Missy’s family of 4, paying off debts, saving for a house and just trying to survive!

missymoo81

Hey everyone! 

I thought I’d start a new diary as my focus has changed slightly, link to old diary is here:  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6078055/family-of-4-paying-back-50k-in-4-years-whilst-trying-to-live-eco-friendly#latest

So a quick background. I’m 38 mum of 2 (May who is just 7, and Roo who is 8) and I got married to my DH in Aug last year. We currently rent our house and would love to buy it in 3-4 years time if possible. I got a divorce settlement last year and spent A LOT of it paying back mine and OH’s credit cards to the amount of about £50k+ Now that was supposed to be our house deposit. So we set up a payment plan to have that all paid back in 4 years time so 2023. It’s a slow process but it had to be done as if we fall behind on payments we will never afford a house and we’re getting on a bit to get a 25 year mortgage etc. 

Job wise between us we are both self employed. I run one business and I help OH run his which I get paid for. It’s in the fitness industry so Obv at the moment we are shut. And unfortunately we are the minority that haven’t been able to get our normal 
wages from the government. We both got a grant which is keeping the wolves from the door and bills paid but that is it. OH doesn’t qualify on the self employment scheme, i did but got £1000 which went straight on insurance. We are still working remotely and OH is getting some membership payments through because of this but it’s all going on overheads we can’t switch off. I’m working as much, in fact more than ever helping OH but of course not able to be being paid. I have some savings for the deposit for our house which means we don’t qualify for universal credit either, and Ex text yesterday to say he wouldn’t be paying the £450 maintenance money for the children as he has been furloughed....... And breathe.....

So basically, I need to eak this grant out from the government to within an inch of its life, as I desperately don’t want to dip into the house deposit, as I will never be in a position to pay it back, especially as I can’t pay back monthly what I was.  We have gone through and cut everything we can, all that is left is the food budget which is what I’m concentrating on. 

So I will post below what I’ve learned so far about budgeting on lockdown and how I propose to keep the wolves from the door still. I hope you’ll follow me on my journey.

Much love x

missymoo81

So shopping wise most things are basic brand anyway. I’ve managed to wean OH off everything expensive! My problem is because of our job and how much training and exercise we do, we hVe to eat a lot OH especially and he needs a lot of protein. So that puts the price up a lot with shopping. I’m trying to spend £50pw/£200 a month. It’s a lot easier when the children are at their dads as they seem to eat me out of house and home lol. But I’ve finally managed to get click and collect slots at Tesco for the past 2 weeks and I have one tomorrow, so that helps a lot as was going to the corner shop COOP for everything and was so expensive! 

Just in case these help
anyone.....Little swaps I’ve made that add up. I’ve changed deodorant as managed to get a lot cheaper on amazon 100ml for £2 the same with toothpaste. I have a massive OCD with fabric conditioner, to the point of using 8 x the recommended amount of lenor. But I have Downbranded to the Tesco spring one and it smells lovely and I use just a bit more than the recommenced amount but that’s more because I have a big machine. OH used kitchen roll like there’s no tomorrow so I have bought the more expensive more robust ones for spillages and cat accidents and have a micro fibre cloth which he seems to be getting on ok with. We have been diluting the Concentrated antibacterial cleaner and putting it in spray bottles as it’s more eco friendly and soooo much cheaper. I have managed to wean myself off coffee, and only rarely have a decaf one but mostly now I drink tea! OH would only eat sweet potatoes but since lockdown he has been eating white which is much cheaper. Again with walkers crisps he now eats the Tesco Stockwell brand. And I’ve managed to move him away from squeezeY honey as it’s way more expensive than the jars! He has been really good but I can’t send him to the shop on his own as he’ll forget himself and spend a fortune on Heinz and walkers 🤦🏻‍♀️.

I’m currently having a little stocktake at home and will see exactly what we need and will mealplan accordingly. I’ll copy over the last post from my old thread as had started meal planning.

missymoo81

Food plan time, so Breakfast wise, we have loads of porridge and cereal In the cupboards, along with pancake mix, but we usually have fresh fruit with the porridge and pancakes which would make them more expensive, so trying to think of a cheaper way to make them nice, OH doesn’t like raisins, I don’t know if defrosted frozen fruit would work, any ideas would be greatly appreciated. 

Eggs on toast and bacon sandwiches OH likes a lot but they’re quite expensive to make so I will see how I can overcome that.  

Lunch, OH will have pate on toast and crisps and a chocolate bar, I usually have toast and a banana with peanut butter, I need something else with that but not sure what. I’m trying to get cheap apples, but I can’t get hold of any. Maybe I should make some frozen berry muffins or similar? 

Dinner, I’m going to have to think about this a lot. I need to look in the Freezer and see what I have, I have loads of meat so shouldn’t need to buy any. I have lots of courgettes and broccoli that really need eating, but not sure what to do with them as it’s too hot for soup. I could curry them maybe? And make ready meals out of them.... I don’t want to waste them, or I could blanch and freeze them but the freezer is pretty full but would also be too full for ready meals too I guess. Hmmm thinking caps on! 

missymoo81

Ok, Whilst waiting for the Third load of washing to finish I am sat outside with my notepad working through how much money I need each month for bills and everything else and how much of the grant I have left etc. I can’t see me actually being paid until October as I can’t see me starting up the business until September. Once I have done that I can see what I need to do to make ends meet. Be back later with a write up.

katsu

Cook the vegetables as a side with dinner?  Have a bit of cheese on them or some stock or herbs?
As you can leave the house by the sound of your posts, maybe swap to Aldi or Lidl instead of Tesco?  Should save a bit more cash.  

Dilute your fabric conditioner too?  Wean yourself off the bucket loads?  Try using white vinegar instead and hanging outside to dry for freshness?  

Only use kitchen towel for the cat and clean everything else with washable cloths - you can make rags from old clothes, towels etc for example.  

Got any payments you can cancel for things you aren't using?  

I hope some of these ideas help you.  

joedenise

Rather than loads of meat for protein for your OH would he eat more veggie food such as beans, chickpeas, lentils etc?  My DH definitely likes meat but he will eat beans, chickpeas etc fairly regularly.  I use mixed beans in Jack Monroe's recipe for goulash and I regularly make a chana masala (chickpea curry).  Chickpea and sweet potato curry is also pretty cheap.

Things like veggie risotto and veggie biryani are also cheap to make as the bulk of the meal is rice.

PurpleFairy26

Can you do a stocktake for your freezer and meal plan around that for the next few weeks which will both reduce cost of shops but also give you space to freeze stuff when cooked (love a cook once eat twice meal!) 

missymoo81

Hi Katsu thank you for taking the time to post. I think I’m going to cancel ITunes if I can workout how, as it’s not a direct debit it’s done by my card and I obv don’t want to sit on the phone for ages and I can’t do it via my app. But will have a look! I will try again with the fabric conditioner and try and use even less, I used just the washing powder the other day and to be honest that didn’t smell too bad just not very strong at all. And yes I can go out, but still very panicky about going to the big supermarkets, I used to always shop at Lidl before lockdown, but Tesco click and collect isn’t too bad. 

JoeDenise, thanks for your post, I’m going to try and feed OH more Legumes and pulses but he needs about 180g of protein a day (athlete levels) which is v hard to get from just those. But I will see what I can do! 

So I’m sat outside again, with some fruit and yoghurt as I’m trying to use it up. I’ve got an hour before I need to get ready for work. I’ve gone through how much of the grant I’ve spent, how much I need to stay afloat on the bare minimum until the end of September which is worst case scenario and the numbers almost stack up bar £50 but I’ve just counted out the cash in my purse and I have £50 in there so that’s it all accounted for. But that also means I can’t spend on anything much else. I’ve allowed £200 for shopping and £50 extra per month, in case of 5 week months etc.  But it’s very tight! 

I have the children’s old bikes and some leggings and shorts to send back that I stupidly bought before I realised how bad everything was! So that’s maybe £200. And I haven’t added in the child benefit payments which I think are £130 a month. I think I‘ll put these into a contingency pot, as things are bound to pop up that need paying for. 

On another note I’ve found some school summer dresses and some normal summer dresses for May, some on eBay and some on FB along with t-shirts for Roo, as they have both suddenly grown and nothing fits! I’ve already put that money aside yesterday, so that’s sorted and I’ll go and pick those up Later today/tomorrow. I also was super organised and got the children’s new school uniform for September (or whenever they go back) last week including shoes as Sainsbury’s had their 25% off. So feeling slightly better and organised, just absolutely need to keep this food bill under £50 per week! Even when the children are here! 

joedenise

Perhaps you can add some chicken or something to the legumes/lentils to up the protein levels for your OH rather than serving huge portions of meat.  Also what about eggs and cheese for additional protein, both are relatively cheap compared with meat?

missymoo81

Hey purple fairy, sorry I think we crossed posts. Yes that’s exactly what I’m going to do! Don’t finish work until 9 though, so will have to sort my order sharpish as it needs to be in by 11.50pm.
joedenise, that’s a great idea, I’m not bothered about chicken etc either so I’ll just put half as much in and add beans etc to bulk it out, I LOVE butter beans so I will be eating a lot of those! 

Right must get this washing in and get ready for work! 

joedenise

I assume you use dried beans to save money.  Far cheaper than canned and if you menu plan you'll know when you need to soak them overnight so that they're ready to cook the next day!

I also make hummus and falafel when I soak chickpeas as they are great snacks.  I use a recipe by Tori Avey (https://toriavey.com/?s=falafel) - she uses dried, soaked chickpeas for the falafel but cooked ones for hummus.

Just had another thought - it might be worth having a look at the grocery challenge, you don't need to join in if you don't want to, but there are several pages of cheap recipes in the first few pages which might be worth a look.