Our SOA All ideas Appreciated

us,thecat&thedebt

chev, not silly at all but all good things come to an end the property is now sold and we will need to vacate soon.. we have been here 8 months and were aware it would be sold eventually.

Sandra- as mentioned above we are both under 25 my oh passed his test just under a yr ago and i only passed 6 months ago..
the pay as you drive ins was cheapest by far most policies were min of 800 per annum. this policy only charges me 22.29 base rate and then a flat charge per mile.. so when i was off sick for two wekks in december it was hardly nothing.. plus they give us 100 miles free each month..

how i wish we were expereinced drivers my FIL renewal was £140!!!!!

littlescarlet

black-saturn wrote:

Water : £18 Could you go on a water meter and limit your use?
electric/gas £30 This is about right but you might be able to save more by planning what TV programmes to watch and the rest of the time read or play a board game. Turn thermostat down on heating and put a jumper on instead of the heat.
tv lic £11
Sky £43.50 Could you cut your package down? Or could you go down to Freesat?
BT £40 Try telephoning your phone company and see if there is a package they can offer you which will save you money
Car Ins £100 Could you do without this? Could you walk, get a lift or use a bike or public transport instead?
Petrol £75 As above
Car Tax £20 As above
Bulidings/contents £20.49
Pet Ins £6
Food £200 This is a heck of a lot for 2 people and it doesn't even inlcude weekday lunches!! Cook things from scratch and buy less processed food. Look on the Old Style board for inspiration. I spend about £45 per month on a family of 3's food.
Meals at work £40 Packed lunches but from the above budget.

BLACK-SATURN, do you really only spend £45 per month on food for three people? If this is correct please tell me how you do it cos I spend £80 per week at the supermarket for three people and that is after I cut down. The only processed food I buy is frozen chips cos they are healthier, and chocolate - I cook everything from scratch, make my own soup etc..

littlescarlet

Also re the food thing, you could try this thread I found tonight, which was more the sort of thing we eat, some good ideas on here for saving on shopping

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=212256

Sorry not up to speed on the chat thing you may have to copy and paste into your browser

us,thecat&thedebt

littlescarlet wrote:

Also re the food thing, you could try this thread I found tonight, which was more the sort of thing we eat, some good ideas on here for saving on shopping

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=212256

Sorry not up to speed on the chat thing you may have to copy and paste into your browser

Thanks im gonna go take a look now.

Gahddenbooi

littlescarlet wrote:

BLACK-SATURN, do you really only spend £45 per month on food for three people? If this is correct please tell me how you do it cos I spend £80 per week at the supermarket for three people and that is after I cut down. The only processed food I buy is frozen chips cos they are healthier, and chocolate - I cook everything from scratch, make my own soup etc..

I was about to post this question... how do you get by on so little?

My OH and I spend a lot more than that... granted our groceries budget includes toiletries and so on...

DawnW

Why not HM oven baked jacket potato wedges; just as healthy (probably more - no chemicals).

maureenjscott

littlescarlet wrote:

BLACK-SATURN, do you really only spend £45 per month on food for three people? If this is correct please tell me how you do it cos I spend £80 per week at the supermarket for three people and that is after I cut down. The only processed food I buy is frozen chips cos they are healthier, and chocolate - I cook everything from scratch, make my own soup etc..

I second this motion! How do you do it?
there are 2 adults, 1 5yo and a 1yo in my house and we seem to spend a fortune in the supermarket! Have started a spending diary though so that might show up a few much needed cut backs!
thanks
Mo x

black-saturn

I put a thread on here once with my meal planner and a shopping list of what I bought and all I got was about 13 pages of verbal abuse. So out of principal I'm not doing it again. But for the record we eat quite well on that money.

us,thecat&thedebt

i remember black saturn i thought it was a great thread

some people are just a bit up themselves

littlescarlet

black-saturn wrote:

I put a thread on here once with my meal planner and a shopping list of what I bought and all I got was about 13 pages of verbal abuse. So out of principal I'm not doing it again. But for the record we eat quite well on that money.

Sorry you feel that way BS but I did actually find the thread yesterday, and I reckon people were more disappointed that they could not spend the same as you without changing what they eat quite radically. I have taken on board what you said - especially the icecream recipe as I love home-made icecream- but I would have to add on to your budget a lot of fresh fruit and veg, and I also tend to buy things like fresh coriander (we like curry) which for some reason I cannot grow maybe its the British climate. I am trying very hard to cut down on my spending without changing the way I eat too much which I suppose is not realistic - unless someone can tell me different?

For those who don't want to trawl all the threads the summary of all the debate black-saturn and moggins started seems to be:

1. Do a monthly menu plan and shop to it, not just randomly. If you find a month daunting, just do one week I am doing this now and have cut my weekly shopping bill from £110 to £80 just by this one thing.
2. Shop for meat in bulk from the market vendors or farm shops if you have a decent local supplier. Ditto potatoes - I buy a half-sack from my local farm.
3. Find a LIDL or ALDI and shop there once a month.
4. Try the own brands at least once especially from the above apparently they are good. (I used to be a food buyer at Sainsbury's, probably where I get my expensive food tastes, and can vouch that the 12p flour at least is IDENTICAL to the other stuff - the store actually lose money on it.)
5. Shop online if you can't resist bargains. Do this once a month for all the heavy stuff.
6 My own tip - buy more milk and bread than you need and freeze it as I often used to spend £20 when I went for a loaf, and often on bits which were not necessary.
7 Learn to cook - ready meals are small, expensive and bad nutritional value.
8 Don't buy fresh food 'just in case' people come. With 24 hour Tesco etc do you actually need to? And you can make emergency cheap meals with dried pasta and tinned tuna.

I am aiming to bring my shopping down to £50 per week for three people whilst still eating well by my definition. if I ever make it I'll let everyone know!!! My first visit to LIDL tomorrow!!