I don’t see where else we could save?

[Numberonecook]

*We don’t have a mortgage or rent it’s paid off
*No credit cards or loans
*Just switched to cheapest gas and electric
*Water is fixed
*Cheapest car insurance and switched to a car that uses minimal petrol. We walk if we can, including school runs etc.
*Swapped from one takeaway per month to none
*we don’t eat out
*we don’t go to the cinema etc
*cancelled prime
*me, oh and Dd1 and 2 use DS student Spotify which he pays for and doesn’t mind us using
*girls only get clothes to replace grow out of or worn out clothes. These come from charity shop
*We have Netflix but no other tv subscription this is mainly for the kids to watch movies, we just watch
Free veiw
*we don’t go on holiday. We may go to the seaside for the odd day but take our own food and drinks etc and just visit the beach.
*we take the kids walking and stop at a local morrisons to buy a pack of 5 ice lollies instead of ice cream van 😂
*i shop online for food to avoid buying extras
*I don’t drink alcohol, oh swapped from expensive wkd to cheap vodka and supermarket iron brew and only has a couple at the weekend
*We are working on only buying non branded foods (fussy dd2)

Anything I’m missing?

Do you need to?

Yes we need to move house our family is too big for this house. We need to save to do a lot of work before we sell (major stuff), we will also need rent for somewhere else until the work is done and house is sold. We will get more for the house if we do the work.

Also due to the size and area of our house I think we’d have to get a small mortgage to pay for the size we need in the area we want once we’ve sold this house. If that makes sense?

Also have an ongoing debt that needs paying off :(

Cycle to reduce car use further?

If you cannot cut anymore costs, you need to find a way to increase your income instead.

Shop in Lidl or Aldi and places like Home Bargains.

If you pay your council tax over ten months, change it to over twelve.

Thanks :)

Tend to use the car for visiting family or bulk buying food etc so would be too far/heavy to cycle. We walk almost everywhere else.

We find it cheaper to shop online at Asda. Aldi is more expensive and food (especially fruit) goes bad quickly.

We already pay over 12 months for council tax.

Having a clear out to sell what we don’t use but probs won’t generate more than £50 have been talking about me maybe finding another job for a few extra hours.

Netflix and vodka can go. If you eat last you can save money by going vegetarian.

Do you have a very low income? How much is your shopping bill?

Are you absolutely sure that the costs of the building work plus the rent will pay you back when you sell the house? Quite often buyers want to put their own stamp on things anyway. You may be better just selling and moving on, rather than living a miserably frugal life for years, only to find its been for nothing

Doing all that you already do, how much do you put into savings each month?

You said no mortgage credit card or loans, what's the debt or at least how much per month? You're pretty pared back already.

You are very lean with your living expenses. I can’t see any other savings that haven’t been mentioned.

Thanks for the help I think we are pretty ‘to the bone’ already.

Getting a bigger mortgage than we need isn’t an option we really want so yes we need to save as much as we can. Due to the nature of the work that needs doing here it would certainly put more value into the house. We are almost at our target we just need to be careful we don’t spend on things we don’t need and remind ourselves It won’t be forever.

We could certainly cut out most of the meat we eat, thanks for that. Like I said don’t want to cut out Netflix, it’s only £8 per month and I feel the kids have sacrificed so much already. DH has agreed to no alcohol till Christmas then start again after lol

Don't get rid of Netflix or the vodka...a few drinks & a film will make it easier x

Honestly I don’t feel like there’s much else unless you’re spending on things you’re not factoring in. I find sometimes on these threads other bits pop up like amazon spending or kids clubs etc. However if that is absolutely all the money you have going out then you’re going to have to leave it at that or find another source of income.

What are your incomes?

Increase your income
Rent a room ( dc share)
Evening work
Overtime

Do you have a particularly low income? Your outgoings seem to be extremely low so you should be able to save a decent amount, unless you have a very low income.

That outstanding debt is probably the killer - no? Can reservice it?

How old is Dd2? What is she fussy about? I ask as a kid I know won’t eat anything unbranded like weetabix, cornflakes etc so Mum buys unbranded ones in a branded box and she eats happily

How many adults are working how many hours/wk in this household?