In Debt/Have No Money

melancholly

just wanted to say that the added referral link in the original post isn't really allowed.... referral links should really only be in the referrers board..... don't want to be negative, but wanted to warn you! i also think that in the short term, this won't be the most effective way to get out of the financial situation you're in.

i think a full statement of affairs on the DFW board would help you no end - they'll find ways for you to save and pick through where you can stop spending money. it also means sorting out who is owed what, at what interest rate, which is vital to make sure that you make payments in the most sensible way. i'd suggest you also keep a spending diary so that you see how every penny is spend. it can be an eye-openning experience.... (if a little scary!)

rozmister

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Without meaning to sound harsh, £15 should keep you going for rather more than a few days. The fact that you're talking about buying crisps, cakes and other inessentials rather suggests that you haven't yet got to grips with this budgeting malarkey!

I agree £15 can keep you going longer than a few days but I think if you can budget for snacks it's a realistic idea of your eating especially as a student. If you have a chocolate caramel wafer bar in your bag (42p for 5 so under 10p each) and you eat that at uni instead of buying a chocolate bar from the shop because your assignment is taking longer than you thought and you're famished you'll save money. I know you could say just wait til you get home but not all of us are that patient!

OP with the stewing steak I'd really recommend just making a basic stew. If you don't know how to do it you just need to buy a basics stew pack (contains carrots, onion, parsnip, swede and tatties normally) and peel and chop all the ingredients then put them in the pan with the meat and add a couple of stock cubes or any other seasoning you have (mixed herbs, garlic, etc) and lots of water then cook it on low for a few hours. It's really filling and yummy and with one pack of stewing steak, a stew pack and maybe the potatoes rolling around in my cupboard I can normally make 4 filling meals

Another good thing is to try and have some meat free meals if you don't already. I have at least 2 a week but often I still eating a meat type meal but with quorn instead. So chilli made with quorn mince (£2) instead of normal mince (£4) or sausages and mash with quorn sausages (£1 in Iceland for a pack) instead of normal sausages (£2). As long as you don't compare it to meat in your head it's nice and filling and most importantly cheap!

I've never seen the Basics crisps either. I eat the Basics Creme Caramel and Chocolate Mousse though and they're alright. It's also great to use stuff like Basic Kidney beans, chopped tomatoes, veg to bumph out food so you're stille eating healthily but cheaply.

Tombo

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Without meaning to sound harsh, £15 should keep you going for rather more than a few days. The fact that you're talking about buying crisps, cakes and other inessentials rather suggests that you haven't yet got to grips with this budgeting malarkey!

Are you really living on this planet? If I didn't buy things that were cheap then I would run out of things to eat in a couple of days. Meat is around £3/£4 and that will only last a couple of meals and that would be nearly a third of my entire shopping budget gone. On the other hand, I could have spent that £3/34 on food that may niot be as healthy but will last me a long time. 12 packets of crisps for 99p is very cheap and would last me longer than meat would. Also, they take longer to go off. I don't think you have quite got to grips with budgeting tbh.


Roz, I'll reply to your post later as I have a psych experiment now.

Tombo

melancholly wrote: »

just wanted to say that the added referral link in the original post isn't really allowed.... referral links should really only be in the referrers board..... don't want to be negative, but wanted to warn you! i also think that in the short term, this won't be the most effective way to get out of the financial situation you're in.

i think a full statement of affairs on the DFW board would help you no end - they'll find ways for you to save and pick through where you can stop spending money. it also means sorting out who is owed what, at what interest rate, which is vital to make sure that you make payments in the most sensible way. i'd suggest you also keep a spending diary so that you see how every penny is spend. it can be an eye-openning experience.... (if a little scary!)

Sorry, I wasn't quite sure whether it was allowed or not but I have removed it now anyway :rotfl: I know that writing articles won't get me out of this situation but it will provide a bit of extra income in the future.

Yeah, I checked out the DFW board yesterday and I'm thinking of making a thread there but I'm not sure yet

rozmister wrote: »

I agree £15 can keep you going longer than a few days but I think if you can budget for snacks it's a realistic idea of your eating especially as a student. If you have a chocolate caramel wafer bar in your bag (42p for 5 so under 10p each) and you eat that at uni instead of buying a chocolate bar from the shop because your assignment is taking longer than you thought and you're famished you'll save money. I know you could say just wait til you get home but not all of us are that patient!

OP with the stewing steak I'd really recommend just making a basic stew. If you don't know how to do it you just need to buy a basics stew pack (contains carrots, onion, parsnip, swede and tatties normally) and peel and chop all the ingredients then put them in the pan with the meat and add a couple of stock cubes or any other seasoning you have (mixed herbs, garlic, etc) and lots of water then cook it on low for a few hours. It's really filling and yummy and with one pack of stewing steak, a stew pack and maybe the potatoes rolling around in my cupboard I can normally make 4 filling meals

Another good thing is to try and have some meat free meals if you don't already. I have at least 2 a week but often I still eating a meat type meal but with quorn instead. So chilli made with quorn mince (£2) instead of normal mince (£4) or sausages and mash with quorn sausages (£1 in Iceland for a pack) instead of normal sausages (£2). As long as you don't compare it to meat in your head it's nice and filling and most importantly cheap!

I've never seen the Basics crisps either. I eat the Basics Creme Caramel and Chocolate Mousse though and they're alright. It's also great to use stuff like Basic Kidney beans, chopped tomatoes, veg to bumph out food so you're stille eating healthily but cheaply.

Sorry, when I said a 'few days', I didn't literally mean that it would last me 2/3 days, it is literally a weeks worth of shopping for me and similarly to what Roz said, snacks do suit my lifestyle at the moment, even though I do like meals too. I've always eaten a lot of food.

Thanks for the recipe, I'll test it out next week, I've got some oxo in my cupboard already.

I'll also get some basic veg next week, I miss getting my five a day




And on another note, I have booked my meeting with the money doctors so hopefully I will be eligible for some funding to help me with living costs.

melancholly

Tombo wrote: »

Are you really living on this planet? If I didn't buy things that were cheap then I would run out of things to eat in a couple of days. Meat is around £3/£4 and that will only last a couple of meals and that would be nearly a third of my entire shopping budget gone. On the other hand, I could have spent that £3/34 on food that may niot be as healthy but will last me a long time. 12 packets of crisps for 99p is very cheap and would last me longer than meat would. Also, they take longer to go off. I don't think you have quite got to grips with budgeting tbh.
.

i think you can buy things that are cheap but that are more likely to be filling and healthy compared to cheap crisps! there are plenty of small changes you can make to eat well on a budget..... meat mixed with veg and lentils and things can go a long way (i'd expect one portion of meat to do 4 meals - two night for two people). have a play on the old style board as you can cook good food without spending a fortune.

crisps aren't going to fill you up for a meal! and if you're already stressed, a bad diet won't make anything better. i also think you'll be surprised how little you need to spend on food if you meal plan and cook from scratch. processed food is rarely the cheapest option when you look at whole meals.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=346783
here's the OS recipe collection. there will be other threads for food on a budget. they're a very knowledgeable and thirfty lot!

getting out of your financial situation will most likely require lifestyle changes as a whole in terms of how you spend your money....

Tombo

melancholly wrote: »

i think you can buy things that are cheap but that are more likely to be filling and healthy compared to cheap crisps! there are plenty of small changes you can make to eat well on a budget..... meat mixed with veg and lentils and things can go a long way (i'd expect one portion of meat to do 4 meals - two night for two people). have a play on the old style board as you can cook good food without spending a fortune.

crisps aren't going to fill you up for a meal! and if you're already stressed, a bad diet won't make anything better. i also think you'll be surprised how little you need to spend on food if you meal plan and cook from scratch. processed food is rarely the cheapest option when you look at whole meals.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=346783
here's the OS recipe collection. there will be other threads for food on a budget. they're a very knowledgeable and thirfty lot!

getting out of your financial situation will most likely require lifestyle changes as a whole in terms of how you spend your money....

Okay, I guess you have a point but the basics food is really cheap though and I agree that proper meals woiuld be more filling but then I would have nothing to snack on during the day and I get hungry a lot.

Thanks for the link but when I literally have only £15 to spend, it is really hard to buy meat because it is so expensive.

melancholly

then eat veg! buy some bread and make sandwiches then..... or just spend your money on junky food if that's what you want to do.... if that's the way you see to improve the situation, then go with it. pasta and rice and veg from a greengrocer could feed you for a week for about £8.

Tombo

melancholly wrote: »

then eat veg! buy some bread and make sandwiches then..... or just spend your money on junky food if that's what you want to do.... if that's the way you see to improve the situation, then go with it. pasta and rice and veg from a greengrocer could feed you for a week for about £8.

I bought two loaves of Sainsbury's basic bread, one white and one brown. They're both in the freezer so that they last longer

I think next week I'll go down the pasta and veg route while still saving a bit of money for my basics range 'junky food'.

rozmister

Tombo wrote: »

I'll also get some basic veg next week, I miss getting my five a day

Aldi is great for fruit and veg if you have one near you. I buy some veg from Sainsburys Basics (the good basic stuff) and some from Aldi. I work at Sainsburys so I always know what the prices are so when I go in Aldi I can compare them in my head but I'm fussy and will only eat certain things so I'm more shopping around for the best deal. If you aren't fussy Aldi do something called Super Six which is 6 different fruit/veg that are for 69p and the selection changes every two weeks. When I went in the other day some of them were even 39p (Broccoli)!!! They also had swede, parsnips and some other stuff in the offer. I go to Aldi every two weeks and I spend about £8 and by selecting longer life veg (root veg, broccoli, cabbage) I get 2 weeks worth for that much.

Another idea is baking biscuits like you said. If you already have ingredients and a bit of time cook up a storm! But if you need buy the ingredients it's probably more expensive than buying Basics mini swiss rolls and wafers.

Tombo

rozmister wrote: »

Aldi is great for fruit and veg if you have one near you. I buy some veg from Sainsburys Basics (the good basic stuff) and some from Aldi. I work at Sainsburys so I always know what the prices are so when I go in Aldi I can compare them in my head but I'm fussy and will only eat certain things so I'm more shopping around for the best deal. If you aren't fussy Aldi do something called Super Six which is 6 different fruit/veg that are for 69p and the selection changes every two weeks. When I went in the other day some of them were even 39p (Broccoli)!!! They also had swede, parsnips and some other stuff in the offer. I go to Aldi every two weeks and I spend about £8 and by selecting longer life veg (root veg, broccoli, cabbage) I get 2 weeks worth for that much.

Another idea is baking biscuits like you said. If you already have ingredients and a bit of time cook up a storm! But if you need buy the ingredients it's probably more expensive than buying Basics mini swiss rolls and wafers.

I've always been wary of lidl/aldi for some reason, ever since I was a young kid but there is one nearby so I may have to give it a ago soon unless I get a job quickly. The veg sounds really cheap though so I may have to give it a a go. Yeah, at the moment I've got all the ingredients bar butter but my flatmates may let me use some in exchange for a biscuit or two