Pls help newbie!-monthly budget..

sunshine6650

Hello All!

Firstly Big Thank you to all of you! I admire you all!
Ive been looking on the site for a while & decided to do something about it!
Theres so many Threads & discussions i dont know where to start!

Right...We need to save money.
2 Adults - Food Shopping - Any budget amounts/recipe ideas? (sometimes 3)
We have about £10,000 debt between us we want to clear.
We have good wages coming in each month..we just forget & live high life! Heating on, takeaways, go to ASDA for 1 thing & leave with 3 bags..
We can make the time to bulk cook & from scratch but no idea where to start with anything!

General stopping wasting £££!!
We want to pay debts but also enjoy life & treat ourselves, we can do it just be more sensible! LIKE YOU GUYS!!

I admire all of your 'signatures' at the nd of each post of what your doing to make/save money..Im doing the ebay thing..
Youve left me sat here truely discusted on what we waste each month on EVERYTHING! (Ive just turned the heating down a bit & put jumper on!!)

Thank you all in advance for all your help!

You should all be real proud!!

x x x

earwig

hi try doing a soa and posting on the debt free wannabee forum they will help you with bugeting advice here post up what sort of meals food you like buy and there find a cheeper version for you hope this helps

lil_me

After the SOA I would suggest looking here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=562716

sunshine6650

Im a real Newbe! whats a SOA?

lil_me

Statement of Affairs,

Example here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=569718

But of course start your own thread with your own.

Irisheyes648

Hiya and welcome

Firstly you need to meal plan so you then only need to shop once a week.........go through your cupboards and freezer and decide what you can cook for the following week, make a list for what you need for these meals,( and stick to it) make sure you buy enough milk, bread ( bread freezes so do does milk) etc to last you the week so you don't need to visit the supermarket!! make sure you always have some powder milk in for coffee, tea etc if you run out. If you do need to go the supermarket think about weither you really need it or weither it can wait until the next shop, TAKE CASH AND LEAVE YOUR CARDS AT HOME!!

Invest in a slow cooker (tesco are doing one for 9.95 at the mo) as these are great for batch cooking and for making home made soup also great for really cheap cuts of meat.

Cut down on convenience food its much cheaper to make yourself, things like HM pizza is so simple and a fraction of the price aND tastes better.:p

Shop at the end of the day when a lot of meat and bread is reduced and freeze it.

Set up a direct debit to go out directly after pay day to go into a savings account to go towards paying of the debt (if done at the beginning of the month you won't miss it)

Set up on line banking and check off bills etc once a week so you can keep a good track of spending...................WRITE, WRITE, WRITE EVERY RECEIPT, CASH WITHDRWAL, BILLS, DOWN EVERY MONTH!! I cannot emphasise this enough so you can budget and know how much you have to spend.

Go through all your direct debits for utilities and see if you can get them cheaper on the comparison sites you will be amazed at how much you will save a month.

Turn off lights, tv, mobile charger,etc turn heating down, line dry don't use the tumble dryer, change to energy saver bulbs, shower instead of baths, make sure you have a full load of washing every time.

Try supermarket own brands instead of expensive brands.........................................blimey I do go on:rotfl:that should keep you thinkng for a while.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY KEEP COMING ON HERE FOR TIPS!!!!!!!:T