£60 for April- can I do it?

Wanno

Right, I've been paid today and worked out that after all the standard outgoings including starting to save again, which this month include paying rent and mortgage, (I bought a house last month and this is the first mortgage payment) I have worked out that I have £60 for the whole of next month. :eek:

I have factored in bills so that £60 is for just living (eating, going out, amusement) throughout April.

It's certainly a challenge to live on so little, but I am single and fancy a bit of a test. Of course I also have overdraft facilities but it would be really good if I didn't have to use this.

I am planning on keeping a OS spending diary on here and it would be great if you could help out with any money saving ideas to keep the pennies down.
Any advice welcome!

Balance: £60- 28 March 2007

fizzel81

just wanted to wish you luck with your challenge, will be missing throughout april but goodluck to you with it

Yategirl

ok.. we have just had 3 weeks of March on £50 (plus my storecupboard) to feed 4 of us (2 adults, one 5 year old and one 2 year old) and we have done it! (I had to include 11 pack lunches a week and nappies this time) Yes it is hard (and we haven't been out or spent any money on anything else) for that time so if the £60 is just for you for 4 weeks of April then yes you can do it!!!

Go through your cupboards and list what you have in (do same for freezer). Make a note of whether you need any cleaners/toilet tissue/"personal" stuff and if you do.... can you manage with a cheaper or alternative version just for the month - put these on your shopping list. Then sit down and work out a meal plan (include all meals and any snacks!) using stuff you have in and work out what you need to buy.

Pasta is cheap as are potatoes, carrots and flour - use these to form the base of your meals - we have had a pasta dish, pizza, potato dishes (potatoe bake, corned beef hash, HM chips) etc... we have used porridge oats to make flapjack plus flour to make cakes or puddings or yorkshire puds.

have a look at Black-Saturns posts - she has lots of ideas and there are lots of other posts too.

For going out - can you reduce your going out this month - remember it is only for a month! or can you do something a bit cheaper or limit your drinks

I kept looking at our goal of WHY we only had £50 (we were determined NOT to go overdrawn this month and we have done it! ) and used that to keep me and DH on track. Keep focussing on your goal! You CAN do it!

Yategirl

Alfietinker

I think you will be able to do it, especially as it's only you so you don't need to worry about what other's will/will not eat.

I've been religiously logging our food spend (2 adults, 2 cats) since January and we average £32 a week. So halve that for 1 adult (pets?) and you have potentially £15 a week x 4 = £60. We are thrifty, but we eat well and we've found the best way we've reduced our shopping is buying only unprocessed foods (this was originally because of me following Weight Watchers).

Plan your meals, but don't forget to include everything you'll eat, don't forget snacks and packed lunches.

Regards entertainment, that will depend on what you do and what you are willing to do without.

And good luck!!!

MrsTinks

My tip would be to have 5 jars - 1 for each week + treat jar. Put in £10 for each week and £20 in a jar marked treats. Anything extra you can earn, quidco, ebay, etc can go in the Treat jar. You have already set aside money for saving so unless you want to split the pot into 2 and bank half then enjoy your "Treat" jar

Each week write a shopping list with prices.
Make sure that you build your shopping list on your meal plan for that week, bulk cooking will probably be key BUT I would get a few of Tesco's value noodles in in case things get tight They make a great lunch for 8p (or is it 12p now? I forget).
Does the £50 include petrol btw?
Just out of curiousity

fizzel81

i like that idea Tine

Wanno

I like that jar idea too, at least then you can see right in front of you how much you have left- I just hope the change from £10 is not in £2 coins- I save those!
Petrol is not included as I live in London and have an Oyster card already paid for. Although one week I will have to travel to visit parents which is £10.10 (cheapest available) each way.
I don't have any pets, unless you count filthy housemate.

My storecupboard is full as is frezer with frozen veg that really needs eating up. I am going to resist buying stuff that is the other housemates turn to buy and I think I will be able to do it. Lets see!

Eels100

I had a weekly food budget of £15 as a student and ate well. It's amazing what delights can be knocked together with some lentils and the odd onion! My suggestions would be to meal plan, batch cook and limit your meat intake. Bread is pricey these days so try to replace with pasta/rice in lunches. Porridge or value weetabix make great breakfasts and don't cost much at all. Buy your fruit and veg on bogof (meal plan flexibility required here!) and if you can reach an Aldi or Lidl then make use of their ridiculously cheap stuff.

For amusement have a challenge with your mates/housemates whereby you hold dinner parties. I'm sure with a little help from your OS friends you can cook up a storm for a few pence - and you might get a few free meals out of it in return!

Softstuff

60 isn't bad at all, we budget 80 each month for groceries for two of us, and that includes extra food for a couple of dinner parties, feeding the upstairs neighbour from time to time, and a few bottles of wine. And we're not much for budget noodles for lunch. When I get a chance probably tomorrow I'll post a sample menu for us. Todays lunch for example is leftover tuna and veg quiche, and chicken schnitzels with pasta. We just had belgian waffles for brekkie, and dinner tonight I'm thinking meatballs with salad and rice.

All of our food is made from scratch, and when I say scratch I really mean it, I make everything from wraps to crystallized ginger!! And it isn't a matter of taking huge amounts of time, I fit it in around working. Sometimes one evening I might have a bit of a cook off, putting 2 or 3 lasagnes, 6 portions of meatballs, 4 portions of pasta sauce, scones, muffins, biccies... all in the freezer ready. A lot of things that look like they'd take a lot of time don't. Chicken schnitzels take 15 mins including cooking, I've seen microwaved ready meals take longer!

As for entertainment, depending where you live there are usually plenty of things to be had for free. We're luckier than most with that, we can walk, swim, even play tennis... we pay for it in the long run with body corp fees, but we have to pay that anyway!

There are always free cinema tickets on the board, joining pigsback would get you vouchers for meals or entertainment, enter competitions in local papers and see what you can win.

Hope that helps a bit.