Budgeting help? :)

inblueruin1

Hi, I'm new here.

I've recently moved out of home, and my main expenses (rent/food/beauty/phone bill) have gone through the roof as most were part paid or quite low when living with parents.

Any one got any tips or links to posts on budgeting?

The things I need to cut cost on, which I actually can reduce the price off (my rent is non negotible) is my phone bill, my contract expired a few months ago and is just thirty day rolling contract now and i haven't upgraded yet as i wanna go on the best/cheapest plan I can find. Network doesn't concern me.

Food is another, I'm spending way to much each month with food. I find some good deals but still end up buying too much or the wrong things. And beauty ties in with this as I do my main beauty shopping with my grocery shop.

Any links to anything to do with reducing the cost of these would be amazing

matttye

Could you post a statement of affairs from here please:

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

fermi

For a start, the Old Style board can help with food & grocery budgeting. An amazing amount of idea and resources on there.

angelaf_3

Check out if you have a CAP money course near you. They are recommended by Martin. They are usually held in churches but you don't have to be a Christian.

foxgloves

The easiest way to cut your food costs is to do what many people do and plan what you're going to eat. I do monthly meal plans, but to start with, you could try weekly ones. Decide what you are going to eat & base it around good nutritious food which isn't too expensive. For instance, if you buy some mince, you can make a chilli, a spag bol & even some burgers too if there's enough. If you roast a chicken, you'll have enough meat to make other meals later in the week.....a Chinese stir-fry, or a curry or fajhitas, for example. Now think about what you'll eat for lunch. Do you take packed lunch to work? If not, it's worth doing as it's a big money saver. Finally do breakfasts. What will you eat over the next week. Then write your shopping list, based on what you need to make the meals in your plan. Good planning probably saves us the most money.
The 2nd thing is to use your freezer (if you have one). Make enough food for more than one meal & freeze for another meal. Loads of recipes will freeze really well.
The 3rd thing is not to waste food by throwing it away. Almost all leftovers can be turned into something else, made into soup or frozen, although if you meal plan properly, you won't be over-buying stuff, so there should be less waste.
The 4th thing is to shop around. Don't assume that any one supermarket is the cheapest for everything just because they tell you they are. Shop around, & try Aldi & Lidl, as they have some great stuff for good prices. Don't believe all the hype about brands. Own brand can be just as good......in fact my favourite mayonnaise is from Aldi! Fresh fruit & veg is nearly always cheapest on local markets.
The last thing is not to buy unnecessary products. For cleaning, I buy loo cleaner, washing up liquid, laundry powder & for everything else, I use 'Stardrops'.....it's 99p & a bottle lasts me a year, as I dilute it in an old spray bottle. There's no need to believe all the adverts hype by buying a different cleaner each different job. I also stopped buying kitchen roll, & just wipe up spills with cloths that can go in the washing machine & be re-used.
You'll need to be prepared to cook from scratch much more, if you don't already do this & to do a lot more planning, but if you do this, you'll find that it's possible to shave a good amount off your food bills. Hope this helps a bit x

moohound

You highlighted beauty spending, do you use up what you buy or do you have a stash of half used bottles of lotions and potions?

Its easy to buy everything that is new out, just to try it, or is on offer 3 for 2 or whatever, but you need to distinguish wants from needs.

My Mum used to obsessively buy roll on deodorant and had 72 in the cupboard under the basin, now she buys toilet rolls and has 200 in the utility room, but thats another story.

At least you are buying it from the supermarket, not from Harrods

Bobarella

foxgloves wrote: »

The easiest way to cut your food costs is to do what many people do and plan what you're going to eat. I do monthly meal plans, but to start with, you could try weekly ones. Decide what you are going to eat & base it around good nutritious food which isn't too expensive. For instance, if you buy some mince, you can make a chilli, a spag bol & even some burgers too if there's enough. If you roast a chicken, you'll have enough meat to make other meals later in the week.....a Chinese stir-fry, or a curry or fajhitas, for example. Now think about what you'll eat for lunch. Do you take packed lunch to work? If not, it's worth doing as it's a big money saver. Finally do breakfasts. What will you eat over the next week. Then write your shopping list, based on what you need to make the meals in your plan. Good planning probably saves us the most money.
The 2nd thing is to use your freezer (if you have one). Make enough food for more than one meal & freeze for another meal. Loads of recipes will freeze really well.
The 3rd thing is not to waste food by throwing it away. Almost all leftovers can be turned into something else, made into soup or frozen, although if you meal plan properly, you won't be over-buying stuff, so there should be less waste.
The 4th thing is to shop around. Don't assume that any one supermarket is the cheapest for everything just because they tell you they are. Shop around, & try Aldi & Lidl, as they have some great stuff for good prices. Don't believe all the hype about brands. Own brand can be just as good......in fact my favourite mayonnaise is from Aldi! Fresh fruit & veg is nearly always cheapest on local markets.
The last thing is not to buy unnecessary products. For cleaning, I buy loo cleaner, washing up liquid, laundry powder & for everything else, I use 'Stardrops'.....it's 99p & a bottle lasts me a year, as I dilute it in an old spray bottle. There's no need to believe all the adverts hype by buying a different cleaner each different job. I also stopped buying kitchen roll, & just wipe up spills with cloths that can go in the washing machine & be re-used.
You'll need to be prepared to cook from scratch much more, if you don't already do this & to do a lot more planning, but if you do this, you'll find that it's possible to shave a good amount off your food bills. Hope this helps a bit x

Good advice as ever Foxgloves.

bouncydog1

For food look at the 3 for £10 offers eg M&S. This will make 6 meals for one person easily and if you include mince in your 3 you will easily get 3 or 4 meals out of the pack.

Top up with value buy pasta, rice and tinned tomatoes to help keep costs down. Purchase a slo cooker to save on using the oven and only do our washing during low rate times if you have economy 12. It will all add up.

Above all, use up everything and don't waste.

angelpye

The 3 for £10 is also at sainsbury's and good deals on sausages etc. when I buy meat I always seperate into portions or meal needs ie enough chicken for a curry or casserole, sausages in 2's etc and put in the freezer in freezer bags or old bread bags. We only eat meat 3 times a week maximum and jacket potato at least once a week and soup another night (usually homemade with part bake bread and cheese so feels like a proper meal and leftovers go in freezer for another night). Homemade pizza is cheap and bases and sauce can be frozen. Pasta sauce is easy to make and can be frozen. I always freeze bread on day of purchase whether reduced or not and get out what I need, pop into a bag to defrost or even make sandwiches night before on frozen bread and let it defrost overnight in fridge.

Good luck, there are loads or cheap/student eat recipes and books out there if stuck for ideas. Some of it is just trial and error as to what suits your lifestyle.

inblueruin1

Thanks guys, this has been good help so far. Definitely looking into buying value products as I do spend a bit out on premium brands. Anyone know any good contract tariffs for phones? I've seen a few and have a few in mind of what I'm gonna go for, but wanna have a look around still. I've seen one on T-Mobile for £6 a month, and some on orange and Vodafone for around £8-10 a month. Anyone know any that's cheaper? I don't need too many minutes but need quite a few or unlimited texts. Data doesn't bother me and neither does handset

bouncydog1

DD has an orange contract with unlimited texts and 200 mins for c£10. Data is £5. Think it was Canary?