First post... shopping budget

kati123

Hi Claire that would be amazing thank you


HappyMJ - no fans, no water pump... nothing has changed over the last year in my house so no reason to be using less or more electricity


I've never tried value goods but obviously I will be now so I appreciate the list, I am currently making food list with the ideas you have all given me and will add the value items to them also for me to try


I have showers as its more economical, and have a stock pile of toiletries as my mum before she moved gave me her stock pile that didn't suit her skin

sourcrates

Some good advise has been given, if I may just add a little to what's been said, I know its hard to budget for food, and the temptation is to go for deals on processed food, lets face it, its cheap, yes, good for us ? no, defiantly not, I ate junk food for years, mixed in with the odd freshly cooked dish, yes I put on weight, and, at the age of 47, was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and pre-diabetes, and it was all down to my diet.
So as tempting as it is to buy ready meals, and other cheap processed food, to save money, its really a ticking time bomb, as its full of additives, high levels of salt, and sugar.


Aldi are good for meat pricewise, as are Lidl, its really simple to rustle up good wholesome fresh food for very little money.
I cook everything from fresh now, and have lots of fresh veg.
In the end your health is more important than saving a few quid.:)

HappyMJ

kati123 wrote: »

Hi Claire that would be amazing thank you


HappyMJ - no fans, no water pump... nothing has changed over the last year in my house so no reason to be using less or more electricity


I've never tried value goods but obviously I will be now so I appreciate the list, I am currently making food list with the ideas you have all given me and will add the value items to them also for me to try


I have showers as its more economical, and have a stock pile of toiletries as my mum before she moved gave me her stock pile that didn't suit her skin

Would that be an electric shower? An electric shower costs more than a gravity fed shower where the water is heated by gas. A half filled bath would even be cheaper than the electric shower. Sorry I'm really trying to find what is using so much. Using double the average and having no idea why is very worrying.

Granariesgirl

Hi kati123,

Just passing through & thought I'd try & help out.

A comment on your leccy bill: I agree with the other posters on here, it's VERY high! :eek:

My total bill with Gas & Electric is £70 per month with Ovo based on average consumption from last year with BG who were charging... £85! So a bit of research & help from MSE's Cheap Energy Club is saving me £15 per month! :j

My advice is:
1) Call BG & say you have serious concerns about the sudden increase in your energy consumption, see if they have an advisor who can help you discover the kW hog in the house - after all you are paying through the nose so you may as well use their services! :cool: :rotfl:
2) Check your annual consumption, should be on one of your bills (December?), use it to find your previous monthly average. Then look at all your subsequent bills to find your current monthly consumption... see when your consumption started to skyrocket, ask yourself what changed then? Boring but useful.
3) With your average monthly consumption written down you can now... use the Cheap Energy Club or just hunt around for a cheaper tariff - BG isn't usually the cheapest.

Best of luck to you.

GG

theoretica

It won't help you save money, but as you have kids I think you should seriously consider life assurance http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cheap-life-insurance

Also without contents insurance, what would you and the kids do if your flat flooded, burnt or was trashed? If you don't have the insurance, I think you should have a plan!

How about calculating your mileage and petrol use three ways - necessary journeys (supermarket once a week, doctors, that sort of thing) - family life (trips to park) and finally your fun. Have a think about any journeys you can combine, and how much of a fun budget you can afford or justify. Also how this will change with different weather.

Aphidgirl

Hi Kati123,

I've enjoyed reading your thread as I'm trying to spend as little on food as possible per month while still maintaining a healthy diet, so its good to see some meal ideas!

I can't offer much advice other than as some of the others said, do try the value items in the supermarket. I get tescos value bread, beans, tinned toms, cheese, tuna, frozen veg....all fine to eat!
I recommend value cornflakes - in tescos its only about 35p for a big box and that's breakfasts sorted for a while!

Value peanut butter is only about 60p and it doesn't go off for months if you keep it in the fridge - if you have it with brown bread for sandwiches/toast its almost healthy!

Good luck with it anyway, i'll keep reading

kati123

sourcrates.. Thanks for the healthy input, I defo do not have the healthiest of diets which I'm also looking to change. I went through a stage of living off cans of coke and one micro meal a day, and then after a few months my body obviously decided it wanted better and I became starved no matter how much I ate, so looking to find a cheap but healthy way to feed myself.


I will defo start to shop around for my food instead of convenience buying from just one supermarket.


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HappyMJ - Yes it is an electric shower but again nothing has changed over the past few months, I have had the shower since the day I moved in so I doubt it's that which is eating away at my electricity.


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Granariesgirl - I will defo look into switching and will give BG a call and tell them that I am concerned and also get my consumptions from them to enable me to find a better deal. (I have been with BG since I got my first house when I was 16 and have been naughty and never switched - that's 9 years of business!!)


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Theoretica - I appreciate your input and have always had house insurance, but what with my overdraft maxed as well as a credit card I am defo not inclined to use another card to buy my house insurance, I'm hoping that if I'm good for this month, I can have some money put aside for it next month.
My mileage is super high as it is my form of entertainment as such (if this makes sense) so I CAN easily cut down to making only shopping trips once a week at less than 5 miles a week BUUUT.. I would be utterly miserable.. I'm guestimating a full tank a week and try my hardest to use half a tank, if that works out then great I've saved £30 per week and can then re-do my budget to those numbers...
with the weather changing, it'll be lower in the winter and higher in summer...


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Aphidgirl - I've really appreciate meal idea from people and looking forward to seeing some more also.
I will defo try the value items, I already buy morrisons own cereal so will now downgrade to tescos own brand (I don't eat in the mornings but the kids didn't notice the difference)
We all love peanut butter so I will defo try that one also for toast for lunch and such. Thanks for your input


I appreciate all comments/advice/input given so thanks to everyone

poppasmurf_bewdley

I always used to buy the own brand Corn Flakes and stick the contents into a Kelloggs box whilst the kids weren't looking. They never clocked on.

Same things with Heinz Beans. Are these Heinz they used to ask? Of course, I always replied with my fingers crossed!!!

Lolly25x

Something I found really helpful when I started trying to save money was I started doing my food shopping online. I use Tesco. I pay £6 per month for a delivery pass. I can get as many a week as I need over £25 delivered for my £6. Every Friday night (how exciting) I get a pen and paper and make a meal plan, checking what's in the cupboards, and what I need. This saves me picking up items that I don't need! Also this gets you clubcard vouchers which I have been able to redeem on the weeks iv needed more money elsewhere.
I also go to a local butchers once per month to buy meat, as I find it cheaper. We have a butchers you can get 26 chicken breasts for £24.
I love my slow cooker, and found it really useful. You can throw anything in. Mince, sausages, gravy, veg, potatoes. Soup is always a hit in my house. My son loves chicken rice soup, and it's really cheap to make and filling with some bread. A cheap box of eggs, makes omelettes, scrambled egg. A bit if flour and milk makes pancakes, always a hit with kids

7roland8

Please get insurance.

Contents will be cheap and if you go to compare the market can have a free meerkats.

Also I have life insurance for just £6 a month with a a.