help me save some money please

Tracey04

Ive been sent to this forum from another one to see if any one can help me. This is what i had posted

"i know most of us are in the same boat, but what do I do. I'm not in debt..yet..for the first time in my life its beggining to look that way
Any ideas from you out there would be helpful, but before I start giving explanations I don't want you to think they are excuses Im just painting the picture.

OK then where do I begin

money coming in pays all expenses like mortgage, bills, car and food etc(these already are down to the minimum I can spend.


But I have nothing else left and I mean not one spare penny.. I know they are all luxuries and you will be laughing thinking what are these . i have never been filpant with money but here goes,
no clothes, no glasses, no haircuts( and I only go twice a year for a dry cut),no christmas or birthday presents not even a card or anything for my children,I carn't even afford to park the car!, no holidays( I'm used to a fornight in the sun) not even one day trip a year, no meals out I dont drink much but not even one bottle of wine I can afford.

I work the most I can but have 2 primary aged boys to bring up alone so working extra is not an option.

My mum says just tighten your belt for a year , but how and I carn't see that making much difference to the year after when the bills have gone up and still no extra cash.

Sorry for moaning but I do not want to get in a mess, hoping to save myself befor I begin to sink !!!

I now know what living on the bread line means!

Thanks for listening any help appreciated Tracey"

They asked for my soa and I sent this

"My SOA

Monthly Incomings:

£1315.11 inc wage, WFTC, CSA

Total - £1315.11

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £274.18
Council Tax - £65.83
Home/Building Insurance - £19.32
Gas - £33.62
Electric - £21.68
Water rates - £22.60
Phone - £18.08
Internet - £14.99
Mobile - £2.50
Household maintance/repairs - £35.00
Food - £216.50
Pet Food etc - £10.00
Car MOT /maintance - £8.33
Car Insurance - £25.55
Car Tax - £10.42
Petrol - £86.60
Car repairs - £10.00
Life Insurance - £8.44
Investments/policies - £74.30
College books etc - £4.17
TV licence - £10.54
Church - £4.33
Car loan ( to Mum)- £100.00

so I have £238.13 left.


these are the figs I came up with per month
garden - £1.25
eating out - £8.33
drinking out - £4.17
meals at work - £2.00
park and ride / parking - £4.17
mothers/fathers/easter day - £5.00
cost of christmas - £57.92 (2 children plus 13 family members)
cost of birthdays - £37.50 as above
cost of weekend break - £16.67
cost of holiday - £166.67
cost of new electrical applicances- £21.67
clothes and shoes - £25.00
hobbies - £6.25
families day out(swimming etc) - £8.33
haircuts - £8.33 ( if I have it highlighted)
beauty products/treatments - £2.50
optical - £8.33
chemist /tablets - £5.67
magazine - £3.00

total short -£154.63 per month

Family allowance is kept separate, for school uniforms, their clothes, clubs, haircuts etc. Nothing left if not I go over alittle with this also.

Any ideas????"

Thanks again

Someone from Debt free wanabe said that you all would help me to reduce, food, shopping, (food and pressies), household, etc. Any ideas Thanks

Icemaiden

Hi tracey04 & Welcome to Old Style.

I'm sure there'll be loads of experienced old hands along with sound & proper advice very soon. In the meantime may I suggest you take a look at 'Welcome to moneysaving old style' near the top of the page (sorry can't do links) as its packed full of useful info and what were all about.

I used to think nothing of spending £100 per week on food & household items and with the help of this forum now spend £200 per month for 3 adults and 1 child.
Hang in there you look like your doing a great job already.

Ice

moggins

If it's just the three of you, you could probably shave at least £50 a month of that food bill. Try menu planning and shopping later at night and picking up yellow stickered stuff, remember to send off for as many freebies and vouchers as you can. Some Tescos are being a bit funny about vouchers at the moment but you can still find the odd assistant who will take them.

Also use all the paid to click sites. Pigsback will pay out in Boots vouchers if you want so you can use these for gifts and toiletries.

culpepper

Dont go on holiday this year.
We didnt have one for 6 years once the bubs arrived as we just didnt have any money. We used to go for picnics and walks.
Must you use the car? A bike is cheaper to run and keeps you fit.
Take homemade sandwiches for work.
You must get through a lot of electrical stuff if it cost nearly £22 a month.Perhaps you could cut back there?
Dont eat out,or not as often same with drinking out.

scuzz

Hi Tracey04

Check out the referals board for cashback sites. Lots of them don't require any spending. Places like yougov are good as they pay you for doing surveys

I know you're a busy single mum, but are you cooking from scratch? This can save money. Also as others have said menu plan

Have a flick through this section though, as there are tips on how to cut back on energy use, thus saving on bills, as well as how to forage for food in the country and the seaside.

You could miss the holiday this year. When I was younger, we could never aford to go away, and it was 8 years before I went away. So from 8 through to 16, we just stayed home, and it didn't bother me.

Do you need to eat and drink out? Cos that could be an area to cut back in.

Good luck with cutting back and let us know how you go. Don't forget we're all here to help where we can

Ajax18

Ok, I have a few suggestions:

1. Hair
I always get my hair cut at hairdressing schools (there is tony and guy and vidal sassoon). Scan your paper for a voucher and then it is free. They do a really good job, my hair is looking great at the moment and you get free colouring too if you want.
Also, when you buy a bottle of herbal essences shampoo (2,37 pounds I think) you get a free haircut (only buy a promotion bottle, it will say free haircut at the front).
That will save you the hair dresser.

2. Phone
Phone: Check out Martin's call checker tool. It will tell you which are the cheapest providers to use for phoning landlines, mobiles. abroad etc. We are saving lots and lots of money with this. we made a table which is by the phone so that you always know which provider to use at what time of the day.

3. Clothes and Shoes:
You can always buy in charity shops. Some of the stuff is in great condition and doesn't cost much. Also, primark is quite trendy and you can make some real bargains. For the kids: try to freecycle for kids clothes. I am sure there are lots of people with lots of kids clothes that they don't need anymore. Generally sign up to freecycle, you can get a lot of electrical goods, furniture and bits and bobs for free! It's a great idea...

4. Food:
Email as many companies as possible asking nicely for vouchers. Look at the freebie site daily, you will get loads of stuff and it will safe you a small fortune when you go shopping. Buy in bulk if you can, it will work out cheaper in the end. When frozen food is on offer, buy loads, so your freezer is full. Good for days where you are a bit short of food.

That's it for now I think...

gwinnie

Hi Tracey, just some random thoughts here.

For presents for the adults this year, how about edibles. My friend's 8yo makes me posh chocolates, with her dad. They're really lovely truffle-like chocs and she puts them in a plastic drinks cup decorated with wrapping paper and tissue.

Jams, preserved fruits, chutneys etc are also nice and if you go to a street market at the close, you can often pick up real bargains.

Flowers and plants grown from seed or cuttings are nice pressies too. Spider plants are dead easy. Or grow cress. if you sew it in a pattern on a tray it will grow perfectly in the shape.

On the household maintenance, how much are you spending on cleaning materials? There's some great info here on how you cut it down to just vinegar, bicarb, soda crystals, and stardrops.

I've also stopped buying dusters and cut up old t-shirts instead.

Confession time, there are two tightfisted things I do that my friends roll their eyes at! One is not to use one teabag per mug. I either make a pot or re-use the bag, although only for myself. Guests get fresh! And secondly, I empty out the vacuum cleaner bag once or twice and re-use. They're just sooo expensive. It's a messy job and I take it outside and wear a rag round my nose and mouth. But you get twice or three times the wear out of it, so I'm not proud!

Wingman

Mrs Wingman here I can sympathise completely with you, your in a similar situation as us, although there are two of us, I can't work due to bad health, so its just one wage, to bring up two children, pay a mortgage etc etc.

I buy a lot of clothes off Ebay and that helps us a lot, when we have finished with them, I bundle them up and re-sell them and the money goes toward the next seasons clothing.

I would also like to say hats off to you for working full time to support your children and doing it on your own, it can't be easy for you and I admire you so much!

Best of luck x

taplady

Hi I would like to second what Mrs Wingman said, you're doing a great job already!:T
I'm no expert but have saved a fortune with the help of others here! the best thing I did was to menu plan and cook from scratch where possible and freeze extra portions for another day. Also home baking is very good once you've bought the essentials and they taste better and you know whats in them!;) perhaps the kids could help?

I hope you find the help you need and wish you good luck!

Prudent

Hi Tracy. Well done on such a comprehensive list. I started using mse about two years ago. I am also a single parent. I just have one child - a teenage girl. Like yourself, I wasn't in debt, but was worrying I was going to be. I was spending about £1100 per month at that stage, but now spend £850 per month (plus I budget for another £100 car depreciation).

Since coming to mse I have been enabled to:
1) pay off the mortgage from all the savings
2) Increase holidays -which I love- to 2 week long holidays and 4 -5 short breaks
3) Give my daughter a standard of living that is no worse than her friends from much more affluent families.
4) put money in savings and build up a reasonable amount.

Hang in there - mse will give you a much better lifestyle for your income.

First thought is that your food is high. I spend £90 per month for two of us plus two picky cats. My tip is to shop early evening - some stores do massive reductions then.

Do you need the life insurance I cancelled mine when I went into extreme money saving to pay off mortgage. I don't feel worried about not having it (and I am a born worrier!).

Could you cancel the policies? They are taking a lot of your income.

Wingman

Prudent wrote:

Hi Tracy. Well done on such a comprehensive list. I started using mse about two years ago. I am also a single parent. I just have one child - a teenage girl. Like yourself, I wasn't in debt, but was worrying I was going to be. I was spending about £1100 per month at that stage, but now spend £850 per month (plus I budget for another £100 car depreciation).

Since coming to mse I have been enabled to:
1) pay off the mortgage from all the savings
2) Increase holidays -which I love- to 2 week long holidays and 4 -5 short breaks
3) Give my daughter a standard of living that is no worse than her friends from much more affluent families.
4) put money in savings and build up a reasonable amount.

That sounds impressive, how have you done this? I have halved my shopping bill, but, as bills keep going up and up I don't seem any better off