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Frugality til the end of 2021

5 replies

Yorkshiremummyof1 · 14/10/2020 11:18

I’ve posted before with my budget, but at that point my partner was living with me. He has moved out to a friends until his tenant moved out of his house in January. In the meantime he’s still giving me his share of our bills so I’ll get £500 in November and then December. I’m going to pretend that this isn’t coming in, or rather put it into savings for decembers Mot. Basically start living like I will have to in January.

By November 2021 I will have paid my dad back which means I’ll have an extra £225 a month which I can use to clear what will be around £700 on one credit card and £2000 on the other. And then I’ll be less finally stretched to the tune of £325.

My bills are as low as they can go for the moment, I don’t have TV, my ex pays for Netflix, and also pays for DS to have Spotify. We have two mobile contracts which end in September next year which will save £68. So I’m looking forward to the future however I just need to get through the next year.

I’m working on the assumption that my partner doesn’t contribute to our shared pet costs but if he does that’s a nice bit extra. He moved out because well, he needs his own space. There is a thread about it...we are still together.

So from November 1 I will have £384 to cover food, fuel, pet food and clothing.

Food shopping I’m going to struggle with, I spend too much. But I also have a freezer full of food, and cupboards as well. It’s goi g to be a case of getting ds9 to eat things he wouldn’t usually.

I’m working on cheap meals and brand downgrades at the moment. I also. We’d to work out the cheapest supermarket. I get deliveries from Morrison’s because Asda doesnt cover my area and Tesco has no slots. We are very close to a Lidl, walking distance but I don’t trust myself not to spend more. If it was genuinely cheaper then I would try to have more self discipline.

Looking at food budget I think I could feed myself, DS and the animals for £40 a week?

I feed Harrington’s to the dogs, which works out fairly cheap. I haven’t bought dog food since August and I still have another two months left.

The cats are a pain in the arse because they won’t eat any of the cheaper zoo plus food and I’ve only managed to get them to eat Sheba in gravy, which I got at £2.94per kilo but they had webbox today which was £2.50kg.

Then it’s a case of buying:

Wraps+salami+Edam+grapes+banana+soreen+yoghurt+biscuit bar for DS lunch. I always have wraps leftover so I’m wondering if I could make an extra 3 wraps and freeze them for the next week, not sure if the wraps would go hard though. Alternatively we will have wraps for dinner as well!

We have spaghetti on toast once a week, pizza once a week and then I make bolognese with turkey mince as that’s cheaper than beef mince. A small pack of mince and a jar of sauce lasts us for days as I do t eat much. I mainly live on homemade soups, and shreddies. I get tend to finish whatever DS leaves on his plate as I have weight loss surgery so I only eat about two mouthfuls anyway. I’m basically catering for DS and I’m an afterthought.

The £384 has to cover food, clothing, fuel, pet food but also any other unexpected costs and also car maintenance. This is going to be so tough.....

OP posts:
Yorkshiremummyof1 · 14/10/2020 11:20

I wish my supermarket still existed :(

Oh as an aside I paid £7k of debt off since January yay

OP posts:
SonjaMorgan · 15/10/2020 16:03

Hello. I am trying to cut back as well, hopefully for the next 5 years due to a big move we will have to make.

I am aiming for £200 a months on groceries for a family of 4, I have done this before but it is tight. I prefer to manage my grocery budget monthly as I bulk buy rice etc.

I am also planning on going back to using cash for groceries as I take out my £200 at the start of the month and put it in an envelope. I find it easier to overspend when I stick it all on my card.

My supermarket was brilliant Sad. Do you have a local Lidl? I have the app on my phone and they have different money off vouchers each week?

actionpacked · 29/10/2020 22:09

This thread has come at the perfect time for me! This morning I sorted out all of our bills/debts (there’s lots of smallish credit card debts) with a view to improving my credit score by the end of 2021. Right now I don’t need a good credit score for anything but it would be nice to have the option! I also need to save to replace my car (will buy in cash, I never buy new cars anyway). I plan to do all of this without us noticing Grin So, small changes that at the moment I’m squandering money (take aways/food shop/random impulse buys!)

I was going to start this in January but reading your op I realised I also have freezers and cupboards full of food - no time like the present!

NeverTwerkNaked · 30/10/2020 08:03

My husband makes left over wraps into tortilla chips by chopping them up and cooking them.

Could you make cake or similar instead of the pricey soreen/biscuit bar options?

How old is your son? He might be eligible for free school meals if your budget is so tight

Yorkshiremummyof1 · 02/11/2020 09:16

He’s not eligible for free school meals, I earn too much but have a fair amount of debt to pay off. I’ll have paid a lot of it off by end of 2021, quicker if I can knuckle down.

This week I’m doing a cupboard count and I’ll spend maybe an hour a night working out what we could make. I know we have loads of lentils, black beans, baked beans etc. A TON of oats so I could make porridge and keep it in the fridge to heat up in the morning for DS rather than buying more cereal! We’ve also got load of milk to go through so might make a lasagne and macaroni cheese this evening and freeze leftovers. Also have to go through a 6ft tall freezer and work out what’s utter crap and taking up space versus what we can eat.

Inventory it all basically. I’m keeping my food budget as is, however I’m just going to try not to spend it.

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