~I hope it's in the right place!!!

My DH has just taken a new job which is great with much better longterm prospects than his previous job.The wages are also far better at around £4K more initially,rising to £5.5K more after the first three months.Only problem is that because of this wage jump we are losing a lot of tax creds so despite the raise we end up around £250 worse off each month.....:eek:
We talked about it and decided we'd have to cope to give this new job a go but as a result I'm on here.....looking for your help:o
Now we have three young children~3 yrs old,19 months old and 7 weeks old.Two in nappies full time and the 3 yr old just in at night.We also have lots of pets~6 cats and a BIG dog who need feeding too.I'm a stay at home mum who cannot work due to one of the girls being poorly and on disability allowance,so DH is the sole income with noway of upping it right now.I've looked and looked and compared prices everywhere so have the basic cost of nappies,wipes,milk,dog food etc as low as I think they can go....but that's all from tescos online and I bet someone here can point me in a cheaper direction.
I am totally stuck when it comes to food,meals and especially lunches...I would LOVE to spend hrs and hrs baking but literally have no time.I cook a meal from scratch most nights but admit to cheating at times.3 under 3s are hard work!:rolleyes:
Can anyone start me off please?How do you suddenly halve a budget whilst strapped for time when you were already pretty careful about what you spent??Sorry if I sound thick or naive but like I said I'm new...please be nice:D x

Noozan

Just a thought - if one of your girls gets disability allowance, have you claimed carers allowance in your own right?

Hay_2

Thanks for that.My daughter is on the highest rate so yep I do get carers allowance thanks. x

ChocClare

You are doing BRILLIANTLY. Two toddlers, one disabled and a baby of 7 weeks and you've managed to compare prices already? When my kids were that little I still only had one leg in my jeans by midday!

Have you thought about buying pet food in bulk? We have to have Arden Grange food for our lurcher (greyhounds and lurchers have to have a fairly special diet otherwise they are VERY unpleasant to be near!!) and we buy it in great big sacks directly from the manufacturer. If there's a Pets At Home store near you, they often have BOGOFs on dog and cat food, and sell it larger amounts which makes it cheaper than eg Tesco's, though I realise getting out may be a problem for you with the little ones in tow.

I hesitate to mention it, but have you got a slow cooker? If so, you could spend 10 mins preparing ingredients and then get on with all the millions of other things facing you while it cooks for you.

You say you're stuck on meals and lunches, but what do you mean exactly? What do you and the girls usually have? Let us know, and it'll be easier to suggest alternatives/money saving things. Do you want quick, cheap recipes for you and DH (evenings) or you and girls (lunchtime) or just you or just girls?!

Keep smiling, I'm sure you'll get lots of great suggestions!

Tashja

The slow cooker is a must in our house.

Shove everything in it in the morning an leave it until the evening - healthy, hot homemade meals the easy way !!!

Check out the voucher board - they have vouchers for on-line shopping with tescos - things like £15 off a £100 shop.

T xx

moggins

I can't recommend meal planning highly enough, it gives you a chance to see what store cupboard ingredients you can use and what special offers you can take advantage of and also makes sure you don't waste anything as any leftovers can be incorporated into the next meal.

You'll probably find you'll get a lot more answers in the morning when the OS'ers are all buzzing around planning their days

Hay_2

Thanks!We do have a slow cooker~one of those things I bought full of good intentions,which now lives in the deep dark depths of a kitchen cupboard:o I have NO clue what to do with it mind you so may have to search the forum for tips.
When I say we struggle on meals I mean ideas~and keeping the cheap options interesting.Being honest we've never really scrimped before.If we wanted steak we had it.If we fancied a takeaway we got one.It's only really in the past few months with me having spent a bit of time shopping around on the net that I have started to try to cut back.Now we actually HAVE to and I'm lost!
For lunches for DH I usually do sandwiches with cooked meat etc,crisps,fruit~the usual.For me and my kids though it's harder.Only my 3 yr old son really eats with me but it's a case of finding cheap and easy things to prepare inbetween nappies and bottles!:p With dinners I always do fresh veg and things like fishfingers,sausage,pasta etc for the kids but am at a loss for me and DH.There's only so many ways to cook mince surely?:rolleyes:
I would really appreciate any ideas to cut back on the most expensive things each month....mainly nappies,baby milk,dog food,cat food......thanks again x

angelatgraceland

Have you tried using tvp(soya mince) to stretch out your meat menus? Its a good storecupboard basic at any time. The slowcooker is a must, as is a big bag of porrige oats! You can do so much with oats. Black-saturn made a menu planner which you may find useful, though there are lots of others also.
Try this link for some of the recipes.http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=157526&page=36&pp=10
Ive made the fruit cobbler-its great and cheap and easy. I use 8 oz flour and 4 oz sugar in the recipe-her recipe was too sweet. Tried the malt loaf but it was too small for us. I make a no fat tea bread instead. If you want the recipe please pm me.

angelatgraceland

Ive been feeding my dog on cooked rice and mince for a change now and then. She is a German Shepherd and I find that this realy fills her up. You can add some biscuits to it also, and a bit of gravy. I do this, when Im cooking rice for us, so its no extra work.

Hay_2

Oh that's a good idea for the dog!Bet she'd love that...she's a big girl(a Rotweiller) and eats a LOT but I guess your GSD is just as hungry.Will def try that~thanks!:T

Chipps

Hi, there are a lot of threads on here that can help.

If you are able to plan menus that can make quite a big difference, as you can plan for "leftovers". Eg. when making spag bog, make double the amount & freeze one for another day (or even 3 times the amount). If you are cooking potatoes one day, cook double & mash half for a pie topping for the next day.

Also, meal planning means you don't have to think "oh, no, what's for dinner" and then get a takeaway if things have gone wrong in the day.

The other thing I would say is, don't try and change everything overnight! It can be a bit overwhelming to try and do everything people have suggested, then you can end up feeling you have failed. So just try one or two things to begin with & see how it goes. Choose the things that you feel most comfortable with. If you try meal planning, it may be you are more comfortable planning for a week rather than a month.