MillieJon's SOA - advice please

OberonSH

Hey there, just my tuppence worth.

I tried cloth nappies, but I've had to work in the shop 9-4pm 6 days a week since my manager passed away, and it wasn't practical for us. However if you're at home all day/most of the day they're an excellent option, and the wraps retain their value ebaying-wise, so you can get a fair chunk of what you paid back once you're done with them. Takes a bit of practise but after a month I could fold them with my eyes shut.

Food shopping is always a sore point in anyone's budget. My hubby left in January and since then I've realised how much we used to spend unecessarily. Now I go through the freezer every Sunday and make a meal plan for the next week, making a note of what I'm missing. You'll find that a lot of your budget is spent on those 'oops I forgot the jam' type thngs, and popping round to the Spar is quite expensive. I make the usual 'feeds 4' portions and freeze the excess, and every now and again we have a freezer week and our food bill for me and year old can be as low as £8

I don't drive so I used to buy online at tescos, great for resisting impulse buying, esp if you use their shopping list bit. However once you start planning your meals you'll find you won't need that much, and so maybe a weekly shop at Lidl's/Netto will do.

I guess all that waffle boils down into - Plan things with military precision, and you'll find you're saving money without noticing. Meal plans are excellent, and can help get the kids involved in menu planning. You won't realise how much you have in your upboards until you do something like this. The BBC Food site has a receipe finder where you input what you have, and it pops up receipes. Excellent for 'I have lentils, tuna and a tomato. Hmm'. moments.

Well done on deceiding to quit smoking. Why not work out how much quicker you'll be debt free with the money from cigarettes available, and stick it on the fridge/fag packets/forehead as a motivator?!

Good luck!

OberonSH

Oh, and try Martin's tips on DVD ONline rental tarting for the kids - Even with paying it can be as low as £8 per month for unlimited amounts of DVDs (Tescos). You make up a list, they send them out. You watch, return in prepaid envelope and get the next. Works out much cheaper than Blockbuster if you do it regularly.

milliejon

Snich wrote:

Films on demand are very expensive - why not try swapping your clubcard vouchers for blockbuster vouchers? Much better on the wallet and you'll spend less of these because you have to hand over the money voucher each time and go to the video shop. Little things like this really help!

Thank you for this. I didn't know I could use my clubcard vouchers for blockbusters.

OberonSH wrote:

I tried cloth nappies ...However if you're at home all day/most of the day they're an excellent option

Unfortunately, hubby stays home to look after the kids and I don't think he would be very keen on this.

OberonSH wrote:

Well done on deceiding to quit smoking. Why not work out how much quicker you'll be debt free with the money from cigarettes available, and stick it on the fridge/fag packets/forehead as a motivator?!

This is a fantastic idea! I might take a few mins later to try this.

OberonSH wrote:

Oh, and try Martin's tips on DVD ONline rental tarting for the kids - Even with paying it can be as low as £8 per month for unlimited amounts of DVDs (Tescos). You make up a list, they send them out. You watch, return in prepaid envelope and get the next. Works out much cheaper than Blockbuster if you do it regularly.

I've done all my tarting! I get the 'you've been a customer in the past' message!