Rubbish Xmas - Hubby lost job. Need to cut back!

McKneff

Sorry your OH lost his job, its panic stations at the moment and your head will be all over the place, worrying about worrying even.

An SOA is a statement of affairs and when its listed out its amazing how many tips you can get from other posters re cutting down, even simple things like paying your council tax over 12 months instead of 10, someone will post a link for an SOA soon then just wait for the help.

Good look on the job front for OH.-

hot.chick

HUGGS.....

Have a look at what you have in the cupboards - do sort of a stock take if you like and see how many meal you can make out of what you already have in.

If you can put this into a meal plan and only buy the things you need - this will DRASTICALLY cut back your shopping bill.

Id be speaking to hubby as well and explaining that maybe portions might not be as large as he is used to, home made soup as a starter could fill him up a bit more for pennies???

Good luck - we are here to support you and there are many in similar situations.

bellaquidsin

(((((((HUGS))))))))) so sorry you are having to go through this so early in your married life.

There has already been some good advice here but surprisingly no-one has yet mentioned rubber chicken which is a staple diet of many OSers.
That's chicken made to S T R E T C H e.g. for the two of you:-
1) a slap up roast dinner with the legs
2) one breast made into a pie
3) the other breast made into chicken burgers
4) the pickings either in a curry or on a salad or in sandwiches and
5) last but not least the carcass in the slow cooker overnight with an onion and a couple of bay leaves, covered in water will give you stock for a soup which made with veg will give you at least 4 hearty portions.

There are many more perutations and if you don't want to be eating chicken all week you could strip your chicken and freeze in portions for use later and the carcass can also be frozen a dealt with whenever.

Puddings were an old fashioned way of filling hungry tummies and are fairly cheap if you think apple crumble, microwave steamed sponge (homemade of course) or just good old rice pudding.

Hope this helps, I've been where you are and I know by far the worst bit is that your head goes into overdrive. My father said to me at the time "Whatever happens, you still live" and I'm here 19 year's later to prove him right.

Bella.

GreyhoundAngel

dandm1 wrote: »

Greyhound thanks for your post, sorry this may be a totally stupid question, but what is SOA?

Sorry - I Wasn't thinking

McKneff wrote: »

An SOA is a statement of affairs and when its listed out its amazing how many tips you can get from other posters re cutting down, even simple things like paying your council tax over 12 months instead of 10, someone will post a link for an SOA soon then just wait for the help. .-

And here is a really good thread for explaining all about it, how to do one and which has a link to a SOA calculator
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280


G:A x

PolishBigSpender

My advice is not to cut back on the quality of food. Without good food, your body doesn't have good fuel - and like a machine, it needs good fuel. You wouldn't put 80 Octane fuel in your car (well, they do in Ukraine, but they're weird there...) - so why do it to your body?

The other thing - where do you live? If you live in a locality that has more than 5000 people, then you should get your OH to get out and find work that might be needing done. People always need leaves picked up, lawns mowed, gardens watered, cars washed, etc etc - and this could be a nice earner

Bronnie

Join your local freecycle/freegle. Keep a daily eye on the message board for things you might need/want and/or post wanteds. Can be just a source of interest/fun to cheer you up with a few new bits and bobs.

Bronnie

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

The other thing - where do you live? If you live in a locality that has more than 5000 people, then you should get your OH to get out and find work that might be needing done. People always need leaves picked up, lawns mowed, gardens watered, cars washed, etc etc - and this could be a nice earner

Advertise for baby-sitting too!

PolishBigSpender

Bronnie wrote: »

Advertise for baby-sitting too!

Yes! Plant-sitting and pet-sitting, too

Kimitatsu

dandm1 wrote: »

Hi All,

As mentioned in the title, hubby lost his job the day before New Years Eve, and until he gets a new job (going to be difficult at the moment as so many people are out of work!) we really need to cut back and try to reduce our outgoings because as it stands we don't currently have enough money to cover the bills!

So... do any of you have any practical suggestions on how to reduce our outgoings - tips/ deals/ recipes etc? Or get some extra money together? And do any of you know what benefits we may be entitled to until he is sorted?

Hiya

Sorry to hear of your predicament - its never easy but this time of year always makes it seem worse!

You can ask on the benefits board as to what you may be entitled to - but basically it depends on your family situation, and how much money you have coming into your household. If you go to www.entitledto.co.uk then that is the calculator all of the local authorities use to help determine what benefits you may be eligible for. If that seems a bit daunting then go and see your CAB or speak to your local council, all of them have welfare benefits advisers and they will be able to tell you what you will be entitled to claim and how to go about claiming it.

Good luck

Butterfly_Brain

Sorry to hear your news and I know from experience how worrying and stressful things are when this happens.
My advice is ;
1.Check out every benefit that you can get.
2.Don't shop in Tesco they are expensive try Aldi, Morrisons, Netto, Farmfoods, Iceland and Asda.
3.Meal Plan, make a list and only buy what is on your list.
4.Cook from scratch -
5.Try Smart price/basic items you can always go up a step if you don't like them ( Believe it or not Sainsbury have the best selection)
6. Don't be too proud to ask for help from friends and family - you really find out who your true friends are at this time.

Most of all
Keep smiling! Even through the bad times if you can smile you can get through anything.