How to live on 65 per week?

PasturesNew

dmg24 wrote: »

For most people a meter works out cheaper. This is almost always the case when there is only one person in the house.

My parents aren't tight with water usage and they live in the most expensive water area of the country - and switching to a meter dropped their bill to 1/3rd of what it was.

Indeed, my dad loves to do a LOT of washing up and washing round the sink area, with the tap running.... as well as having the hose out in the garden.

There are even some taps that they can't turn off properly that I often find running and turn off. This is a daily occurrence (2-3x a day).

PasturesNew

sh1305 wrote: »

Do people living on £65 a week not buy food, then?

Not much ... and it can be from a variety of sources "as discovered on the cheap", so not one place that does Nectar. In fact, I've no idea where does Nectar in my town except Sainsburys - and that's a small one and quite new here and not that good for bargains.

I run a website for my town .... that'd make for an interesting article, where in this town Nectar could be used.

PasturesNew

I just looked up Nectar (I've never had a card) and it says "After spending £250 (with each receipt rounded down to the nearest pound), 500 points are earned, which translates to a rebate of £2.50 to be redeemed at the next shop". So, with a pared down food budget of, say, £12.50/week (makes for easy maths) and half of that being spent at Sainsburys (which it most likely wouldn't), it'd take 40 weeks to receive £2.50 off. Or 6.25p per week.

So, 1p/£1 spent. You'd probably "earn" more keeping your eyes peeled for pennies across the car park.

katsu

I agree re cancelling the TV - then you can put the sky into your BR (call up and cancel? Someone on the BR board should be able to tell you how to do this) and cancel the TV license too. If you want to keep the pet stuff then you might need to do something like this.

For the record I've got no TV and as long as you have the internet you can watch the odd programme on 4OD or iPlayer as long as you don't watch it live, as the other poster said. You could watch it every day if you wanted to!

Get books from the library (I agree that visiting it for warmth is good) and definitely get into Skype. Have a look at Rebtel (I think you can sign up via quidco). You should be able to use the inclusive minutes on your phone plus your rebtel credit to call abroad cheaply to mobiles.

Look at Martin's articles on international calling and work out the cheapest option for you.

irenem

as you are unemployed you could get a form for the PDSA and for £5 P0UNDS WILL COVER YOUR DOGS NEEDS FOR 6 MONTHS. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FIND A VET THAT IS PART OF THE PDSA GET A FORM HAVE IT FILLED IN BY UNEMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE OR THE HOUSING BENEFIT OFFICE , SEND A £5 POSTAL ORDER.HOPE THIS HELPS

taehc

It's not a lot of money but it is do-able if you are careful. Others have given great advice if you follow it. Look at the food your dog is on, I have a german shepherd with very bad tummy who reacts to everything, food, stress, excitement, excercise etc etc. We have moved her onto Dr Johns sivler working dog food wich cost 8.50-9.50 a bag and she is doing really well on it, better than any other food we had and it's less than a fifth of the price of the others we used. Check your insurance policy for your dog, at the moment you ONLY need 3rd party as you can't afford anything else. The PDSA are great for any other treatment the animals might need.

Check you heating, mine never goes about 3 (which is very rare only when it's -18 outside!) normally sits at off or 1-2, add an extra layer, keep busy keeps you from getting too cold.

Phone Sky again explain that you cannot afford to keep the package and the multi room and that if they cannot help you by reducing the package further you will end up defaulting, they can then remove the multi-room and either drop the package to the lowest or cancel it altogether.

You do need to look at BT and see what they can do, if it means getting rid of the ohone for a while then this is what you must do, if it is a case of e-mail or text people or get rid of your pets then I know what I would chose.

You also need to budget for food for yourself, you can't live off nothing and you need to put this into your calculations.

You may need to accept work that is different to what you did before, I think there is a time lmt that you can apply only for one type of work before they make you try for everything (at least that's how it works for teachers in Scotland). This should allow you to take a much lower rate of pay, at least being in a council property your rent gets covered and will not be too high when you start working again.

I think that the way people manage is to change their mindset and expectations about life. When I was a kid my dads business went under and his income fell from approx 50k to 2500k a year (early 90s) on that he had to support 6 of us, my 2 sisters were at uni but got no support as they were means tested on his previous years income, and me and my brother were at school. We managed by cutting right back, we got a card on b.day but nothing else, we lost the house, cars etc but managed to keep the animals (dogs, cats, goats). We had our own land until the house sold so that made a big difference. All the kids got part time jobs and we gave the money to my parents to help out and thats how we managed. We didn't get dinner money (though we prob. were allowed free school meals but didn't know this) or pocket money or new clothes, I went from 12-17 living out of charity shops. A tin of corned beef was a dinner for 6 of us along with potoatoes, we didnt have much but we managed and things got better for all of us over time.

I think what I am trying to say in a long winded way is listen to the people on here, get rid of everything that isn't essential (your pets are but is the phone really?) only you can decide what must stay. Keep applying for jobs and try not to get too down hearted (I know easy for me to say).

Good luck with the job search, you never know this could start a whole knew career for you, maybe you could start a dog walking, pet care business yourself then no employers to worry about.

Hope the new year brings better news x

littleowl

nickinoo wrote: »

Do you not need a license to watch those?

No. You only need a license to watch live television.

loislane999

Interesting thread - I've been self employed for 5 years - the last year made a loss so went onto JSA - which is going to appeal.....(not good) so anyway, back to the thread

Do not go onto metered gas and electric - you pay a higher premium for the 'priveledge' of using a key meter
and
if you have no pennies, your power goes off! at least with a bill you can delay till you get the finances sorted.

I use a bread machine all the time. A bag of bread flour from Lidls costs 50p at the mo - makes around 3 loaves. I have a smart meter which shows that baking the bread costs around 20p max, so for three loaves you will pay around £1.10 - cheaper and much healthier than the dross called bread in the value range (and I put in olives from Lidle, around £1 for a huge jar just for variety, or anything else you fancy). Bread machinesa are also great for pizza bases, pitta bread, rolls, buns....

Slow cooker and steamers, all good and heathy. Find the cheapest place for veggies - may not be the supermarket (try greegrocers / markets etc) and go for seasonal stuff - also - plan for growing your own and grow from seed. (beans and courgettes are really easy)

good luck - I am sure you will get loads of help from MSE forums.;)

loveGSDs

hi GoW

sorry to hear of ur situation, iv not read through every post on this thread, so if someone has already suggested it sorry

i see your spending £100 on pet food, im assuming this is processed dog food? have you thought about switching to raw? i feed 2 very large gsd's raw and it costs me £40 a month (and believe me they eat very very well)

find out if you have an abotoir near you as they are ideal for this, if not though some butchers sell off unsold/unsuitable cuts for dogs.

raw feeding also does wonders for the health of the dog and you would see the benefits quickly (especially if your dog has health problems)

do some research into it and PM me if you need any more info (cats can eat raw aswell!)

sending you cyber hugs and lots of luck

xx

forallotherthings31

Hey don't really have advice to add but it looks like you've already made some massive changes and savings and got some really good advice. Congrats cos your situation sounds difficult x