Moving to a new flat, how can I save/cut back??

wanderingwondering

Hi b17c


I think what people have said so far seems very valid. £50 for food seems pretty low - have you planned how you will achieve this in terms of meal plans etc?


Re expensive waxing, I recently bought an epilator from Boots which was only about £25, their cheapest one on offer. So far it seems great. Its quicker, less messy, probably even less painful and can be used on most areas I think. I costed it against buying the cheapy wax strips at a packet a month and figured if it lasts two years it will beat them. If I was paying for professional waxing I would definitely try it, obviously it uses some electricity but could be a real saving.

B17c

AmeliaDebtFreelia wrote: »

If you have a spare room, make it into a laundry room for the bad weather months:
I bought 2 retractable washing lines from Wilkos @ £5.89 each and put them up in my box room. They each have 5 lines to hang from so take over 2 loads of washing. I hang clothes on their hangers to avoid ironing and it's quicker than pegging. Underwear I hang on those multi peg plastic things which I bought from Poundland.
Clothes usually take 2 days to dry fully but it saves me a fortune on tumble drying! Also the lines retract back into themselves if you need the room for something else and are not an eyesore on the wall.

Buy brisket or shin of beef from the butcher and make a stew in a slow cooker - the meat literally falls apart and is actually more flavoursome than expensive cuts. Got my slow cooker from Asda - bargain at £15

Homemade soup is super cheap & super easy! Carrots, Swede, Onions, black pepper and a couple of stock cubes = £1 for around 8 portions! To bulk it up for a more robust soup add a tin of Aldi tuna for 59p. Filling nourishing meal for about 72p

Get a toothpaste tube squeezer to get out every last bit - I got 3 for £1 on Ebay. Stops my teenager wasting half a tube!

When using toiletries just try using the smallest amount possible to cover what you're washing ie hair or face. I now use less than a small pea size of facewash everyday and a normal size tube has lasted me 4 months so far and there's LOADS left. I used to get through 1 every month.

Buy Aldi stuff!! Particularly frozen breaded/battered chunky cod/haddock fillets £2.49 rather than over £4.00 for Birds Eye and taste just as good i promise!
Aldi Almat laundry detergent is award winning, cheap and smells lovely!
Aldi bread is cheap and tasty and they also sell the branded bread which is cheaper than the supermarkets.

Open up several bank accounts for easy money management. I have 4:
1)Food & spends
2)Bills (all by dd)
3)Car service/MOT/Vets
4)Christmas/Birthdays/Savings

Buy EVERYTHING you can on a tesco credit card or asda cashback credit card. Everytime you use it, pay that amount back onto it as soon as you get home so it's always paid off but you get points/cashback for using it each time.

Go to Odeon cinemas on a Tuesday...it's £5. Take your own microwave popcorn with you too so you don't feel deprived!

Shop on approvedfood - LOADS of bargains to be had! You get free postage the 1st time and then I only use it when they send me a free postage offer or a £5 off deal otherwise the postage is £5.95 which bumps your price up. I usually save around £60 off the rrp of the items I buy!

I love this post! It's a bit out of date (2012) but it's still helpful!!!

Hi WW, yeah I'll have to rethink the food budget, but if I've overestimated Internet and leccy hopefully it'll balance out... Either that or it'll be bread and jam for the foreseeable!

B17c

wanderingwondering wrote: »

Re expensive waxing, I recently bought an epilator from Boots which was only about £25, their cheapest one on offer. So far it seems great. Its quicker, less messy, probably even less painful and can be used on most areas I think. I costed it against buying the cheapy wax strips at a packet a month and figured if it lasts two years it will beat them. If I was paying for professional waxing I would definitely try it, obviously it uses some electricity but could be a real saving.

I have an epilater, I can just about do my underarms with it, through gritted teeth... I don't think I could manage more, ermm 'sensitive' areas!

genetic

London is expensive, isn't it!

Have you made sure that you'll be approved for the flat by the rental agency? The typical calculation is that your minimum salary needs to be 30x your monthly rent ie 925x30=27750. Or can your dad or someone else act as a guarantor?

B17c

genetic wrote: »

London is expensive, isn't it!

Have you made sure that you'll be approved for the flat by the rental agency? The typical calculation is that your minimum salary needs to be 30x your monthly rent ie 925x30=27750. Or can your dad or someone else act as a guarantor?

Hi, I have a guarantor in place, just waiting to be approved by landlord then have reference check etc x

cyantist

I know you say you get mates rates for waxing but £41 doesn't seem that cheap. There are so many cheap deals on wahanda - full leg wax, brazilian and underarms for example for £28 and there's probably a lot cheaper available if you're a bit further out of the centre. Plus wahanda send me vouchers for £10 off online bookings very regularly making it even cheaper.

Alternatively could you use your epilator for legs and underarms and just get the more sensitive areas waxed?

Do you have a santander 123 credit card? You get cashback on supermarket purchases and 3% cashback on oyster, as well as a few other things. It might not be worth the annual fee, though for the first year it's free if you have their current account.

B17c

Just heard from the estate agent, landlord didn't approve me. Thanks anyway for your suggestions everyone.

cyantist

That's rubbish :-(
Hope you find something else

ljonski

I hope that you haven't lost any "agency fees"

B17c

Thanks cyantist. No, no money changed hands, just had to wait a week for the woman to read her emails over in Malta. Where she lives. And rents out her property here. Or not, as the case maybe! #notbittermuch #justwantmyownplace