How on earth do you do it???

Tondella

you do it bit by bit, I originally set myself a goal of £50 per week for one person (and often went over it too!), I'm now down to an average of £30 per week though some weeks are better than others. All the things that people have listed will help you cut the cost, I'm not a strict meal planner, but i do write a list now and have a much better idea of the price of things, whereas before they just used to go in the basket. I also work full time, which restricts the amount of time i can spend trawlling one or two supermarkets for bargains, going to the local market etc. so I know that i will never be able to match some of the budgets that full-time mum's keep to.

Queenie

Annie_Fanny wrote:

Ali-ok what are microfibre cloths and where do you get them from?

I understand you can get stardrops from Sainsburies?

Cheers

Annie

I get microfibre cloths from Tesco's but the better one's, in my opinion, are from the £1 shops - better choice of colours and they are larger too.

Word of caution on the £1 shop microfibre cloths ...

... last week after dh assisted in some muddy landscaping, he jumped in the boys old bath water (they were clean, he was muddy, saved water). No problem!
Until I went up there later and saw the bright orange microfibre cloth wrung out on the bath side; yet, the bath *hadn't* been wiped over. :think: :shocked: Dh had mistaken it for, an albeit rather large, flannel. This was the same cloth I'd used earlier to clean the bathroom!!!! :rotfl:
Moral dilema ensued: to tell or not to tell, that was the question!
The moral of the tale is, if you use microfibre cloths, be *sure* everyone in the house *knows* they are "cleaning" cloths and not some new-fangled max sized face flannel

domesticgoddess

wow amazing, my budget set by the CCCS is very generous at £100 per week for 2 adults and 3 children, within that is a small clothing allowance for the kids. I have to say at the moment it seems very generous.

Probably cos I don't buy disp nappies, I use cloth, I don't buy household cleaners or detergent which saves a lot of money. I am meal planning but can see areas where I can save more money for sure. Dh does tend to fill the store cupboard for its own sake but amd educating him that we do not need to fill fill.

I've also started to make cakes for the kids, better as you know what goes in to them also its fun for them. Will see if I can cut this down and put the money elsewhere. Great thread thanks

Mrs_Sparkle

I understand the need to fill cupboards- I think I have a nesting instinct that makes me want to stockpile tins of beans and chopped tomatoes, tea bags, oils- you name it basically. I hate running out of things but then I'm always short of a couple of ingredients to make a meal *confused*

At least I can now admit to my faults and can see where my overspend is going. I've started on a mission to use up the freezer and cupboards contents which is a small step but definitely in the right direction!

domestic_goddess

Mrs_Sparkle wrote:

I understand the need to fill cupboards- I think I have a nesting instinct that makes me want to stockpile tins of beans and chopped tomatoes, tea bags, oils- you name it basically. I hate running out of things but then I'm always short of a couple of ingredients to make a meal *confused*

I know what you mean why would i ever need six tins of tomatoes and five yes five tins of pilchards!!!
Apparently I thought I would at some point!