Any advice welcome - need to cut weekly shop costs

UserX

Nikkiclaire wrote: »

Hi outgoings are as follows
Income £ 1900 ( including everything )

Mortgage £500
Credit card £100
Car loan £ 100
Council tax £70
Breakfast club 84
After school club £ 184
School dinners £20
Trade union £15
Gas/elec £ 130
Car insurance £50
Pet insurance £ 18 ( 3 cats )
Phone and internet £ 25
Home insurance £20
Life insurance £20
Overdraft interest £20
rac £12
Car petrol £ 100
Sons swimming £18
Boiler cover £15
Sons ballet £18
Water 37
TV license £10

Total £1526

Leaves me 374 to deal with food, clothes, pet food and unexpected bills like car repairs etc. I have no savings : ( unfortunately can't reduce breakfast club and after school club due to hours I need to work. He is only at breakfast club 15 minutes, but we still need to pay. Only thing I can think of cutting down is food shop.

Your water is quite high. Do you have a meter? With just two of you in the house it would probably work out cheaper.
Are you paying interest on the credit card? Can you switch and do a balance transfer?
Have you explored every option to try to cut your childcare costs? It sucks that you have to pay for just 15 mins of breakfast club. Have you asked around to see if these is another mum who could help out?
Your RAC cover and boiler insurance are over the odds - shop around a bit.
You might need to ditch the swimming and/or ballet for a short while until you get back on an even keel.
Have you checked you are receiving all the tax credits etc you are entitled to?
Can you take in a lodger/do some private tuition/anything else to up your income?

Have a look around the debt free wannabe board too - lots of useful advice.

Nikkiclaire

Thanks - will check that out - one thing I have done is register with survey companies - only really use one now -pine cone, and end up with about £12 in vouchers to use each month and they are nice to use for sons treats like trips to Macdonalds : )

Nikkiclaire

Thanks userx- will check out water meters, but have already ruled out stopping sons activities as feel there very important and won't take in a lodger as feel as a single mum of a 6 year old, do not want strangers in the house. May revisit all my outgoings though and see if I can get cheaper options though : )

sp1987

We have similar incomes/mortgage amounts etc but your gas/elec looks high to me...we have quite an efficient boiler, but an energy heavy electric shower....and come in at circa £90 per month for both. Is this something you can do something about or have you got an inefficient boiler which is burning money so haven't got much scope for savings etc?

mandragora_2

Reclaim your union fees through your taxes - NOW!!!! Teacher unions are regarded as membership of a professional body, and you can reclaim them. I believe it can be backdated, too. Your union will tell you more.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/list3/index.htm

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/how-to-get.htm

Secondly, if you run any lunch-time clubs, claim a 'duty lunch' for that day and make sure that you take up the cooked meal option, as that will then be one less cooked dinner you have to think about, prepare, cook or wash up for. In fact, any day when you're working with kids over your lunch break, whether it's a regular arrangement or just a one-off, you are entitled to claim a duty lunch for. Our school does a great roast dinner on a Wednesday - check out what would be the best day at yours!

Breakfast club - is there a local mum who would have your son for that 15 mins - give her a box of his favourite cereal a week and a carton of milk - that'd cost a sight less than £20. It needs to be someone you'd be happy with, and cost you less than the amount you're paying now for it to be worth bothering with, but my son's friend's mum had my lads for twenty mins a morning when they were at primary - they loved to be together anyway, my two didn't make much of a difference, and she was very grateful for the bit of extra cash it brought in. I was lucky that she was so lovely, and they were very happy there.

Finally, how do you feel about making yourself available for the odd extra day to make your week a f/t one now and then - doing a bit of supply when asked for, or even asking if you could go up to f/t for a specified period? I'm not suggesting that you should or must, and you may well not want to, but just wondering if you've considered it? It's going to be one of the most effective ways to boost your income now and again.

AlsioHx

I was recently made redundant and went through everything including food / supermarket spending to cut costs. After each shop i list total spend on toiletries, household items (cleaning products, loo roll etc), necessary food - fruit, meat, veg, milk, bread etc and unnecessary food - biscuits, choc, wine, treats etc. A pattern soon emerges and after a while you will automatically categorise. Start by focusing on eliminating the unnecessary. Always take and stick to shopping list. Take calculator to check the more obscure savings - buying larger packs not always cheaper. Cut my supermarket spend by 2/3rds. Good luck !

UserX

Nikkiclaire wrote: »

Thanks userx- will check out water meters, but have already ruled out stopping sons activities as feel there very important and won't take in a lodger as feel as a single mum of a 6 year old, do not want strangers in the house. May revisit all my outgoings though and see if I can get cheaper options though : )

I was a single parent from the time my youngest was 8 months until 5yrs. I had a couple of (female) lodgers during that time and found it to be a lovely experience. I had no regrets about doing it at all. One of them actually became a very close friend and honorary 'auntie'!

Nikkiclaire

Thanks everyone - will take on board all comments and check out meal budget post. Tax on union contibutions already claimed which is adjusted in income. As chair of union branch I also told everyone else about this. Also gas/elec high as they underestimated me last year when switched supplier so paying off debt, had it on lots last year and dont have double glazing.

janb5

I can endorse User X`s entry as I have had lodgers for the past two years. There is a great site( free) called www.spareroom.com
Believe me you will quickly suss the ones you couldn't bear to have in the house and it wouldn't hurt to look at the site to see what people put in their adverts. Also you would then qualify for the Government`s scheme whereby you can have a lodger without paying tax on it

I`d also look at finding another firm to service your boiler. I stopped British Gas( and similar) many years ago and have a local firm to service it annually which works out a lot cheaper.

Sally_A

Re your £20 per week challenge - this should be doable if son is getting fed at school.

A decent sized chicken can be bought for £5, this should last for 3 meals. (Roast; cold meat; pickings in a sweet & sour/curry/tomato sauce or similar).


I recently bought a 1kg gammon from Co Op for £5 (on special), it fed 3 of us for 3 days +


A basic pizza (cheese and tomato) can be bought for £1 - add your own toppings, but only works out cheaper if you have a greengrocers nearby where you can by 2 onions, 6 mushrooms, 1 pepper rather than a 3-pack or 500g.


Always keep your eye open for yellow stickers, and grab any meat you will use, and other items that are freezable.


I guess snacks for your son are quite pricey - toast is your friend rather than crisps etc. Marmite for savoury, choc spread/peanut butter for sweet cravings; bananas also good value to fill you up.


I was embarrassed when I looked under the sink; I had a cleaning product for every occasion. Buy one multi purpose cleaner, and use damp newspapers to clean glass.


Another thing I found handy, (a bit sad and OCD) was to start putting dates on things when they were opened, using a permanent marker. I now know when the sauces in the fridge were started, rather than being too scared to use them. Also I now know we get though approx. 9 loo rolls a month, a bottle of Fairy liquid every 5 weeks, toothpaste 2.5 weeks etc. etc. Might sound mad, but I'm now buying as I need, rather than getting a build up of items. (But still keep you eye out for special offers).


Eggs are also a good bet - 99p for 6 large free range in the greengrocers here - so 4 in an omelette = 66p for a meal, padded out with ham/mushrooms/tomatoes/cheese.


As your son is 6, please keep up the calcium and Vit C (and for you too), so don't hold back on milk and fruit.


I'd say enjoy the challenge and make it a game rather than a chore.