I would like to save money on household bills

rentawitch

i am on a DMP with CCCS and they have given me a budget of £195 for all groceries and household items (cleaning materials etc) £15 per week for lunches and £21 per month to feed two cats.

What do you think? Is this hard? I am on the paleo diet which is meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. The food has to be good quality and unprocessed.

I am spending more than this at the moment.

And suggestions gratefully received. Thank you.

never-in-doubt

Unfortunately you need to decide what is more important to you right now, maintaining your DMP or getting deeper into debt cos of dietary needs?

Sorry, should be a no brainer! I read a thread the other morning about someone trying to salvage £75 per week from a £20 p/w budget to go on the whatever diet it is called (powder stuff like cambridge diet)..... - really, some people will never learn!

Trust me, you'll diet automatically when you stop buying so much food and cut your food budget to suit. As for the amount, £50 per week (when in debt) is actually a lot, cats can eat biscuits - buy trade from the pet shop in huge bags etc.....

downshifter

Is that just for one person? If so, I wish I had that much!

As the other poster has said, you can feed your cats far more cheaply than that and I'm sure there are other things you can cut down on. Is the diet for medical reasons? If not, as mentioned before, some compromises might have to be made though it's still possible to eat really healthily on very little. This site is full of ideas for cutting down, and there's also masses about substitutions, too, but maybe if you post a rough idea of what you buy we could suggest cheaper alternatives or things you could manage without.

Good luck, that seems like a lot to me, you could save masses in this area and use it towards something else.

gonzo127

it really depends on how many people you have to feed, i currently run a budget of between £300-350 a month for a family of 5 for all groceries (food, cleaning stuff and toiletries etc)

what you have to ask yourself is do you have to be on that diet for medical reasons? or is it just a diet to lose some weight? if its just to lose some weight then the normal portion control and not eating as much high fat high sugar junk food and exercising more is enough for virtually everyone

Tixy

Hi

Do you have £195per month, plus £15 per week and £21 per month for the cats? Is this just one person and the 2 cats?
If so that is easily doable, there are people on here who feed a family of 4 for £200 per month (including cleaning materials etc).

Try butchers and fishmongers for cheaper meat & fish than at the supermarket (and better quality as well).
Make sure you opt for seasonal fruit & veg, again try the local market or try the discount supermarkets such as lidl or aldi (aldi's super 6 are great for seasonal fruit & veg).
Will you eat pulses etc as part of your diet? if so lentils, chickpeas, beans etc make great filling foods and are of course unprocessed.

Could you try growing your own of some food? (salad leaves and tomatoes are really easy and can be grown in containers in a really small space/balcony etc).

If you are still struggling it might help to post up a typical days meals etc to see how these could be altered to save money.

rentawitch

Thank you for the replies.
Ok. I really had no idea.
The cats are really fussy. I do try them on cheaper food but they will leave it for days. They won't starve cos they always have biscuits but they like meat. It's not their fault I am in this mess.

The diet is not a diet - more a way of eating. I got fat eating crap food. Since I have been eating this way, I lost 30lbs and have normalised my blood pressure, got off sugar, salt, caffeine and alcohol. I have just filled an order at the good butchers but I shall cut down on the amount I eat.
I will use the stalls in the market for fruit and veg.
I really feel much healthier and this is as important as the financial situation if not more so.

I am not eating grains or pulses at all. But a good thought none-the-less.

I should really hunt out the cheapest washing materials. I already buy the cheapest loo rolls.

I am going to keep a diary and then look round the supermarket for the bargains before buying.

I will post my food diary in a couple of days.

Tixy

For cleaning materials etc places like the poundshops, wilkinsons, home bargains (if you have near you) are a good place to look, as well as just keeping an eye out for when things are on offer - a lot of items can be switched for the basic brands of the supermarkets. Its about working out what you can compromise on - personally I won't switch from persil washing powder as others give me allergies so I just make sure I buy it when its on offer or buy the large box which works out cheaper than the small etc.

You might also want to look on the oldstyle money saving board here on MSE, who generally think you can clean pretty much everything with stardrops, vinegar and lemons.

With cat food again I buy lots when its on offer (not so long ago I bought 20weeks supply as their favourite brand was half price) and I also give mine cheaper biscuits mixed in with their more expensive biscuits. I am told that aldi cat food is cheap and know of a few fussy cats who apparently will eat it. Perhaps start giving them meat slightly less often?

Good luck, I'm sure with a bit of planning and keeping a record of what you used to buy and what you can switch it to you will get there.

downshifter

Well done, - both on your weight loss and accompanying health benefits as well as making some strong decisions.

I eat a lot of fruit and veg (and do the Taste Radar survey, so can claim up to £25 a month back, though you do have to buy at supermarkets for this, however lots of good offers at supermarkets for fruit and veg)

In terms of cleaning materials, I use washing powder (usually the cheapest or on offer) washing up liquid and cheap bleach. Nothing else. I can make a great range of combinations of these for cleaning everything. Others swear by Stardrops and washing soda, and various other things, have a look at the old-style threads.

If your cats eat complete dried food , then they don't need anything else as long as they get access to water, so you don't need to buy tinned, or heaven forbid - pouches! I know you feel they shouldn't suffer because of your debts, but they won't really care at all, they don't read the price on the tins! Are they any good as mousers? They will get plenty of meat that way but make sure they're regularly wormed if they catch mice.

You're making great strides already, both in your mind set and in your actions - the results should show up soon in your purse too! Keep it up.

tryingtoruletheworld

Cleaning products are pretty easy to cut down, as above, the Old Style board is great. Bicarb instead of cream cleaner, vinegar to wipe surfaces and a bit of washing up liquid covers a fair amount of stuff! Shampoo etc is pretty cheap on offer/from discount stores too.

I know they aren't massively cheap, but aren't nuts and seeds normally allowed on paleo type diets? If so, mixed with mushrooms, herbs veggies etc they can make great burgers/nut loaf style things.

rentawitch

Food is meat or fish for lunch and dinner with steamed veg usually and sometimes fruit if I get a sweet tooth.
I drink herbal tea or water. Occasionally fruit juice.

I got a voucher from Asda for free delivery so I have just stocked up really big. Cat food, washing liquid, washing up liquid. I did go for fairy as I find the own brands are usually not good but this was on special offer.

I have started keeping a spending diary. I compromised on the eggs big time and got 30 from 99p but I feel a bit bad about that.

Went for the cheapest loo rolls as usual.

downshifter

Excellent, that's a great start. Cutting down on the flesh will help a bit so look for veggie alternatives - loads of recipes on here or via google. Lots of own brands are every bit as good as the branded stuff or better, in fact the majority are. Much of it made by the same firms but with different labels. There's several threads here about what you can't compromise on, with me it's instant coffee and marmite. But washing up liquid and most other things are fine, after all, why pay out for all that advertising and fancy packaging? But at least you went for the offers so that's great - and have you discovered whoopsies yet? You miss out on those if you shop online.

The other thing is you haven't said how often you shop and if you meal plan at all. It's worth planning ahead even for one, as it can be much cheaper to buy 3 of something, rather than 1 of something, if you plan to eat it within a few days, salmon steaks for example.

Anyway, keep it up, you've made a great start, make sure you record every little item of what you spend so you can compare it with previous months.

DS

...and ps, re eggs - have you ever thought of growing your own? I have 3 cute little bantams and they provide me with lovely little organic free range eggs every day. No trouble at all.