Preparing for a more frugal future?

rachbc

My hubby is in the process of planning a much longed for career change which will potentially mean him going back to full time study for a year. On paper the no's work with just my salary but I would like to spend the next 6 months preparing an OS buffer to cushion against the drop in income.

First thoughts are food -currently we eat very very well on a budge of approx £300 a month - I know we could make cutbacks here and am thinking around £200 for 4 of us. My main plan is to stock up freezer with whoopsied meat/ farm shopbulk buys over the next few months so we have a stock to fall back on, as well as stocking up on some bulk staples like rice, pasta, tinned toms etc - not for the whole year but enough for aonth or 2 if things get bad!

Fuel - probably stock up on coal and wood over the summer when its cheaper and he is still working. Would it also make sense to up our month direct debit and get ahead on payments so if need be we can 'cash in' the credit on the account at a later date - I know it probably makes financial sense to keep it in savings but then there is the temptation for it to get spent on other things.

Other worries are things like kids christmas and birthday - I guess cash savings is the best plan here but could also start making stuff for family presents - and I know people won't expect much if they know circs have changed.

Get ahead on over paying on debt so we can make min payments for a year without it being too much of an issue - currently overpay by about £200 pm on a fixed low interest card but could up this to £300.

Anything glaringly obvious I might have missed?? I am so excited that after much soul searching he has a really good plan of action and that I can support him to achieve it - but am rally worried that we have outlooked something that would be a massive stumbling block!!

OrkneyStar

Sounds like you have it covered, my only worry would be the reliance on your income (what is your sick pay for example) ? All the best!

rachbc

my sick pay is 6m full and 6 m half - might be worth looking at insurance though....thanks

Pitlanepiglet

I think you're going about this the right way. I'd agree you need to get on top of your spending generally, food, magazines, frothy coffee, cans of coke out etc. etc. Try to get as much money behind you as possible through cutting costs now.

Personally I'd not fancy a plan like this whilst I had debt hanging around, but you perhaps don't have much choice...

I feel MUCH happier knowing that I have enough food in the freezers and cupboards to feed us for a couple of months at a time. It may not always make sense but it makes me feel a lot better!

Good luck and well done on supporting your OH in making this change x

rachbc

we are snowballing the debt, our debt free date will be delayed by a year but, over the last year we have stopped accruing debt and make significant progress at paying it off, if we can not get into more debt over this year that to me will be a success. And tbh hubbys mental wellbeing is worth more than paying of the debt quicker....

Linda32

rachbc wrote: »

And tbh hubbys mental wellbeing is worth more than paying of the debt quicker....

Couldn't agree more with that I got made redundant last September from an horrendously stressful job, it took me about 5 minutes to get over the news, and you couldn't wipe the smile off my face for two days

Anyway, what I started doing, (I had about 5 weeks notice) was to straight the way start to live on what our income would be without me working. (I'm still looking)

Mortgage Insurance x amount
JSA x amount
Left over from OH's wages after bills paid x amount

Whatever those x's add upto thats what we lived on for the month, devide this by 4 and thats your weekly money.

Its amazing what you can do when you start to take control, and feel in control, which I am sure you are realising.

I've even mangaged to save a little bit as well

So I wonder if you could try now to live on whatever amount you will have.

Best of luck and hope it works out for you all

rachbc

Thanks - thats a good idea - if we practice for a month or 2 any savinfs we put aside now will help later. I think dh is secretly hoping for redundancy but its not likely

Linda32

Hi again, I know you asked about Birthdays etc, what we do is if you have a shop near you like The Works or Market/cheaper shops they oftern sell boxes of both Male and Female cards, they are really nice and good quality, you can get 10 for about £1.20 they last us all year.

For most of the time you'ed struggle to get one card for £1.20 as I'm sure you are aware.

I found a packet of flower seeds in a charity shop recently for 50p

Its things like that that make it interesting and not a struggle at all.

PollyFlinders_3

A good start is to go through your bank account with a fine tooth comb and look at where your money goes now. Are there some things you are paying for that you could stop, without missing them too much, to help you get ahead a little? e.g. phone contracts (is PAYG cheaper?) Sky subscriptions etc.

I'm always a bit nervous of buying to stock up the freezer - probably because mine is over 20 years old and I hate the thought of it dying filled with loads of food. We use ours for storing surplus fruit and veg that we've grown ourselves, but I do try to limit the amount of meat/fish I store because its a lot of money to tie up and potentially lose. But I do have a very well stocked store cupboard because tins etc do last for ages.

For presents etc its a good idea to keep a notebook and an open mind, and pick up gifts through the year at sale prices. Mr T were offloading some of their Christmas toiletries sets last week so I stocked up for some of the female members of the family. A friend of mine buys up hat and scarf sets for pennies at the end of the season and gives these the following Christmas. Making your own cards can be a huge saving as long as you don't go out and buy expensive sets and equipment - simple is often better anyway. Save any cards and pretty wrapping paper, ribbons, tissue paper etc that you receive during the year and use these as your starting point. Also save the gift bags people give to you, and re-use them for someone else the next Christmas/birthday.

As Linda32 says, its finding cheaper ways of doing things like this that make it interesting!

TRYINGTOSWIM

we went through a similar thing last year,having decided to bite the bullet and move 200 miles . this meant both of us giving up our jobs which was so scary a decision but we were determined to find new ones. I did a lot of research and learnt the child tax credit and benefit would continue .so for the 3 months it took to organise the move we lived on this alone as a practice run.
it showed how much money we were wasting without realising it.
one year on, we are now both working (through determination that not finding work wasnt an option) and now live so differently from before as I get pleasure from living frugally and cutting waste.our brave maybe foolish decision was so right for us as a family .

so i would say if you can try and live on your wage as a trial run, keep a firm hand on every penny you have, and trust in yourselves that you are making the right decision for your quality of life which is quite rare nowadays .
good luck

cha97michelle

I gave up my very stressful job to be a SAHM and i was the major wage earner. What we found helpful was to think ahead for the whole year.

While our income was high we thought nothing of paying off a larger bill out of that months salary. Now i have savings pots set up for every little thing i can think of. TV license. Car insurance, service and MOT. Vet bills and cattery stays. House insurance.

Write down a list of when each is due, and work out how you are going to have the money there for them. Otherwise they muck up your otherwise adequate budget substantially.

Good luck.