5 pets, out of work - need to save SOMEWHERE

picklepick

Get yourself over to the Old Style board and read threads on 50p per day and rubber chicken! They're full of cheap food ideas.

Good luck with the job hunt,
In the meantime, try 'up your income' for some extra.
Anything you can ebay for some cash?

gettingready

Picklepick - thanks for that....

Never used ebay in my life but may try.....now.....sigh....

picklepick

its quite easy to do once you get the hang of it. make sure you put on lots of good piccies of the things you're selling!

hope it goes ok at the job centre tomorrow xx

gettingready

Thanks... hope i can get some sleep tonight.....very worried

liz545

Thinking about what you feed your pets, try the fishmongers/butchers for any offcuts they'll give away or sell for cheap. After all, if you feed them human-grade food, it's as expensive as feeding yourself, but in terms of nutrition, the wobbly, knobbly bits are just as good for them!

BitterAndTwisted

gettingready wrote: »

The cat litter I use is the cheapest one really, only about 8.50 for a massive 30 litres bag, it is the volume that the kitties go through - but with 4 kittens I can not see a way round it.

Are you sure that's the cheapest cat-litter? Lidl sell a 10kg sack for less than £2

I really don't see how you can go through £40 worth of litter a month. I have one cat and go through £4 worth a month: you multiply that by four kittens and the answer is nowhere near £40. There's really no need to completely change the litter, just scoop and replace as necessary.

The pet insurance for the kittens definitely has to go. They're young, indoor pusscats so the risk of them becoming ill in the short-term is low.

Cut out the raw food until you can afford it when you're back in work. Of course they enjoy it but you're on a strict budget now and so should they be.

For feeding yourself and yours check out this site: apparently you can feed a family of four for £100 a month.

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

SnowyOwl_2

The Cats Protection League often runs a scheme where people on benefits can bring their cat(s) to their local vet for neutering and they will pick up the tab. It'd be worth phoning around different vets to find out who has participated in the scheme. You say that they aren't due to be done for a couple of months, so who knows, you might well be in work again by then.

I think your cat insurance will have to go for now. It's not forever....it's until you find a new job then you can check out whatever deals are available soon after you start your new job. As mentioned before your kittens are so young, and they live indoors so it's unlikely that anything will happen to them. I know you are worried, especially after what happened with your cat who had such a horrible time with his kidneys, but this is just a short break without insurance.

Have you tried any other types of cat litter? Sainsbury's and Tesco value ranges would do ok for now. It may not smell as nice as the wood pellets, but the kitties will still pee and poo while you save pennies. You can change back to your favourite brand after your return to work.

I would suggest that you have a look in the freezers at the supermarket, or Iceland, for packs of frozen mince and/or chicken pieces. I think those may well be cheaper than the chilled stuff. Tesco & Sainsbury's do value ranges of fresh chicken wings as well.

I am without a job as of today as well. I have three cats and they won't be going hungry!

gettingready

Sorry, bit of misunderstanding here - I do not buy raw meat specially for dog/cats.. they just get a bit of mine now and again...and it is bought frozen already (cheaper)

I have tried the other cat litters before and they needed changing more often as were not as absorbent as the wood based one. It is not that is my fav brand as such, it was recommended to me by someone who had 11 (yup 11) cats (few years back) as the most economical but will try something different of course now, no choice.

The insurance for just cats is about 25 per month, the rest is the dog - need to think this one through of course....

Will try the LIDL cat litter, will have to drag it on the bus (do not drive, do not have a car) but 10kg should be ok, thanks for that. The wood based one I used to order online from Pets at Home and they would deliver so that was always a plus.

Neutering will come on board in about 2-3 months so got a bit of time here, will get the boys done first and then the girls, aiming for having them done at 6 months of age as having 2 boys and 2 girls at home it would be very easy for an "accident to happen".

My cats and dog will not go hungry either - it is more likely to be me... love all my fury babies...

A bag of Orijen lasts more than a month for Zara, costs me about £40 per month to feed her. It seems expensive when you have to buy a bag but to feed a 38kg dog for £40 per month I think is pretty reasonable, am I wrong here?


Thanks for posting

gettingready

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

A
For feeding yourself and yours check out this site: apparently you can feed a family of four for £100 a month.

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

Thanks but I feed myself quite cheap anyway - I do not buy take aways, I cook at home from scratch, always did, do not believe in ready meals etc ....do not go out to eat either...

It is a good site but I do not eat a lot of things that go into receipes there (long story) - also I do believe it is actually cheaper to feed 4 people than to feed one as buying in bulk works fine for bigger families while 1 person still has to buy all the ingridients - they may last longer but you either end up eating same thing over and over again (freezing portions and reheating them later) or waste a lot.

I plan all my meals for just me so it can be awkward sometimes....

Still based on what I eat - my pets cost me much more than myself...LOL

gettingready

liz545 wrote: »

Thinking about what you feed your pets, try the fishmongers/butchers for any offcuts they'll give away or sell for cheap. After all, if you feed them human-grade food, it's as expensive as feeding yourself, but in terms of nutrition, the wobbly, knobbly bits are just as good for them!

You now what? I seen this advice so many times but never ever came across a butcher who would give me anything for free/sell it cheaper, honest. I must be very unlucky