Suggestions greatly appriciated!

slowlyfading

Good luck with this just a thought, to maybe save some on your groceries - do you have a lot of stuff in already? Have a nosey into all of your cupboards and write down everything you have - there may well be enough for some meals in there which means you don't have to spend as much this week

Also, I like the £200 idea - try and make it last as long as possible, I'd see it as a competition!

time_to_get_motivated

IMPROVED SOA
Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1560
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1157
Benefits................................ 146
Other income............................ 270
Total monthly income.................... 3133

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 300
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 98.33 now divided by 12
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 52
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 reduced from 30 until end of contract
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 866 now bundled with clothes fuel birthday presents and entertainment/ prescription for our target £200 per week
Clothing................................ 0 see groceries
Petrol/diesel........................... 0 see groceries
Road tax................................ 40
Car Insurance........................... 110
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 see groceries
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 just kept some for xmas birthdays to be dealt with weekly
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0 see groceries
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
boiler cover............................ 13
tax..................................... 270
Total monthly expenses.................. 2032.33


Assets
Cash.................................... 392.81
House value (Gross)..................... 185000
Shares and bonds........................ 5687.5
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 2002.76
Total Assets............................ 198083.07


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 137313...(300)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 137313....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
1..............................688.53....0.........0
2..............................186.1.....0.........0
3..............................145.......0.........0
11.............................7999......25.5......0
10.............................1000......0.........0
9..............................2900......420.......0
8..............................600.......100.......0
7..............................1482.96...185.4.....0
6..............................14000.....0.........0
5..............................480.12....0.........0
4..............................585.2.....0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........30066.91..730.9.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,133
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,032.33
Available for debt repayments........... 1,100.67
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 730.9
Amount left after debt repayments....... 369.77

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 198,083.07
Total HP & Secured debt................. -137,313
Total Unsecured debt.................... -30,066.91
Net Assets.............................. 30,703.16



Thank you so far have downgraded TV until the end of contract and bundles things into our goal of £200 a week and looks loads better! cant wait to start now! off to list everything in our cupboards!!

bargainbetty

time_to_get_motivated wrote: »

Breakfast tends to be weetabix with fresh fruit/yogurt and toast (need to start making bread have loads of yeast sachets etc will dig out the breadmaker)
snacks is where the baking could help tend to grab prepacked cheeses/croissants/dairylee dunkers muffins sausage rolls etc!)
Lunch is beans/egg on toast/ or meat sandwiches with salad and again yogurt/fruit, ( I cant stand giving them reformed meat so end up buying deli maybe I need to start cooking more joints and slicing)
Dinner is where it gets huge generally a couple of pieces of fruit when they come in and then full dinner and pudding again end up buying ready made puddings/ yorkshires etc think I need to get my organized head on and get them all involved in more baking! Along with all this comes loads of washing as sofa needs doing frequently and lots of washing up liquid loo rolls and dishwasher tablets. Im sure I could be better with energy as well as the appliances have timer settings that I always forget to do and we are on economy 7 and am known to use the tumble dryer way more than i need to as its there and I dont have to spend time hanging it out and then worry about rain! Think Im just running around like a headless chicken when actually if I got some sort of checklist made up it would be a lot less stressful!

Do you have no room anywhere in the house for a chest freezer? You can cover it with a blanket during the day if needs be.... just make sure the back is clear. This would make a huge difference to you, and as you are using it for the children's food storage, you could claim it as a taxable expense. An old three drawer one could fit in the room you use for the kids, perhaps? Under a table top or in a corner?

Looking at your response to the food, I'm going to be a bit cheeky. Breakfast 'tends to be...' So? Mix it up a bit. Some days porridge with currants in, or buy the weetabix-type biscuits, save money on branded. If you are just toasting it, then supermarket-own brand bread is cheap and the wholemeal is pretty tasty. Shop's own yoghurts are also fine. Lidl do a litre tub of natural yoghurt that could easily be spooned into little bowls with a bit of fruit chopped in, or with some muesli and honey. Lidl and Aldi do cheap deal on fruit and veg which vary weekly.

Lunches - Yes, if you refuse reformed meat then buy joints and slice them thinly. Also consider cheese, hummus with veggies sticks, soups etc. Why does it have to be meat sandwiches?

Dinner: definitely get them baking their own puddings. Skip the yorkshires unless you make them yourself (you can batch cook these and store them like Bessies). Have stews, mild curries (rice is cheap and veggie side dishes will give the kids a wider range of flavours), or mince-based dishes which can be padded out with onions, lentils etc, Spag bol or mild chillis are always good for feeding large groups. Can also be cooked in the slow cookers.

Easy things to grow: tomatoes, chillis, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, lettuce leaves etc (all in pots or grow-bags). If you can dig over a space as an allotment, onions, carrots, potatoes are all doable too.

Squash the loo roll so they don't take too much, remember that you need maybe two-thirds of the recommended dose of washing powder (and use powder or liquid, not those silly gel things. I use one tablet rather than two if I have to buy them. Swap fabric softener for vinegar. Yes, vinegar. Your clothes will be nicer, softer, last longer and you won't smell like a chip shop. You will save lots of money though.

Lidl will be your friend for washing up liquid and dishwasher tabs. You can cut that drastically, but it is going to take a lot of organisation to get it all set up.

I wish you luck!

Edit: A friend of mine does Sunday School classes - she has the thing running like a military operation! These are her techniques

time_to_get_motivated

Thank you for all the brilliant suggestions!
My loo rolls are now squished! Trying to think of somewhere to squish a freezer in! Will talk to hubbie about growing veg at the weekend. I have listed everything that we have in the depths of cupboards already and plan to make our first week plan using lots of that up by adding bits! Will try Aldi for this.

Get a bit confused about the washing machine its 9kg i do use liquid but guess and glug it in as i assume a cap full would be for a smaller machine? how much vinegar should you use instead of softener ?

time_to_get_motivated

Well the week has gone very well so far would normally have done at least a couple of small shops by now, but have made a real effort to use up things we have and get creative! Its time to withdraw the £200 for this week but don't need to today! We have survived the week on the £4 i had in my purse on Sunday!

This morning we have been baking and have made chocolate muffins (that are rather huge due to me adding 2tbs of baking powder when it was supposed to be tea spoons!) some vanilla muffins, a loaf is in the bread maker and we have rustled up a chicken pie for dinner! In the baking mood now and have loads of baking supplies nearing their use by date as have been in the cupboard for so long! So any suggestions of what else to bake would be great! Especially things that will keep! :-)

whiteguineapig

i would start reading the old style board if your into baking
it could take you years lol. they are very frugal on there, why not join their grocery challenge?