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£49 week challenge - everything in!..Nearly

beautifylife
Posts: 83 Forumite
Hi, I wanted to get some help from the old style board here because there is a wealth of information which I think will really help.
My situation is that I have a budget of £49 a week from Tax Credits as I have started a service based business from home, working with people either over the phone or internet mostly, which I am trying to build up. In the meantime I allocate £10 to food and personal items and the rest to bills, main outgoings are phone and internet to run my business, utilities, food (I don't have a car) and I have to make up a shortfall in my rent from HB which means I have to be VERY careful and watch every penny!
So the type of help I am after is in the areas of my main outgoings:
Food, utilities, business, transport
So what have I done so far? I've got the cheapest phone/internet package I can. I don't have TV, I don't smoke, drink or have pets so not considerations for me.
I'm about to switch my utility provider to cheaper one since the price increases. As I have an old style boiler that has to be heated up for 1hr I limit its use. I tend to heat up hot water from the kettle for washing up or other cleaning. I limit shower and bath and use the hand basin mostly, which also reduces water bill. I have cavity wall and loft insultation to keep drafts down and heat in and its double glazed.
I forage for food and freeze, use extensively the yellow stickers at morrisons and asda and plan my meals around those, clip coupons, use loyalty cards, shop at Netto, Lidl, homebargins etc when I can as they are not close to home. Batch cook and make most of my own meals from scratch. I ran a thread on the grocery forum where we shared ideas about living on £10 per week and was very grateful.
I've used Business Link for free services, try to network locally or online mostly to keep costs to a minimum.
Some other tips: buy thin bleach just as good, buy heavy duty washing up gloves (the black or blue ones) they last ages, hot water bottles are great if it's colder at night now just takes the chill off without the heating cost. My thick sheets have lasted me about 15 yrs and still going strong and keep the drafts out.
So what can you suggest that may help me with my very small budget?
Also if you can recommed any useful websites, resources, or books I would be really grateful.
Those areas again are:
Food - as I follow a veggie diet - please omit the meat ideas!
Utilities - how can I make the best use e.g. does bleeding the raditors do any good? I know this hasn't been done for a while.
Business - e.g. computer, phone, internet, printing costs, marketing and networking, advertising
Transport - I use the buses and have a bike which I use also I walk everywhere!
Looking forward to hearing your ideas thanks.
My situation is that I have a budget of £49 a week from Tax Credits as I have started a service based business from home, working with people either over the phone or internet mostly, which I am trying to build up. In the meantime I allocate £10 to food and personal items and the rest to bills, main outgoings are phone and internet to run my business, utilities, food (I don't have a car) and I have to make up a shortfall in my rent from HB which means I have to be VERY careful and watch every penny!
So the type of help I am after is in the areas of my main outgoings:
Food, utilities, business, transport
So what have I done so far? I've got the cheapest phone/internet package I can. I don't have TV, I don't smoke, drink or have pets so not considerations for me.
I'm about to switch my utility provider to cheaper one since the price increases. As I have an old style boiler that has to be heated up for 1hr I limit its use. I tend to heat up hot water from the kettle for washing up or other cleaning. I limit shower and bath and use the hand basin mostly, which also reduces water bill. I have cavity wall and loft insultation to keep drafts down and heat in and its double glazed.
I forage for food and freeze, use extensively the yellow stickers at morrisons and asda and plan my meals around those, clip coupons, use loyalty cards, shop at Netto, Lidl, homebargins etc when I can as they are not close to home. Batch cook and make most of my own meals from scratch. I ran a thread on the grocery forum where we shared ideas about living on £10 per week and was very grateful.
I've used Business Link for free services, try to network locally or online mostly to keep costs to a minimum.
Some other tips: buy thin bleach just as good, buy heavy duty washing up gloves (the black or blue ones) they last ages, hot water bottles are great if it's colder at night now just takes the chill off without the heating cost. My thick sheets have lasted me about 15 yrs and still going strong and keep the drafts out.
So what can you suggest that may help me with my very small budget?
Also if you can recommed any useful websites, resources, or books I would be really grateful.
Those areas again are:
Food - as I follow a veggie diet - please omit the meat ideas!
Utilities - how can I make the best use e.g. does bleeding the raditors do any good? I know this hasn't been done for a while.
Business - e.g. computer, phone, internet, printing costs, marketing and networking, advertising
Transport - I use the buses and have a bike which I use also I walk everywhere!
Looking forward to hearing your ideas thanks.
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Comments
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Is the £49 p/w your only income?
Have a look at the Preparing for Winter thread on here. It's full of tips on how to keep warm etc.Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.0 -
CH27 thanks for your idea. Yes at the moment. I have been looking at topping up with something part time, or even full time work, I have been looking at all the options but can't go over £70 per week or I lose most of the help I get so it's a bit tricky for part time work.0
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Beautifylife- for food how about https://www.cheapfamilyrecipes.org you can choose the vegetarian meal planner. Not sure if this is still valid but there was a site called https://www.cookingbynumbers which creates recipe ideas for you based on the food items that you already have .
Hope this helps - good luck:AToo fat to be Felicity Kendal , but aim for a bit more of the good life :A0 -
Helloo!
What food stuff do you normally buy? Does your £10.00 cover toiletries and cleaning items? I would stick to your batch cooking and freeze everything you can, i usually buy tesco value red onions and chop these up and freeze -1 bag per onion and take out as and when needed - saves them going off and cheaper than buying frozen stuff.Sealed Pot challenge" member #1342 Online Saver £60.00
:mad:DEMONS :mad:: Lookagain £1358 // Debenhams £[STRIKE]767[/STRIKE] // Cap1 [STRIKE]£141.00[/STRIKE] // OD £800.00
Official DFW Nerd #1385 - Proud to be dealing with my debt!
Pay one debt 2012! £0 / £800
:jBaby Girl born 25/09/11:j
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i would def bleed yoru radiators, you'll be amazed at the amount of air that comes out and just how much diference it makes to how hot it gets (ok maybe not all radiators but i have 2 in my house that are always really bad if left of a while where only the bottom gets hot) don't buy your key from a hardware shop mine charged me £3 for 1 key i lost it and bought 3 off ebay for £1.50 delivered found my old key and theres no diference in them, put a curtain on your front and back door (make them from old/cheap fleece and those wire things u get for net curtain if you don't have any) put bubble wrap on windows
i would recommend buy reduced bread at 20p or less and freezing in 2-4 slice portions or making your own sam goes for fruit and veg if you can't get reduced veg get frozen it's usually alot cheaper and no waste, keep and eye out for offers of store supboard items
jump over to the grabbits for free soup and cerealDEC GC £463.67/£450
EF- £110/COLOR]/£10000 -
Blimey - there's loads of stuff here - you'll need to have a good browse and use or adapt the various ideas to fit your needs. Starting points...
6000 meals under 50p in 2010; feeding your family on a low budget
Our Grocery Challenge sticky (always at the top of the board)
budget threads here on Old Style MoneySaving
And to cover a whole lot of areas... Getting Started
Then for other things we have dedicated boards...
Small Biz & Charity Organisers MoneySaving
Utilities
Motoring, Public Transport & Cycling
And a scan of the main Forum List might point you to other areas of interest:- http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/index.phpHi, I'm a Board Guide on the Old Style and the Consumer Rights boards which means I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly and can move and merge posts there. Board guides are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an inappropriate or illegal post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. It is not part of my role to deal with reportable posts. Any views are mine and are not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.DTFAC: Y.T.D = £5.20 Apr £0.50
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Squeaky - I love it when you produce a list of threads - off I go for a gander - thank you
Helen xProjects made for craft fair - 40
1st fair on 13/4/14 :j0 -
helen_jelly wrote: »Squeaky - I love it when you produce a list of threads - off I go for a gander - thank you
Helen xI'm sure there are plenty more threads that will be of interest to you. We've pretty much got a "book's worth" of stuff on practically everything here
Hi, I'm a Board Guide on the Old Style and the Consumer Rights boards which means I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly and can move and merge posts there. Board guides are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an inappropriate or illegal post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. It is not part of my role to deal with reportable posts. Any views are mine and are not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.DTFAC: Y.T.D = £5.20 Apr £0.50
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What food stuff do you normally buy? Does your £10.00 cover toiletries and cleaning items? I would stick to your batch cooking and freeze everything you can, i usually buy tesco value red onions and chop these up and freeze -1 bag per onion and take out as and when needed - saves them going off and cheaper than buying frozen stuff.[/QUOTE]
My thanks to everyone so far really appreciate all the info I'll follow everything up.
Elmo to answer your question, I follow a veggie diet, mostly fruits, vegs, nuts, seeds, pulses, rice, beans, limited bread, root veggies, eggs, dried fruits, frozen fruits and veg (no milk or cheese).
£10 does include cleaning and toiletries - so it can be a stretch. I try to use vinegar for cleaning which is cheap, and water down fabric softeners, washing up liquid etc.0 -
Ok, to get the thread going I think it might be useful to pose a few more questions please see my original post just to keep responses in context:
What have been the biggest savers for you?
What small changes have you made that were easy and cheap and made consistent savings?
If you had to list your top 10 tips what would they be, imagine you were sharing them with a somone you loved and you really wanted to pass on your wisdom to help them, what would you suggest?
Looking forward to hearing your wisdom and ideas.... Thanks everyone.
PS I've been checking out all the boards and especially gettnig ready for Winter, some great ideas. It's good to know I am doing a lot already without realising it.0
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