HELP! Have cut back all I can but am still over-spending!

cannyscot_2

Seen_the_light wrote: »

I use the little orange lentils to bulk out mince dishes, as well as regularly make dhal and lentil soup. I also try to cook double the quantity at least once per week and freeze. This has two benefits, it can cut down the time in the kitchen for when time is short and also cuts cooking times (costs) as only re-heating is required.

Ive been reading all this with interest -we have got our grocery spending down by about 60% but I probs now have a minor obsession to get each and every item i buy down to the cheapest!

Are lentils the same as dahl? I think you are right lentils are so good at making cheap easy good meals. I can get 500g lentils in lidl for 95p but I could get a 5kg bag of dahl in tesco for £5.99?

PSScrimping and saving -once you get your grocery bill down and you start to feel really comfortable with it you will look back and kick yourself-cos I do.

Seen_the_light

Not sure about Tesco dhal? Only ever seen lentils called 'lentils' - LOL! I suspect if they look the same, then they are. However, cautionary note - check the date, there are only some many times per week that you could legitimately serve your family 'lentils' (however well disguised).

I think this is also an interesting point and illustrates a long held notion of mine (and I suspect many others) once you have a bit of money, it's easier to be thrifty. £5.99 is an awful lot out of a weekly food spend - even if ultimately it will save heaps. The initial outlay can be prohibitive, same thing goes for my suggestion above of cooking double meals to freeze and the reason I suggest it for only one meal per week to start with until you get a bit of a 'stock pile'.

maman

Seen_the_light wrote: »

Not sure about Tesco dhal? Only ever seen lentils called 'lentils' - LOL! I suspect if they look the same, then they are. However, cautionary note - check the date, there are only some many times per week that you could legitimately serve your family 'lentils' (however well disguised).

I think this is also an interesting point and illustrates a long held notion of mine (and I suspect many others) once you have a bit of money, it's easier to be thrifty. £5.99 is an awful lot out of a weekly food spend - even if ultimately it will save heaps. The initial outlay can be prohibitive, same thing goes for my suggestion above of cooking double meals to freeze and the reason I suggest it for only one meal per week to start with until you get a bit of a 'stock pile'.

AFAIK dahl is lentils already cooked, an Indian side dish for eating with curry.

What people are recommending to stretch out meals/make soup are red lentils. They're tiny, flaky orange coloured pulses that you can add directly to a dish and they bulk up when mixed with liquid.

You can get other lentils (green/puy) but I think they need to be soaked/pre-cooked before using. Yellow split peas are very similar.

That's always been my understanding but am very willing to be corrected!:)

ScrimpingandSaving

Not been on here for ages!

So briefly - have joined 2 of the top cashback sites and a host of online research companies that give you points in exchange for surveys and these points go towards vouchers and so on. Some of them take the mickey and expect you to devote half an hour for 100 points when you need 56000 for a £20 voucher but others are ok and also enter you into prize draws. I'll be saving anything I make and using it as my Christmas budget.

I'm also entering competitions on parenting sites so fingers crossed!

Bad news on the husband job front - they are looking carefully at the work record of all employees to find anything they can sack them for rather than make them redundant. So far 2 supervisors have been sacked for minor misdemeanours, one foreman has been relocated and 2 office girls have also found other jobs. None are being replaced so it looks very much like they are winding things down. He has a meeting tomorrow evening.

I am letting nothing go to waste in the kitchen and have come up with some ingenious packed lunch ideas that make the most out of leftovers. We are managing fine without having to get extra shopping during the week. Have also substituted half the fruit juice for cordial, cut back on the drink we get in and are buying in bulk and freezing.

Washing machine only ever runs on short cycles now which is more than enough and I'm making my own cleaners.

I've also got a bit of extra work this month.

Still taking lots of notes from posts and taking a peverse pleasure in being miserly. Oh yes. It's such fun. Can't wait for my husband to be made redundant so that can scrimp and budget some more. Does anyone know where I can get free sackcloths from?

maman

ScrimpingandSaving wrote: »

Still taking lots of notes from posts and taking a peverse pleasure in being miserly. Oh yes. It's such fun. Can't wait for my husband to be made redundant so that can scrimp and budget some more. Does anyone know where I can get free sackcloths from?

Sorry to hear that husband's bosses are being such *********! That sucks!!

As has already been said, you write so well but feeling for you.:)

suki1964

ScrimpingandSaving wrote: »

!

Bad news on the husband job front - they are looking carefully at the work record of all employees to find anything they can sack them for rather than make them redundant. So far 2 supervisors have been sacked for minor misdemeanours, one foreman has been relocated and 2 office girls have also found other jobs. None are being replaced so it looks very much like they are winding things down. He has a meeting tomorrow evening.

I am letting nothing go to waste in the kitchen and have come up with some ingenious packed lunch ideas that make the most out of leftovers. We are managing fine without having to get extra shopping during the week. Have also substituted half the fruit juice for cordial, cut back on the drink we get in and are buying in bulk and freezing.

Washing machine only ever runs on short cycles now which is more than enough and I'm making my own cleaners.

I've also got a bit of extra work this month.

Still taking lots of notes from posts and taking a peverse pleasure in being miserly. Oh yes. It's such fun. Can't wait for my husband to be made redundant so that can scrimp and budget some more. Does anyone know where I can get free sackcloths from?

Bummer about hubbies work situation. Stress like that isn't helpful when you are already under pressure


All the sackcloth is in use don't you know

Still I hope you saved all those empties so you have somewhere to stick the candles you will be using from now on :rotfl:

I'm sorry things look to be getting tougher for you. On the plus side though is you have already been active in making changes. More might have to come, but you are in the right place to get support and help.

Come back on to the oldstyle board and look for the grocery challenge threads, the preparing for threads and the tough times threads. A wealth oh tips and support in them.

Keep your humour

aliasojo

ScrimpingandSaving wrote: »

Bad news on the husband job front - they are looking carefully at the work record of all employees to find anything they can sack them for rather than make them redundant. So far 2 supervisors have been sacked for minor misdemeanours, one foreman has been relocated and 2 office girls have also found other jobs. None are being replaced so it looks very much like they are winding things down. He has a meeting tomorrow evening.

Still taking lots of notes from posts and taking a peverse pleasure in being miserly. Oh yes. It's such fun. Can't wait for my husband to be made redundant so that can scrimp and budget some more.

Be careful what you wish for.......:undecided

My OH is working his notice now. Like your husband's place of work, there were loads of things going on with OH's work too and we've now found out stuff that makes sense of what recently happened to him in the lead up to redundancy.

He's fired off loads of CV's but his industry is quiet these days and there's just nothing out there right now.

We will shortly have no way of paying the mortgage or the debt. Eating is the least of my worries. :rotfl: How will I afford my wine? :rotfl: <Hysteria.

(The wine thing was a joke for all those folk who might have thought I was being serious. )

bess1234_2

Lol. The fact that s and s is now freezing her wine is a worry.

S and s . Yes redundancy is carp. And yes many many of us have done it these last few years. You are in a different place than when you first posted. If there is a way through this, you will find it. Look back on your first budget now.

ScrimpingandSaving

aliasojo I'm so sorry to hear that. Can you not contact the bank and see if you can just pay off the interest for a while? I know that if all else fails, you must keep your bank and other people informed as to your finances so they don't come down heavy on you. I hope your hubby finds a job soon, even if he has to stack shelves for a while - at least it brings some money in.

Well my husband had his meeting at work and they have proposed putting the drivers on a 4 day week working 6am till 4pm with no overtime. Right now, we couldn't manage if it wasn't for the overtime. In the new proposal he'd be on £19k pa.

It's a change of contract (they've changed the hours and cut a day out) so we are looking into what his legal position is but it seems they are doing their best to drive them out so they don't have to pay redundancy. I don't know what will happen if dh refuses the new T&Cs.

Who on earth could think that this way of life offers some kind of peverse pleasure? Only someone who doesn't have to live it I suspect.

I might do the lottery this weekend for the first time in years. If I win I swear I'll come back on and treat you all. I'll pay off all your debts and we can all celebrate together with masses of wine!

I think I might write to the new Pope and ask if he needs a copywriter. I reckon they could do with a little positive marketing

(Oh and TinaBallerina thank you for the tip about the scalp treatment. My h does use this for his scalp but I don't think he's used it on the rest of his skin so I've told him what you said and he's trying it - thanks )

Verbatim

I'm sorry things seem to be going from bad to worse S & S. Presumably if he refuses the new hours they'll sack him anyway and then he might have problems getting his job seeker's allowance??




I'm afraid I've no sackcloth to spare but you're welcome to some ashes! :eek: