How are you coping in the current financial situation?

[CatsSleepAnywhere]

Just wondering what others are doing when they have things that need fixing or need new clothes shoes etc?

We have started shopping at Aldi to try to not spend so much. The gas bill has just gone up but the electric has gone down. The car needs some work doing on it. The central heating needs fixing (not a problem while we have hot weather). The cats is old and possibly in ill health. I have just used some money from DD's bank account to buy her new clothes and shoes. (3 year old so she won't miss it!)

This is not a looking for sympathy thread! Just interested in how other people are coping?

Do you get things fixed or are you waiting till you can afford too?

How are you dealing with things?

Make do and mend is how we are coping!!

In all seriousness we are making cutbacks like others

I am

Baking more.
Using mn recipe section loads
Car boot sales for bargains ( dc enjoy them as the little pocket money they get goes a long long way!)
Using car less. Trying to cut back on journeys where poss
I always do my own DIY anyway.
Save a little for emergencies.

I'm not coping too well. I've just had an interview for a PT job but have heard nothing yet. It's not a lot of money but the TC make it worthwhile.

I make do and mend too. I shop in Primark, charity shops, scour sale rails and Peacocks/Shoe Zone for shoes. I don't have a car but I budget my food shopping to £40 for an adult and two toddlers, use multipurpose smart price cleaning products, eat as little as I can and fill up on dinner so there's enough for everyone and have had to quit my only vice - smoking. I can't remember the last time I had an alcoholic drink however much I've wanted one.

I save a lot every week just to pay the immediate bills on time. We rarely have more than £10 expendable income per week. Life is tough right now and there is work out there which is so frustrating as what I apply for don't deem me worthy of an interview.

My grandfather brings us some food every week as by Friday we're usually running out. Sometimes I can't afford a bus to my appointments and he'll drive me where I need to go. I would honestly be lost without him.

Baking and cooking from scratch without question. Which is a good thing! I've perfected the bagel and have become so good at pizza now that we all believe it is better than the shop bought thing.

By the last week and a half of the month my meals get more and more inventive. Dd loves this and will eat anything. Ds not so much.

I don't go out and I'm honest about it. I hate the thought of paying ten pounds for something I could cook much better. I don't drink any more and I feel better for it.

I accept hand me downs quite happily.

Dh just came into some money and bought me two new pairs of shoes for my birthday - I feel rich!

We are not badly off - on paper - but we have no contingency, sadly. Dh was made redundant a few years ago and we are still recovering. For two years we were £200 down on our monthly income before we'd even eaten. We had an inheritance and redundancy but because he wasn't working, they just became his salary.

We're lucky - both have reasonably secure jobs and an excellent quality of life by the sea. And having survived an affair (him - another story) we are in a really strong place.

We'll survive.

We are on a low - mid income and we have totally changed our lifestyle compared to 2- 3 years ago.
Through an extremely frugal year and me doing a couple of short term extra jobs last year I managed to pay off a large overdraft and credit cards, we are now trying desperately to live within our means.
This means - meal planning, with meals chosen that are very economical, avoidance of using the car/ driving far/ making unnecessary journeys. I scour local websites to find things that are on locally that are free/ cheap so we do not do much that costs any money as a family. The kids know not to ask for ice creams / things from the shop and we always take snacks, picnic and drinks with us.
I have even cut down on more expensive toddler groups and only go to a cheap £1.20 church group, whereas before would not have thought twice about regularly going to one that is a fiver (play gym type group).
I have not bought any new clothes this year other than some jeans as my tohers had holes in the knees.
I am also regularly going to car boots - as part of my own little business (buying and re-selling on Ebay) but also to stock up on bits for the kids. Have got some really nice bits - Boden, Gap, Next for about 50p an item.
It is a different way of life. We are basically spending nothing on new things at all other than food/petrol/bills.
The only bit we have left each month is small savings for our weeks camping holiday in Cornwall (all days out on Clubcard - DH puts all his work petrol in at Tesco so get lots of points for free), and for car MOT/Service. Our only discretionary bit of spending goes on my dd doing a couple of classes as I don't want her to miss out because of the financial climate but one of those may need to go if things get even tighter.
It really sucks - we are both working respectable jobs- but trying to think positively about it though - that we are lucky compared to many, that it is good news for the environment, etc, etc. I just cannot understand how any businesses are surving this when so many people are struggling like this

We used to be comfortable until dH got made redundant and I went part time as was spending more in childcare than earning. DH now looking after DSs when I work. We keep them in Nursery for the minimum hours possible to keep the place open for when we get the free hours in Jan. they keep threatening to kick us out to replace DS with a full timer.we were never able to accumulate a safety net. We now have a shortfall of around £200 per month, mostly due to tax credit cuts which have basically strangled us.

Don't buy new, bleach stained whites, sew up holes, Repair handbags etc
Buy the mark down food and freeze it.
Buy children's clothes on eBay, often cheaper than charity shops.
Do more washing less shopping
Never go out. Ever.
Stopped soft play long ago, now parks, paddling pools etc. pray for good weather
Byebye Waitrose, hello Morrisons (got no nearby Lidl/Aldi)
No holidays, not in the UK or abroad. Maybe visit my family in Devon which is lucky, once a year.
Get bus to work not tube.
Check and compare price of everything
Always a 'packed lunch' even if that mean grabbing a petit filous and a slightly stale bread roll.
Cancelled all subscriptions
Especially careful with turning off lights, no spotlights, just one standard lamp in the evening, no background radio/tv, no hall light on for Dc anymore.
Less reliance on recipes, more ready steady cook what can I make out of a pepper, tin of baked beans, and an ageing jar of mango chutney :)

We're moving closer to school as it slashes our commute costs. In the mean time I'm sewing up the holes in my socks and ds is taking more packed lunches to school. We're not eating out unless it's been a good week (last one was just before Easter), stopped going to the cinema and Sky is going. I'm cooking from scratch a lot, it's amazing how far one whole chicken can go. I can't remember the last time we had a pizza delivered.