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

ScrimpingandSaving

Orkney was lovely and it was great to see my dad. He's feeling much better too, I think the winter just got him down and the stress of looking for a new house, although the one he has is just great. It's got stairs though so they need a bungalow.

Oh and I didn't tell you about the third thing. Bad luck comes in threes so his dad had a stroke in front of us, hubby got made redundant and the third one was that my little boy had an accident at school, he broke his 2 front adult teeth and bit straight into his bottom lip. School only told me that he had bust his lip so I didn't collect him until the end of the day when he was in shock, very upset and in pain. He went into shock, was vomiting everywhere and now had caps fitted to his front teeth but will need more permanent crowns when he's older. And yes, I will do them before he's 18 so we can get them on the NHS!

Anyway, thought it might help if I listed what action I've taken so far to cut down my bills.

• Weekly shop in both Aldi and Asda, buying reduced meat in Asda of which there is plenty if you go first thing in the morning.
• Stretching out the weekly shop for 8 days.
• Switching energy supplier and joining the cheap energy club here at MSE.
• Buying cheap gifts in the sales so we have a supply of birthday gifts for all ages.
• Buying greetings/birthday cards in bulk.
• Switching from fruit juice to cordial.
• Buying soft drinks like Fruit Shoots from the supermarket and having a supply when we go out to save on expensive soft drinks in pubs.
• Getting a prescription card.
• Switching our daily paper to the 20p i.
• Making curries in bulk and freezing a batch.
• Making more than we need of spag bog/stews and turning the leftovers into pies for lunches.
• Never throwing away excess pastries as they can also be used for mini pies or quiches.
• Growing our own lettuce in an old toy box outside.
• Marking out a vegetable plot for things we always use such as potatoes.
• Keeping seeds from tomatoes and peppers as they are just as good as the seeds you buy in packets from garden centres.
• Using sites like TopCashBack and Quidco which give cash back on shopping.
• Sign up my nectar card to Ebay so that I get points everytime I shop.
• Only ever using the quick wash option on the washing machine.
• Combining cheap washing powder with soda crystals for a cheap but effective whitener which also helps keep limescale from building up.
• Turning off radiators in rooms we don't use and burning logs whenever we can.
• Using recipes and meal planners to make sure that nothing goes to waste.
• Walking to school and back no matter what the weather to save on petrol.

I'm sure there are more but these are the changes I can think of. They are only little changes but when you add them all up they've made a big difference and we have stopped dipping into our savings. We are also lucky in that we are making extra savings now that hubby doesn't have to drive 45mins to work each way every day and I'm getting more writing work in so I'm earning more.


I'm also working at the B&B still and that will get busy over the summer which means there is every chance of more hours. If you are out of work, don't ever think that no-one will take you on. I had no experience of cleaning and was over-qualified, but because I was enthusiastic and hard working she took me on. Call your local Guest Houses and hotels and ask them. There are plenty of cleaning firms operating too and whilst the pay may be poor, if you get the experience then you can go private and charge £10 an hour (more in London probably).



I am putting some money aside just in case. £5 a week each goes to the kids, £50 a month goes in my savings account which is for tax/pensions and I'm also managing to put a little away in spare change as our emergency savings account. Hubby's redundancy money will be used to top up our ISAs.


I didn't think we could make any more savings than we were doing but it's not until you sit down and go through your spending with a third party that you realise you can actually save even more. I think if you do it, you just tend to justify things or gloss over others but someone else asks those hard questions and suggests things you might not have thought of, so it's definitely worth doing, even if there are those who think you should warm your hands by a candle whilst you munch disconsolately on fried rat and locusts.



Good to see that others are still finding this thread useful for their own budgeting plans.



Mara_uk7 I cannot believe it's sunny in Orkney, it's hammering it down with rain here!


Nearly weekend! :beer:

Verbatim

Thanks for the extra update and glad your Dad is doing OK.

maman

Thanks for the update. You are doing so well and I'm delighted that things are working out for the family. Great news about your DH getting a new job nearer home, that's a real turn up.

I found your list really useful. A couple of things I thought of when I read through: I don't know what sort of cards you send but I buy most of mine in the Cancer Research Charity Shop. They tend to be about £1 - £1.25 each and really good for adults. They don't do specific ages or relations but for general cards for friends and family I like them. I know you can buy cheaper but these are good value for 'nice' cards.

I'm also signed up for this:

https://rmselfrecruit.research-int.com/Questionnaire/qstIntroductionPrivate.aspx

It's a sort of 'quality control' survey for Royal Mail where you post & receive a few items a week and log the info onto a website in return for 'payment' in stamps. It's only 12 first class and 4 large stamps a month but you might be interested.

On the food front, I recently discovered how easy it is to freeze mushrooms and beansprouts. As I only regularly cook for two I sometimes have leftovers. I just open freeze (usually on a large dinner plate) and then bag them up to use in casseroles and stir fries. I do the same with celery too (sliced first like the mushrooms). It wouldn't work for eating in salads but for cooking it's fine.

Keep in touch.:)

ScrimpingandSaving

He lost his job

dawnybabes

Oh no (hugs)

princesst84

So sorry to hear that S&S x

Kantankrus_Mare

Sorry to hear that scrimping x

jayss

How frustrating when things were turning around.

Hope he's not too down and finds something soon.

Verbatim

So sorry to hear that. I hope things get back on track soon.

Allinthistogether

Sounds as if you are taking the time to help your daughter develop good critical thinking skills, and good values. THAT says more about your personal qualities! Ignore the nasty comments, consider the advice fairly (which I reckon you are anyway) and keep onwards and upwards! This whole thread has helped me look critically at my own spending, so thank you for that: you are helping other people while getting help yourself. And THAT'S what 'All in this together' is all about, surely?