Arghhhh soooo broke!! Pity party

[ThighthighOfthigh]

I've never been this broke! Well I have but so long ago.

I used to have lunch out and takeaway coffees and buy fresh flowers.

Now I'm scrabbling for discount codes. Anyone else who would like to come to my pity party?

Username I could drive a couple of miles to a few supermarkets but in walking distance are only small shops.

Apparently Waitrose have brilliant yellow sticker deals. Is each shop different for the times they start to yellow sticker?

If anything OP, you've made me feel better. I'm redundant, no cash coming in except cb, and a mortgage to pay. I'm applying for jobs as fast as I can, but at least I have some savings.

It's horrible isn't it. I hope you find something soon x

@ThighthighOfthigh

Username I could drive a couple of miles to a few supermarkets but in walking distance are only small shops.

Apparently Waitrose have brilliant yellow sticker deals. Is each shop different for the times they start to yellow sticker?

Yes, it's usually the local manager who decides.

@ThighthighOfthigh

Bitter that thread sounds very useful, thank you. I used to have a book called 100 £1 meals or something like that, it was fantastic.

I've found that Tesco washing powder is actually nicer than branded and stretching out the powder with soda crystals. Also vinegar instead of fabric conditioner.

Tesco has a 50 toothpaste.

I use half of any recommended amount of laundry detergent and no fabric conditioner at all. Also, dishwasher powder has the same benefit - use half, but it's hard to find, you can break the tablets in half (I buy the cheapest hard tablets, none of that silly powerball stuff!).

Van I'm going to email the local supermarkets and find out!

Memo I am in a mess with an energy company so will get in touch. What happened was I went with Look After My Bills. I'm sure they're great but not being in charge left me confused and not on top of my direct debits.

I'll ask for a payment plan.

Van I've found Asda to have the cheapest dishwasher tablets and top up the rinse aid with vinegar.

Also I'm buggered if I'm buying any cleaning products, vinegar or cheap washing up liquid will have to do.

We've been eating a lot of homemade bread and soup, with a bit of cheese it's filling and healthy ish?!

My tip is to stretch a tin of tomato soup by adding a cheap tin of tomatoes and some water / a little stick powder. I think tinned soups are just watery tinned tomatoes, and my fussiest child eats it no problem.
You could also look on local groups for any homegrown / allotment gluts, lots of people are overrun with courgettes and apples at this time of year

I hope your business picks up

@SquishySquirmy - we use one - TooGoodToGo - similar thing - we use it because I HATE seeing any food go to waste - our local Morrisons, Budgens and various cafe's do it. it is pot luck but this week we got a big bagful of stuff for a fiver. Veg, fruit, yoghurt, cakes, bread, burgers and chicken drumsticks. The (high quality) burgers were still in date.

@thighofthigh - for DW tablets - Finish ones - Farm Foods do 220 - two boxes of 110 - for £15. I know that's a lot in one go but definitely the cheapest I've found.

I hear you OP, I'm a freelance designer and my work has dropped by 90%. My husband is working and in a "safe" industry thankfully, but I work mainly with the arts, hospitality and entertainment so, not great.

I get some very good reduced price bargains at Coop at about 4pm and tesco express at 6pm. Coop have all their nice bread reduced to 20p a loaf and I just freeze it and freshen up in the oven to have with soup. Got a £5 ready meal reduced to £1.25 tonight that will serve 2 of us for tea tomorrow.

That would be really helpful if you could Bitter

I'm in 2 minds about going and shopping for the yellow sticker deals. On the one hand great, on the other the fewer times you enter a shop the better IMO.

However I went to our local Tesco express today because we just weren't going to make it to the shop coming tomorrow. I got a whole cooked chicken reduced to £2, roast potatoes half price £1 and we had that with frozen broccoli and frozen peas and tinned carrots. Plus we can have sandwiches with the leftovers which will get us through to the shop arriving. After a vat of porridge for breakfast.

Just had an email saying my 0% period on my cc is ending soon so I'll have to find a new card with no transfer fee. I think the Sainsbury's one looks ok.

I'm thinking of cutting up my cc after I do a balance transfer and living completely off my current account. It will make things even tighter but I don't want to increase debt.

Sorry, not had a chance to dig it out yet - I'm off tomorrow so will have a look.

I've just sat and worked out our outgoings for the end of month pay in our house

Extra bill to pay at vets and a couple of other extras has tipped us near the top of our monthly budget.

After months of trying to feed four of us on a smaller budget and going over every month we've added another £100 to it this month and are now shopping weekly and it seems to have worked this week so far.

Spent £75 and have 6 meals for the week for four of us plus salad stuff fruit pack up stuff dog food and cleaning bits.

We were trying to do a big shop every two weeks but it just doesn't work for us as we eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg etc so bak to weekly.

Just agreed a lower amount for electric with the company as in a little credit but should help for a couple
Of months.

Whoever said about cancelling dog insurance don't do it.

We are paying off a £1300 bill and that's after the insurance paid a share. It's worth keeping going if you can.

We got yellow sticker ready curries for dinner tonight.

@ThighthighOfthigh

I have a sainsburys card which has no balance transfer fee but charges £3 a month - works out way cheaper though if you have a fair size balance. I also have a Lloyds one where you can opt for a very low interest rate instead of a fee.

I'm with you! I'm self-employed and have had very little work since April. I have had the grants, but a) they were based off lower earning years as my earnings have increased every year since starting my business and b) I had to use the majority of the grant to pay for some building work we were having done, that we had already committed to. If I had work as normal it would have covered this and I could have done a few more hours to keep me comfortable.

I am seeing little light at the end of the tunnel here.

DP is working, I'm feeling absolutely useless.

I've worked for 8 years to build this business up, and now I don't know how much longer I can go on without finding another job .. which I'm hugely reluctant to do because I love my little business, and accepting another job is basically giving up.

Not sure if this is the right thread to resurrect, but how are you all feeling about the government's SEISS extension of 20% of profits for the self-employed?

I don't know about you but I was struggling on 70% and a drop to 20% is massive. Couldn't they have gone for 50% at least? I could have maybe scraped by on that but 20% is little more than a token gesture.

I am resisting 'signing on' to universal credit with every fibre of my being because I have never claimed benefits in my life. I've been self-employed for 27 years and never made a loss and always made a living, but I haven't had a paid job since May 7th and not even a hint of any incoming work on the horizon.

What are they expecting us to do? We've worked for, and supported ourselves for all these years, and I'm certain I can't be the only one in this position. I've survived thus far because of the Government grants - 80% first quarter of Covid, 70% second quarter .. .and now it drops like stone to 20%. How on earth do they expect us to survive on that?

Would love to hear from others in the same boat as me.

x

Hi Fanny, self employed here too and I've just had to go on UC. It's actually a relief, at least there'll be a guaranteed minimum income coming in while we try to get back on our feet.

The trouble is that covid-19 obviously isn't going away anytime soon and I just couldn't keep going trading at such a reduced rate.

I decided to up our grocery spend a little, it was just too tight and miserable so it's more like £60pw for 3 adults and 2 small dogs. It feels luxurious up from £40.

I have kept the dog insurance, I couldn't take the chance of a big vet bill coming in.

A pp was saying it would feel like throwing in the towel getting a job rather than keep trying to run her business. I feel the same way, I've put years into this and hate working for other people.

cats99 thanks, I'm going to go with Sainsbury's for a new 0% cc for a balance transfer. I'm going to really try my best to not accumulate any debt during this period.

I was at Tesco express the other day just as the man came out with the machine and the yellow stickers! I wouldn't say I menaced him but I certainly hovered, a lot. Got a nice haul with some treats for not much at all.

I checked out Olio and found someone round the corner who has overstocks of fruit and veg she's going to put me some aside weekly. I haven't enquired too closely, perhaps she has a café or something.