How on hells earth are we supposed to manage!

MissMoneypenny

BigAunty wrote: »

It's very easy to make home made hummous for pennies.

Unless you add a baked aubregine into the home made hummous too.:j Then it costs a few pence more.

vroombroom

Anxious, where do I send my CV;)

OP, my OH is on a lesser wage to your partner, we get the minimum CTC (10.45 a week i think it works out) plus CB, I am also a student and get a bit from student loans.

We have a car each and send our son to a nursery and have a few quid left over each month. I understand things are tight for everyone, but we manage! x

Sixer

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Feed a Family of 4 for £100 a month.
http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

It has a nutrition section too.

Edited to say...Ooooops, just read the rest of the thread and seen BigAunty has already posted this.

In fairness, this site has been around for a bit and food inflation has been higher than standard inflation over the last couple of years. It wouldn't be anywhere near £100 now.

Still a fantastic site, though.

I spend quite a bit of money on food, largely due to a taste for expensive stuff (cheeses, decent deli meats, steak, blah blah), but I could very easily halve my food bill tomorrow simply by cutting those out. Growing your own (we do a lot of this) helps too. Our basic, standard meals are exceedingly cheap - because, as others have said, we cook from scratch using basic ingredients and what we've grown ourselves. And when we're not treating ourselves, we use cheap cuts of meat - mince, shin, belly pork, etc. I'm quite sure I could spend under £200 for a month for the four of us without trying too hard and still eat enjoyable, healthy food.

I have porridge for breakfast too. For pleasure!

sazzybum

Mojisola wrote: »

It depends what you think of as a hobby. If you're into dressing-making, for instance, it would be easy to spend days working at it.

Fair enough Moj I have thought about taking up 'something' just don't know what. I'm probably the most handless peron I know so dressmaking/crafts are pretty much out.

Again, the problem is time. So when I DO have the time, I don't know what to do. Even when my boys were young, I worked full time and when I was on holiday I didn't really enjoy it*. I'm not saying that SAHMs are wrong , just that I couldn't do it-and surely outside integration can't be a bad thing?

*Cue much flaming for being a bad mother

Mojisola

sazzybum wrote: »

Fair enough Moj I have thought about taking up 'something' just don't know what. I'm probably the most handless peron I know so dressmaking/crafts are pretty much out.

Again, the problem is time. So when I DO have the time, I don't know what to do. Even when my boys were young, I worked full time and when I was on holiday I didn't really enjoy it*. I'm not saying that SAHMs are wrong , just that I couldn't do it-and surely outside integration can't be a bad thing?

*Cue much flaming for being a bad mother

You shouldn't get flamed - we have individual needs and you wouldn't have done your children any favours if you'd stayed at home with them and hated it!

I don't see there's very much time in your week for hobbies and, if you're happy with how your life is, why change it?

neverdespairgirl

jtktb wrote: »

After tax, NI and CSA have taken their cut he brings home 980 a month, our mortgage luckily is only 350 but once everything else is paid we are in a minus figure. The 350 we get in tax credits tops us up, but we cannot get anymore as they calculate on the figure before the CSA get their chunk.

Are you sure about your figures, here? From that, you get £980 + £350 a month (wages + tax credits) and your mortgage is £350. So that leaves £980 a month for council tax, bills, etc? That sound do-able.

Do you have particularly high bills, or debts to pay off? Could you switch suppliers, cancel Sky, etc?

jojo_2012_2

The income sounds plenty to live off of. Can't see how you're in -ve money really. Need more details to be of any more help.

Marisco

sazzybum wrote: »

Fair enough Moj I have thought about taking up 'something' just don't know what. I'm probably the most handless peron I know so dressmaking/crafts are pretty much out.

Again, the problem is time. So when I DO have the time, I don't know what to do. Even when my boys were young, I worked full time and when I was on holiday I didn't really enjoy it*. I'm not saying that SAHMs are wrong , just that I couldn't do it-and surely outside integration can't be a bad thing?

*Cue much flaming for being a bad mother

Don't worry sazzy, I didn't much like it when I did it either! It's dammed boring, but I had an old fashioned ex, who didn't want me to work when the kids were small! When they went to school I went part time, and as they grew, did more hours. I think you might enjoy doing nothing when you retire though, after years and years of working!!

tori.k

Sixer wrote: »

In fairness, this site has been around for a bit and food inflation has been higher than standard inflation over the last couple of years. It wouldn't be anywhere near £100 now.

Still a fantastic site, though!

Actually i believe weezl re-quoted the prices recently they are based on a Asda shop and still came in at £100 as prices rise others fall i suppose

sazzybum

Mojisola wrote: »

You shouldn't get flamed - we have individual needs and you wouldn't have done your children any favours if you'd stayed at home with them and hated it!

I don't see there's very much time in your week for hobbies and, if you're happy with how your life is, why change it?

Marisco wrote: »

Don't worry sazzy, I didn't much like it when I did it either! It's dammed boring, but I had an old fashioned ex, who didn't want me to work when the kids were small! When they went to school I went part time, and as they grew, did more hours. I think you might enjoy doing nothing when you retire though, after years and years of working!!

Thanks both I worked from when they were both very very small, and had a wonderful lodger/babysitter who loved them to bits. I give them most of the credit for them being the fine young men they are now. They loved being with them. I worked at night-and their father worked abroad most of the time (ex OH) but I was big enough to admit I couldn't have been with them 24/7-need adult conversation and stimulation.

It's funny Moj, when I'm going to work, I moan and bit*h about it, but when I'm off for a while, I realise that I couldn't do it any other way-if that makes sense.

Marisco- I'm 44 and already thinking about it..And dreading it..lolol.. Still a few good years in the old girl yet. Thank you for understanding