What am i missing?

Marker_2

Need help.

For 3 months I will be dropping down to receiving only SMP. Never not had a full wage so am going to struggle.

I have done the following, but if I have missed a money saving tip somewhere please please let me know.

-Monthly meal plans and purchasing value brands.
-Weening son onto water after food rather than milk
-Purchasing above value nappies rather than Pampers/Huggies
-Change to water meter
-Selling odds and ends rather than throw away
-No social life
-Walking instead of driving

Have tried money making on filling out questionnaires, but find them too time consuming.

Any money saving/making tips?

Blackpool_Saver

how about growing fruit and veg?

Dark_Star

Lidl nappies are excellent so give them a go & try a food shop in Lidl or Aldi if you have them nearby. Many of their own brands have won awards & lidl jam is fabulous

Make bread/cake/biscuits if you have time.

It's amazing what you do NOT miss once you give it up.

emilykf

Dark_Star wrote: »

Lidl nappies are excellent so give them a go & try a food shop in Lidl or Aldi if you have them nearby. Many of their own brands have won awards & lidl jam is fabulous

I second that, we dropped from £90 a week for our shopping bill to £40 a week just going from Sainsbobs/butcher/grocer to L1dl/butcher/grocer!

[Deleted User]

You are doing well with what you've listed.I make a list of things I have run out of and have it by the kettle when I have at least 10 things on there I'll go to the shops apart from that I improvise with alternatives if I can.I do try to stay away from supermarkets as much as possible and have a small note book with basic price lists of stuff so I know within a penny or two how much stuff is going to cost me .bendy veg make cheap and filling food especially for a starter to 'bulk' out the main course.My freezer rarely has much space inside it and is crammed full of odds and ends.As a previous poster said try to grow something even if its only a tomato plant in a plastic bucket or soem herbs on the window sillAny container will grow things in as long as you make sure there is drainage holes.Water with waste water left over from bath or shower
I have a walk-in shower and a meter and I have a small bucket in there so when I have a shower before the water runs hot (my tank is upstairs and my shower down stairs) I use spare cold water for plants or to flush the loo, if its only a wee :))
A boile kettle of water whats left over can go into a flask rather than left to go cold and will make you a coffee or tea and the water will still be hot enough.Lots of ways to save the odd penny or two.I have some small tea lights that I use to supplement the lighting in the sitting room when I'm watching t.v. and only need a small light on as background.it doesn't ound much but small savings can be made without too much effort.and a penny saved is a penny more in your purse
Good luck we have all been broke at one time or another and with the cost of living rising by the day its silly to waste anything, be it food or utilities
I always try to use up all of my food and never bin anything ,even if it means changing the menu to use something up

Rowan9

Try to have a social life . Change your perception of social life maybe... have a look at local 'meet ups' in your area (Google them) (free or a couple of £), look at The List for your local area, look for posters in your library.
Best wishes for this

Dark_Star

Oh - see if you can acquire one of those energy monitors that show how much electricity you're using.

They're really REALLY useful to show if you've left something on that doesn't need to be on (grill/hot plate etc). It cut down our electric bill as I could see what was being used - I keep it on the "pence per hour". You'll never switch anything on again :rotfl: ever.....

On a good day it's 3p an hour for the fridge & freezers.....

Look up all the free child activities in your area - the library may do storytime/rhymetime, some places do free messy play.

Toddler groups are usually under £2 for a couple of hours adult company & a cuppa whilst the small one dribbles over someone else's carpet Get's you out & about for not much dosh. Investigate toddler groups held in church halls as they're often cheaper, nearer etc.

Flog stuff via local free ads rather than Ebay. If you have to use ebay, use a free listing day & try cash on collection only as that way you'll get cash on collection & not pay the paypal fees ...just the final selling fee (10% of your item).

Marker_2

Thank you all so much for your replies. You've all given me new things to try. Never grown veg before but I think I will give it a go. There is an Aldi's close by so will do my next food shop there I think. Jackie, thanks for your detailed post. I have a million candles in the house (which I never light) will certainly start doing it, always gives the room a nice ambiance, so why I don't do it more often I don't know. Great idea with the flask. Constantly have left over water after doing babies bottles so will definitely start doing that.

wmf - thanks for your suggestions. I'll be sure not to be a recluse lol. My sister has a baby same age so can double date with her. Beach just down the road and plenty of free parks round here so will have stuff to keep us all occupied

Will see if I can pick up a cheap electricity monitor, as I'd be interested to see what uses the most electric in this house. Ebay far too complex for me so will stick with local selling sites.

Thank you all again for your advice so far, great ideas

camNolliesMUMMY

I personally think aldi's nappies are the best for quality and performance. They are the only ones my son does not leak through! And at £4.50ish for 44 (size 4+)I think it's a great deal!
The wipes too are of pampers quality for 80 in a pack at 79p!!!
My son is 14 months and he has been on cows milk since 7 months, was a hungry baby and tinned milk were constipating him. He's now on semi skimmed with us so I now just buy the 6pint bottle also from aldi for about £1.48? Saved us loads not buying tinned. And he is completely healthy and was walking at 11 months lol
Also there fruit n veg lasts longer and they do a super six offer here is the current offer I've found! https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/product-range/fresh-bakery/super-6/

hattifattener

I have a 2 year old and I feel like I've got a better social life than I've ever had! Once a week a group of 3 or 4 mummies have a coffee morning at our houses, we take it in turns to host, so just he cost of a pack of biccies once or twice a month. I go to my local sure start centre for toddler groups, and I pay a £1 for a weekly group at a church hall with unlimited tea, cake and snacks for little one.

My son hasn't had a drink of milk since he was about 14 months because we found it wasn't agreeing with him. He has cereal with milk, one snack of cheese and one snack of yoghurt and his nutritionist was more than happy with that.

On that note, remember to be nice and organised about lunches/snacks when out on your new tour of the toddler clubs - pack sme raisins and Cheerios in a little Tupperware, or take a banana and you'll save on buying 'toddler snacks' which cost a bomb and remind me a bit of astronaut food.

If you google for parenting blogs you will find lots of free/cheap craft and play ideas too. Good luck!

whiteguineapig

i would agree with going to aldi, we are buying more and more from there, also bookmark your local freecycle page and keep an eye on that