Trying to find ways to cut back

[whowasi]

I'm really struggling at the moment and trying to cut back. If I list what my outgoings are can someone advise where to cut back?

Rent
Gas/electricity
Water
Council tax
Car tax
Car insurance (lowered cost at last renewal, can't change for a while)
Petrol (trying to cut down car use)
Broadband (tied in but also use for catchup TV as no tv licence)
Mobile (tied in for 24 months still)
Spotify (discounted student rate)
Cat food and litter for two cats
Food (been living off cheapest stuff)
Pet health plan (can't cancel until anniversary in July)

I've cancelled pet insurance, tv licence, because I never watch live TV. I can't move anywhere cheaper, well I could move into a one bedroom flat and save at the most £100 a month but can't afford the moving costs and bond. I can't get rid of my car because I need it to take my elderly mum to hospital and doctors appointments. I live alone and my cats are my company but they cost me a lot in did and cat litter got really expensive! I could feed cheaper cat food, but they always go off it and I end up buying different sorts and throwing it away when they won't eat it plus it seems to affect their tummies.

I buy as little food as possible and always own brand as cheap as possible, but could maybe switch to Heron Foods or Aldi instead of getting a delivery every few weeks. I tend to batch cook chilli or stew and freeze it or eat the really cheap ready meals, I have own brand porridge with frozen berries for breakfast and soup for lunch.

I vape, which isn't anywhere near as expensive as smoking, probably £30 a month, but I should probably cut that out. I'm just worried because I've been don't really well losing weight and worry that stopping vaping will make me eat more 😳

I don't drink at home, and if I go out I'll have two drinks max, so maybe £10. I don't go out much though.

I don't buy many beauty products, just Simple day and night cream and only wear mascara and eye liner. Any clothes I need I buy on Vinted, but do need to stop looking on there when not necessary, it's too tempting!

I listen to music all day every day, so loathe to cancel Spotify, plus I don't have a cd player.

I can't do anything about my mobile, it was a mistake, my old phone broke and I couldn't afford one so signed up to a contract over 36 months at £28 per month.

Think that's everything. Sorry this is so long and thanks for reading if you got this far.

Areas I've identified through writing this are try cats on cheaper cat food, cut down vaoing and try to stop, delete Vinted app!

Anything else?

You haven't said what your income or rent is, or whether or not you have enough money on paper and money is leaking away somewhere that you haven't yet identified, or if you genuinely don't have enough money to cover all your basic costs, which could be the case.

However, you may be entitled to help with your rent if you're on a low income and meeting the hours/earnings requirements for UC, so definitely double check this. Even if the amount of money is small, it's worth claiming, as that will mean you're entitled to the extra cost of living/help with utilities payments.

Also, it could be that your DM is entitled to attendance allowance, or other benefits, and unless she's in a similar/worse position to you, you need to ask her to help with the cost of taking her to appointments. I know this may feel 'wrong' but if you're struggling and she is receiving money to pay for this sort of thing, she needs to give you the money, especially if you're running a car mainly for her benefit.

Anyway, have a look at Moneysaving Expert and do everything that is relevant. Even a few small savings will add up and make things a bit more comfortable.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

Are you repaying debt?

Stop vaping both for cost and health benefits. Your budget doesn't allow for buying more food so not sure why you would put on weight. Just make sure you don't eat more and find other ways of destressing like walking.

The radio is free to listen to - loads of specialist genre stations on DAB/online so ditch the Spotify

If you can’t work ful time do a benefits check to make sure your income is maximised - Turn2Us is a good website to use, or ask CAB

If you have health issues you may be able to claim PIP. You may be entitled to help with council tax - ask the council

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes I'm going to stop vaping and try the cheap cat food, introducing slowly as I use up what I've got left.

Health issues (chronic, not going to go away or improve) prevent me doing several things mentioned above. I'll think about the lodger, but feel uneasy about it tbh.

On paper I should just have enough to get by but somehow I'm getting into my overdraft every month.

I'm not in debt. With the car and my mum it's difficult as she paid for more than half of it, she does give me money towards petrol at times, just not regularly. I live 40 mins drive away from her, it would be a 2 hour bus journey on two buses. No one else in our family left so I'm the only visitor she gets. No one else to take her to appointments either.

I'm claiming the benefits I'm entitled to. I also get the moneysavingexpert newsletter.

My rent is £575, north east. I spend at most £30 on food, the ready meals i buy are under £1, so not sure anything could be cheaper! I really only wear a bit of mascara and eye liner when I go out, they last me years, so not sure what not wearing it at all would achieve!

For iplayer you have to have a license but if you never watch anything on the bbc and just use the other catch up services you don't.

Op I agree you seem to be budgeting as well as you can. The only thing I can suggest is ask your mum for petrol when you give her a lift, surely she will want to help you out when/if she can?

I know you said you couldn't do a side job but have you looked into the threads (either on here or on mse) about making small amounts by doing surveys, entering competitions etc on your phone. E.g I get loads of surveys which add up to nectar/amazon points -it's only a few quid but i do them whilr watching tv so they take minimal effort and they could then pay for your toiletries/milk etc so you'd have a few quid spare. Any discount points/intro offers are good e.g. asdas new bonus card if you buy one thing (can literally be 1 banana!) it gives you a fiver to spend.

Other than that you have some capacity to reduce further in the future when you're out of contract with the phone and the laptop although tbh can't imagine a second hand laptop would go for much.

Definitely ditch the ready meals, especially if you wish to continue losing weight. They are usually very high in fat & salt & low in dietary fibre. Batch cooking should work out far cheaper. You say your freezer is full of yellow labelled produce, so presumably you know when your local food shops/supermarkets put out their reduced food. Ignore the ready meals in favour of any vegetables there. Also, try substituting some of the mince for lentils, for example in your chilli. I always pad out mince with any extra vegetables I have to hand.

Don't be ditching the make up, sometimes a little bit of mascara and eyeliner can set you up to face the day. My mam used to call it her warpaint 😄😄😄

I don't really see how you can cut expenditure, can you increase your income? Have you tried matched betting?

You do.

You can listen to the radio. Scrap Spotify. And vaping. No chance of reducing food bill. We are all in the same boat there sadly.

You've said on paper you have enough money so you need to be really honest with yourself about where it's all going. For 1 month write down absolutely every penny you spend. You may find that when you look back there are some things you could do differently, otherwise you have been given some good suggestions on here

I would get rid of the cats personally.

Only if you watch BBC iplayer or recorded Sky or similar.

If you only watch streamed ITV, Channel 4 plus Netflix etc, you don't

How much are you spending on gas and electric, ie any option to cut back a bit more/lower temperature?

Do you need the car to get to work? Just wondering overall if it'd be cheaper for your DM to get taxis to appointments - I know taxis aren't cheap, but running a car probably more expensive between you.

If you can do it, definitely cut out the vaping. You're entitled to some treats in life, but the cats would be my priority (catlover here obviously) and we you seem to get a lot out of it, spotify.

I would get rid of the car. Its a luxury that you may not be able to afford if you need to cut back.

You mention about your getting your elderly mum to hospital appointments, but if she is genuinely unable to walk and/or get public transport, then I think that there are patient services which can help.

Could you speak to citizens advice about getting the deposit for you to move? And consider moving closer to your mum which would cut your fuel costs. Also universal credit can do advances, they might do this for a deposit?

I disagree with everyone about Spotify, you have to keep one pleasure and £5.99 is a bargain. Living alone can feel lonely and music fills the emptiness. Im gutted we are going to have to cancel ours as I dont get the student one and we can no longer afford it 😢

With the cats what are they having food wise? We cut ours down to 1 wet Food pouch a day instead of 2 and upped the biscuits.

Do you have any community kitchens near you? We have a community food hub where you pay £4 a week and get a shop, I usually fill my shopping trolley.

Also olio, loads of free bits which could cut your food bill. And if you sign up as a volunteer to collect the food you get to keep a certain amount.

You seem to like animals, if you arent currently working Could you do some dog sitting/walking. Or charge to look after people's pets when they are on holiday? Could be a small money maker.

As you like vinted, if you are savvy enough scour cheap charity shops for certain brands to sell on at a profit. Obviously this requires some knowledge of what sells. I used to do something similar when my girls were small, I bought and sold on kids toys/clothes!

Thanks for the replies.

I've tried to move closer to my mum but she's in a more expensive town, I can't afford anything there.

There seem to be plenty of dog walkers, pet sitters around, I've looked into it and placed ads, but never get any replies.

I'm not on UC, I'm on legacy benefits, no advances possible and I couldn't pay it back anyway.

The cats will be gradually moved to cheaper food. I'm not getting rid of them!

I've spoken to citizens advice in the past about other things, they're pretty useless, just look things up on the internet and I can use google myself!

Spotify will go if necessary, but it'll be the last thing to go.

I've tried olio, but it's always bread on there - I have a freezer full of brass but I don't really eat it anyway.

We have a food hub nearby but when I went I found it full of things I wouldn't buy and things I could get cheaper as own brand in the supermarket.

I'll look in the charity shops with regards to selling on, but it's not an affluent place I live in and they are full of mostly cheap clothes, never find anything worth selling so far, but I will look specifically with that thought in mind.

I can't sell the car. My mum had taken patient transport in the past when the car had to go into the garage and it took all day to pop

Sorry pressed send by accident ...

It took all day, she was collected at 8 a.m and didn't get home until 6 p.m, in the car the whole thing takes us about two hours. She's well into her eighties and just not well, she can't vote with that all the time.

It currently costs me £67 plus the government contribution. I habe the heating on briefly in the morning to heat it up to 17 degrees and then again briefly in the evening. I wash instead of showering daily, don't use hot water unless I can help it. I barely watch TV, maybe once a week, mostly listen to music. I'm not sure where else I could cut back. I don't leave lights on, I've no tumble dryer.

I’m so sorry you’re having to live like this. I detest what is happening to this country where people are expected to live in poverty.
the only thing on your list is giving up vaping - try regular sugar free chewing gum instead to keep your mouth busy. Drink cheap sugar free squash so you aren’t reaching for sweets and chocolate.
Other than that you are doing what you can. Don’t get rid of the cats, that would be bad for your mental health

It's certainly not something everyone would cope with but would there be any benefit for you both if you lived with your mum?

I live quite frugally and had to even more so in the past so have some experience.

The only thing that would make any significant difference I can see is quitting vaping.

I wouldn't want to put the cats on the cheapest cat food as it could result in higher vet bills later on, though depending on what you are currently feeding them you could potentially save money there. Tins or cartons are cheaper than sachets. Butchers cat food tins are reasonable quality and fairly inexpensive, they are available from Sainsburys and online. Dry food may be cheaper in bulk online. My cats have one meal of wet and one of dry.

I would consider explaining your circumstances to your mum, if she can afford it I'm sure she would want to give you the petrol money to cover your costs of taking her to appointments considering your situation.

Oh that's frustrating.

Have you used a calculator to see if you would be better off on UC? We were by about £100 a month!

There's also too good to go, I don't use it personally as we have too many dietary requirements to take a gamble! But depending what's available in your area it could be good value.

How about selling peoples unwanted belongings for them? You could offer a selling service where you take a cut of the profits for things they might otherwise donate. Lots of people need to declutter but are time poor so never get around to listing on vinted/ebay/Facebook.