Anyone want to cut back spending with me?

[Biscuits4]

DH isn't well and I can't see him working for a while and I've just reduced my hours, meaning we'll be down approx £700pm - he won't be up to eating out, coffees, day trips and isn't eating quite so much which will help reduce spends. On the other hand, he's not moving around so much and is up half the night sat on settee, so heating will need to be on a bit more. Also, one cat has just cost £480 in dental treatment, the other needs to see an eye specialist - I have funds I can pull on for this, but generally conscious I should reduce our spending to avoid drawing on more savings.

DH can make decisions still, but finances/groceries are all down to me now. I've reduced our energy direct debit for now until credit should see us out through the winter. Found out recently there's a water meter to our property, so we've swapped over to that as should be cheaper for just two. I'm pretty savvy with food shopping, but will keep a closer eye on what I'm choosing. Petrol spending should reduce as DH can't drive for six months.

Anyone want to join me? Hopefully we can give eachother tips in due course.

Wishing your dh all the best.

I need to cut back drastically too at least until we sell a property my late dad lived in that we pay a mortgage and double council tax for because it's empty. It's draining us. Not currently working much (early 60s) so I'm doing all the household nonsense as dh is working full time. I was teaching so will try to do some more tutoring.

At least youngest has now graduated and is earning so I'm not paying out for a student flat as well.

We're not eating out (and live so far from takeaways it's not worth the effort) and I'm trying to be a lot more frugal with food shopping. I only have coffee out if it's with friends otherwise take my travel mug. I pretty much always cook from scratch and am doing more meal planning which I loathe and find dull but needs must. As from Monday 5th, no more wine/other alcohol in January. We live in the middle of nowhere so the car is needed to do anything but since I haven't been working full time (daily 50 mile round trip in the car which is old and only uses fancy petrol) we fill up far far less. I also do less ready meal shopping in M and S on the way home because I had an exhausting day and still have 2 hours of work to do at home.

I've been wearing my wardrobe more because I'm determined not to buy any new clothes. Gym membership already paid for so will make the most of it with regular swimming/classes. Then even more things in my wardrobe will fit!

I have just discovered that I can loan free digital books from the local library on the tablet and I’m going to save so much money because I usually buy books but I won’t anymore

Vinted?
I didn’t think we had that much to sell, but some old tech stuff, kids toys Ds has outgrown and few random bits and it’s made a fair amount in the last few months.
Bonus is house decluttering at same time

You could join us over here - https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/cost_of_living/5468025-january-jingles-valentine-capers-frugal-fun-shenanigans-looking-forward-to-spring?reply=149536146
We are all trying to be mindful of spending - we are a friendly bunch.

Have you checked to see if you’re entitled to any benefits?

Wishing your DH a speedy recovery.

I also nerd to cut back and save. We've just bought our first house and move late February. H is away for another 3 weeks. I need to cut out all takeaways, coffees, lunch out etc. I'm hoping once my eldest is back at school on Monday it will be cheaper because he'll have lunch at school and less snacks. I'll also be doing some 'no spend days' in January. Food shop bill is also much lower this month as H is away. I'm hoping to save another £1k towards moving costs as our mortgage is 3x the current price of our rent.

I’ve recently invested in an electric blanket for wfh rather than having the heating on, that may work well if he’s not moving too much - they are much cheaper to run. X

Can I join in please. Going to lose my job ( end of fixed term contract ) at the end of march and it will take a while to find another I think. I have a bit of savings to tide me over but will still be around £900 a month down. Obviously I wont have travel/ petrol to work and we could manage with one car if I'm not working longer term. I'm also going to look at switching to a water meter ( me, dh and adult ds in the home ). we have heated throws. We still have two dc's at Uni who we are helping each month but one will be graduating in the summer. We've been given plenty of meal / restaurant vouchers for Xmas so that will provide us with treats for the first few months of the year. Wishing your dh a speedy recovery.

mumwithbaggage That's no joke having extra bills while an estate is being administered.

Depending on future circumstances, I might look into vinted. Generally tend to take items to charity.

Clutterbug2026 Yes, I don't think he would qualify for PIP right now. It looks like it needs to be proven it's an ongoing thing. Right now, I can and will give DH a lift to wherever he need to be but if it's ongoing, then PIP could well help with taxis/cost of parking at hospital, especially as specialist hospital is 50 miles away.

Exciting buying a new house, but I remember it does take adjustment in terms of priorities.

Minty24 that's harsh.

Looks like I'll have a mega stash of chocolates, biscuits and alcohol everyone has given us at Xmas. DH is managing some sweet things but the biscuits are the only thing he'll touch at the moment. At least that'll save buying treats for myself.

Could you please let me know what counts as old tech stuff that has any value?

@Biscuits4 You could ask about patient transport services for your husband. Many hospitals operate this service for the benefit of their patients and it's free.

DD was selling a few things on Vinted for her and me but I let her keep it as it was before she was working. Will get her to sell more stuff for a cut as she has a good rating and I've only bought a couple of things, never sold.

We have very very many unopened boxes of my late parents' stuff in our loft - been there since we moved here in 1998! I plan on a few boot fairs when it warms up a bit.

@HoppityBun - we sold old iPhones as had upgraded, surprisingly 5-6 year old phones still sold for £200-250. Old mesh internet system, WiFi boxes. Some random gaming computer cabling and accessories dh had.

Your double council tax …. Could someone ‘move’ into the property, therefore only pay single council tax?

I'm sorry your in this position. I went through this 11 years ago (and it is now my life). As a single parent I became disabled overnight. Suddenly going from a professional job to sick pay and then nothing was hard.
I obviously dont know if your husbands situation is temporary or permanent but things I did were claim on my mortgage protection (unfortunately couldn't claim on my critical insurance because my illness didn't fit the list) but this paid the mortgage for a year.
Applied for ESA, PIP.
Applied for a blue badge and free bus pass. I also use the local community transport (basically a door to door minibus service half the price of a taxi but help you a bit more and great for hospital appointments).
Applied for ill health retirement.
Checked out what I was entitled to on entitled to.
Applied for a disabled facilities grant.
Assessed by OT and physio at home.
Applied for a grant from my union to support me in the early days.
Registered as a priority customer with gas, electric and water.
Applied for council tax reduction.
Applied for reduced water rates.
Checked for free prescriptions.

Then after going through all my direct debits/spending and reducing them, I meal planned every meal and ordered online due to disability but found this to be cheaper as no forgetting things or impulse buying. Compared all insurance/mobile phone packages etc on renewal and set calendar reminders for the future.
I use my notes app to keep a track of bills and two bank accounts in order to leave one for direct debits and one for spending. The direct debit one I swap every year to get a bonus which helps pay for Christmas.
I do online surveys as can do those as and when. Might only get a little money but over the years its helped buy dc clothes or gone towards a food shop. Your husband might be able to do some of these too.
Most importantly its to talk about it, I never did and no one ever asked probably because they didn't have any answers (and thats ok). Loosing your health, job and financial security is not a nice place to bd but also I imagine being the partner in this situation trying to keep everything afloat is no easier. Best wishes.

@Change2banon dd2 is at the other end of the country but she and her bf are considering buying down here so may consider it until it sells. Have also thought of asking the youngest if she fancies it. Will have to do something because it's absolutely wearing me down. Costing us about 4k a month at the moment! Admittedly, 2k of that is coming off the capital but I just want it to stop! It keeps me awake most nights. I have so much good going on in my life but this is ruining it.
Enough of the pity party. Not a whole lot more I can do.

You can say someone is living there .. just contact the council and they’ll update their records … they don’t come out and check 🤫

I may even move in myself!! It's wearing us down so much I think I could do with time away from dh. If we weren't trying our very best to sell and just sitting on the property I'd kind of understand.

AnnaBenChloeDavid and Rainbow1901 thanks for your suggestions. I think one or two could come into play somewhere down the line, so I've made a note of them. We're not sure if he'll totally recover or whether it'll be a case of getting himself into a better place.

AnnaBenChloeDavid - it doesn't sound like life has been easy for you. Thanks for recognising me as a partner - obviously it has to be about DH right now, but no one has asked me how I feel.

Mumwithbaggage - I totally understand it's wearing you down, it's an extortionate amount by most people's standards. Do you have a solicitor acting in the Probate - just wondering if there's a way around it legally?

DH managed to get his head around cancelling a couple of subscriptions, so that'll save £25pm and I forgot he's frozen his gym membership so won't be paying that for now.

Have you signed up to Prolific, it's a website where you take part in research studies and it pays quite well. You need to pay attention carefully but I've earned over £50 a week on there, it pays much better than stuff like YLive and Yougov.

How many studies you get will depend on your demographic but it's worth doing when you have spare time. They have a wait list and it can take some time to get access, but worth signing up anyway.

Yes I'd agree with signing up for prolific. As I said above I do surveys and this is the best one. I think I waited 6 months to get an invite but definitely worth it compared to other sites. Yougov is ok as you get £50 but it takes me about 8/9 months to claim that. Also onepoll is good as I dont need to concentrate for long as its a few quick questions (I probably earn £20 every 6 weeks).
https://onepolluk.questionpro.eu.

@Mumwithbaggage Sorry -I don't want to derail the thread, but you mention that you're paying a mortgage on your deceased father's house until it sells? Have you checked that he didn't have life assurance to pay this off? In my experience it's very unusual for banks and building societies not to insist that this is in place to pay off the mortgage?

@DaphneduM sadly not. It was shared ownership due to his age (retired clergy, no property) and the mortgage is on our house - ours was paid off in my late 40s - so there's no actual mortgage on his property. Utter nightmare. We've just had an offer so absolutely everything is crossed!!