Very little money for the rest of the month!

[nowitsenough]

We needed so many things this month, school clothes for dd, a new pan, haircuts for dh and dd etc, that the rest of the month will be quite tight. We should have about £200 for food and laundry, pets etc - we are myself, dh and dd13. Dh usually takes hm soup to work, dd takes a pack up to school, I work from home and have soup or salad. We don't drink, except a glass of wine if we can afford. We have a dog and 2 cats, dog is fed raw food and I think I have enough in the freezer for this month. The cats eat tinned food that I buy each week with my asda shop or from morrisons for approx £5 per week.

I have some dvds I could sell on eBay, possibly someclothes, not sure it's worth it though.

I usually shop online at asda, but may shop at Aldi this month, although the advantage of shopping online is I know exactly how much I'm spending.

I've just filled up the freezer with veg from Farmfoods and I have enough meat to last a week.

I think I need to meal plan, so that I don't spend unnecessarily.

Any ideas what else I could do to raise a bit of cash?

Also SIL is coming for the weekend on the 13th and we have promised to take her to the nearest city, so will end up spending a little then, hopefully not too much. Any ideas for cheap easy meals that will be suitable for a visitor?

Have a trundle over to MSE and ask on the Old Style board as well. They also do a grocery challenge, which is brilliant.

click here

What have you got in the freezer, fridge and cupboards at the moment?

Thanks.

In the freezer I've got chicken breasts, mince, joint of beef, sliced back bacon, leeks, cauliflower, swede, sprouts, mash, green peppers chopped.

In the fridge onions, red peppers, milk, cream, lettuce, cucumber, mayo and salad dressing, Cheddar, leeks, Butter, eggs, broccoli onions Salami tomato puree.

In the cupboard chopped tomatoes, baked beans, rice, pasta ..

I think that if you don't need to pay for work travel costs, what you have seems plenty. It's far more money than many families have to spare ordinarily, and there are only three of you.

Just tell your SIL it's a tight month, she'll probably offer to buy dinner one night anyway won't she, as a guest?

Obviously use up the fresh stuff in the fridge, egg and cheese last ages though so will do for omelettes/cooked breakfast/whatever your SIL prefers.

And you have tonnes of meat and vegetables, so can make curries, shepherds pies, casseroles etc. with plenty of money to buy more.

Chicken, leeks and cream (maybe bacon?). Make up a batch with some stock and freeze. Will do for pasta and pie filling. Also makes the chicken go further. Or put the bacon on some foil, top with chicken breasts - one less per person, so 4 to feed 5. Put baking paper on top and bash the fuck out of it! Remove paper, spread cheap stuffing over chicken and roll up. Wrap in foil, cook and slice. Looks great but is a cheap Sunday 'roast'. Bacon, eggs, Parmesan and cream make a stupid quick and cheap carbonara sauce for pasta. It's all about meal planning I guess. Cooking ahead helps. Freeze any leftovers, small amounts of bolognaise can be pasta bakes, frozen veg can be added to rice for savoury rice. Wraps are a godsend! Asda do pork shoulder usually at 2 for £7, make pulled pork, leftovers in wraps and frozen for burritos, with cheese.

Sorry I'm waffling! It's great to hear other people's food ideas when you get stuck sometimes.

As for cash, I've been there. Any jewellery you don't like or is broken? Don't sell at a cash4gold type place but go to an actual old jewellers. You get more. Old phones at CEX or the like, look at second hand book shops if you have some you've read and want to sell. Clothes on eBay?

Thanks. Great meal ideas. Especially like the idea of rolling up the chicken.

I don't have a lot of jewellery, doubt I have any to sell but I'll check.

No second hand book stores around, only charity shops.

I think I'm more worried about little things cropping up like mother's day -we would usually have a takeaway. I've already said no gifts for me, but know dd will want to get something. Dh and dd both can barely cook

Also need to pay the outstanding amount for a school trip ideally this month, that's £60. Dhs car is making an awful noise Hoping it will keep going for a while. Dd needs leggings as she wears them for PE and under her school skirt when it's cold and .. Well, all the time! Her school shoes are nearly worn through and will need replacing soon, again I'm hoping we can wait til next month.

Do you have any loyalty cards with balances (tesco clubcard/nectar/boots etc.?). Boots sell pints of milk if you have advantage card points.

In credit with your electricity/gas after the winter? If so, ring them up and ask for a repayment. Even £20 would be useful I would imagine.

If you are thinking about selling DVDs, check Amazon trade in and momox.co.uk. They pay less, but no photographing/writing description/fees/postage charges/annoying buyers to deal with, so it can be a good way to get some money within a week or so. Amazon pay in vouchers, but sell lots of food/cleaning items. Momox pay cash into your bank. Both offer a free postage service. I have never got on with Music Magpie - they take forever and downgrade nearly everything and won't return things they don't like. Amazon send back anything they don't like for free, and don't seem to reject much.

£200 sounds plenty to me (we will be managing on less for rest of the month and we are a family of three and two cats).

Looking at ways to save money (I'm not being critical of how you're spending your money, just trying to be helpful):

1. If hair cuts haven't already been done, does everyone really need to pay for haircuts - maybe just DH so he's smart for work, but you could probably trim dd's to keep it tidy. I do my own 13 year olds.

1. You obviously have more than one cat, so I'd say you do well to feed them for £5 a week. If money is likely to continue being tight, try them on Butchers classic cat food - it's the only one my cats haven't gone off over the years (other than the fact they have the odd day they're being fussy). It's much cheaper than most canned cat food and doesn't have any additives.

1. I'd certainly try Aldi - it's a bit out of the way for us, but I was passing the other day and bought a few things, all of which I'd certainly buy again.

1. When buying food, think how cheapest you can get what you wants, ie you can get packs of six apples or kiwis on offer for £1, cheaper than buying loose. If you fancy, something sweet, essentials/value biscuits will be cheaper than a cake. Substitute meat with pulses or tinned fish in some recipes, which will be cheaper

1. Look on this forum for ideas on eating cheaply. I find things like value rice, value pasta and cheap tins of tomatoes are handy for just adding anything to, ie onion, pepper, sweetcorn, peas, meat, fish, pulses, quorn and flavoured with pepper, chilli flakes or herbs - that way you can use up things you have in small amounts. Last night I cooked a tomato sauce with a little chilli, added a chopped sausage each and pasta and it was really nice - found it on this forum.

Forgot to say, go through your freezer and cupboards and use up everything that's been lurking for ages, and think about how you can add something else cheaply to the rest to make a meal, snack, whatever you need.

I think you have enough in stock and buyable with the money you have but I'd also be tempted to go for a Twofer on using up as starfish suggested. (Actually, it might even be a Threefer.)

You said that DD can hardly cook? Why not explain that you need to use up the cupboards this month and get her to rootle out things to use and possible recipes etc - even to do some or all of the cooking. That might raise her finncial and planning awareness both as well as getting her in the cooking/recipes frame of mind.

You could find you have some slightly odd meals but you would probably be having those anyway with Use-Up and Who Knows - she might come up with a winner or two! (It would also take care of some of the SIL problem: all is explainable by having a meal cooked for you by a darling niece who's spreading her culinary wings. )

We have two cats and they are on Butchers Classic, cheapest good food I could find

Dd had a haircut recently and probably only has one a year tbh. I rarely bother, will probably try cutting it myself, but dh needs tidy hair for work.

Aldi is ok, sometimes the meat isn't great but otherwise ok. I don't eat pasta or bread, as they seem to affect my ibs.

I may have some advantage points at Boots, will check. Not many Nectar points or Tesco points, used them at Christmas.

Also it's dds birthday in early April, I would like to start picking up some bits and pieces as gifts when I see something suitable. Will leave that til the end of the month though.

I know £200 is probably enough, but it is for everything that crops up this month, any outgoings except bills and petrol for dh to get to work.

cozie what's a twofer/threefer?

Twoforthepriceofone, Threeforthepriceofone etc etc.

Ah, of course.

Had miscalculated - actually now just have £100 til payday on the 26th

Aw crap.
Right £100 until the 26th? 25 days? So £4 a day. You CAN do this. For food a couple of weeks eating cheap won't harm you. Iceland IS your friend. Don't want to sound like Peter Andre but the pizzas are 89p, salad from Asda £1, less if on whoopsie shelf. I seriously used to live like this I know how worrying it can be. Every few days tot up what you've spent and divide the remainder by the days left - you will be pleasantly surprised!

Aw crap.
Right £100 until the 26th? 25 days? So £4 a day. You CAN do this. For food a couple of weeks eating cheap won't harm you. Iceland IS your friend. Don't want to sound like Peter Andre but the pizzas are 89p, salad from Asda £1, less if on whoopsie shelf. I seriously used to live like this I know how worrying it can be. Every few days tot up what you've spent and divide the remainder by the days left - you will be pleasantly surprised!

Honestly, you'll be fine.

You have £100 to last 20 days, a house full of food, and nothing you really need to buy.

Even if you end up eating more than your fair share of beans on toast, it won't do anyone any harm.

If you keep a little aside for unexpected expenses, ie say dd needs to contribute towards something at school or whatever, then work out how much money a day you have for food. Each time you go shopping thinks how many days it's for and don't go over that amount. Money has been tight for us for a few months now and I add up roughly what the cost of my shopping is as I go along, and I find it a great help.

They are all different, but you may find your dd is great if you explain money is tight at the moment. Our dd (same age as yours) actually points out to us that we shouldn't be spending money on certain things, or asks if we really need them.

If you've put off buying a few things this month, I guess you may find things are a bit tight in April. Re: your dd's birthday, if you want to get her bits and pieces, look out for chocolate on offer (usually there's something around for £1), does she like body sprays, Impulse and Charlie are normally on offer somewhere for £1. You may already have something planned, but a friend for a birthday sleepover can be fairly cheap, ie extra meal and sweets/chocolate on offer.

One thing you don't want to do is spend the next month inside being miserable because you have no money, so do plan things. If weather is bad, play a family board game, see if there is a local museum that's free. If good, go on a walk or cycle ride locally or to main park in your area. If you have outdoor games, like a frizbee take them with you. If the day is quite warm, take sandwiches with you, have them on a bench and watch the world go by!

Dd wrote a list of things she'd like for her birthday, tbh nothing very expensive, just clothes, Lush stuff, a couple of dvds. I'll ask her grandparents to contribute too. She'd like a sleepover anyway, so no expensive party either.

Right, I'm going to meal plan for the food I've got in at the moment and then try and plan for the rest of the month.

Might be too late now but go to local beauty college for haircuts, super cheap or free and all supervised by trained tutor who will correct any mistakes but most are of a good standard before being let loose on the public!

How did your month go OP?

My dh used to spend a fortune on hair cuts, only because he has masses of lovely thick curly hair that grows at lightening speed ...the hairdresser actually suggested he buy clippers and do it himself as he was only getting a simple shaved style.

£14 for the hair clippers and nearly 20 years later he is still doing his own hair with the same clippers...with only a little help to do the back...he can do it as often as he likes and has saved a fortune.

I know that would only address one pinch point but may be an option in the future.