Fed up

linrog

im 3 years into a joint iva did not realise i had to tell supervisor if i needed to replace car ive traded in and my dad has given me the extra money needed am i in trouble help please thankyou

Flutterby83

As others have said, post an soa so the lovely people on here can advise, they're brilliant! I'm concerned you say you can't cut back on your shopping.....ours is a family of six (2 adults, 4 children) and we eat healthy but our shopping bill is more around the £60 a week mark, I do use a lot of slimming world recipes I pinch off my friend (they look really nice so I steal them lol!) but even with a pre-teen with a bottomless pit for a belly we don't manage to go over that amount

wigglers

Hi we are on slimming world but my fiancee doesn't eat tomatoes so we have pasta and pasata but usually before we start we get the fresh fruit and the trolley is already £15-£20 full up then kids nappys milk and wipes bread cereal and our food and we're lucky if it's under £85 especially if we need washing powder etc how on earth do u get it under £60 a week for 6 of u????

[Deleted User]

In the almost 3 years I've been a member, I don't recall a single SOA, where nothing could be trimmed.

You'll be amazed at how financially smart, some of the people on here are.

TonyMMM

wigglers wrote: »

my fiancee doesn't eat tomatoes so we have pasta and pasata

Pasata is sieved tomatoes ???

Agree with others - you should to be able to cut back below £100 a week on food quite easily.

post up a full SOA for other advice.

Flutterby83

It does shock a lot of people when they ask how much my weekly shop is! Firstly, I don't/didn't have to buy nappies or wipes, I used cloth nappies and reusable wipes (a bit like flannels) when they were young enough to still use them, I wouldn't be able to tell you how much nappies cost lol!! Same goes with formula, so that may be why there's such a difference. Secondly, I tend to make my own bread rather than buy it as it's just what we prefer, my other half is a chef and I'm pretty handy in a kitchen so we can swap out more expensive ingredient for things that are cheaper but still have the same nutritional value etc, I like the sw recipes as they teach you how to cook rather than just encourage you to buy the ready meals as some other weight loss plans do! I cook a lot from scratch, we batch cook, have 2 freezers (one in a fridge freezer and the other is a stand alone chest freezer) so we can store a lot. Nothing is wasted, if there's left overs, it's next days lunch or frozen for another days dinner, we grow a lot of veg and herbs in our garden (the kids love getting in on this as they live getting dirty!!) and washing powder I buy in bulk when it's on offer, then make sure I stick to the dosage and the washing machine is full when it's used. My kids are now in the habit of turning off lights when they leave rooms, turning plugs off when they're not in use and they prefer snuggling under a blanket rather than putting the heating on!! My kids are 11, 10, 8 and 3 and already have better economical sense than my 8 year old's teacher!

rockm87

TonyMMM wrote: »

Pasata is sieved tomatoes ???

Agree with others - you should to be able to cut back below £100 a week on food quite easily.

post up a full SOA for other advice.

I'm going to have to churp up here! DH doesnt like the texture of tomatoes, so we have to avoid them, but is fine with the taste.

So we buy lots of passata from Lidl's!

[Deleted User]

There's always room for savings.

Al right, we may not be talking hundreds of pound but, as a certain Supermarket is fond of telling us, "Every little helps".

Take laundry.

Do you get better than 28 standard washes per £1?

If not, then swapping to £land/£world washing gel, will give you a saving straight away.

How about washing up liquid?

I get mine from my local market, at £2-50 for 5 Litres, which is just 50p a Litre.

Likewise, I buy plain bleach at £2 for 5 Litres, which is just 40p a Litre.

In addition to markets, £land and £world, there's 99p stores, B&M Bargains, Home Bargains, etc.

Do your family drink cans of fizzy drinks?

Well, Home bargains are currently selling a tray of 24x330 ml cans of fizzy Vimto, for £6.

That's just 25p a can.

When was the last time you checked price comparison sites, for electricity, gas, phone, broadband, car and home insurance?

Do you pay more than £10 pm, for each of your mobile phones?

Ilona

Hi OP, There are loads of people who come on this forum and say they have already cut back as far as they can. If you give us a chance and post up your Statement of Affairs, listing ALL your incomings and outgoings, I can guarantee that we will be able to offer sensible ideas which will save you money. Money that you can then throw at your debt. We can't guess the figures, you have to tell us.
Ilona

bargainbetty

Lidl passata is only 35p per box. I can't see how that makes that much difference, unless you're all drinking it.

I'm on SW at the minute, and it can seem expensive, but the trick is to use veg rather than fruit to pad out meals with super free foods. Frozen veg is healthy and reasonably inexpensive. Porridge is cheaper than cereals and simple to make and still healthy. Meat is generally the most expensive bit of everything, but portions can be padded out with extra veg, lentils, pulses etc.

It would be lovely to have a place with a garden, but you simply can't afford it yet. Find your local parks and take the kids for days out with home-made picnics and make it an event. Once they are older you might be in a better position and can do it then.

Honestly, most kids that age are happy with a box and a large balloon on the living floor - gardens are more about what we want for them than what they need. What they need are parents who aren't scared about money all the time.

It's only three months until the loans finish, which will free up over £500 per month. Until then, have a few veggie days per week, use up everything in cupboards and freezers, consider reusable nappies (you can often get them cheap on ebay or through NCTs) and see where you can save on other things like insurances, utilities, phones and TV services. You might be surprised.

If you are just about surviving, then hold on for a little longer, rather than wreck your credit for the next six years. It won't look good on leases, which could affect your chances of moving to a larger place for a year or so.

Good luck