Need to save for house deposit, any good ideas for cutting back

[Thistle72]

Found myself in a position of moving out of my partners house and now renting (£800!!! A month)
I had taken leave of my senses I think but anyway it's a very nice house and my 2 teenagers are very pleased.
But now 3 weeks in I've decided I'm going to buy when this 6 month lease is completed.
I have no savings now as the house was unfurnished so I bought everything.
So I'm challenging myself to save as much money as possible in the next 5 months,it will be notenough for a deposit- I think I need £10,000. My mum lives local but only 2 bed house but has said once my lease is up we could live with her short term to accumulate more cash.
I can work extra too in my job. Both my children have part time jobs so they are pretty self sufficient apart from college dinners- I pay for them. I do have £1,500 on a credit card also.
Have you mumsnetters got any good ideas to help my challenge.

[Mum4Fergus]

Best advice is budget to within an inch of your life lol get rid of CC debt as quickly as you can...assess all your incoming/outgoings...get rid of 'wants' mobiles, TV packages and the likes...review your 'needs'-is everything on as cheap a deal as you can possible get? Do you need a car or can you get rid? Get the kids involved too...

[specialsubject]

Clear that debt asap. No clothes buying unless you actually have none of an item left. Hammer down utilities and insurances . ceasefire on xmas and birthday gifts.

[HappyHeart87]

Regular weekly cutting back adds up very quickly. So if your food shop is £100pw, cut it by £25 and you'll save an extra £100pm. Shop at the budget places (Aldi etc.), go to the cheapest option you can bear on as many products as possible, and stop eating meat.

[Akire]

I do food shop online then at end challenge self to get rid of 10% price. Most of time is doable. I'm lazy in that often buy things just in case when could hold off buying bulk loo till for another work and if checked cupboards already have 4 jars pasta sauce so don't need 2 more.

[Me2017]

Your biggest saving could be moving in with your mother as will save you £800 a month in 6 months' time. Could you find someone to take on the lease and you move much sooner (and presumably you will get back a one month's deposit too which could pay off a good bit of the £1500 credit card bill when you mvoe out. Could you approach your landlord and/or try to find a new tenant to replace you? £800 a month x 12 months is your £10k deposit all sorted.

Then what about a second job? I often work on Saturdays all day and that might bring in for you at say 10 hours £10 an hour £100 a week which is £5200 a year before tax. If you did Sundays too that's £10k before tax extra as well.

[2015mom]

Yeah try and move in with family and cut your rent

Bills, check out Martin Lewis money saving tips

When purchasing on internet always go via Topcashback or quidco and you will get money back, over the last 4 years I have got £600 back

You will get a lot of cashback for insurances such as car insurance, life insurance, house insurance etc, even to search on a comparison site via Topcashback you will get some money back

Shopping - don't but clothes unless you have run out or absolutely essential. If essential then go primark and buy cheap for now.

Food shopping make a list so you don't deviate and spend more money

If you need a lot of things then prioritise over the year for example we need garden furniture and we have just borrowed for now ask we will buy in the winter hopefully it will be cheaper

Get a second job... Even if you want to earn £30 a day maybe do a cleaning job for somebody , advertise via gumtree and get a client that is local and clean their house or help them on a weekend when the hours suit you

Hope the above helps

[Leatherboundanddown]

Cut back every single direct debit that is non essential. Call up all your suppliers to see if you can negotiate on price.

Have a basic internet package. No netflix etc or subscription services.

Don't waste money on crap like coffees out/lunch etc. No new clothes for anyone. Just a small stocking present each for Xmas.

Cut your food bill by planning your meals, not wasting things and taking packed lunches. No soft drinks in the house just have tea/water. Give up alcohol for a year.

If you drive then plan your routes to reduce petrol costs. Walk more/get your shopping delivered if cheaper than fuel to get there and back, stops you getting tempted by things you dont need that way too.

You can save lots of money by using up the stuff you have in the house before you buy new. No toiletries/cleaning products until eberything else has run out!

The secret is to plan plan plan! You will get there, I saved nearly your target in 18 months by making changes such as these, for me it is a commitment to our future and it is worth it.

[2015mom]

Also if you need to buy a lot of stuff spread it out over the year so you have not got chunks of money going out one month.

Do a wish list for family and friends for Xmas so you don't need to buy stuff... At least you can get it as gifts ESP with Xmas coming up
Try to avoid going shopping because you will alwyss see something you want to buy. If you do love shopping as yourself do you really need it, maybe don't buy it and think about it for a week before purchasing

[2015mom]

Meal planning is a great idea as it helps avoid good waste and also saves money when shopping because you will only buy what's required for that week. Any leftover freeze and eat another time if you don't fancy the next day.

Set yourself goals and treat yourself when you teach a certain goal. Will give you an incentive to carry on

[annandale]

There are a few budget recipe and meal planning threads on here - they have some great ideas. Post your usual meals and we'll see what we can tear off them

What do you normally spend your money on? If you think 'I could buy X' the mental response has to be 'no' immediately. I'm not crazy, obviously you have to buy some things, but if you have any habit of buying things without really thinking it through, kill it.

Embrace more vegetarian meals; grow your hair; don't buy liquids; buy meat, cheese, fruit and veg either from the market or picked from the loose stocks at the supermarket, having used your meal plans to work out what you really need. Like, do you need 250g of cherry tomatoes, which is what the supermarket wants to sell you, or will 3 bigger tomatoes suit you? Do you need 750g of cheddar or would 150g really be enough?

[2015mom]

Food at grocery shops are one of the biggest expenses.

If you don't mind not having branded foods try Aldi or lidl much cheaper and quite frankly most things taste the same or better.

If you like branded foods then check out www.mysupermarket.co.uk
Where you can compare cost of branded stuff from Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury, Morrisons, Aldi.

You can even compare beauty products on there from Boots, SUPERDRUG and the supermarkets to see where it is cheapest to buy
Also look at the price per 100 g which is below the price and you can work out what is best deal for the 100 g across the board.

[Fluffycloudland77]

There's a Facebook page called feed your family for £20 a week, or something like that.

[Thistle72]

Thank you so much for such great ideas!!
I'm a nurse so there is always lots of extra work at my local hospital.
I did tend to treat myself quite a lot so I feel I could likely save a bit there.
I love the idea of meal planning, I cooked lots when I lived with my partner but I've fell off the wagon at the moment. I'm going to get back into it.
I've also read lots on making your Christmas presents which is really great idea. I have already bought the children theirs when I was flush........ Drake tickets so I don't really need to spend a lot more.
I've let my house through an agency so don't think I can get out of it but I do have a few things to be getting with from your suggestions. Thanks so much yo you all I so appreciate it