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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to ask for your best frugal tips?!

141 replies

tryhard · 31/01/2017 22:46

We are a single income family, 2 DC & things are suddenly very tight financially so I'm trying to find practical changes I can make. A big expense is the food shop which is currently Sainsbury's (normally over £100 a week) - DH thinks switching to Aldi save a lot of money but I'm not sure? Our clothes I get from eBay. Kids are only 3 & 6 so no expensive hobbies yet thank goodness. Planning short break in the U.K. for a family holiday. Takeaway maybe once a month, booze gets bought in the weekly shop, maybe £20-30 on that a week. My big weakness is Audible, I have anxiety & listen to stories in bed at night to get me to sleep so I need to just bite the bullet and stop that habit. How else can I make 2017 my most frugal (but not miserable!) year so far?! Any good tips? Or blogs I can read?

OP posts:

DJKKSlider · 31/01/2017 23:05

Meal plan for a fortnight, that way you can buy bigger size bags to get two meals out of, say 1 pack chicken breasts, one meal on Monday week one, meal Tuesday in week two. Same with sausages, frozen veg etc etc.
Switch to Own brands / Aldi / Lidl
Buy bread and freeze it. This stops the "popping to the shops" and spending more than you need.
Cut sky / virgin etc and get Nowtv and Netflix instead.
Cut out alcohol. Spending 30% of your 'food bidget' is a massive amount of boozing. I'd even think its borderline problem area.

BackforGood · 31/01/2017 23:07

That is a massive amount to be spending on alcohol if you are on a tight budget.

Switching to Aldi from Sainsburys saved me about 1/3 on my weekly shopping bill, week in, week out - although I was never spending anywhere near £100, and that was with 3 teens.

cantthinkofabloodyname · 31/01/2017 23:09

I use Aldi for a lot of my family's shopping as there are 5 of us. I can't always get everything I need there but it saves me money overall. I also us MuscleFood for buying meat in bulk amounts when they have good offers on.

Mamagin · 31/01/2017 23:10

Are you paying for your audible subscription monthly, or annually? Much cheaper to get the annual subscription, and you can top up for £13 for 3 credits. As others have said, you can also borrow ebooks from your library.
Aldi and Lidl are great, I do most of my shopping there now, with occasional visits to Waitrose.

tabithakitty · 31/01/2017 23:10

So many good ideas! I use Aldi for preference and love it. The odd thing I get elsewhere ( bread e.g.) but mainly I shop in Aldi. I don't think you spend a huge amount on booz tbh ( probably that is only 4-5) bottles of wine between 2 of you) but if you are on an economy drive then of course cut it down. I've managed to decrease my booze intake loads over the last few months. I may even have lost a few pounds! Go through your bank statements to make sure there are no forgotten debits coming off. I also love podcasts.

I find meal planning is helpful and I don't shop more than once a week, I try to use up odds and ends. Look online for cheap veggie recipes, bulk buy dry beans and soak them. If you have a garden grow salad leaves and herbs, they will taste awesome and cost pennies.

I will now go and take my own advice....

Araminta99 · 31/01/2017 23:10

Use YouTube for podcasts, live streams and audio books. I wouldn't scrimp by buying cheap food, it's important to buy free range etc. so that's not something I would personally look to cut down on. Cut down on the alcohol instead.

justanotheryoungmother · 31/01/2017 23:10

I agree, switching to Aldi/Lidl makes massive differences!

£20 on alcohol doesn't seem like a lot to me?? Everyone is saying it is, and if you can't afford it, then it's different, but that could just be two bottles of wine, which between two adults doesn't seem massively extortionate??

Justmuddlingalong · 31/01/2017 23:15

£20-£30 a week isn't a massive amount in the grand scheme of things, but on an economy drive, cutting that expense down is a no brainer IMO.

pooh2 · 31/01/2017 23:15

Aldi and Lidl are both waaaaay cheaper than Sainsbury's! (So is Tesco, and maybe Asda too.) BBC iplayer for Radio has tons of stuff you might like, serialisations of books, book at bedtime might be on there as well... it's free! There are some really good frugal chats on here, also try reddit, moneysavingexpert, facebook. Jack Monroe's 1st book is fantastic for really cheap recipes. If you got your alcohol from Aldi it would probs work out cheaper too. Good luck

OliviaBonas · 31/01/2017 23:20

Podcasts are great and free! I listen to them as I don't sleep well either The Archers is good.

7SunshineSeven7 · 31/01/2017 23:23

Never go shopping when you're hungry! You will buy so much more stuff if you do!

Baffledonthisone · 31/01/2017 23:27

This is so insightful.

Original poster

tryhard · 31/01/2017 23:27

So many ideas, thank you so much!

Right, I'm convinced on Aldi, job done.

Why didn't I think of book at bedtime?! Thank you, that's just what I need. I've got a monthly subscription to Audible but I listen a lot as it takes me ages to get to sleep so I get through books really fast.

Eep well included in my booze figure of £20-30 is a crate of Becks Blu which I work my way through on my 'dry' days, DH's beer & 2 or 3 bottles of fizz which we share over the weekend. But yes if we were just sticking to water or tea in the evenings, it would save a lot. As someone else mentioned, we don't go out so fizz at the end of the week is a treat, not takeaways anymore as I'm doing slimming world & have found their fakeaways so much better (plus you don't get the salt hangover!!). Because of slimming world I do get through a lot of veg & herbs & I do buy them bagged from the supermarket which I know is ridiculous as I can grow them on my window ledge.

OP posts:

bonbonours · 31/01/2017 23:28

Justanotheryoungmother I am on a tight budget and wouldn't spend £10 on a bottle of wine. £30 would be about 6 bottles in our house which is a lot even between 2 adults. I get a box of wine from France when my parents go on holiday and it lasts me at least 6 months so maybe I'm unreasonable.

As others have said look at things like TV broadband and phone deals to see if you really need what you pay for or can get a cheaper deal. Also make sure when your insurances comes up for renewal you shop around as they bank on people staying where they are and charge you twice as much to do so.

Depending on lifestyle, can you use the car less? If you often meet friends for coffee at £2 a cup invite them round to yours instead. I would say charity shop or local facebook sites will be cheaper than ebay for kids clothes because of the postage. Do the kids get invited to a lot of parties? I always look out for possible presents reduced or things that look more expensive than they are and keep them for when an invitation comes in then I don't end up rushing to a shop and spending £10 on a present.

SarfEast1cated · 31/01/2017 23:29

Could you listen the the R4 book at bedtime? There are loads of them on iplayer....

Justmuddlingalong · 31/01/2017 23:29

Lidl have fresh herbs in pots usually.

Gwenhwyfar · 31/01/2017 23:30

"£20 on alcohol doesn't seem like a lot to me?? Everyone is saying it is, and if you can't afford it, then it's different, but that could just be two bottles of wine"

If you're on a budget you spend 5 pounds on a bottle of wine, not 10 so 20 is 4 bottles. Still much cheaper than going out.

EineKleine · 31/01/2017 23:30

Have a month off booze to break the habit, then just drink at weekends.

Have a couple of explicitly frugal meals on the menu once or twice a week, eg tinned toms on pasta, daal and rice, egg and chips, using up leftovers.

We eat the same meal 2 nights in a row - cuts the shopping list and meal planning faff, and I think it saves money and reduces wastage.

Is there any expenditure at work you/dh can cut back on? Cola, coffees, snacks, meals - don't need to go without, just buy multipacks of cokes, take a cafetiere or flask of coffee rather than buying costa etc. Friends of mine consciously avoid coffee shops and put what they save away for meals out and takeaways on their family holiday.

If you eat a lot of veg, I think 5adaybox (non organic veg box) might work out cheaper than sainsbury's, though not Aldi.

AgedRelative · 31/01/2017 23:39

Have you a smart phone? At the minute I'm listening to a Wimsey and a Cadfael on the radio iPlayer. I'd also suggest a bottle of naice cordial and sparkling water for a treatish drink rather than an alcohol free beer?

PyongyangKipperbang · 31/01/2017 23:39

Go for Aldi. I make use of the super 6 that they have so if root veg are on offer then we have home made vegetable soup or stew that week. Same if salad is on offer, lots of salad as a side dish instead of spending more on veggies. Just takes a bit of thought and imagination. Their 20p pasta tastes the same as standard Tesco stuff. I do sometimes need to go to Tesco for more unusual ingredients, they only have a very basic range of spices and herbs for example, but everything else is fine.

Pyjamas.

I was having a sort out and realised 2 things. One was that I was throwing away perfect wearable tshirts that were just old rather than holey or too small, just not smart enough to wear out. The other was that the kids needed new pjs.....one trip to buy the girls some £1.50 leggings and DS some £1.50 joggers and pair them with their old tshirts. OK so they are not Xmas morning photo smart or anything, but they do the job and cost a fraction of new PJs. I now do the same for me too!

I only buy one colour of socks from one shop so that there is always a pair no matter how many get lost.

PyongyangKipperbang · 31/01/2017 23:39

Oh and YY to iplayer radio

I heartily recommend Old Harrys Game, although it is very funny and absorbing so you might find it keeps you awake!

Baffledonthisone · 31/01/2017 23:46

I only buy one colour of socks from one shop so that there is always a pair no matter how many get lost.

brilliant

PyongyangKipperbang · 31/01/2017 23:49

One word of warning...if you have a "that'll do" child then you could find he goes to school with one sock that fits and one 7 sizes too small :o

Jayfee · 31/01/2017 23:52

To get to sleep I listen to LBC. It is sooo boring. I put it on a 30 minute timer as quiet as possible and am nearly always asleep when it turns off. If I wake up in the night i put it on again.

downwardfacingdog · 31/01/2017 23:57

Pyongyang you can avoid that though. I have 3 DS. One wears navy, one wears grey, one wears black

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