Can someone please review my SOA

theoretica

It looks like you should be able to make considerable savings without really impacting on your quality of life. Why don't you go to the library and see if any cookbooks catch your eye.

bottleofred

westlothian wrote: »

Hi bottle. I cannot really cook at all. I have never really used the oven in my flat so need to rely on microwave and George Foreman grill for food. But i do buy loads of things I never use.

My council tax includes water rates which I think is common in Scotland and I do get a 25% discount as I am single occupancy.

My mobile and landline are on contracts I think at the moment. I have more than I need on my mobile bundles but it was a good deal at the time.

I am with Scottish Power and have been for four years so it might be worth phoning round the other companies. (Scottish Hydro, Scottish Gas would maybe supply this area??)

Clothes and entertainment figures are high. These are averages from last few months statements.

Thanks for the comments.

Hi Westlothian,

There are loads of recipes on the internet these days. You can start off cooking basic things and then progress on from there. The amount of money you save should be a good incentive.

Good luck

Red

CH27

I think keeping a spending diary will be a real eye opener for you.

Try to start doing some basic cooking ie pasta & sauce as this will save you a lot of money.

hostie

Hello, I am in a similar situation to you with a similar income and so it really made me smile when you said "I accept that I am terrible with money and buy clothes, food etc as if I were a millionaire". I am the same although travel seems to be my weakness.

Like the other posters I suggest you start by cutting down on food. I have reduced my weekly spending on 40 - 50 per week on groceries and think you could easily do the same. Just go into the shop once a week and make sure that you buy enough milk, food and juice etc for the week. When I started budgeting I bought about 10 double pints of milk and put them in the freezer so that I didn´t have to go out just for milk. The same can be done with bread.

If you really struggle not to buy lots of things in the supermarket, do your shopping online or go into the supermarket without your cards and with only enough cash for your weekly shop i.e. 50 or 75 or whatever you decide to aim for.

If you set aside an hour to make a huge pan of pasta and sauce or curry or something you can freeze lots of small portions so that you have home made microwave meals.

Good luck x

albacookie

westlothian wrote: »

Hi bottle. I cannot really cook at all. I have never really used the oven in my flat so need to rely on microwave and George Foreman grill for food. But i do buy loads of things I never use.

If you go to the oldstyle board and search for threads by Mrbadexample you should find some useful tips (and they make very entertaining reading!)

westlothian

hostie wrote: »

Hello, I am in a similar situation to you with a similar income and so it really made me smile when you said "I accept that I am terrible with money and buy clothes, food etc as if I were a millionaire". I am the same although travel seems to be my weakness.

Like the other posters I suggest you start by cutting down on food. I have reduced my weekly spending on 40 - 50 per week on groceries and think you could easily do the same. Just go into the shop once a week and make sure that you buy enough milk, food and juice etc for the week. When I started budgeting I bought about 10 double pints of milk and put them in the freezer so that I didn´t have to go out just for milk. The same can be done with bread.

If you really struggle not to buy lots of things in the supermarket, do your shopping online or go into the supermarket without your cards and with only enough cash for your weekly shop i.e. 50 or 75 or whatever you decide to aim for.

If you set aside an hour to make a huge pan of pasta and sauce or curry or something you can freeze lots of small portions so that you have home made microwave meals.

Good luck x

Thank you hostie. I have just checked through my freezer and realised I have mountains of meat- a couple of cows in there I would say. (steaks, joints, chops) Yet I also have fresh meat in the fridge that I bought on Thursday- so I know I can save money.

I think I might try some sort of challenge to myself to try to use all these pieces of meat and empty the freezer. Then I will just need bread, milk for my cornflakes and vegetables.

I am lucky that I teach in a school which is a twenty minute walk away and I cannot fly so my travel expenses are very low thankfully.

westlothian

albacookie wrote: »

If you go to the oldstyle board and search for threads by Mrbadexample you should find some useful tips (and they make very entertaining reading!)

Thank you alba. I have boxes of pots and pans that were given as presents when I moved into this flat 4years ago. I will need to get into the way of cooking things and making a plan rather than filling a trolley in tesco every few days. I will read through the OS board and even try a few things out.

westlothian

theoretica wrote: »

It looks like you should be able to make considerable savings without really impacting on your quality of life. Why don't you go to the library and see if any cookbooks catch your eye.

bottleofred wrote: »

Hi Westlothian,

There are loads of recipes on the internet these days. You can start off cooking basic things and then progress on from there. The amount of money you save should be a good incentive.

Good luck

Red

CH27 wrote: »

I think keeping a spending diary will be a real eye opener for you.

Try to start doing some basic cooking ie pasta & sauce as this will save you a lot of money.

Thanks guys. I have all the tools to cook though they may be a little dusty. I think I could easily knock money from my grocery bills just be only buying what I need as I do bin several half loafs of bed a week (as an example)

westlothian

Domino9 wrote: »

I think the spending list idea may help to get the food costs down. I pay £10 per week by standing order to a savings account. I have just checked and it pays 0.25% interest.

Check the old style board for hints and tips on cutting groceries, and cooking cheap and healthy meals. Another trick if you find it difficult to stick to your food budget is to withdraw the money in cash to last you the month - so you can keep track of what you've actually spent, and what you have left.


I only used my credit cards for things from the internet now. I know that this will have to stop too as i am adding the amount I pay back on and dont really need anymore DVDs and books. I might move my savings back to my current account and pay it off the 24.95% card.

Try selling unwanted DVD's and Books online (Amazon or Ebay). Also, if you are shopping for anything online try going through the cashback sites listed above to get cashback on spends

I have several bags of clothes that I have not even looked at since purchasing so I dont really need anymore

Again, E-bay is a good place for these

Also, might be worth having a look at the links in this thread:

I have never sold on ebay before but do actually have several dozen duplicates of DVDs etc (bought one series then later bought the box set as an example) I will look into ebay selling and my utilities.

CH27

westlothian wrote: »

Thanks guys. I have all the tools to cook though they may be a little dusty. I think I could easily knock money from my grocery bills just be only buying what I need as I do bin several half loafs of bed a week (as an example)

Split loaves into usable chunks & freeze them. That way you won't waste any.