First Time post on here - felt sick and a loser

beverleyhills

Welcome back.

jellyhead

verbatim's chopped tomato post is so funny :rotfl:

i know people who buy ready made spag bol, and their idea of economising /'from scratch' would be to buy fresh mince and a jar of ragu. so don't go too 'tomato police' on the op

Broken_hearted

It might be cheaper to pay £1.14 to buy the sauce rather than all the veg.

jellyhead

tins of tomatoes are really cheap, we also sometimes use a tiny tin of puree which i think is 9p from asda. loose veg is much cheaper than prepacked, and it's even cheaper from the market (assuming that somebody can get there, i didn't read the first thread so don't know what the disabilities are in the family).

Anthillmob

welcome back

you have not listed dla as part of your income. am i correct in assuming this is because it is paid to/for your daughters? it is still an extra income and if that is the case then why not use the dla money for clothes etc or cease with the pocket money given to the daughters as they get dla.

i can ruddy remember what else i suggested.

however if you owe money on loans etc., ask your creditors if you can lower the monthly repayment. ive never had a problem with mine when wanting to do this. they would rather receive something than nothing.

peskie_pixie

Firstly, glad that you and Mrs Weymuffred are back here.

just a reminder in case you lost it from the last time, to have a look at

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=238618

that't the thread with the spreadsheet on. Might help with the budgeting for household bills, xmas pressies etc.

Also as mentioned before have a look at the following:
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/GettingStarted/Home.aspx

Even if you don't shop at these supermarlkets and prefer to try Lidl, Aldi, netto etc. Its very useful to put your shopping list in and get an idea of how much your shopping will be. I've also found that writing a shopping list and sticking to it rather than impulse buys has really reduced my bills.

Think i've been reading the OS board too much.

Also with regards to toiletries (which can work out v expensive) Wilkinsons does loads of 2 for 1 offers, and their normal prices are way cheaper than supermarkets. Also has nice bits and pieces for xmas presents.

Also being on benefits i've found i've really had to cut down on gift buying and set myself really tight budgets. It's particularly hard to do when you want to shhow your family how much they're appreciated. However i've made quite a few recently and it's meant more to the recipients. (know it's a bit harder where kids are concerned!) It's also been a fun challengeun trying to find the cheapest option on the internet plus making a few pennies thru Quidco.

Also to generate a bit more cash try selling things on ebay eg clothes outgrown by children or no longer deemed trendy enough for them, dvd's, books etc.

If i remember anything else i suggested i'll let you know.

But it's great u stuck with it and are back

Anthillmob

wilkos are fantastic!

im a bit short on crimbo money this year because i was on maternit leave and thus stopped paying into the crim bo club our family has in july.

as a present for chops' aunts and uncle and also as a little something extra i got copies of a photo done and got these gorgeoud frames for £2.50 a go in wilkos.

i remember now i suggested that if your daughters didnt like the clothes they had then maybe instead of buying new ones rotate the clothes they have. you might find they will like them again after a few weeks, saves buying new all the time.

alternatively sell them on ebay and buy on ebay. you can get brand new clothes at a fraction of the cost on ebay. and there is nowt wrong with second hand clothes from ebay or charity shops providing youre not proud. i know im not.

weymuffred

bugbabe wrote:

sorry if you have said this before but could you tell me whats wrong with your pets and what they are ?am in the pet trade so may be able to give you advise on cheaper products

The majority of the monthly amount going out on pets is for our dog, she is a dog we got from a rescue place and is 9 and a half years old, we have had her 18 months, we recently found out from the vet she had a heart problem and to keep her alive she has to take 3 lots of medicine a day, every day for the rest of her life. The cost of this is approx £80, now my wife cant remember but she thinks the vet said that the pdsa wont help with costs because of the medicine she has to take (Fortekor,Vetmedin and Lasix), there are no alternative medicines she can take, so any help we can get will be greatly received. One place has kindly said they can afford to pay for 2 months of medicine. Have been given a couple of other numbers to ring so I shall see what happens, I will also ring the pdsa to clarify that they can or cannot help.

weymuffred

Rikki wrote:

You need to look at what exactly you are classing as housekeeping £900 is alot.
Pocket money for who?
Xmas and birthday money can be reduced.

Look and see where you are wasting money and you can make small changes.

What the bank classed as Housekeeping was food, toiletries, cleaning materials ,
magazines or newspapers and a little bit each month for emergencies.

Anthillmob

do you really need magazines? and cleaning materials should (most of them) last longer than a month. (unless im a mucky swine)