How to cut corners when you already cut all of the corners?

[Moneysavvymam]

Me and DH have been eating into our savings recently. We have just moved so that comes with costs. Bought a few extra takeaways after being knackered from unpacking amd moving, bought a few new things we needed including furniture (all second hand though) so we initially thought that was part and parcel of the move. It costs money.

However now its been a while and the savings are still going down when they should be going back up.

We need to cut costs but we already do the following-
batch cook one pot meals mostly and freeze.
cycle or walk to cut travel costs (no car)
called Internet and got a better deal but they keep putting the price back up despite setting up an 18 month fixed price contract. eye roll.
-buy almost everything second hand
-we already shop at aldi and lidl
-we don't buy stuff for the sake of it anyway its all second hand
-stay in mostly, or local walks no days out for £££
-keep heating off and use electric blankets in winter and jumpers and extra socks

I don't know where else we can save. We were given a couple of hundred from family as a moving in present, it was supposed to go toward a new kitchen or flooring which is bare and unsafe but it just went on bills and now I'm too embarrassed to have people round because we are still living in a fixer upper when I budgeted and planned to have saved enough to have redecorated 80% of the place by now, but in reality I've put off buying a tin of paint because the money is just running away it seems.

oh and we just had a letter saying the gas and electricity is expected to rise in price. And I've noticed I'm spending more and more on food.
Is there anything I have forgotten? We are a family of 6 and I didn't even replace all of the uniform this year because I just couldn't afford it.
We still have about 2 months worth of expenses in savings but its dwindling.

I feel like we should be raking it in because we cut expenses to the bone but I'm struggling to think of where else we can cut. Any advice? I'm sure lots are in the same boat. Thank you for getting this far if you did, I know I'm a rambler when I worry.

I would cut back on the shopping spend. Aldi and Lidl are cheap but they have middle aisles that are always tempting. Write a shopping list and use it. Make a menu for the family and include them in it so you don't have to do all the hard work. To simplify do a week one and week two rota. You could save a lot of money doing this and it actually works out less stressful in the end.

I agree, the middle of Lidl and Aldi are very dangerous places. I don’t need a foot stall, a drill set and some fake crocs yet somehow they jump in my trolley along with anything Paw Patrol.

@purplesequins

if your dh 'can't live without meat' think of it as flavouring. lardons give a lit of flavour, no need for a lot.

This. When I gave the examples upthread of meals flavoured by meat instead of being based on meat, I knew there was another good example, which is a macaroni cheese with cauliflower and broccoli in, and a small pack of lardons.

On the matter of renting out a room, I'd be surprised if a family of 6 has a spare room, although if times are really hard, you might have to consider asking the children to share, to make room for a lodger.

But then that could also make way for an au pair to be a viable solution to the childcare problem, allowing the OP to work more.

what are your mobile contracts like?
I was with tesco for ages, they have really good deals - for basic smart phones and SIM free.
Switched from them a couple of years ago; currently pay £6 monthly for 500 minutes and loads of data - ID from carphone warehouse.

Food costs are going up, we’ve have been warned over several years that we aren’t paying ‘enough’ for food. Gas Heating is about to get a whole load more expensive too .
Going veggie for most of the week will help but I think you need to look at maximising your income as much as possible through working when DH is at home (nights / weekends?). Is this a realistic option?
Lots of people are going to be finding this very difficult

I would just say that telling the OP to cut down on showers and clothes washing is fine for adults WFH but NOT for kids going to school.

If one of them smells whiffy once life could become very unpleasant for them very quickly.

@TheRabbitStoleMyHat

I agree, the middle of Lidl and Aldi are very dangerous places. I don’t need a foot stall, a drill set and some fake crocs yet somehow they jump in my trolley along with anything Paw Patrol.

I'm looking at the boot scraper unused in my hall.

Top and tail sink washes in between showers instead of daily showers will save lots of ££.

Or have a bucket wash, fill a bucket, strip down, pour a jug of water over you, lather up a flannel, scrub all ever & use remaining water to rinse. This uses less water than a running shower and is a popular method in the indian subcontinent.

You need to get every single penny in a spreadsheet and work out where the money goes and do it quickly before the savings disappear as you are heading for debt.

@wewereliars

I would just say that telling the OP to cut down on showers and clothes washing is fine for adults WFH but NOT for kids going to school.

If one of them smells whiffy once life could become very unpleasant for them very quickly.

I agree, and I also don't think it's necessary to go to that kind of extreme.

Things like hanging washing out on the line instead of using a tumble dryer, only doing full loads of laundry and using the eco cycles are a better way of saving money in that respect.

Shamsnaharr Anyone inflcting that on kids over About 4 is guilty of child abuse.

We have running water in this country FGS

I think the income coming in isn’t enough to carry six people, so the only option is to earn more to be frank.

@Bluntness100

I think the income coming in isn’t enough to carry six people, so the only option is to earn more to be frank.

This is probably the solution.

@Moneysavvymam

Not possible to get a 2nd job, the cost in childcare would be over double the wage I could get so just no possible. I have listed loads of things for sale before we moved and not got an offer on a single thing. And I wasn't over charging. everything under a quid. Not sold a single thing. Quite disheartening to be honest.

I wouldn’t be travelling to buy stuff for under one pound. Agree with PP that it’s possibly too cheap. I sell a lot on Facebook but also eBay, mostly but it now rather than auctions and normally get what I’m looking for/what the suggested price would be.

Try to buy yellow label for as many of your groceries as possible. It takes time & effort but can be done, I get 80% of our fresh food this way at Tesco, then Aldi for other bits.

Forage for blackberries, apples, plums, pears, elderberries to eat or put in crumbles or jams. Check out community orchards. Also keep an eye on social media, freecycle etc for people looking to get rid.

Start looking now for Christmas presents on FB marketplace. Lots of excellent condition or even new stuff being sold cheaply.

Try again selling your bits. Great market at this time of year. Check out other schemes for getting rid of clothes eg Oxfam exchanging a bag of clothes for a £5 M&S voucher, H&M for £5 to spend there. Put these towards presents/essentials/school uniform

Check you are getting all money you are entitled to eg child benefit, marriage tax allowance etc

Get some more work between you, even if weekends or evenings. Loads of places here needing staff, especially cafes/pubs/shops.

@wewereliars really child abuse? That is no different to a top and tail sink wash that people do except your whole body gets washed. You are saving water by not running a shower for 20 mins which for a family of 6 is going to cost a lot. It is funny that you mentioned running water in this country because I mentioned the Indian subcontinent. I'm not Indian but watched a documentary years ago about climate change. water saving methods. This method stood out and we are feeling the affects of climate change.

This is the official definition of child abuse:
www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/

Yes, child abuse. Humiliating for young adults and totally unnecessary.

Another vote for Freecycle. When DH and I bought our first house we used it a lot. We got an offcut of kitchen worktop to put in the utility room, loads of garden pots, bits and pieces of furniture, and some part-used tins of paint. There wasn't enough of any one colour to do a whole room so we mixed some of them together and made a sort of pale coffee colour that did a tidy job of the small bedroom.

I've also had moderate success selling DD's old toys and baby kit on Facebook marketplace. A tenner here and there all adds up.

And if you haven't already, get the SnapMyEats app. If you send pics of all your food receipts for a year, you can build up a tidy voucher to help a bit at Christmas.

But none of these will solve the long term problem of outgoings exceeding income. They can only help during temporary lean periods.

you say we, so I guess there are two of you.

You perhaps need to look at making more money

you can rent a room out as a bedroom, look on spare rooms dot come and advertise there. This allows you to have a tax free income of up to £7000 wish each year - so around £70 per week

This above has been a life saver for me at times as it brings in extra when there is no more corners to be cut

the other way of making an income is by evening babysitting, this will obviously command a degree of some months you'll get some work and others ou will not, but the extra is handy and it not badly paid either

Long terms you need to look at making more rather than putting back

hospitality jobs are plentiful at the moment and you can literally walk into a job of his nature and they want evenings and weekends, the tips are good and the hours are usually no more than 4 at a time

earning £30/40 per week extra will give you some helpful money for the housekeeping

do all these three things and you'd have an additional income of around £100 per week

While I think the suggestions for strip washing and not showering daily being child abuse are are little over the top, it is worth looking at how much showering is costing and whether any savings could be made.

A poster the other day complained her teen DS was spending at least half an hour a day in the shower, or she thought he was often putting the shower on, then having a leisurely sit on the toilet with his phone. This is disgustingly wasteful and likely to be expensive so if there's anyone in the OPs house with this sort of habit, a reminder that a perfectly satisfactory shower should take no more than 5-10 minutes so that is what people will do as they're not made of money and there's a climate emergency to consider too.

[quote Shamsnahar]@wewereliars really child abuse? That is no different to a top and tail sink wash that people do except your whole body gets washed. You are saving water by not running a shower for 20 mins which for a family of 6 is going to cost a lot. It is funny that you mentioned running water in this country because I mentioned the Indian subcontinent. I'm not Indian but watched a documentary years ago about climate change. water saving methods. This method stood out and we are feeling the affects of climate change.

This is the official definition of child abuse:
www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/[/quote]
20 minutes?
I can shower in 2 .
In soap, rinse and out.
Faffing with buckets ?
Nope

@LoveFall

Gail Vaz Oxlade had a TV show in Canada and she may be on YouTube. She counsels couples in saving/spending. One technique she uses is strict budgeting, "jars" for each spendy thing. It seems to help a lot of people.

One tip struggling family in the UK use is going to Tescos at the end of the day on the day of the week stuff get marked down. They get huge savings but might have to batch cook things that are close to use by date. I don't remember the day of the week but it might have been Tuesday. You could ask.

DH and I have found some really good deals in Sainsbury's also, even a turkey roast for less than half price near sell by date.

When we had children at school and had to really be careful we used a lot of legumes and pulses. Also pasta dishes made into a meal with canned tomatoes and ground meat. Costco also really helped as their prices are way lower than regular stores.

Good luck. You've got this.

This sounds good.

You are saving water by not running a shower for 20 mins which for a family of 6 is going to cost a lot.

Showers take five minutes tops in this house - what on earth are you doing in there for 20 minutes?

You need to look at bringing in more money. Even a few additional hours would help. Evening or weekend work for yourself maybe?

And agree, quick showers is a reasonable adjustment to make. Stick a timer - on 3 minutes and you're out!
Bucket washed is totally over the top.