Every month it gets worse

[livingcostsrising]

We have an objectively decent income.
But the rising costs are just depressing. Six of us, two adult kids who pay rent that covers their food and a bit towards bills. Two younger ones. A cat.
£4k allocated to go out every month.
I try to save the rent towards unexpected bills.

Tv is from memory

14 licence
64 broadband and tv via Virgin
15 Netflix
9.99 Amazon (mainly for delivery)

Sorry, I just meant you were sitting on a landmine if you were still on the sub-2% rates.

Maybe I could use the rent one month and pay the phone balances off ? Then move to sim only.

It's difficult because I want them to move out asap so they are saving although they both say people stay at home til late 20s which fills me with dread. I'm really aware we need to have spare for uni next year.

I don't have a pension. It just feels mad to have so much going out. Like I'm missing something somewhere.

There is probably 500 left for fuel, clothes, anything that crops up like birthdays etc

@Desecratedcoconut luckily we fixed for five years so we have three years left before having to worry about that. Thank goodness. The utilities have been shocking. Water keeps rising.

You have the audacity to own a cat and phones and claim that you’re struggling? Well it’s very clear what the Conservative Govt. expects you to do. “Fuck off” was the delightful solution, I believe.

Call Virgin and tell them you’re going to leave - even if you don’t have anywhere to go to. That £64 is ridiculous - you need to haggle hard with them every time you’re out of a fixed rate contract. It should be more like £30 with tv, or £20 without.

Just wanted to say for a family of 6 , including 4 adults, i think you are doing pretty good with food costs. We are also family of 6 ,4 DC aged between 16-23 so 6 adults reand we spend more-breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week, drinks, household goods, toiletries , pet food etc
So wouldnt necessarily think your grocery spend is too high- sorry!
But Meal planning really helps focus grocery shops and own brands, cheaper supermarkets etc

Your insurances seem very high, can you review all of these? Food very high too - meal planning and batch cooking will help, if you have an Aldi or Lidl and can do really big shop rather than small supermarkets for top up shops.

So some cheap meals I make, not sure if these would help you but it might reduce some of the food bill down:

Carrot and coriander soup (£1.11)
1kg of carrots (bag is currently 59p in tesco)
Coriander (52p for fresh in Tesco, I grow my own so cheaper again)
Literally chop the carrots up, boil with salt and pepper, throw the coriander in once the carrots are soft and blend it.
I get 5 good size bowls out of this, sometimes I double and freeze.

Pappa Al Pomodoro (£2.72)
This should be done with fresh tomatoes but it can be adapted
Two tins plum tomatoes (4 for £2 on clubcard offer, so £1)
Crusty baguette (Tesco 65p)
Basil (Tesco 52p)
Garlic (Tesco 55p)
Heat up a few garlic cloves in oil, salt, and then add the two tins of tomatoes, fill the two empty tins with water and empty into the pot, cook over a medium heat for 15 mins or so, tear up the baguette and mix in with the basil. It's like a chunky, stodgy tomato soup. Traditionally Tuscan peasant food, it's excellent for using up overripe fresh tomatoes or stale bread. I get 4 decent bowls out of this. Doesn't freeze very well.

Tomato Pasta
With the other two tins of tomatoes, the basil and garlic, I stick that in a pot and cook it with some water into a tomato sauce. Much easier and tastier than a shop bought sauce. Could use an onion if you have one. I find it's plenty of sauce for a 500g bag of pasta. Now, we could eat a 500g bag of pasta between two people 😅but you can easily get another 4-5 decent bowls out of that using ingredients you've already bought. Add a garlic baguette to pad it out, bit of cheese.

All of that, if you added a baguette, grated cheese, bag of pasta, is about £6/7 and would do 4 decent, adult sized lunch or dinner portions for 3 days. So 12 meals, for 50/60p?

If you search tiktok for meals for a fiver, there's a guy on there (Mitch, maybe) who does recipes with ingredients and step by step videos, all of them for £5 or less.

You could cut your food bill considerably, although granted it may not work with different dietary requirements and tastes.

Well the cat is 17 so not expecting to be so cheeky for much longer ...

Seriously, I'm finding it hard to make the numbers work.
But this thread is helpful. I'm going to switch to Aldi, its a short drive away and I can get a lot of the basic stuff like pasta I think, and squash and veg.

I can't with the life insurance because unfortunately age plus long term condition means they wouldn't be cheaper.
The car and house and car are left - cat is £30 a month and I do wonder if it's worth it now she is 17. We've never used it.

@Throwaway0912 the pappa al pomodoro sounds perfect, thank you. I will try that. I've just started a veg curry, inspired by this thread, which the older ones can have for a couple of days.

We've just been over 4k in vet bills in 3 months for a cat who was never at the vets before previously. He wasn't insured. I would keep the cat insurance personally. We thought we didn't need it because he was never ill. He sure showed us 🙄

If you can afford to save a bit each month. Have a pot for different type of insurances. Then when you renew you can pay the annual cost rather than the much more expensive monthly cost.

I do this. Just make sure you put the money aside each month so it's there to pay the year after.

I think you're doing okay on the food front. I would still meal plan as it saves the waste Personally I do an online order and I am not tempted by the in store offers so for me it's cheaper than Lidl or Aldi

Tesco is expensive for food even with points.

Second the Aldi/Lidl suggestion.

Jamie Oliver's ministry of food book is good for simple recipes. There's also a lot of videos on YouTube showing how to make stuff.

If you post in chat maybe saying what the dietary restrictions are and ask for simple ideas you'll get a lot of help.

Agree your broadband is expensive I have full fibre for 26 a month.

Second switch to Aldi/lidl
Meal plan for the week and stick to it. Include everything also snacks, if you run out have to wait until next food shop
Avoid top up days!
Have you checked if you are entitled to any benefits go top up childcare maybe?

Are the adult kids contributing enough? Presumably you bought a house big enough to accommodate them and that’s part of why the mortgage is so high. Upping their contribution might slow down their leaving, but they don’t sound in a hurry anyway…

Aldi is fantastic, @livingcostsrising

I actually don't find aldi/Lidl cheaper anymore. We do our shopping online and it's been brilliant and saved a fair amount- you can meal plan easier, navigate the offers better and don't end up popping loads of random bits in because they catch your eye. Sainsburys has price match or is cheaper for pasta, fresh fruit & veg and other items and is better quality imo.

Ok im sold on Aldi, and being consistent, thank you.

I will try the meal suggestion on YouTube (that's where I found the curry!)

Re: cat that's a cautionary tale i won't be cancelling the insurance

House is small for six - four beds (two box room) and a sitting room converted to a bedroom as we didn't expect them all to stay. And they were too old/unwell to continue sharing.

I think part of the frustration is being on top of each other so much, and the clutter from them all.

I'm going to try to set pots up, I have Monzo so if I would out the annual cost of the ones I renew I can try that. Would be good to save a bit there.

I don't find Aldi/Lidl much cheaper anymore either

And their fresh produce is rubbish these days

Ditch the Netflix and Amazon. Meal plans and switch to cheaper supermarkets. Stop the uni savings at least for now. Charge adult dc's more. If you do that and with the money once your credit card is paid off should be close to £600 a month, if you need more cut the kids clubs too.

I would say switch to Asda and go into Aldi every second week or something to get big lots of things like kitchen roll, toilet roll, washing and dishwasher tablets, cereal bars, biscuits, fresh fruit and veg, pasta. Then the other stuff to make decent meals from asda. We have completely avoided Tesco now, it’s an absolute rip off

Yeah their fresh fruit, veg and meat is grim. Some of their frozen is okay and their rice/pasta is pretty standard but not cheaper anymore than elsewhere.

How much do the adult DC earn? What do they do with their money? £225 each is a pittance for full board and lodging in an expensive area and while it may feel unpalatable, they need to contribute more as well as saving some of their money for the future. It's just not sustainable or fair for you to struggle if they're just spending hundreds of pounds a month on fun stuff. If they're working full time, they could pay you a bit more and pay for their own phones, clothes, travel, takeaways, lunches etc and still have a decent amount of money to save or spend.

Do you actually need the TV licence? Many people still pay it, but then never watch live TV or BBC iplayer, so are paying the money for nothing. If this is you, cancel it.

What is 'ring'? If not essential, cancel it. These may sound like small costs, but eliminate a few of them and things will start to feel a little easier especially when the credit card finishes and if you manage to trim your grocery bill by shopping at Aldi/Lidl, the latter sounds good with the app and the discount.