It has to stop

Worriedaboutmoney_2

Wednesday and Thursday was working 12hr shifts so limited chance to spend! Did have to put petrol in my car on weds but that has been my only expense. Day off today and as yesterday was payday so need to get food shopping done. Usually do a Tesco delivery online order because I find doing this cheaper than browsing in shop (and buying things I don't need) and it saves me a lot of time because I work a lot of hours.

Debating whether to start going back to Lidl but would mean a 2 shop stop as there would definitely be things I couldn't get in there.

Still haven't pinned hubby down to sorting debts as we've been like ships passing in the night but hopefully next week we will have time when we are both at home at the same time!

enthusiasticsaver

Worriedaboutmoney wrote: »

I'm too scared to post SOA as I know people will critique it. Particularly my Sky subscription (which hubby refuses to let me cancel) and my car finance (I was already tied into a finance deal but had to swap my small car for a larger family car when hubby swapped his car for a van for his business)
He's just found some additional self employed work which he can fit around his business. Trouble is he's just about paying his bills so this leaves me with the other household bills.
Just not sure that he will have any extra income coming in anytime soon so that he can start contributing towards the household bills again - I've been solely paying them for 2 years now.

We've not defaulted on anything and I am just about scraping by paying minimum payments and I'm only avoiding putting more on credit cards by working extra shifts.

But this is taking a toll of my health physically and mentally.

Thanks for your kind replies so far

So your OH thinks it is acceptable for you to work extra shifts to pay for his Sky subscription does he? I am sorry but he is not being supportive and this is not fair on you.

Worriedaboutmoney_2

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

So your OH thinks it is acceptable for you to work extra shifts to pay for his Sky subscription does he? I am sorry but he is not being supportive and this is not fair on you.

I know you're not the first person to say this but old habits die hard. Some things are just a struggle but appreciate your post - thank you

Worriedaboutmoney_2

So I went shopping in Lidl for the first time in several years. Ok so the traffic was a bit of a nightmare (fridays for some reason always are in our little town!) the shop was rammed and it took me a good hour and 15 mins to do the complete shop as wasn't familiar with layout of the shop. There was actually far more choice than I remember and I found everything on my list there so meant no 2nd shop needed.
Even bought some weekend treats and a pair of pjs each for my boys to put away for Christmas presents

EssexHebridean

Well done you - that's a good start then, eh? I find what works for me with keeping shopping costs under control is a quite structured "attack" - first I review fridge, freezer, larder and cupboards - and work out from there what meals I can make. Then I write out the meal plan, and only then do I write my shopping list - for the bits I'm missing for my chosen meals. Some bits might be quite vague - today for example I simply had "vegetables" - and ended up with Kale from Aldi as it was 55p. Sometimes I structure in the odd treat, and I always keep my eyes open for yellow stickers - today was oranges - Jaffa ones - 89p for 4. Bargain.

It helps to write a note of things you want to use up - whether because they're nearing the end of their date, or whether you've just had them hanging around a while and want them gone. Remember that things that have gone a bit over aren't always past it - with the exception of meat based stuff. Soft-ish potatoes still mash well, bendy veg will roast, stale bread you can blitz into crumbs and freeze, milk on the turn makes superb scones. Once you've spent money on it, make sure you get value from it though - and that means never throwing anything away. If it's going to go off before you can use it, freeze it, cook it or process it in some way to prolong its life.

Worriedaboutmoney_2

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Well done you - that's a good start then, eh? I find what works for me with keeping shopping costs under control is a quite structured "attack" - first I review fridge, freezer, larder and cupboards - and work out from there what meals I can make. Then I write out the meal plan, and only then do I write my shopping list - for the bits I'm missing for my chosen meals. Some bits might be quite vague - today for example I simply had "vegetables" - and ended up with Kale from Aldi as it was 55p. Sometimes I structure in the odd treat, and I always keep my eyes open for yellow stickers - today was oranges - Jaffa ones - 89p for 4. Bargain.

It helps to write a note of things you want to use up - whether because they're nearing the end of their date, or whether you've just had them hanging around a while and want them gone. Remember that things that have gone a bit over aren't always past it - with the exception of meat based stuff. Soft-ish potatoes still mash well, bendy veg will roast, stale bread you can blitz into crumbs and freeze, milk on the turn makes superb scones. Once you've spent money on it, make sure you get value from it though - and that means never throwing anything away. If it's going to go off before you can use it, freeze it, cook it or process it in some way to prolong its life.

Some great tips there thank you

Worriedaboutmoney_2

Yesterday I took £20 cash out of bank as we were attending a football presentation for kids. Only spent about £5 in the end as people bought myself and hubby drinks (hubby runs a soccer school in holidays).
Today I've done my online banking to transfer money into our joint account to cover bills. Have calculated am left with £76 until Nov 27th (next payday) to cover food shopping and petrol - not to mention we also have 3 birthdays between now and then - my eldest son (will be 12), my dad and my stepson (will be 28).

I've told my hubby I cannot manage - last month I spent £350 on food (this needs to reduce considerably) and £150 on petrol (will be much less this month as have no long trips planned). It doesn't take a genius to work out that this is why the credit card debt has been increasing......

I have earned less this month - my salary changes from month to month depending on what shifts I did in previous month- more night shifts and weekends = more extra pay.

I have an extra shift booked next weekend so will be about an extra £100 to come in but this is still way short of what I need to feed my family and get myself to work.

I've told hubby he needs to sit down and write down his money situation so we can tackle - he's still stalling - frustrating

Worriedaboutmoney_2

Did noddle reports for both me and my hubby today. Mine was 2/5 - shocking and score rating between poor and very poor. His was 3/5 and good. Unbelievable as he has very little income right now and twice the debt I have. It showed all accounts up to date and no missed payments

Worriedaboutmoney_2

Finally pinned the hubby down to writing down all his debts. I think the penny has finally dropped that we need to do this. He will need to contact stepchange as with him being self employed so we can't do figures online. Hopefully he will contact them within next day or so

[Deleted User]

Fingers crossed Hun xx