No Money - but BIG ambitions

getmore4less

Need that SOA.

Untill you know what you have been spending you can't know all the places you can save.


Also look up snowballing if you have multiple debts

gallygirl

I don't know what you mean by Italian Kitchen? Are these packs which you then cook?

For cheap fruit go to Aldi or Lidl - much, much cheaper than supermarkets. Or do you have a market stall which sells fruit & veg? I got a punnet of grapes for £1, same size as £2 plus in supermarkets, last week. Gorgeous

Batch cooking will save a LOT of money because you can buy a lot of what is on offer and plan round that. Also you are doing it in a planned way so can do some dearer meals along with cheaper ones - the tendency is to buy dear stuff when you don't plan/batch cook.

I agree with the suggestion to make soup - costs pennies and just as nutritious as fruit.

Good luck

getmore4less

Weronika wrote: »

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I love Italian kitchen because most of the pasta dishes are prepared from fresh veg and meat in couple minutes.
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The shopping ban will probably last longer if I just could get back to my pre-baby weight as I got a whole wardrobe (ok, 3) of clothes I no longer fit in.
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Might be a connection :rotfl:

cod3

Hi Weronika

The way I look on it is, if you are buying pre-prepared meals, you are effectively paying a chef to cook for you. If you cook yourself, this is a "wage" you don't have to pay.

By cooking from scratch you will know exactly what goes into your meals which is good if you are hoping to cut down on fat and sugar content. Cooking is a valuable life skill you can pass on to your little monkey over the years so it would be great if you began to enjoy it.

Good luck with your MFW quest

Weronika

Thank you for all the comments, I appr eciate it.
COD3: I might not have worded it well - the reason I can't seem to reduce my grocery bill at the moment is mainly because I cook from scratch from fresh produce, not because I buy pre-cooked meals. I don't like ready meals as they contain too much salt for my taste.

I've already made first step to address it, we bought freezer this January and I use now frozen veg for pasta sauces or soups. I used to throw away a lot of fresh carrots I didn't used up and such.

getmore4less: I am 8months pregnant at the moment;) Most of my pre-baby clothes are size 8 or 10 so they do not strech over my belly anymore;)

gallygirl: Italian kitchen I mean recipes;)
I make soups every other day to last for 2 days, We eat A LOT of fruits as snacks - like today me and my monkey we ate 3 oranges, 2 sharon fruits, apple, banana, grapes and half of a melon between us. I buy what I can in Aldi, especially when they have those 6 on offer each week, but still this is where I think we spend the most. It's too far for me to go to market at the moment, as it's around 1hr round trip. I envy my friend who is always bagging bargains like 3 cucumbers for £1 on the market near her house!

Joeyjo: The credit card is on 0% for next 6 months, so the money to pay it off sits in the saving account to get some interest. As for the 8-10 portions of soup - are you not bored eating the same one for a week? It's only me and monkey who would eat it and he refuses to eat the same thing 2 days in a row!

Spiggle

Hi Weronika,

First of all good luck with OPing your mortgage.

You have taken a small step towards being MF but the suggestion made by Joeyjo could be right IF you're paying interest on that credit card balance. You can see the benefit of some hours research and filling in forms to switch accounts which is all really good. Now you need to spend a couple of hours looking at where your money is best allocated if you see what I mean. You should be able to get the current interest rate being paid on the credit card from the latest statement. If you are paying interest it is likely to be far far higher than your mortgage rate and you should throw all 'spare' money at that first including the £50 per month. You can set yourself a target then for when you want to get it paid off by.

Now, with regard to fruit purchases, gallygirl has given you the best advice try Lidl and Aldi and if you have a local market try them too. Even a local greengrocers will often (not always) beat the prices charged in a supermarket. The prices may appear the same but when checked to see quantity for price its likely (not guaranteed) that it will be far better value for your £ than the supermarket.

Why not have a read through the Grocery Challenge on the OS board? Yes, many people batch cook but not everyone does. Simlilarly, not all of us meal plan (though it is highly recommended). There are threads on OS specifically aimed at batch cooking and meal planning but the Grocery Challenge is about setting a budget and seeking to spend less than that allocated in each month. It is a truly supportive forum where the aim is for each individual to achieve their goal without competing in any way with each other.

When you say you spend £2000 per month are you including household bills such as utilities and mortgage payments in that? It seems a hefty amount for a family of three and posting an SOA would help us to help you by offering options for where to reduce that spending.

Anyway, just wanted to wish you luck as I said at the start and hopefully offer some useful signposts for you.

All the best,
Spigs

Weronika

property.advert wrote: »

I think this is indicative that you haven't had your light bulb moment yet. You think you have but you haven't.

All the things that thousands of others do and which are proven to save money somehow don't apply to you, largely because you can't be bothered or it is too difficult or it takes too much time. If you'd had your LBM you would understand that you are the odd one out, not everyone else.

Whilst you continue to spend money you don't have, increasing your debt to even higher levels, then you won't stop and change because you can still rob Peter to pay Paul.

If the truth hurts then good, it is supposed to as much as it is supportive. I've gone through my LBM and I too spent time fiddling whilst Rome burned. You don't have to. Change now.

Hi, I actually did find your comment hurtful!
I never said all the things people do to save money don't apply to me - I actually said that thanks to this forum I just have switched dual fuel and bank accounts!
I don't go out, do not drink, do not smoke and I'm not spending more than I have - it's just at the end of the month I do not have any left to overpay mortgage or save for pension - so your comment about robbing Peter really got to me! The car we bought for cash, all my appliances, new kitchen, bathroom refitted- everything was paid in full straight away as I was taking extra jobs to get that done and was working till 3 am sometimes and still going 9-5 to office!

The only thing I'm struggling is idea of spending 2 hours in a kitchen doing batch cooking or peeling endless veg - but I do save money every other way I can!

Out of interest, how much time cooking and doing other household chores do you spend?

Should I really be judged just because I do not like cooking???

Weronika

Hi Spiggle

thanks for your comment.

My credit card is still 0%, I hate paying any interest so I already saved up to pay it off. I agree that the highest interest should be paid first - which would be my mortgage at the moment, but I just can't find any spare money for it. This year is going to be tough without even my part-time income and only standard Maternity pay, that's why I started to look at ways of saving money already.

£2000 is my total spend on everything possible averaged out: inc mortgage, bills, even plane tickets to see my parents. It didn't include £600 for wardrobes or £500 car repair last month as I took on extra work to pay for it (so we wouldn't have to touch emergency fund). I can't do it anymore though, as 8 months pregnant and really struggling now to even walk.

I really appreciated all comments made - that's why I'm here to look for ideas and suggestions and to stay on track.
I don't plan my meals though as I just go to shop, see what's on offer and than buy pork or chicken or beef.
And I do cook - just not overly found of it. I like to be in and out of the kitchen asap;)

We never actually got in any serious debt because I would take extra work to pay for whatever I wanted - sometimes hellish hours, I admit, but it was worth it as now we got all house renovated but only modest mortgage to pay.
But As I said, with 2nd monkey due any day now - I found myself worrying about money more and it's not a good indicator if I'm not sure we spend £400 or £500 a month on groceries. I'd like to know so I started counting now - I hope it will make me feel more secure until next year when I can start earning again.
So, in a way, it's the fixed amount of maternity pay - with no opportunity to add extra - that got me worried, as I never had to stick to budget before.

cod3

Weronika wrote: »

I've already made first step to address it, we bought freezer this January....

Joeyjo: As for the 8-10 portions of soup - are you not bored eating the same one for a week? It's only me and monkey who would eat it and he refuses to eat the same thing 2 days in a row!

Soup can be portioned up and frozen. Saves time and effort and means you don't have to eat it every day until it comes out your ears

Sepa74

Hi Weronika,

I think you're doing great! And I'm with you, I hate cooking, although I don't mind batch cooking because I find it reduces the overall cooking time and some days it is SO nice to just be able to pull something out of the freezer and heat it up with minimal effort.

If you eat lots of fruit, I suspect that is where the bulk of your groceries is probably going! Fruit is so seasonal that it can get very pricey, particularly at this time of year! Not sure what you can do about it as there will always be the trade off between price and freshness - fruit in cans will be cheaper, but you lose the freshness!

I'm lucky that I'm not a big fruit eater, I'm a veg junky, which is MUCH cheaper!

I know what you mean about Italian cuisine - it's so quick with a premium on freshness.

I don't think you can really make too many decisions about where to cut back until you've kept a spending diary for at least a month. If you have a smart phone there are apps that help you keep track, otherwise a good old spreadsheet or notebook does the trick!

Good luck, and I look forward to hearing about your progress.