Just gone through my outgoings. Feel sick.

[Geordieminx]

So I'm a single parent but earn a good wage.

Bills = just less than half my income.

Always seem to be overdrawn so thought I would see where the money is going.

£550 to tesco and sainsburys last month. I actually feel sick. There is just ds and I. He has school dinners. He has breakfast and dinner at my mums during the week. Every other weekend he is at his dads. I'm on a diet and don't eat much. £550. It's obscene.

Added to that £150 on meals out.

It needs to stop. Honestly I should be comfortable. I would love a new car as mine is becoming a money pit, but I don't think I can afford it as there is never any money at the end of the month.. No fucking wonder.

I'm actually ashamed of myself

[WowOoo]

Why be ashamed?
You've actually taken the time to get things on paper.

Write a list of where you can cut back and do it.

A bit of shopping around on bills, insurance, a stricter food budget, fewer meals out and you will get there.

MoneySavingExpert has some great info.

[nicename]

Do a lovely spreadsheet and see it all in black and white. You'd be amazed how quickly it all adds up (bottle of wine here, bunch of flowers, toy or books...).

See where you can trim spending and try to set up a savings account where any extra can be siphoned off to.

[FoundAChopinLizt]

Hi

At least you're looking at the numbers, that's the first step. Stop beating yourself up, and make a plan.

The good news is you can eat very cheaply (as there is only one of you a lot of the time) and save all that £700 fairly easily. That will soon add up over time to buy the bigger things which will make life easier, like a more reliable car. If you want to buy something, if it's not a matter of urgency write it down, or make a note on your phone or computer, and see if you can afford it at the end of the month. It's likely that you won't even still want it at the end of the month.

Make a meal plan for this week, what you are going to eat, breakfast, lunch snacks, shop for it, then keep out of the shops until the next week.

There is tons of money saving advice on here.

[WowOoo]

Nicename - are spreadsheets 'lovely' things. ..?

mine depresses me. Will try to get some smileys or bright colours on it to improve it and jazz it up.

[nicename]

Oh they are delightful! I am a stats nerd and have a very visual brain, so like to make things into tables and graphs!

I tried meal planning last week and actually ended up spending more! Ha!

Try to keep to a weekly shopping and spend budget. Take cash from the bank to avoid switching or puting things on credit card. Step away from Amazon!

[northender]

Come and join us over here. We're a friendly bunch and all have very different circumstances but all are having to be more frugal and support each other through it .
Agree meal planning is really effective. I've used Expense Manager app to monitor where all our money goes but a pen and paper can do the same job! Don't be ashamed, just decide to make changes and go for it.

[Geordieminx]

Oh I know where it's all going. Fecking sainsburys and tesco.

Honestly £750 on food and eating out? That's why I feel ashamed!

Still at least I know I can trim it. I tend to shop most/every other day and then it ends up being £30 on nothing.

I really had no idea until I sat and wrote it all down.

[EachAndEveryHighway]

You might have actually 'spent' £550 at Tesco and Sainsbury's - was some of that cashback?

The way I budget every month is to add up everything I have coming in so I have a grand total, then tot up everything I can possibly conceive going out in the essentials ... oh and make sure all direct debits go out as soon in the month as possible .... then work out what my budget per day is for the small amount of funds remaining. I obviously try not to spend all that because every few months I have an unforseen expense like a big car repair bill or something like that.

[Geordieminx]

Have taken cash back off already

[Imnotaslimjim]

you're right, it is rather a lot on food, but at least you are facing up to it. Do you have Asda locally? I've found them to be cheaper. Start meal planning, and stick to it when you shop. If you're freezer is full, then do a couple of weeks of no shopping apart from essentials (bread, milk + fruit) and work your way through the food. You'll be amazed at how much money you save!

[DorisIsWaiting]

If you shop every day I presume you don't meal plan?

We have got out of the habit over the summer but I willbe sitting down with Dh as too much has been wasted.

[cozietoesie]

Goodness, no need to be ashamed - you're thinking about it and going to start doing something. That's more than many people.

[Passthecake30]

Well done for looking and wanting to sort it. ..I am curious what a typical shop for you is...are there lots of non food items in the amount or luxury food/wines?

Could you get cash out for your food shop for a while to fovus your mind?

[2kidsintow]

I easily spent the same amount in the supermarkets. And then add more on top, eating out.

It's going to be trimmed.

I'm meal planning when I've been shopping. Still can't seem to manage a whole week away from the shops, but am aiming for a main shop and a small top up.

I'm mostly aiming for staying out of the shops on more days, rather than popping out constantly and going nearly every day.

Eating out has been something we've done lots over the hols - and usually do it once or twice a week before then. That's also changing. We aren't going to swimming lessons any more, which is when we went to eat somewhere on the way home. So naturally, we will probably eat out less just because of that. Once a month we will cut that down to.

[celticclan]

I account for every penny that we spend because we had also reached crunch time. I menu plan and don't buy any extras. Last November we were doing really well with our grocery shopping however prices seem to have risen since Christmas and we are really struggling to stay within budget.

[nicename]

I am trying to! Bloody recession - we are now earning 3/4 of what we were on 10 years ago (ok I'm part time now) and what with mortgage and school fees... Everything seems to be going up - food, utilities...

Oh well, the sun is shining, I'm off to a job I love and we get nice coffee (and I think there are some muffins in the tin). Could be a lot worse...

[Yonihadtoask]

I have stopped shopping quite so much.

I find that if I have a good root through the cupboards, and the freezers I can usually find something to cobble together. I used to do a full meat and two veg dinner everyday - but now sometimes we just have whatever I can cobble together. It cuts down the supermarket visits a lot.

I shop mostly at Lidl now, partly because of price, but also because they don't have a clothes section, or a dvd section or whatever. It's all too easy to spend money 'accidentally' in larger supermarkets.

It is empowering to be in control of your of own money. I quite like it when i was a LP, as I had total control of money in and money out. Despite being on an average wage, we had a good lifestyle. (Now have a DH who likes to spend...)

[BucketsnSpades]

It's easily done in the supermarket, I went in for some butter yesterday and spent £13, oops.

I do make a huge effort though these days to eat before I go to the supermarket and to plan the day ahead so if I'll be out around lunchtime I take a sandwich and drinks from home for e and the children.

When we need new things I try to ensure that the way it works is that I identify our needs then shop accordingly, rather than the alternative which is seeing things on offer and deciding that I must need these things because they're such a bargain.

It's not foolproof, I don't follow my ow rules 100% but like you we've a decent income and if I don't succumb to these supermarket tricks which are devised by marketing experts to make us spend more money then I have enough to live a happy life.

Don't beat yourself up about money that is spent, just look after the money that you have right now.

[specialsubject]

don't be ashamed but do take action, because those figures are AMAZING.

care to post a breakdown?

[ceeveebee]

I shop online, means I can check all my cupboards/fridge to make sure I don't order something I don't need, I don't get tempted by nice things, if there are special offers on meat/fish etc I can google a recipe and make sure I know what I am going to do with it. I also check almost everything I buy to make sure it's the best value option.

[NumptyNu]

When DH lost his job, we went from affluent to quite uncomfortable pretty quickly. We shaved about 50% off our monthly £600 shop (for five) by:

Switching some brands for supermarket own,
Buying stuff on deals and freezing
Planning meals and chucking out less waste.

It really was that simple! You can do it.

[AllTwerkNoPlay]

It's easily done. Where do you spend most on, carbs, meats, snacks?

[VestaCurry]

I shop online too and pay for a flat fee delivery of £2 per £40 shop. There's 4 of us and it works for me because as others have said, I can keep my spending under control, plus most importantly, double check my cupboards etc so I'm not buying stuff needlessly, or miss something I really need. Even taking a list to a shop I found I often forgot something. We are spending about a third less without feeling it.
Well done for facing up to it.

[Splatt34]

Going to sainsburys so caused our monthly spend to go from £440 to £630 when i started maternity leave this summer (didn't spend £200 on nappies & wipes!). We've been so surprised by the cost saving and maintained quality with a move to Aldi, September is looking like £370!