to cancel my gym and everything else to save money?

[SheelaNeGig]

I'm a bit pissed off. We aren't extravagent. We each go out maybe once a month. I buy clothes in supermarkets and then only when I need them. The DDs don't do much. We get a one week holiday in an aunts caravan once a year plus my week off also once a year (my week is cheap and necessary).

And yet I am utterly skint. Everything seems to have hone up.

So first on my list is cancel the gym and stop buying wine mid week.

How else can I reduce spending?

[Caerlaverock]

Shop at lidl and aldi and yes cut out drinking as much as possible

[Caerlaverock]

Do you use the gym a lot?

[SheelaNeGig]

Problem is Lidl is 12 miles away. Tesco is 1.5. Would the pettol cancel out the saving?

[JeezyOrangePips]

Cancel/reduce sky package? (it's possible to get it half price with a bit of 'I can't afford it' haggling)

Change mobile phone contract?

Change energy supplier?

Meal plan?

It's kinda hard to give a proper answer though, when we don't know what you are spending your money on.

[SheelaNeGig]

Gym is £35 a month. I go 3 times a week. Pissed off as i quite like it.

[Llareggub]

You need to write down everything you spend and see where the waste is.

[JeezyOrangePips]

Eat less meat?

[Caerlaverock]

Keep gym if you can it does sound like you use it and it is cheap as these things go. Can you incorporate going to lidl as part of other journeys. I swapped tesco for lidl and aldi and it has made huge difference.

[SheelaNeGig]

DH pays for sky. Could pay less but he justifies needing the sport channels by not going to the pub.

Stuck with mobile contract.

Have to stop popping to the shop for wine snd spending £20 on treats

[SheelaNeGig]

The gym is the one big thing i can not do.

[Joiningthegang]

Don't cancel gym - if you are using it it is probably what is keeping you sane!!!

[Caerlaverock]

I am on a diet and that has made a big difference, greed is expensive evidently

[glenthebattleostrich]

Do you have a council run gym near you? They are lots cheaper generally, that way you can still go to the gym but save money.

Stop buying alcohol mid week, and if you buy coffee when out start popping a bottle of water or juice in your bag and then buy a cheap insulated cup and take your own hot drink (you then have enough for your whole trip out). Always take snacks out with you and buy groupons or similar where possible for days / nights out.

Go through your list of Direct debits and see if there are any you don't need anymore. Ebay / sell anything you don't need and do a car boot, the clear out will fill up a weekend and so will the selling and you end up with a lovely clear house as long as you don't buy a load of other stuff like I did

Check out charity shops (particularly in affuent areas) for clothes for you and the kids, we have a fab one near us luckily and you can pick up lovely clothes for a couple of quid.

Oh and batch cook, saves time and money especially if you buy cheap cuts of meat and use a slow cooker.

[SheelaNeGig]

Greed is v expensive.

Maybe I'll do a month of listing everything and stop the £20 popping to the shop and see what can stop.

[mysaladdays]

I cancelled gym membership to save money and took up running instead, maybe an option? Signing up for the odd event or looking up Park Run events (usually weekly, is free, can google it) can give you goals.

Thinking of food, are there any markets you could go to? We save a fortune shopping there. Takes a few weeks to get used to but the fruit/veg is hugely cheaper than s'markets and because meat/cheese/fish etc is cut to size we tend to only buy what we need and waste less.

There are also a few websites you could look on, moneysavingexpert, superscrimpers etc

Good luck!

[BitOutOfPractice]

Don't cancel gym. Stop the £20 treat shops. No brainer

[lambethlil]

Cutting out the midweek drinking would definitely save £35/ month.
Phone Sky and say you're thinking of leaving, lots have mnetters have had their bills cut this way.

[SheelaNeGig]

Meal plan. Yes.

I have stopped taking my purse to work so the temptation to get a diet coke and sandwich costing £5 is removed.

A friend made a resolution last year to not buy any clothes that weren't secondhand. Might do that.

Could sell a child. Or kidney.

[kdiddy]

Check your utilities too - we've saved by swapping ours and it was v easy. Think about £30 a month or so.

More walking, less driving or buses.

[HoobleDooble]

Go on compare the market (or similar) and check your car/home/pet insurance. After a conversation with a colleague last week I realised we were paying a stupid amount for home and contents, phoned them yesterday and have reduced my monthly payment by £32 (for same cover PLUS 24 hr emergency thing!).

[sarahtigh]

most proper butchers are cheaper than supermarkets, and will give you free advise on how to cook brisket etc is about £2-3 per lb which is as cheap as cheese and steak which is £15 per lb also you can buy the exact quantity you need in supermarket it is either 250 or 500g mince but butcher would give you 175 or 350 otr whatever you need or 3 links of sausage etc

second fruit and veg market but be there early

[SheelaNeGig]

Walking. Yes. Must stop jumping in the car. Lazy (but so much easier when you live on the top of a hill).

[Doyouthinktheysaurus]

Cancel the gym membership and get running. £35 is a lot.

Otherwise walking, also free and very good for you to exercise outside as well.

[Trills]

What do you mean "DH pays for Sky"?

If you have a fair ad equitable division of household money (e.g. all household and child-related bills paid for then remaining money divided equally as spending money) and he buys it out of his "spending money" then fair enough.

If you earn less but pay 50% of household costs (and possibly more of child-related costs) and that is why you are skint then it looks like you need to have a chat.

[RobotLover68]

£35 is not a lot if you don't have to pay each time you - I pay nearly £100 per month for a joint membership and I know other places which are more expensive than that