New to money saving need some advice

Lucyv

Hi,

We have just decided to face our debts and stop our reckless spending. We have been spending an embarrassing amount on food, household products and toiletries. There is me DH, DD (nearly 2) and DS 7( months), 1 dog, 7 rabbits and 2 goldfish! We have been known to spend £150 a week at the supermarket, I have been doing a once a month order from boots for all toiletries, nappies, wipes etc this has been up to £170!(The only good thing about this is I have loads of points for christmas presents) Dog food has been separate from this because I have been ordering it from pet planet about £23 a month. We breed rabbits and sell them so they usually pay for themselves. But all that has come to about £800 a month :embarasse. No wonder we are in debt.

I have now started meal planning, and cooking enough for 2 days at a time and shopping through money supermarket, getting nearly everything value range and feeding my son what we eat ratjer tjan baby food. I have now got the food shopping down to around £80 a week. DH is complaining he's not eating enough protein (he's a body builder) so I've told him to buy protein shake because he can get it for £30 a month which is cheaper than feeding him loads of meat. The last boots order I got down to £120 but we ran out of nappies.

I would love any advice, I would also like to know what cleaning products you use and what you can do without? What do you have for breakfasts, lunches and snacks? (I'm going to look at the recipes on the grocery challenge for dinners). Also what toiletries do you use and what can you do without? I don't have much freezer space and there is no way we could squeeze a chest freezer in to our tiny house

Thank you for reading

craigywv

maybe try changing nappies to lidls ones i did and found them to be great. also try going to supermarker at reducing time always plenty of meat on offer so your hubby can get more if he missing it. Meal plan is a must, also try baking buns, bread pies,and go to the market for cheap fruit and veg or sample growing your own good luck with your challenge.xx

Fruball

For your BB hubby, eggs are a really cheap source of protein and contain all the amino acids he needs too. Also, milk is an ideal post workout drink. It would work out cheaper than whey protein - £30 on eggs goes a looooooooong way £30 spent on whole chickens would buy you 7 small chickens or lots of chicken legs

Also, Ald!s tuna (v high in protein) is around 50-60p and is very good by all accounts.

(must be honest, though, whey is much easier to store and prep than 7 chickens )

oldtractor

WELCOME LUCYV :beer:

Loads of advice on this site.
Well done re the meal planning. Have you looked on the debt free wannabe board? Lots of help there too.usual ideas include taking packed lunches for schoool/work
walking or cycl;ing where possible rather then using the car
stopping all takeaways
meanwhile built in a once a month treat, low spend eg less than £10 to give yourself something to look forward too. could be a coffee in a cafe, a snack in a pub, a cinema visit.etc.
keep posting and best wishes to you.

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Lucy - I think the main bit of advice I can give is shop around everytime you're going to buy something - don't just buy it at xx shop every month.

Yes, loyalty points are good but you also need to think about how much it's costing to get them - if you could save £10 / week by buying elsewhere, I'm sure this would wipe out the money you've made in points!

Def try Al*di, their nappies are supposedly fantastic and a fraction of the price of branded ones.

Other things are good too - especially their fresh meat such as chicken & mince, packed meats for sandwiches, cheeses and yoghurts - so potentially lots of savings there.

Li*dl is also good but it's a lot further away from me so not as "up" on what's good there.

Do you have a garage / shed that you could put a small freezer in?

Being able to stock up when meat etc is on offer (Li*dl do fantastic offers on mince) and also batch cooking both save loads of time & money.

What are you buying in the way of toiletries?

Again, I bulk buy these when they're on offer - B1G2F etc and I honestly can't say I would spend more than £10 / month and maybe £20 if incl household cleaning stuff too.

floss2

Do you have a Home Bargains, B&M or Poundstretcher near you? Check them out for bargain-price named toiletries, non-perishables, toilet rolls, cleaning stuff & cereals.

rising_from_the_ashes

floss2 wrote: »

Do you have a Home Bargains, B&M or Poundstretcher near you? Check them out for bargain-price named toiletries, non-perishables, toilet rolls, cleaning stuff & cereals.

Oh yes will 2nd that!

HB go fantastic loo rolls - Nicky quilted ones: 18 pack for £3.99 or 9 pack for £2. Great quality..... Ice*land also sell the 9 packs.

Re Ice*land - have you tried frozen veg, it's actually OK and a lot cheaper and no wastage as you just take out what you need.

tessie_bear

a few ideas
# write a list from a meal plan and stick to it in the supermarket
# have a look in the reduced section of the supermarket
# have u access to a market for fruit and veg
# do some baking
# have a read around some of the frugal blogs...all very inspiring
# buy a slow cooker as they make cheaper cuts of meat lovely and cost only a little to run

hth let us know how u get on

oldtractor

oh yes a slow cooker! I'd be lost without mine.

*Ro*

Hi Lucy

We have a 10 month old and originally used pampers nappies but now actually prefer asda little angels ! Haven't got a lidl near us but have heard good things about theirs too.
With toiletries we don't use loads just the usual tooth paste, shower gel, shampoo & conditioner, razors, any luxury things eg makeup are things we already have we don't buy them anymore as such. We visit places like family bargains, pound shops, factory store and b&m for toiletries and cheap food items, kitchen roll, toilet roll, foil, washing stuff etc I would stop doing a monthly order from boots unless you are getting an unbelievable deal.
Wipes we use huggies pure which are on offer every now and then, you could go reusable could just use small muslins and water.
Do you have a good market to buy veg cheaper? Eg sacks of potatoes and the non pretty stuff supermarkets don't want.
I find buying meat eg chicken whole, joints bigger works out better as can stretch, plus making Yorkies makes meals go further.
We are also using asda online at the moment as its cheaper plus there is the bonus offer off next shop on again.
Hth there is so much useful info on this site too

Edit - I type too slow as some of my pointers have now been mentioned lol

*Ro*

These are the asda nappies we use and we don't bother with an acti fit type version as these do for both day and night
http://m.direct.asda.com/ASDA-Little-Angels-Comfort-Dry-Maxi-Nappies---48/002669410,default,pd.html