How can I cut costs?

[Madratlady]

My husband and I (no kids yet) are struggling to find ways to cut our costs. Any suggestions for making money go further would be really welcome.

• we rent in an area where all housing is expensive
  
• lots of debt (mostly his from before we met)
  
• Car on finance (regretting this a lot)
  
• we live in a small village so get all our shopping delivered from Tesco
  
• we don't go out a lot, aren't big drinkers and don't spend much money on non essentials
  

We both earn good ages but it barely covers our outgoings. Anything unexpected like a car repair or vets bill is a nightmare.

[FamiliesShareGerms]

I think OP's user name is a good indication of her view of her pets!

I'm with you OP on pets being part of the family, and FWIW have never found pet insurance to be much good (the excess still needs paying every time, and the amount of pre-existing conditions and other get out clauses means the premiums cost more than saving for a rainy day)

Don't be a label / supermarket snob.

Cut out meat for at least 3-4 meals.

Cut down alcohol consumption.

Don't be completely hair shirted, or you will end up splurging to treat yourself and spend more than a monthly take away, for example

Measure out things like washing powder rather than just slopping it in

[BreadForMyBREADGUN]

Obviously 'regime' is meant to say 'rehome'

[LadyKooKoo]

If your garden turns into a swamp then have hanging baskets - I grow everything in them. Tomatoes. Green beans. Parsnips. Carrots. Strawberries. Blueberries. You name it, I have probably grown it!

[Madratlady]

FamiliesShareGerms I agree about not being completely hair shirted. We don't eat out or get takeaways at the moment, but we go out and have 2 or 3 drinks each a couple of times a month (soft drinks for me anyways, I don't really drink). I will try cutting down on meat though, I like trying new recipes so it will be a good challenge to cook 'meat free'.

LadyKooKoo I never thought about growing stuff like carrots in hanging baskets

[LadyKooKoo]

They are great. Some of my baskets are about 3 foot across and two foot deep so perfect for things like carrots and parsnips. I line them with moss which helps too.

[BreadForMyBREADGUN]

Don't plant carrots in hanging baskets - they're about 9p a bag, so growing them doesn't save you any money. Plant things that cost loads in the supermarket

[LadyKooKoo]

9p a bag? Where are you buying your carrots?!

[BreadForMyBREADGUN]

Ok, maybe not a bag, but my point was they're about the cheapest veg you can buy. Grow expensive things :)

[LadyKooKoo]

Yep, I get your point :) I just like growing my own stuff. I hate that supermarkets rule the roost and there are no greengrocers within walking distance.

[forevergreek]

i would def downsize property if possible. how big is it? (saying that as someone with 2 little ones in a 1 bed, out of choice due to huge savings and a better lifestyle that comes with it)

[bubbles1231]

we chabge fron shopping at tesco to shopping at aldi and our weekly shop has dropped from £100 to £70 per week. Thats a family of 4 with 2 growing lads. (and the friut & veg is nicer)

[bubbles1231]

changed from!!

[PearlyWhites]

Yes we call it "the asda" are you from Liverpool Iammummy?

[IamMummyhearmeROAR]

No- from the east of Scotland x

[InMySpareTime]

Growing things like beetroot, chilli, shallots, lettuce, tomatoes, peas, runner beans, courgettes, herbs from seed saves a lot of money.
Also, fruit such as raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, dwarf apple trees, blackberries do well in large pots or raised beds and fruit year after year.

[Madratlady]

Well we've changed to Asda, this week's shopping cost the same as Tesco did, but we needed a lot of stuff and I could probably have got things a little cheaper by using more quorn/meat substitutes. They also do free 'click and collect' so no more delivery fees :) Next time I'm in town I'll check out ALDI.

I'm going to start looking into things I can plant soon, I like the idea of taking up gardening!

And the new budget is looking great, I also have more opportunities for overtime now I' working for the nursing agency full time, so our income has increased a bit. Only a little but it'll keep us out of the red.

To those who suggest downsizing, we can't/ don't want to for a few reasons:

1. we can't afford the cost of moving right now
   
2. I don't want to end up struggling for space when we have kids, which will hopefully be very soon. DH is a musician (hobby, not job) so unfortunately we have a lot of band gear to store, so we need either a spare room or garage. Not ideal but I don't see any other option.
   3)Our current 3 bed house costs roughly what a 2 bed generally costs round here, we were lucky to find somewhere so cheap, and it's a nice house too.
   
3. We have lots of pets, we'd be unlikely to find another landlord that was so laid back with a house that we could afford.

[Timeforabiscuit]

Glad the budget is going well! I found courgettes and sugar snap peas the easiest and most satisfying to grow - you get loads out for the cost and effort you put in.

[Domjolly]

Instead of having a takeaway try M&S £10 meal deal wich includes wine its more than half the price of a teakeaway

[Fluffycloudland77]

There's a book on amazon called the takeaway secret. It's well reviewed, I heard about it on mse.

After I checked out our local takeaways last environmental health check I decided take aways were not for me really.