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

suki1964

stoplurking wrote: »

Hiya really miss your updates. I hope all's well with you and yours.

How weird, I was just thinking the same today

princesst84

Hey, long time lurker popping up to say ive missed your updates too!
Hope life is treating you well.

debtfree*wannabee*

Me too! You went north and never came back on here. Yours was the first thread I read when I came here. Hope you are ok.

Nagme

Hi from another lurker, I spent yesterday evening reading this thread instead of window shopping on Fat Face.

Thanks to everyone for the inspiring posts, S&S I think you are doing brilliant, and to the less than supportive posters.

I thought I was doing quite well but after reading this, I can do better, and I'm off to cancel some non essential direct debits.

S & S I hope you and your family are have a great time in Orkney

paulineb_2

Havent read the entire thread, but I used to make wine from kits from a site called the art of brewing. Once you buy the kit that the wine brews in, you can buy the wine syrup for about £30 or less and you'll get 25 to 30 bottles out of that.

Some have tasted better than others but never had a disaster yet. A lot of people are doing that because its cheaper than buying from supermarkets.

I dont drink as much wine these days so I havent bought in a while. Theres also virgin wines, if you save money with them, it goes into an account and every 3rd month they match it, so if you save 40 a month, on month 3, you get 40 to spend on wine. I used to do this when I had more spare cash and leave it throughout the year so I could buy cases as presents for people at xmas etc.

They also have auctions where you can bid for cases of wine and if you are lucky you can pick up some bargains.

My favourite wine used to be one called Baron St Jean from Aldi, its £2.99 but they've changed the mix of the grapes and I dont like it so much (the white one), but you can pick up a half decent wine for £3 or so.

Ive been on an economy drive recently and Im now trying to economise more, approved foods really helped me when I was skint and also aldi, I also do buy yellow stickered stuff, I dont eat meat so my food bills are a bit cheaper and I dont waste anything, I make a lot of soup.

Im also trying to get out of the habit of food shopping when I have cupboards full of food so at the moment, Im using what I have and only buying fruit veg and some bread as top ups, which means my meals will be interesting, but I'll have more money left over.

ScrimpingandSaving

Hi all, so sorry I've missed the updates. Quite a lot has happened since I last posted. Yes we went to Orkney to see my dad and whilst staying with my in-laws just before we were due to go, my father-in-law had a stroke. Not a great start but with quick treatment he only spent 2 nights in hospital and was released with a cocktail of pills. They found an irregular heartbeat (not unusual for an 80 year old) and although his speech is still a little slurry at times he's fine thankfully.

Then we found out that my husband was going to be made redundant and last week was his last week in work. We spent a horrible few weeks filling out job applications and not getting anywhere but just last week he went for an interview and got a local job that he starts tomorrow!

It's a higher rate per hour but without overtime pay, however he no longer has to spend £50 a week on petrol to get there and back, in fact he can probably cycle so we are thinking of getting rid of one car and upgrading our existing car to a better one which will require less servicing and fixing, so we will make huge savings there.

My work is also going well and I'm really busy. What I get per month now is around a third more than what I was getting before and that has made a huge difference too. I am aware that things can change and whilst some months can be busy for me, others can be slow so during the busy months I am putting some money aside in an emergency savings fund. That is for household repairs and to tide us over when things are tough.

I'm still following the brilliant advice given on this thread and have joined the energy saving club after the cooperative energy failed to record a £100 payment to my account for over 2 months, didn't get in touch for 17 days and blamed it on "slight delays". We don't save very much per year I don't think but any saving is good as I'm beginning to realise.

I am still baking much more and using leftovers for lunches/tea, etc. We are growing our own lettuce in an old wooden toybox and have 2 hens who give us 2 eggs a day. They don't take much upkeep as we got an old henhouse from a neighbour, did it up and we feed them on kitchen scraps plus cheap pellets from Wilkinsons. I'm using the poo as organic weed killer too - great stuff!

A corner of the garden has been dug up for vegetables and I'm still doing the Aldi plus Asda shop. All our meals are based around what meat Asda has on offer that week.

All of our savings have really been just little ones here and there but when they all add up it really does make a huge difference and so far we've been able to keep on top of our budget. Any savings we make go into the kids accounts and the ISAs.

Our mortgage is also due to be switched and that will net us another monthly saving.

We're even managing to carry on supping our favourite French wines!

So quite an eventful few weeks really but overall we're better off than when I started this thread and that is largely thanks to the brilliant advice given on here and perhaps just a little bit of luck too, certainly on the job front.

I would advise anyone reading never to give up because things might look dire now but you just never know what changes are around the corner. I would never have thought that my husband being made redundant would ever turn out ok or that he would find a local job which meant we could sacrifice a car. Sometimes bad things don't necessarily turn out that way.

Verbatim

Thanks so much for updating. I'm glad your fil is on the mend. A friend's mum who'll be 102 next month had a stroke 2 weeks ago and is now back home still living alone & independently, albeit with carers popping in for the present.
So how was your father? I hope you got to spend some quality time with him.

Congrats on the OH's new job and keeping it all together for your family.

Neathbuild

Hi. I haven't read the full thread yet as on lunch break so sorry if I'm repeating anything!

Have you considered buying presents early? I have 3 little ones and am a single mummy so I buy the bulk of my birthday and Xmas prezzies in sales. January sales are fab for little gifts for family.

I also have a food storage which is something I started doing after meeting some friends who do so for religious reasons. Whilst I don't follow the religion the actual food storage aspect has really helped cut my spending! It took along while to build up but my weekly shop now is under £50 and I rotate whats stored and replace it with the fresh.

I source perishable items from a local market and farm which is loads cheaper and the only difference is its not pre washed and packaged.

Family days out consist of bike rides walks and I make treasure hunts up although in saying that mine are all under 10 and I can see how family activities can be expensive with older children.

I grow veg in old barrels in the garden as I have no grass the which grow your own veg guide is fab although tomatoes seem difficult for me!

You really can enjoy life and not just live it on a budget I think it's about taking pleasure and appreciating small things. From what I've read I think you're doing well and will be using a lot of the tips on here myself.

Wishing your dad a speedy recovery x

money_honey

Great to hear your update and to see things are looking up, keep with it!

Mara_uk7

Welcome back ! I knew I was missing someone online !! Sunshine in Orkney today, Shame Im stuck at work !!