When does scrimping go too far?

DigForVictory

It's not a runner, as one baby stomach upset & you'll be going through nappies like they're smarties.
You *can* live a healthy vegetarian life, but it helps to afford eggs, cheese & so forth & anyway, life without bacon is driech.
If your budget is that tight, you may need to ask if the pets are honestly affordable.

For a short stretch with a clear goal, yes it's possible. Ye gods though.

t14cy_t

i have a separate budget for all the animals, no compromises there, however i am a big fan of coupons etc, and yellow stickers. there only DH and myself most of the time, visiting business partner comes over and has lunch 12 days a month and i feed 7 of us twice a fortnight!! we have an endless supply of eggs which we give to family, friends and neighbours which is sooo nice to be able to do. i use the freezer greatly. i go to the supermarket armed with a list, budget and coupons!! thats if its a list shop, otherwise DH and myself do a military style yellow sticker run, which is if its under 50p it goes in the trolley!! there is nothing we wouldnt eat/try, the chickens/ducks also get a good supply of bread, veg and fruit, and the dogs also enjoy fruit and veg. however, i am trying to cut down on trips to the shops and have spent nothing so far this month. i usually budget £80 for us including cleaning bits/toileteries. twice a year i do order from approved food to stock the larder up! £1 a day would be hard to do if you had no basic stock to add to it and very boring and time comsuming! x

Ginmonster

I think it's best to work your own budget out based on what you can afford and what suits your household. Can i recommend the monthly grocery challenge thread on this board if you want to join something to get control of your budget? Everyone on there has different budget amounts, different sized households and includes different things in their budget depending on their needs. It's really supportive and non-judgemental and the people are lovely. Remember we're not the Yorkshiremen in the Monty Python sketch - it's not a competition to see who can scrimp the most. It's about living the best you can within your means, not anyone else's.

frosty

AnnieO1234 wrote: »

Frosty - does that include animal food/bedding/litter though? As well as nappies and other toiletries. I get what you're saying, but then adults can more easily deal with deficiencies than two kids.

It doesn't include animals,we have three dogs,they go through a bag of wainwrights dry dog food (15kg) every two months....I stock up when it's on offer,at the moment it's two for £66 at pets at home,they sent me a £10 off voucher so it works out at £14 a month for the three of them.
Our Tesco do great reductions,fruit and veg can be anything from 2p to 10p a pack,I dehydrate a lot and freeze a lot aswell,we eat way more than 5 a day.We try and buy reduced price meat again it's priced anywhere from 20p to £1 depending on pack size.We don't eat a lot of ready meals.
Toiletries...we seem to receive a lot as gifts,Christmas and birthday so don't really buy much through the year.
I buy a big box of surf from home bargains,£12 for a hundred washes and use a small scoop so it lasts more like 250 washes.

I have my own cleaning business and the only cleaning materials I buy are a can of furniture polish and a bottle of bleach which lasts a very long time.i always have watered down bleach in a spray bottle to clean the kitchen and bathroom with.

jackyann

A lot depends on how long for - lots of posters come on here because of a 'one-off' problem - sanctions, a sudden expense, gap between jobs etcetc.
So what is 'do-able' when you've a few things in your store cupboard (even if it's just spices, herbs & a jar of jam) may be miserable for longer - and actually bad for your health over a long period of time.

And trailingspouse - good for you!

GreyQueen

Seems very tight to me, possibly do-able without the animals and the nappies, if extremely tight. I'd question if it was do-able with those included.

The going rate for a 25 kg sack of spuds at the farm gate is normally £5 but is presently $6.50 - the price of the remaining 2016 crop rises in the last months before the 2017 crop comes available. Based on previous years, the price will drop back to £5/ 25kg in a few months - spuds are being sown about now.

This applies to even big purchases of taters, such as the truckloads which go into my local and very busy fish and chip shop.

I feed myself (one adult) for £30-£40 a month, but that is a mostly veggie diet, some home-grown stuff and as much YS as I can get my hands on. I don't eat rubbish but I do eat a lot of salad and was happy to drop my hands on packs of radishes at 5p each last Sunday afternoon at YS time.

I'd question the wisdom of keeping pets on a very low income, perhaps if they're a hangover from more affluent times, regard them as a joy and a duty for their lifetimes, but don't replace them once they've died.

[Deleted User]

I am not so much scrimping as using up what I have in stock rather than going out buying more in .So far this month I have only bought some veg and spent only £3.78 of my food budget ,but I have used up some of the things that were languishing in my freezer and food cupboards

I had a great sort out, and found things that had been bought and forgotten about and so am in the process of using them .This is on the Love food hate waste Lent idea .Rather than giving up things for lent its more using up what you have which to me seems eminently sensible I think I could probably feed half the street with my food stash at the moment so I am more than happy to use less in my quest to see the back wall of my cupboards or freezer :):)


Plus it makes for 'interesting meals ' The other day I had a pieces of battered fish,mashed potato, & mixed veg all from my freezer, I also had half a tin of baked beans that needed using up and the pudding was some chopped mixed fruit also from there that I had forgotten about A whole meal just sitting in the freezer forgotten and unloved and I would probably normally have had a quick skim of my stuff and gone out and bought more .

VfM4meplse

AnnieO1234 wrote: »

Okay, I'm putting this here because I know you guys will understand the premise where other boards it would just be flamed. (I have now learned how to work the forum a bit better too since I was last on this particular board!)

Anyway, so as part of OS I'm a member of various groups that aim for £ per day per person on food. That's the poverty line. So what is your take on this following situation, do you think this is too far or reasonable?

It is doable for adults if slim pickings. However not what I would advocate for young children, as good nutrition is vital during development.

rach_k

What do you feed the kids? If you're buying them baby/toddler foods, you could easily stop that. Just give them both (assuming youngest is 6m+) whatever you're eating minus the very few things you'd avoid for littleuns. No need for baby jars, pouches or special crunchy things in bags! If you feed them like that and baby is BF so no forumla to buy (if he/she has formula, switch to the cheapest brand as they all are pretty much the same anyway, despite fancy advertising), £2/day is actually pretty good as they will both probably eat less than half adult portions, leaving some left for nappies.

silverwhistle

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Obviously you start by feeding the rodent to the cats. :-)

Oh, I'm so glad it's not just me that has bad thoughts!;-)

You could keep the cats really hungry and then hire them out to neighbours with a rodent problem. Fifty pence a day which you could put to the food budget. Maybe the odd bonus blackbird to bake in a pie, although baking is expensive in fuel. If fuel comes out of a separate budget batch bake some bread at the same time.

Joking aside I'd be worried about sufficient variety for the kids, even if they don't actually eat massive quantities and possibly waste as much.