Savings... Are you having a laugh!

adwat

Sparkle78 wrote: »

How is anyone supposed to save on my budget;

Salary £1324.10

Mortgage 336 can't reduce due to current deal
Council Tax 126 has to be paid
Loan 242 secured on house
Gas 40 already in arrears due to faulty boiler I can't afford to fix
Electricity 35 in credit by £23
Sky (telephone, broadband and basic Sky package) 33 can't reduce!!
House Insurance 20 lowest I can get
TV Licence 13 by law
Car (NEEDED FOR WORK) 102 on finance til Jul 2011
Car Insurance 18 lowest I can get
Petrol 100 varies due to government!!
Debt Repayment 150 lowest it'll ever be til repaid
Bank Charges (constantly in red) 5
Mobile Phone 25 tied into deal for another 9 months

TOTAL £1245

LEFT £79.10

No food budget taken into account and only have £79 to live off a month!!

Would be better off not working and living off benefits... I don't have any money for luxuaries as pathetic as a magazine at 95p and I am sick of having to watch every single penny for 30 odd days a month from payday to payday!

Hi Sparkle

Tight budget!

Kill Sky and go FreeView - £33 per month saving (Cheap FreeView Boxes are ~£15 if you need one)

You've got your car loan finishing in July so in 8 months that's another £102 per month then, which gives you a bit more wiggle room, a grand total of £213.

OK it's not a fortune but it's a lot better than you're getting by on right now. Also, pay rise time in April normally so you may find yourself a bit better off then.

Go for any promotions at work, can you work any overtime?

How about a bar job a couple of evenings a week? added benefit of getting you out of the house and in different company.

Hope it works out for you!

firdol

I hope you can solve this problem.
I'm on a tight budget too but i always believe "no pain no gain".

kittiej

Aw Sparkle, sorry to hear about your tough times.

Can I be nosey and ask what food you buy each month and where you do your shop? Someone might be able to give you ideas of where to shop more cheaply eg if there's a local market or even what time of day to shop at the major supermarkets.

I'm a big believer in buying spuds by the sack but if it's just for yourself then that probably wouldn't be a great idea as they'll probably go off before you got to use them up - unless you have somewhere dark and cold to store them.

Have you got a freezer that you could fill with cheap bargains?

Also what else apart from food do you have to buy out of your £79?

Sorry for all the Q's lol.

PS re Greggs, have you had a look on the micro site to see if there are any offers to print off? Also check for discounts and coupons for money off other things.

gallygirl

Sparkle78 wrote: »

Aww thanks everyone, just finding life a struggle right now, hard living off toast all month n having to hide at lunchtime in work due to ashame that I can't even afford to eat out of Greggs x

Sparkle sorry to hear you are struggling . Have a look at some of the links above or go google for low cost lunches - or check out the library for recipe books. As for Greggs - have a look online & see how much fat, salt & calories there are in their food - then you have every excuse to bring in your own lunch! Make a big pot of home made lentil or split pea soup & take in a flask with some cheap rolls etc. Buy a massive pot of yogurt & take in a small pot every day. You can eat well with a little effort and as others have said your car will be paid off soon. Then you can go to Greggs - and scuttle back to your home made soup PDQ :rotfl: