where to cut?

litespend

I do Tesco shopping online once per week. I tried Ocado and ASDA and it is not cheaper. If I forget something it's the local Tesco, as I don't drive.

dotdash79

hmmm I would try brand trading, if you are buying fruit and veg then a local market might be a better bet.

To be honest the food budget is where you can make the biggest savings at the moment. That's where I would focus my attention.

opinions4u

litespend wrote: »

I do Tesco shopping online once per week. I tried Ocado and ASDA and it is not cheaper. If I forget something it's the local Tesco, as I don't drive.

Have you tried using https://www.mysupermarket.co.uk?

litespend

opinions4u wrote: »

I agree with the poster who says you can lunch for £1 a day, and healthily. I think £450 for two people is very high. Scrap crisps, cakes, biscuits, sweets. Plan meals carefully and have what's planned to reduce the risk of waste. My supermarket shop for a family of including 3 adults is £400ish a month.
.

The food budget is something like this: £30ish/week for school and work lunches, and £70-75/week for supermarket shopping, which includes some toiletries and household cleaning products and the delivery charge.

I actually don't buy sweets and crisps and juices as we eat very healthy. We eat home-made desserts but only at weekends. And I don't really throw away food, I'm good at cooking with whatever is left in the cupboards or fridge. The brand suggestion is good... will look into that.

opinions4u

£30ish/week for school and work lunches

£80 a month to be saved here.

DragonQ

litespend wrote: »

Internet, TV, home phone, intl calls £60 (contract 2-yr)

I don't have international calls but I pay less than this for line rental, unlimited evening & weekend calls, unlimited BT Infinity 2, Sky Entertainment Extra+, Sky Sports & HD Pack. Use Skype for international calls (free) and you can surely cut this down. I hope you haven't recently started the contract.

litespend wrote: »

mobile: £25 (contract 2-yr)

Again this is expensive and presumably it came with a phone. Once the contract is up, keep the phone and switch to a monthly SIM. £10pm will likely give you everything you need.

litespend wrote: »

bank account charge incl mobile phone insurance: £6.50

Phone insurance can be had cheaper than this.

litespend wrote: »

website hosting: £5

I recently paid under £9 for a year of unlimited space and bandwidth with FatCow. I've never paid more than £20/year for this service. £60/year is a lot, especially if it's just for photos which can easily go on free blogs or even Facebook.


As others have mentioned, lunch is an easy way to reduce costs. For the past couple of years I've been spending £3 per day for lunch for 4 days a week on average, which is silly. I now buy lunch once a week at most and the rest of the time I either have egg/beans on toast (if working at home) or leftovers. When making dinner, just make more than you need and put the excess in containers to take to work during the week.

Also, I've never really understood the obsession with buying clothes every month. Aside from Christmas and birthdays I very rarely get new clothes and I have plenty to get by. Maybe it's harder for women... Obviously your children will need new clothes more regularly so that's fair enough.

Presumably you have switched to the cheapest gas and electricity provider(s) for your usage and area?

atlantis187

How much do you earn, net pay each month?

Hooloovoo

DragonQ wrote: »

Also, I've never really understood the obsession with buying clothes every month. Aside from Christmas and birthdays I very rarely get new clothes and I have plenty to get by. Maybe it's harder for women... Obviously your children will need new clothes more regularly so that's fair enough.

I'm glad it's not just me!

My clothes budget consists of £0 per month. I have clothes. Why do I need to keep buying more?

I also don't really understand how much people appear to keep spending on "home repairs". Do these people keep deliberately damaging their house? Or do they replace their boiler every two years?

Gromitt

litespend wrote: »

and the delivery charge.

If you have you shopping delivered every week, you might want to look into a delivery pass. For example, ASDA can charge upto £4.50 for a single delivery (depending on when you want it delivered), but if you pay for the month up-front, its £8, so you could change a yearly £234 (£4.50 * 52) charge to £96 (12*8).

Tesco do likewise, but their delivery is more expensive.

litespend

Last time I bought clothes for myself was in the summer. A 5-yr old child is a different story though. Shoes, clothes, uniform and so on.

Tesco delivery is £45/6 months, I do a midweek delivery plan which is cheaper. Those money are included in the £450 I listed.

Home repairs well I did some when I bought the flat last year (that's where part of the debt comes from, moving & related expenses) and no, I only do what's required for example broken pipes under the sink more recently.

Thanks everyone... one thing that I've just read on another thread is the childcare vouchers option, I'll check on that, not sure if my employer does it and whether the afterschool club takes vouchers.

@atlantis187: 'net household income' is £3000 - but that includes my salary, child benefit and the child maintenance that my ex pays. I don't get any tax credits. It excludes my £60 pension contribution (which I won't cut, as employer contributes 8% of salary if I contribute that minimum).

And yes I switched last month to EDF's blue promise until March 2015, I'm registered on the Cheap Energy club site.

@DragonQ: I rounded up the web hosting fee, it's £3.99/month, so £48 per year with Zen, cheapest option I found last time when I looked. FatCow seems to be £49 unless I'm not looking in the right place?