Everytime we save money .....

skint_spice

I think if you are causing problems or tailbacks then you will be challenged by the police but not for driving at 56mph on a motorway - though you might be pulled over and breathalised as it's quite unusual! when I'm driving at 70 there are so many people who fly past as if I'm standing still. There are often government drives to get us to drive at 56 as it's more fuel efficient.

PasturesNew

56mph is a perfectly reasonable and legal speed to drive on a motorway.

skint_spice

PasturesNew wrote: »

56mph is a perfectly reasonable and legal speed to drive on a motorway.

but not often seen! my driving instructor used to say - the speed limit is the maximum not the minimum...

ZTD

saffronflowers wrote: »

I totally appreciate what you are saying, and am really sorry to say this but just so you are aware it is as much illegal to drive slower than the speed limit as it is to drive over it. It is a daft annomally but if the vehicle is capable of driving up and to the speed limit then that is the legal requirement.

Please dont think that I am having a go I am not.

SFx

It's not illegal to drive slower than the speed limit. However if it's causing a problem, then they will try to do you for driving unsafely (probably "with out due care and attention"). But unless you're doing something really obvious like driving at 20 on a motorway, they don't stand a cat in hells chance of getting it through the courts. Doing 56mph is fine. Lorry's are only allowed to do 60 anyway - the difference is walking pace.

ZTD

The_Economist wrote: »

Bring on the election.

It will make no difference - they are all the same. The only vote that will count will be the one made with your feet.

skint_spice

Sorry Reet, we seem to have gone off on a tangent! is there anything you could do to up your income? mystery shopping, ebay? are you claiming your tax credits?
Smoking is your most obvious saving but it's hard to just stop I know. How about challenging yourself to save a fiver a week on the shopping and seeing if you can manage on less?

reetnproper

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your replies.

In response to the 56mph aspect, dh drives in the lorry lane so he doesn't impact on anyone wanting to do the max, so he isn't endangering the lives of others.

Changing his job isn't an option at the moment because the company he works for, allows him to work 3 days from home (thank god) and he's paid a Southern Wage. However, he has to make the trip twice a week, down South, to work from the main office, which racks up around 350 miles per week. So, to be fair, a local job, involving a daily commute, would cost us just as much in fuel (we also live out in the sticks) because, as with all vehicles, local driving drastically reduces the fuel economy. Also, as he is the only earner in our family, we really can't afford for him to take a drop in salary.

I am looking into various options for me, working from home, but do need to fit it around looking after my 1yr old and 3.5yr old.

The aim in respect of the smoking, is for him to stop completely and he's trying but, obviously, it's not that easy, especially with the stress that he's currently under. So far he's managed to get from 20 per day at home (40 on an away day) to 10 at home (25-30 on an away day). He tried to go cold turkey and was so ill that he couldn't do his job properly, hence the, not ideal, gradual withdrawal. We're aiming for a full-stop by New Year.

skint_spice:
we really have honed our shopping bill down to the barest minimum. We swapped to a monthly shop, for toiletries, cleaning stuff, tinned goods, dry goods etc, 12 months ago and have it pretty much to a fine art. We buy bulk items to last several months, where we can and I finally managed to get dh to try own brand goods at that time and we've used them for pretty much everything since;

we buy all our butchery from the local butcher buying cheaper cuts of meat (mince for example and chicken legs rather than breasts) and again do this for a month. I sit down at the end of each month and plan the meals for the following month, so I know exactly what I need. We swap meals around but basically, what we have in the freezer is what we're eating for the month;

our fruit and veg is supplied by a local box scheme and is much cheaper than buying from the supermarkets or, in our area, the local greengrocer;

I switched to get our fresh produce, eggs and milk from local producers, rather than the milkman, which saved us £20 per month;

As for bread, I get whatever is on offer.

We are quite restricted interms of needing to use fresh produce as dh has a medically diagnosed digestive disorder (and his dad and brother both have crohns disease) which means that processed foods are pretty much a no-no. That said we do buy cheap, frozen fish products from the supermarket now instead of the fresh fish from the fishmonger that we used to get.

So in a nutshell, I can't see how we can reduce our shop any further than we already have, although I do make sure that, wherever possible, I take advantage of BOGOFs and other offers but only on items on my LIST. A bargain is only a bargain if you needed it in the first place.