Tightening the belt

Tink_04

Hi just popping on for a but of advise.

Our income has just dropped by £200 a month and I'm sat with various spread sheets, lists & plans. We knew it was happening so have stocked up on things we can, paid a few big bills ahead of time and are generally at least a little prepared. I was just wondering what people would advise going forward?

We are a family of 4 me DH , DD5 & DS nearly 2, I'm trying to plan month by months for daily expenses, we do have savings but we are selling our house so trying to keep that money and hopefully still save.

We are certainly not breadline or in a crisis but want to keep on track any advice is very welcome or even if anyone has been in a similar situation I'd love to hear about it.

Feel like a lot of my friends and family don't live the way we do so don't really talk about stuff like this with them

Xx

suki1964

Start by downgrading on the shopping. Buy brands? Then try the own brand and the basics. I did this and I'm quite a food snob but some exchanges are not noticeable at all when it comes to taste, but help the pennies

Scratch cook. And throw sod all out. Much easier done when you have actually cooked from scratch. I hate to throw my Time away

Meal plan. Weekly or monthly. And don't forget soup and sandwiches/ toasties/ jackets are perfectly acceptable evening meals

Pack lunches for all that don't get free school meals.


I shop yellow sticker aisle first and meal plan around what's there that's good value. I'm not adverse to getting the phone out and googling for recipes there and then


And make the small changes that you know you and the family can accept/ adapt too before moving on to the next step. Small changes can be sustained without hardship. It's when it's all then nothing it all falls apart

rinabean

It's the same way you budget anyway, it just hurts more because you so recently had more money. Even if you budgeted casually and were able to save before, you need to set out strict budgets now for the first few months so you remain aware that you need to spend less. So if your shopping budget was £100 and you always naturally spent 95-105 (or less than 100, or 430 a month) so you never added things up as you went along or made costed shopping lists, you have to actually work at it now to make sure you stay at £80 or you'll run out of money by the end of the month. Obviously those figures are just examples. You need to sit down and work out how you can shave off that £200 and then you need to form your new habits around it. It shouldn't be difficult for long, especially as you say you are not being plunged into poverty or anything.

It's a good time to look at any subscriptions you have (magazines, tv, gym) and work out if they're still worth it, any way to get that 200 down is good.

Make sure you leave space in your budget for fun, even if that means cutting back on how much you save. If you deviate from the budget it can start snowballing and you'll start to spend as much as you used to and end up using your savings or even in debt. Your budget needs to be realistic or you won't keep to it. Make sure you're properly putting aside money for anything you pay yearly each month too, I see people leave that out all the time and then they're scrambling when the date comes round.

I've had to do this and I've made some of these mistakes. It's difficult but you will manage. £200 a month sounds scary but it's just under £50 a week. Still scary, but not impossible to deal with. You might be able to get it out of your shopping budget alone, but it depends how much or how little you already spend. If you buy work & school lunches, coffees, that needs to stop now and you'll get the £50 out of that. But if you already do it yourself you need to find somewhere else. Maybe post your typical shopping & recipes and people will be able to suggest specific changes?

lilian1977

Hi

I don't have much spare cash every month but it's because most of it goes into savings, so I don't feel like I'm struggling, I just like to try and see how little I can get by on.

So yes. Reductions at the supermarket and the Aldi Super Six are great ways to plan your meals for the week ahead, especially if you have freezer space and time to cook.

Look for free family fun in your area - I don't know where you're based but Mums in the Know usually has a good round up of free events, or you could look at your local council's website too. For example this weekend I'm going to a free family fun day at Home Manchester on Sunday and on Monday I'm taking advantage of Movies for Juniors at Cineworld to go and see Shaun the Sheep for less than £5 for the three of us and doing a Mystery Dine at Fayre and Square afterwards. Now it's summer you could have great fun for just the price of a picnic at a local park.

If you get a coffee on the way to work, check if you have a Waitrose nearby and sign up for a MyWaitrose card for a free coffee every day. And if you live near a Virgin Lounge, get yourself a basic savings account with them and use their facilities for free brews and biscuits every day!

Make use of your local library for books, DVDs and music instead of buying these things. And take out the free trials with Netflix, Now TV, Amazon etc for free online films (just don't forget to cancel).

Sign up to survey sites like Swagbucks for Amazon vouchers and save these for Christmas. Look into the Shop and Scan panel too, also for Amazon vouchers. See if there is any availability on the Royal Mail panel in your area as you are paid in stamps which also come in handy for Christmas.


Good luck! It's perfectly doable. I did it when I went down to 4 days after coming back from maternity leave.

x

cat4772

I'd probably take it right back to basics:
post your budget on DFW - they're eagle eyed and can help identify overspending...
Keep a spending diary to see where 'spare' money is going,
Meal plan. If you don't currently cook from scratch, look at your favourite ready meal and try to cook that from scratch. look at the rubber chicken - one chicken does 3 or 4 meals; chicken dinner, stock for soup, left over chicken with wraps, leftover chicken & soup into a pasta bake.
family life - days out are important. cheap days out are better. I've done picnics to the local park and to not so local parks for a bit of variety! check out the local council for things they offer; check out the next council as well - I'm lucky to have 3 councils within 10 miles of my home so there's usually something going on.

Good luck.xx

enjoyyourshoes

Read thro Suki1964 good solid ideas


also:-


Shopping list on kitchen and only buy what is on the list


dehydrated soya protein (bulk out mince recipes (lasagnes etc), mix it with tinned toms and oxo, allow to rehydrate then ad to mice dish (25% they don't know its there) Holland & barret sell it


Don't pay any insurances (car, house etc) monthly as they get you on credit charges, pay year in advance.


Freeze weekly sarnies and get them out for the kids o the day


use freezer from bread and milk for the week, stops you nipping into shops for a mid week top up and spending ££ you didn't need to


work out cost/mile or mile/litre for car every time you fill tank to the top, improves your ability to drive frugally (less acceleration and braking)

Butterfly_Brain

Cancel Sky and chances are that they will do a deal to keep you as a customer.

Change energy supplier

Haggle with your insurance company for car insurance and house insurance. I tell mine that I am leaving every year and they always give me a reduction

Stop buying brands and take advantage of Aldi super six offers etc.
This week it is chestnut mushrooms, rhubarb, jersey royals, red onions, sweet mini peppers and green beans all for 59p each.

I bought loads of mushrooms, onions, mini peppers and rhubarb this morning, they have all been washed sliced, diced and frozen, I will get a lot more next week as well. I also got a four pack of bramleys for 88pso four packs done and in the freezer plus some in the dehydrator as we speak.
I still have some rhubarb and apples left so I am making apple and rhubarb fruit leather this evening. Great for lunch boxes.
Might go down again tomorrow and get some more rhubarb to make jam.
I have some in the garden, but you can't use it the first year.

Do you have a garden? If so grow your own fruit and veg, it is good exercise and the children will love seeing everything grow.

Mend something before replacing it with new straight away.

Meal plan, check what you have and write a list and stick to it and only use cash, it is far too easy to overspend on a card.
I always keep an extra £20 note in my purse in case I spot a bargain though.

Try to shop only once a week, it is easy to go out for a loaf of bread and come back after you have spent £20 or more:eek::eek:

catshark88

Lots of great advice above!

I found writing down everything I spent really helpful to keep focus, especially whilst you're getting used to your changes.

Aldi and Lidle were great helps, but menu planning and batch cooking even more so.

We cut all non essential DDs/ SOs and went cold turkey for a while before gently loosening up a little when we knew we were in control.

We viewed our bank account daily to keep track, but did allow ourselves planned small treats. These were often a nice, home cooked supper in front of the TV, watching a Lovefilm DVD. Terribly boring, but kept us happy, lol!

Tink_04

Thanks everyone some good ideas there (some we already do & some new!)

We are quite good really, started out here on the DFW board and cleared all of our debt and now have savings for the first time! We are able to sell our house (if we get a buyer) and move to a bigger property.

I do think someone hit the nail on the head when they said about being used to having more money tho. We always spend quite frugally but I know if I need/want something I can just get it as the money is there. Also we have stated buying fancier things again (brands/treats) in the shopping as we 'deserve' it and we can - this will stop. The money is going down so in order to keep our savings on track and our financial situation good enough to move house we need to go back to basics again.

The plan
• Weekly shopping budget
• Dropping treats and brands again
• food cupboard inventory
• meal plan meal plan meal plan
• selling some of DS baby things

Thanks everyone xxx

Linda32

Hi,

It really does sound as if you are on track, but just wanted to add that we have been in a similar situation.

About 4 years ago I was made redundant, at the time I had insurance to cover some of my wages for a year. Fast forward 6 months and still unemployed I found temporary agency work in a plant nursery. I stayed there for 3 years but it was only from February to mid Sept-Oct so I was unemployed from Oct to Feb the following year each year IYSWIM

We did it by keeping a track of spending every day, as mentioned above and putting away every penny to 'make up' another weeks wages for when I was off. Meal planning as well really does work but shop from your cupboards first.

Seeing how much you can save each week and making another weeks money does in itself become quite addictive and because you are in control it doesn't seem as if you are 'hard done too'

Like you, we have savings but I really had no intention of using savings for day to day living.

FairyPrincessk

I think you know most of the budgeting tricks but one thing that I think has kept us on track the most in the long term is to have a budget for extras/treats etc. When you have no option but to cut to the bare bones then discipline can be supported by the lack of options. When you're cutting back to put it in savings it can be hard not to just dip in 'just this once because...' which then starts happening more and more often. Setting aside a pre-determined small amount means you can have a treat sometimes and not go mad with it or try to pretend it isn't happening and not notice how much it is eating away at your savings.