I'm a spendthrifth - how do i get back on the Wagon

SnowL

Hi Pinkparrott and all others

I'd like to chip in with my tips for where to start. These things have certainly helped me out.

Definitely look at the food you're buying from the supermarket and whether you can get it elsewhere for a better price. I recently started buying from a wholesale butchers and have saved a FORTUNE. On Saturday I spent £12 on meat, portioned and froze it and have now got 10x2 portion sized meals worth of meat waiting to be cooked in the freezer. This has made such a big impact on my shopping bills, as now I only need to pick up the odd bit through the week. I freeze bread so as to avoid those 'argh no bread' run to the shop moments, which inevitably result in buying chocolate, crisps, juice etc.... :shhh:

Also keep stocked up on canned vegetables and frozen.

You can make all of your own biscuits and cakes if you eat them.

Take a thermos of coffee with you which you've prepared at home or work - will have to cut the cravings.

Batch cooking - freeze leftovers or take them to work for lunch the next day.

It's really worth checking your energy supply to make sure you're on the best tariff. Water too, if there's 2 of you, you could benefit from a water meter.

Take a look around charity shops and ebay for clothes. OR sell on ebay - even better. I only buy clothes when I've sold things on ebay and have the money in my paypal account. That money I earn from selling items is saved up to buy the things I really need, without eating in to my bank account balance. I try to avoid the shops as there's too much temptation. But one thing you do realise when you avoid shopping centres and malls etc. is just how expensive things are when they're full price!

Anyway, I hope this has given you a few ideas. These have worked for me - good luck with your return to the band wagon :j

Snow

Butterfly_Brain

If you have a garden grow as much of your own veg as you can, it is healthier and organic with no nasty pesticides or GM in it.

I use the envelope system for bills. I draw out everything on payday apart from DD money, mortgage etc.
I then split it into the bills that I pay cash for such as council extortion fee, tv licence, car tax, car insurance, and water bill.
The rest is split into five envelopes for shopping (We have more five week months than four week months).
Any money left over at the end of the month goes into a pot which deals with things like car emergencies or unexpected bills.

pinkparrott

Thanks everyone for all the great tips , I feel better already . I've made a great start just by doing a few things -
I checked cupboards last night and got my hubby to clock his signature dish - a spaghetti carbonara type thing as we had it all in stock.
Whilst he was cooking I went to my allotment (which I never get time to do much) & picked gooseberries & currants.
At lunch time I rang my energy provider as we'd gone on to the standard tarrif last month & managed to save £20 a month.
So a good start.
I think just coming on hear each day will help.
Thanks eveyone

suki1964

Welcome back aboard

First off let me say they cutting down hours isn't so difficult really. I gave up a reasonably well paid job with great pension etc at 36. I now work variable hours on just above minimum wage. Also hubby has given up very very well paid work in London for a job closer to home that brings in a quarter of what he was earning,yet neither of us miss the money. We still have nice things, he likes his cars, we socialise, we have children and grand kids that we spoil and we have even been known to take two holidays a year

It is an achievable goal and it's really not painful

I offer you that because I struggled on for too long in a job that was detrimental to my health, scared to leave because of being scared of being short of money

You have to take baby steps. It's like dieting. Starve yourself and you will crash, feel a failure and give up. Just cutting back little by little is sustainable long term

My advice would be pretty much same as others. Do Martins tips, look at all your bills and see where you can switch or cut back. Hubby was paying a whopping £35 a month phone contract whilst in London, now he's home it's been cut to £9 and he never goes over. Now working on the doorstep,mileage has dropped so we informed the insurance and got a cut there. Since our broadband speed has gone belly up again, netflix has got the chop. our ISAS aren't pro forming so they are being put into 123 accounts. Basically anywhere you can cut back and save money you take it

Next is to do a food inventory. You need to know what you have in the house already ( also you get to clean the cupboards and dump the stuff that's 100 years old that's never going to be eaten) then you sit and write out the meals you and the family enjoy and cook on a regular basis and that's the start of your meal plan. You also need to factor in what fruit and veg you have coming into season on your allotment. Whatever you grow you owe it to yourself to make sure it's eaten and not wasted.

From this you write a list for only the things you need to last you until your next food shop. And you stick to it. Nothing that's not on the list get bought, no sneaky extra bottle of wine or packet of biscuits or nail varnish

Once you get the hang of that,then you do the brand downgrade and also try lidl and Aldi. We only have lidl so I shop there. What I buy from there comes to so little that I use the contactless payment, where as in tesco it would be nearly twice the price. Never had a problem with the quality of the food, sometimes it's superior to other supermarkets' their instore bakery is excellent and the parmasan is the best for the price IMO

Save all your receipts for a month or so so you know how much you have spent,then you can decide how much to shave off.

I scratch cook most meals. Make cakes, biscuits, pies, and bread. Just made first ever jam hoping to learn to preserve this year. Our supermarket shop is around £45 a week for 3 adults including toiletries and cleaning. Most weeks it's a lot less but then I have weeks where I need to stock up on something like soap powder and loo roll ( only ever bought on special, never pay the rrp) or hit the chicken factory to fill the freezer