To ask your best money saving tips?

[frugalannie]

Hi all,

I've recently come out of work due to disability and I'm waiting for my full benefits to be sorted and I was wondering if you could share your best money saving tips after priority bills come out we have £920 a month left for food, petrol, savings and anything else for a family of 3 (2 adults, 1 year old) and five cats. It's a lot less than I'm used to and was wondering if anyone could help as I feel quite safe asking on here.

Also if you want to if you want to add any money making ideas, I've sold a few clothes on vinted and made a £100 so any other ideas are welcome.

I already buy second hand clothes for the little one as he grows so quickly.

Thank you

If you're married and not earning or earning less than the tax allowance (would you be able to do home based office or call centre type work?), you can transfer part of your tax allowance to your spouse, so worth a little extra each year in their wages.

@BuritoCat

If your not working, you can cut down on car usage get a free bus instead (you'll be able to get a bus pass if you get PIP).

Not everyone on PIP is entitled to it and plenty of people who aren’t entitled to PIP can still get the bus pass, even the disabled one. I know this for a fact as I had one both before and after being awarded PIP.

Without knowing your full financial situation it’s difficult to advise, £920 left over each month could feel like a lottery win to some people on here and it would change their lives immensely- but also if you’re outgoings are high it could also feel like nothing at all and be a scary situation to find yourself in.

Definitely List all your outgoings and trim off what’s not necessary.

Mobile contracts- go sim only once you can

Do you have Sky?

Use Poundland and Home bargains for cleaning items, tinned food, snacks etc- and price check your branded items in food shop so you only buy when on offer.

If either of you smoke consider giving that up

if you have takeaways perhaps limit them to just one per month.

The OP hasn’t claimed she’s in extreme poverty, just asked how to cut costs now her income has dropped. This forum isn’t only for those who struggle to pay their bills.
OP it’s very sensible to ask for advice when you have a change in circumstances.
Do you meal plan? That saves us a huge amount on food costs.
Make a list of everything you need to use that money for… include everything, like haircuts, birthday and Christmas presents, new clothes etc. Make sure money is being put aside monthly to cover those things.
Using Monzo is a good idea.

People can be downright horrible on here sometimes. It doesn't matter how much or how little money you have, when you suddenly have less, it's worrying. We're not playing competitive misery here.

OP, I suggest you start by projecting your monthly costs based on actual bank statements - council tax, grocery shopping, petrol, etc. Don't just make up numbers, go through your bank statements to figure out what things are costing you.

Compare the costs with your income. If any of them are unreasonably high for what's coming in, it'll feel more obvious, and you'll feel more inclined to start slashing budgeted items.

Are you still paying per prescription rather than getting a pre-paid prescription card?

If any essential subscriptions are too high (e.g. broadband), have you been out of contract for a while? Can you re-fix somewhere else? New customers often get the best deals.

What are your regular recurring bills? Are they essential? For example, if you have a TV licence, Amazon and Netflix, you can cut two of those without reducing your quality of life.

Do you feel comfortable with what you're spending on food? I think shopping in Aldi or similar can be a false economy sometimes, because you have the transportation cost and they don't always have what you need. Online shopping can be better, as it lets you plan what you're buying and how much it's racking up to - letting you take some things out and replace them with cheaper stuff, etc. Shopping in person leads to impulse buys and plans being derailed. It's only worth doing if you're prepared to join the yellow stickers scrum.

Meal planning is the easiest way to save money. Batch cooking will reduce your energy costs, and planning nice meals you like will stop you from being tempted by takeaways. Buy a couple of supermarket treats - a fancy branded pizza for example may be an indulgence in a monthly shop, but compared to a Domino's, it's dirt cheap.

Learn what food can be downgraded. I'd never scrimp on free range eggs (I'd rather go without), but cheap store value spaghetti is fine. Whatever you're used to buying, go down a brand if you can (this tip doesn't work if you're already on the cheapest store value brands). If you don't like it, you can get the more expensive one next time. If you do like it, you've achieved a permanent saving.

If you're not sure there's anything left to cut, get on MoneySavingExpert and be honest with your budget there. The people on that site are very good at challenging numbers and spotting potential savings.

OK so you don't know how much you spend on food and petrol. That's your first action point then.

Really basic spreadsheet, go through your bank purchases and work out how much is petrol and how much is food.
On your budget you don't need to be scouring for 20p labels but you do need to get a grip on where it's going. How much waste do you have, food wise? Will you need different stuff for lunches for you now (did you regularly buy coffee and sandwiches out etc). Ship smartly so you're working off a meal plan and not throwing lots out at the end of the week.

Agree re fuel costs, you'll see an upturn in your energy use unless you were already wfh so monitor that. It's unlikely to be offset by petrol costs as you'll still want to get out and about.

How much does DH spend as incidentals? Work out what you think you both need for the odd coffee, seeing friends and take that from the £500. Say £150. Then take out £50 for gifts (Xmas and birthday for child and shared people). £50 for emergency fund. £30 for stuff for daughter. £100 into savings. £70 for holidays. £50 left sitting in your account

If you feed the cats wet food (tins/ pouches) stop that and stick to dry food. I've saved doing that. The vet suggested it because wet foot was causing gum issues and assured me there is meat in the dry food and it has everything they need. It's also sorted her gum issues and she's happier.

@BuritoCat

Keep your radiators set to 50 and hot water set to 55 on your boiler. You will save a fortune long term. Turn down your heating by 1 degree, mines set to 16 and costs me £1.90 a day sometimes less. Cats don't always need meat, you can cut down on meat and give biscuits as a meal saving you money or look on Amazon/online for a bulk deal of cat food. For food if you have Facebook there's a group called feed yourself for £1 a day and there's some good but cheap family meals on there and meal plans.

Do you mean the hot water tank? If so that should be set to 60-65 degrees to kill off bacteria like legionella.

I’ve been where you are now and I looked at what seemed quite a reasonable amount of money which didn’t go as far as I hoped it would.
First look at anything that will help you. If your disability means bad days and not so bad days invest in things to help with the bad days. My dream is a robot vacuum cleaner but a really good slow cooker, soup maker, bread maker maybe. Would an extra freezer help so you can store meals?
Then write down everything you spend on in a month—- nappies , baby stuff, haircuts, nails, absolutely everything you can think of. Axe anything you deem unnecessary.
Then divide the money into savings.
Food & baby stuff
Extras ( haircuts, clothes)
Petrol, car tax, car insurance ( i budget monthly even though last two are paid annually)
Stick to your budgets. Any left over money at the end of the month goes into savings so you’ll have a reserve for shoes, trips out, holiday etc..
Make sure you claim for everything you’re entitled to, free prescriptions ( annual pass might be better if you’re not)
I actually enjoy budgeting, always have. And I’ve found living with an autoimmune condition it’s one thing I have control over.

For the kitty cats, buy the 12kg bags of kibble for dogs from Lidl - the cats will eat that just fine. You can then mix in some wet food/fish/whatever you fancy that you liquidize with water to make a 'soup' that you can mix with the dry food. You can freeze that 'soup' in small portions and then defrost one a day to dish out. That will drastically cut your cat food bill.

Ending a job, especially with a disability, is bound to leave you feeling less secure.

I would say you sound ‘ok’, but keep an eye on your pension and savings.

It’s as well for everyone to use their resources thriftily whatever their income. I recently had a massive turn down in income as Covid Ate My Job, but my costs were already low (and so savings buffer adequate).

Pick a couple of things that are ‘no compromise’. For me this is decent quality coffee and butter.

Everything else: look at cost.

Own brand cereals etc.
Own brand cleaning materials, detergent etc.
Chicken thighs instead of breasts.
Can you use the time you used to be at work to make tasty but lower cost ‘from scratch’ meals?
A small amount of fish or chicken goes a long way in kedgeree or paella.

Etc.

How much washing do you do? I am agog at the frequency with which many people wash towels, sheets, pyjamas etc, especially if they use tumble dryers which are so costly to run.

cats don't always need meat YES THEY DO!! They're carnivorous, dogs are slightly more omnivorous but a cat's diet should absolutely be meat

@Bintymcbintface

cats don't always need meat YES THEY DO!! They're carnivorous, dogs are slightly more omnivorous but a cat's diet should absolutely be meat

Tbh I think if I stopped giving them meat they'd eat me but I do share it out so it's doesn't cost too much really.

Thank you everyone, productive day today checking threads, making pots and working out a budget.

Especially thank you to those who were kind and offered help, you've really eased the anxiety for me.

Well said @Poshjock (at 09:07:37)

What sort of food do you tend to like and have you an idea what the budget would be? Posters have loads of good cheap recipe ideas on here, but obv no point in us eg telling you how to magic chicken if you're veggie. If you tend to buy lots of packaged stuff Heron are great, less so if you want fresh. That type of info.

Also would echo people who said if you can get to Home Bargains and/or B and M, great places to stock up on cheap cleaning products and toiletries.

@Inspectorslack

I get pip and I can’t get a free bus pass?

You have to get pip higher rate mobility for free bus pass. As a single parent who became disabled 8 years ago I've implemented many cost savings. Check charaties for grants including your union or professional body (I had help to make adaptions). Also dependent on disability you can get a reduction by one band on your council tax bill. With pip you can get a CEA card which allows you to take a carer to the cinema for free. Some days out will let you take a carer for free with pip. For £10 you can apply for a blue badge which enables free parking at some places. I online shop as can't physically shop so have a midweek subscription pass (tescos cheapest). I also meal plan and strictly stick to a budget of £40 for 1 adult 3 teenagers. It's tight but doable. I batch cook, add extra beans, lentils, vegetables to meals. Eat lots of pasta, rice and potatoes. Weekly we have an extra cheap meal egg/beans on toast or jacket potato and cheese. No brands (either basics brand or supermarket own brand). Car tax may be free if you get high rate mobility pip. Check bank accounts regularly, cancel everything that's not essential. Check comparison sites for the cheapest prices on gas, electricity, car and house insurance, Internet. Pay monthly sim only deal. We have smarty who give a discount for multiple sims and costs about £21 for 4 of us, plus if you don't use all your data you get money off your next bill. Time showers (we keep to 3-4 minutes max). Reduce thermostat. Water bill may be able to get capped if on certain benefits. To be honest I'd be very happy with that amount of spare cash and you probably won't need to implement as many cost savings as I do.