Newbie looking for some advice before it spirals

debbieme

first I see your line rental is £15.00 PER month . Try if you can pay a 1 off up front line rental with BT it will work out about I think £11.00 per month then.


2nd suggestion which I done keep the brand name boxes somewhere when finished then put the cheaper market brands in the branded boxes without the children seeing , if the do not notice the difference happy days , mine are 6 and 8 they never noticed and do not know , hence food bill down!


Debbie x x

giblet1979

Hey Jac,

Totally agree with the other posters. If you try non-branded stuff, often there is little difference, and if you don't like them from one supermarket, they may be ok from another. Even if you go 'down' one brand e.g. from weetabix, to supermarket own but not value brand, then I doubt anyone would notice. Also, mixing brand with non-brand can be good e.g. washing up liquid etc at first, then switching over to fully non-brand a bit at a time.

I would probably just switch all at once, but if you're getting resistance, this might be a gentler way of going about it

Loads of luck btw and I wish you all the best x

judi24

I see you are a nurse )NMC and RCN reference - so is there any way you could do bank/agency on days off?? I know only too well how hard juggling a full time job with kids is (i have 4 and trained as a nurse when oldest 2 were 1 and 2) but some agencies pay stupid amounts particularly for weekend nights and bank hols

longtermplanner

15, 14 and 9 are old enough to be understand that you can't afford everything. Would they rather have mobiles or Heinz ketchup? Would they rather have cable or go on holiday?

FireWyrm

jac53 wrote: »

Thank you everyone for your advise :-)
My kids eats tons they are 9, 14 & 15 but I tried other lower price supermarkets and they refused to eat it as it wasn't named brands, ended up costing more nipping to the local shop to top up with named brands!

:rotfl:

Wow. Time to nip that in the bud then. Unless and until they are contributing to the finances of the house - they should eat what they are given or go without.

only eat named brands indeed....

£650 a month is outrageous. You can halve that or better. Either you grow a pair and take control of your household, or you will continue to sink until you are too far in debt to ever see the light again. Children can suggest, they can request, but never would I let them dictate to me how money is spent. You a) cant afford to be so lenient and b) it isnt good parenting practice anyway (what happens when they grow up and they too cannot afford all the things they have become accustomed to).

You clearly know what the problem is or have suspected all along. It's time to take control and deal with it. You cannot continue to spend so much money you dont have.

Childcare/nursery....................... 200

What is this for? You have two adults in the house, but only one apparently working - what are you spending £200 a month on? Your children are 9, 14 and 15? Is this childcare for the 9 year old? What about her/his siblings or the other adult helping out?

judi24

I agree - it was amazing what my older 2 started to eat when they had to pay for it themselves - my eldest now only shops in Al*i! - buy what you want and if they dont like it ask them to buy thier own! my second daughter doesnt eat very much i cook but she buys bits herself or amends things like using plain pasta and adding cheese instead of bolognese - she doesnt like vegetables at all - and i refuse to cook without them!

Mort

jac53 wrote: »

My kids eats tons they are 9, 14 & 15 but I tried other lower price supermarkets and they refused to eat it as it wasn't named brands, ended up costing more nipping to the local shop to top up with named brands!

We went down to the Sainsbury's Basics range for a lot of stuff, baked beans especially. Fruit and veg from Aldi is good quality and value. Our teenagers adjusted.
We still buy the Basics baked beans, unless I fancy the curried variety.

Seanymph

You do find that a change in brands is noticeable (I did) But then they found things the preferred - Lidl tomato sauce is 69p, heinz about £2 and they prefer Lidl (probably more sugar!)....

The change came because we went into Europe more (we bought a house) and the brands in Lidl and Aldi tend to be European. I don't know how you would sell that, but if they see it as 'German' or 'French' rather than 'inferior' it works!

I did a bit of agency nightwork - ridiculous money, so worth it if you can squeeze in a few and target the money.

Get the kids at home to cook - and shop! - they get a much better idea.

I would get rid of the satellite system.

In france we have Freeview - and at home have bought (OH says 'invested) in a ridiculous motorised thing that gets us satellites all over the world - it did cost about £400 I think, but you don't pay any subscriptions at all.

It's over £700 a year for your tv. With stuff available online to watch (you can plug the computer into your tv probably) and Freeview and other options you can knock that off the list fairly easily.

Dobbibill

hohum wrote: »

Also i probably wouldn't be above putting own brand in the heinz bottle, just don't get caught doing it part of it is just brand loyalty created by marketing, not actually taste

I do this hehe :rotfl: My DH eats with his eyes not his taste buds and only complains if he sees the bottle/jar/packet. Learn to be one step ahead, some things genuinely taste no different,especially ketchup, but I agree with above, don't get caught :money:

DB

ellesbellesxxx

When you have been with your contract for a year (mobile phone) which I am guessing for you is Nov? You can downgrade your tariff


You def need to stop spending so much on food - each month you are spending 200 more than you have... paying in cash might help?