Is this realistic?

Hay_2

Ok I'm really getting into this now!It's amazing how addictive SAVING money is after years of just spending it!LOL:rotfl:
Anyway pre budget we used to spend a lot of ££s each week/month on food/beer/nappies etc etc.Looking through the bank statements aswell as the massive bundle of receipts stuffed in my bag I'm estimating we spent around £150 at least on groceries etc.So £600 a month ish...:o That's for Two adults,A 3 yr old,a 20 month old, a 9 week old,a dog and 6 cats.
I've sat and worked things out...worked out the MINIMUM we can spend on 1)the kids essentials and 2)the animals.
With the babies we have 2 in nappies and one at night...the absolute MUST have for nappies is £42 a month~that's with using either premium brands+a money off voucher or tescos own.Milk for my baby now she's no longer bfed is a LOT..she goes through a tin and a half a week~ so 6 in a month working out at £36:eek: Add wipes(tescos own on offer) 4 a month at £4 and £5 a month on baby bath etc and the absolute MINIMUM we can spend on baby stuff is £87 :eek:
Then the pets..had some good advice from a very helpful member..have now managed to chop the pet costs down aswell as give them a better diet so the least spend on pets a month is £46.
Sooo babies + pets essential covered costs £133 a month.


I made my first "budget" meal last night~a Spaghetti bolognaise.Instead of the usual dolmio,finest mince, cheese etc I made fresh with puree,herbs and tinned toms tasted Lovely!!I also bought a bigger mince and made two lots..one in freezer for another meal next week...PLUS froze a small pot of sauce for my son to have with pasta for a dinner or lunch one day AND pureed some sauce and pasta for my middle child who has eating issues and is still on mush!
So ONE spag will usually cost me around £3.50 to make THEN an organic jar for my daughter at around 70p so £4.20....
Instead I spent £2.89 for TWO meals for us,one dinner for my son and a dinner for my daughter:D I am getting hooked!!

I have had a go at a meal planner...don't laugh I'm still learning!!

Tues ~Spaghetti bolognaise
Wed~ chicken curry~have chicken in freezer,rice in cupboard.Bought mushrooms 30p,onion 4p,naan bread 58p,sauce(cheated)on offer at tesco 68p =£1.60
Thursday~Shepherds pie~have bought a large mince to make two and freeze one.Cost=£2.40ish.
Friday~Pastabake.Cost=£2.10
Saturday~BOGOF pizzas and garlic bread on offer too.Cost=£3.60
Sunday~Roast turkey breasts and potatoes,veg.Cost=£3.50ish.
Monday~Sausage and Mash.Cost=£1.30
A total of £17.39 ish for a weeks meals INCLUDING two meals for next week.
Normally I'd spend that easily on one days meal:o
I bought rolls and froze them for lunches,bought eggs etc and made fresh fillings instead of prepacked...also have veg and a 64p portion of stewing steak in slow cooker as I type for lunch....that's instead of DP spending £5 a day on lunch at work...and my son and I eating expensive ready meals.

Guess my question now is this....obviously I'm reducing our budget drastically.Am I trying to do too much at once?Or am I being realistic?
I have set our allowed spend at £90 for 15th May-22nd May instead of the usual(at least)£150..is that mad?And...is it daft to want to go lower?

So far I got tescos delivery yesterday and spent £76.28 on a full weeks worth of food,nappies,pet food.Got a months supply of washing powder,loo roll and toiletries...leaving us with £13.72 for the rest of the wk...to spend on a treat ie.£5 on beer at the weekend and maybe more fresh milk later in the week.
Any advice?That is if you're still awake after this epic post!!!LOL :beer:

HopeElizzy

I'm afraid I'm not much help on the advice front as I've not been doing this long either but I just needed to say WELL DONE! _party_ I think you're doing really well.

I did notice you had a Tesco delivery - did you use voucher codes to get money off your shop? I think they're on here somewhere but I'm sure exactly where so perhaps someone can point us both in the right direction?:D

mamaoba

Hi

have you thought about cloth nappies and wipes? I've saved a fortune this way. Contrary to popular belief they are very easy to launder with modern washing machines - you'd save plenty! You also wouldn't suffer stinking bin syndrome with the summer coming (nappies left in the bin for a week or fortnight till the binmen come smell evil!!!!). may you could just start by using them at night - every little helps

For wipes tesco value face flannels at 20p each do for all but the very worst changes. (I still use disposable wipes for the childminder but it still saves a fortune as it's amazing how mucky little hands and faces get + plain water is much better for the skin).
http://www.ukparents.co.uk has a wonderful cloth forum and will be far better placed to advise you than I can.

The other advice i can pass on is to get a £5 tesco stick blender and make you own baby food. why pay 70p for a broccoloi floret and a snippet of chicken someone else has blended for you? Your homemade version will be fresher and therefore have more nutrients. Do it yourself and either freeze it in old babyfood jars (you can sterilise them in the microwave or wee tupperware pots.) the only time I used commercial jars was for the odd day out in high summer (say a day at the seaside when I thought ds would need a snack on the train). The key thing to remember is don't add any salt when cooking if you go down this route. Annabel Karmel does some lovely books with recipes that will suit the whole family.

Good luck! Don't kill yourself trying to make lots of changes at once - just aim for a gradual reduction, with 2 little ones you've lots on your hands anyway and a gradual approcah is more likely to last iykwim.

Hay_2

Thankyou:D
HopeElizzy~I do use the tescos vouchers from blogspot,they're a great help thankyou!
Mamaoba~I'll look into cloth nappies...it's just that we have THREE kiddies..3yrs,20 months and 9 weeks.We use an average of 12 a day~wouldn't that be a lot of work washing them?Or am I just being lazy?:o It's just that with DP and three under 3s we do at least two washloads a day already.But I guess you soon get used to it...We are lucky in one way that as our 20 month old is tube fed we get a yellow bag collection weekly where they take all the syringes etc and all the nappies away too.And I started mt first pureeing session last night...no more jars here !!
Thanks a lot for your messages xx

golddustmedia

mamaoba wrote:

have you thought about cloth nappies and wipes? I've saved a fortune this way. Contrary to popular belief they are very easy to launder with modern washing machines - you'd save plenty! You also wouldn't suffer stinking bin syndrome with the summer coming (nappies left in the bin for a week or fortnight till the binmen come smell evil!!!!).

I heartily agree here. We've got a new baby (6 weeks) and are using cloth/terrys nappies but they are SO easy! We use a brand of wrap called "Bambino Mio". We picked up a large bundle of nappies and wraps on ebay quite cheaply. Using a nappy liner the nasty stuff goes down the loo and the cloth is hardly dirty for the washing machine.

We still have some disposables for days out, however I actually think the cloth ones might be easier since the wraps are like little velcro underpants.

Average cost;
Original outlay £50 (will recoup when sold)

Washing 1 or 2 times per week with nappisan
Liners less than a penny each
Disposables, perhaps 7 per week (if that many!)

I reckon the cost of using cloth nappies is probably under £2 per week!

Penny-Pincher!!

Hey Hay:D

Your doing brilliantly:j

Do you feel ok with so many changes so quickly? If so, then continue what your doing but dont knacker yourself out too much with OS and the 3 kids. If its abit overwhelming then take a step back and do one change at a time and introduce a new one every couple of weeks or so.

Your meal plan sounds delicious and we have all of those meals. Most you can double up on and grab a rest next week when you just have to pull a HM meal from the freezer...its a great feeling:p

When DD was a baby, I used to freeze HM food in ice cube pots then just flip out 3 at a time instead of taking the whole lot out IYSWIM. Just be careful with the salt content of some foods if giving to the baby as some can be quite deceiving.

You can also freeze fresh milk. We buy when its reduced to 20p or something, then freeze. Do you have a large freezer?

I think your doing a marvelous job hun. Good luck and remember that you need to eat properly too;)
Hugs
PP
xx

MushyPeas

Hi Hay
I don't have any advice but I wanted to say well done :T :T

You are doing brilliantly. Why not join the monthly grocery challenge or the store cupboard challenge? I've found that by cutting down my food shopping by a bit each month it is more achievable.

The OS recipe thread is great for cooking ideas and for cutting back on cleaning ideas.

I look forward to hearing about how you get on.

MP

sarah0404

Re the nappies. I have used cloth nappies since my daughter was a few months old. She's 5 now! I've had two other children since then and at times we have had two in nappies at the same time. We managed it. I used to put them on last thing at night and then either hang them outside or put them in the tumble drier in the morning. If you have plenty nappies you will be able to go 2 or 3 days without washing them. You can also get one sized nappies, which fit from 7 to 35lbs, so you could possibly use the same nappies on all your children. You could also look into a nappy laundry service in your area. I think the Cotton Bottoms website has some info. They deliver your nappies every week and take away the dirty ones. I'm not sure if this would save much money over buying disposables though. Apparently using a nappy laundry service is more environmentally friendly than washing at home though.

I've set a £200 per 4 weeks shopping budget for my family of 5. I keep thinking could I get it any lower! Money saving is becoming addictive.

Rachie_B

wow you have done brilliantly ,you should feel proud

with 3 small children (and animals too!) it cant be easy !

calleyw

Well done on the changes.

But as others have said. It might be better to go a little slow at first. As to many changes in one can make you feel like giving up. As it becomes way too much.

It might be best to start with the changes that will save you the most. Nappies and wipes.

Nothing wrong with your meal plans at all. Sounds very nice to me. Rather than chopping off £50 in one go how about say £20 to £130. And if you come in under then you can :j And pop the money in the emergency fund.

All the best. It is all about baby steps. A little at the time.


Yours


Calley

nicola1982_2

Why don't you get a waterproof matress protector and get the older one out of nappies altogether? You can get adaptors for the toilet and a step as well as a nightlight and get him/her using the toilet. The added bonus is not only will you be saving money but you will also be teaching your child to be more 'grown up'.

All you need to do is sit them down and explain grown ups get up to go to the toilet and as he/she is no longer a baby they can start to do it too. I've found that they usually don't go in the night anyway, just in the morning - our only prob is that he sometimes thinks its ok to wet the bed if he wants to play rather than get out and go! However the threat of putting him back in nappies seems to have curbed that one!