I want to stop drowning

debtaghh

Thank you so much for all the ideas and tips! I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

debtaghh

Morning,

I've just made payments off the credit card and updated my signature. My dad has taken off £2k off the debt I owe him and is allowing me to not pay him back for nearly 2 years! This will save £100 a month.

wishingthemortgaheaway

That's great news a little extra wiggle room.

efes_shareholder

thats excellent news , without some family payments it may help decide if DMP is needed for you

MrsSave

That's great news about your Dad. Hopefully it'll make things a little easier until you can get these minimum payments down.

Do you buy your veg fresh? I converted to frozen veg a couple of years ago and it's great. Far cheaper, no waste and just as good for you. I do buy my fruit fresh (but buy depending on what's on offer!) - I've tried frozen and don't like it as much.

debtaghh

I buy mainly frozen apart from carrots as my chn like them raw. I don't like frozen fruit either.

enthusiasticsaver

We have swapped to mainly frozen veg too. With just two of us the veg was going off too quickly and Lidl's fresh veg is mainly prepackaged rather than buying small amounts. Good that your dad has waived £2k of the family debt and given you some breathing space for almost 2 years. That gives you a real chance to get the credit cards down.

debtaghh

I'm feeling a bit more optimistic . If we can clear 5k by Xmas it will already make our affordability a lot easier. My dh is due overtime again next month and a mini pay rise ( approx £50 extra a month). I'm hoping to sell some bits on eBay to help too.

[Deleted User]

That's great news about your dad giving you some extra wiggle room!

With regards to the grocery budget - we have a budget of £200 a month for 2 adults and a 4 year old (and a greyhound), this includes all toiletries etc and I usually come in under that now.

Your cheapest meal options will be pulse-based things. We are vegan, so eat like that anyway, but even as meat eaters, you can add in a couple of meals like that a week and really save. You can buy dried pulses in bulk really cheaply in ethnic food stores/international supermarkets.

We have a lot of lentil dhal, bean chilli, chickpea curry - all with rice from a cheap 10kg bag.
Also, the 20p spaghetti in Aldi are great - we make pasta sauce from passata, garlic and herbs to go with it and bulk it out with loads of veg and have one of those 35p garlic baguettes from Aldi with it.

I try to by seasonal veg as much as possible - now in autumn, this will be cabbagey things and root veg and mushrooms.

Soups are great for using up leftover veg. I often go to supermarkets in the evening to scout for yellow sticker veg for this.

We also have wholemeal pittas a lot - either as a pizza base (works really well!), or with roasted veg/mushrooms, salad and tahini as a sort of kebaby thing. Really tasty and very cheap.

It's generally helpful to cook more than you need and save leftovers for when you don't feel like cooking. There are loads of good recipes on the old-style boards on here, and I recommend Jack Monroe's recipes (cooking on a bootstrap - really cheap, tasty food).

If you increase protein and fibre in your main meals, it might make you all snack a bit less. Go for wholegrain options, add some pulses, add a bit more veg and a bit less meat - etc.

Grow some of your own herbs if you can. Vegetables too (obviously too late for that now, but maybe next year?) We only have a tiny yard but have grown courgettes, beetroot, tomatoes, chillis and carrots successfully this year - it was in pots we already had, with very cheap soil from Aldi and a multipack of seeds that cost 39p in Home Bargains.

Even when shopping in Aldi, it's still worth to meal plan before you go, and compare prices on everything. For example, their bistro salad is about half the price of all the other prepared salad bags. The everyday essentials mushrooms and grapes work out loads cheaper than the normal ones. Plain digestive biscuits work out much cheaper than the fancier ones, etc etc. I always check price per unit/per 100g. I've even switched to their cheapest loo paper and found it's fine really - worth the massive saving!

debtaghh

Thanks for all the great ideas. We are not major meat eaters so can def do vegan dinners.