Can you help me budget?????

djtonyb

Ok here goes.

I have £350/month to feed me, DH, LO, 3 fish and a hamster. We over spend (Ok I can here the :eek: from here). I know this is plenty and you all live on a fraction of this and I'm starting to stress about overspending.

Can you help me budget? My DH is a SAHD and goes shopping every day, I know the first thing I need to do is plan a weekly menu and go from there.

any other help. Please?????????

shell2001

I am fairly new to this but my current budget is the same as you for me, DH and 2 dd (aged 3 & 2) and a hamster also. Out of this I have to buy all toiletries, nappies, wipes, prescriptions and the odd haircut.

I am really hoping to slash this amount down over the following months but so far I made a menu plan for the whole month and made sure I had in all the prebuyable ingredients. This means I only really need to go to the local greengrocer (who sells hamster food for pennies a loose bag, also bedding and wood savings for £1 a bag) to get the fresh fruit and veg. Going shopping daily is dangerous!!! Especially if you take the littleones with you.

I have also started making a loaf of bread everyday. Whenever I did my tesco order I would be spending nearly £10 a fornight on bread, making my own is working out so much cheaper, plus its not full of all the preservatives. I have stopped buying biscuits etc and we now make our own on a regular basis.

I have also started writing down everything I buy and will keep all this months receipts so I can highlight all the stuff I bought that we did not need. Am sure once I tally this up it will make me more determined and aware for the future.

As I say i am just starting so will be reading with interest the words of wisdom from OS experts.

Pink.

Hi djtonyb,

If you have a browse through the Mega Index thread, in particular the sections on getting started and budgeting you should find some help there.

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