How to run a household on a very limited budget? Tips needed!

[PanicPants]

I'm hoping to give up work soon but that means dropping a huge amount of money per month, and we'd be pretty much living hand to mouth.

However, at the moment we do eat out or have take aways at least once/twice a week, so I'm hopin that if I do all cooking and limit takeouts to once in a blue moon I can claw back some money that way.

So any tips on house hold budgeting? Ways to cut costs generally?

Whenever we decide it's time to reign in - the main thing we do is menu plan, make shopping lists and stick to them - shopping online really helps because you don't impulse buy.

However, this works for us because we spend an obscene amount of money in Sainsburys normally - I don't know how we do it, it's ridiculous.

feetheart - what is TNS?

Hard but satisfying

I actually like it when I'm ultra stingy

PP - look on it as a healthier life-style change

Oh and dh takes lunch to work with him - he spends a fortune buying lunches usually.

We only go through spates of doing this - we should do it anyway to be less wasteful...

TNS - National Shopping Monitor (not sure what TNS stands for!!) Try this link
I got something put through the door so not sure how you sign up.

oh bum-you need a invitation number to join-sounds good though feet.

I'll see if I can get anyone an invitation - will return.

Have you looked at your mortgage/insurance?

We aren't usually very bothered to read the small print but we recently reduced our mortgage payments by about £250 a month by switching mortgage provider and scheme.

ok, here goes:

Internet Shopping : as long as you watch the postage on everything
Inernet selling: get in the cupboards and get on ebay now!
Speak to all you utility people about dropping you rDirect Debit a bit or changing teh day its paid
Council Tax: speak to them about being assesed for benifits there
Working Family Tax Credit: get it paid direct to you
Look at getting a bus/rail family card
clear out any spare rooms and offer it up as a student let
Sell old school uniforms
Get on Freecycle and off load any junk( makes it easier to see what you need)
Think about ( depending on your locaton) food co-ops/home delivery and internet grocery shopping
Host some Usbourne/Ann Summers/chocolate tasting parties for friends, its like going out without the cost!
Get ino gardening and do a veggie patch, or at least grow your own herbs.
Teach the kids about energy saving/water saving by getting the big utility companies to come round and fit draught exclusion/energy saving bulbs etc, just tell them you are on a low income and need to keep the costs down.
Recycle, it will get you into the habit of checking everything before youthrow it out ( good for collecting vouchers etc)
Swap with friends: do some babysitting/ironing for them and figure out whta they can do for you.

there is more...

Also, join your local Freecycle - loads of toys, clothes, bikes go on it, as well as household stuff.

Go to your local 'real' market - great bargains on meat, veg and frozen stuff - my dad gets steak for less than a tin of catfood.

The Book people do great bargains on childrens books for giving as presents, and you get points which can then be used for buying books - often get free wrapping paper etc too.

Im starting (restarting, if Im honest!) a major money saving drive. Accepting I wouldnt be wise buying a house for another few years means I want to plan ahead and save as much as possible so Im in a good position later.

Im another fan of moneysavingexpert.com, and Ive just dont the budget planner. Ive done one for now, and a seperate one for where I want to be.

I'd suggest you start here I havent done it, as I dont have insurance, car, cant choose supiers for gas etc (live in NI) but if its half as good as the rest of his site, well worth the effort!

Im crap at recording every penny I spend, so instead I have a wee purse for train fare, one for bread and milk, and one for dds classes.

Oh, and loads of meal plans on MSE too, which I refer to, since I found the experience overwhelming (once a month cooking)

Good luck x

The nice man on the phone said you can register on www.volunteer4panels.com. Apparantly you may be contacted by various panels that need people, you just decide if you want to do it.

Check that you get ALL the tax credits you are entitled to, made a huge difference here.

Thanks very much for that feet,kind of you! will go and have a look

Also just remembered Boots Advantage card - they had some promotion evenings before Christmas where if you spent £50 (or something) you got all your usual points plus 1000 points on the night (plus I had a double points voucher I could use) - got about £17 in points on one night and bought presents at 3 for 2!!

If you read the telegraph or times you can pay upfront and get sent vouchers - we do and save a fortune each year!

btw, have you tried living without your wage? Maybe its something you should consider doing for a month or two before you quit?

Currently, I live as if I have a mortgage, and the higher bills, insurance etc associated with owning a decent sized property. the difference between what I would spend on the above and what I currently spend on rent/household stuff gets put away in ISAs and regular saving accounts (with high rates)

Oh, and ebay has 5p listing day tomorrow!

All the suggestions here are great. I agree that you should start trying to work to your future budget right now. Either it won't work and you'll have to rethink, or it will work and you'll have money saved up as a buffer for unexpected emergencies.
I would recommend doing a spending diary, where every single penny that goes out is logged every evening. If you do it for a month then you will work out your annual expenditure on magazines/coffee/chocolate/takeaways/insert your vice here. And it is horrifying! But it is a great way to determine where the money is going and to think hard about where you can cut back.

Familiarise yourself with Martin Lewis' Moneysavingexpert.com website.

Join Quidco, absolutely essential! We received cashback from everything bought for Christmas last year, £70 cashback for home& car insurance plus other purchases. £230 cashback in total from September to January.
The insurance was the cheapest for us.

You basically shop about, find the cheapest quote then go to quidco site, see if the company you want to go with is listed and click on the link, buy the insurance and the cashback/%discount is given back usually within 2-3 months depending on the company.

Write down your statement of affairs and keep a spending diary always. You write down every penny spent and I mean every peny. At the end of the month you look back and see wher you are spending where you don't need to.

For us this was a huge shock, we would spend £100 on the main shop but then go back and spend another 30-40 PER WEEK in stuff we have forgotten
The main shop is done by Dh because I would indulge, he sticks rigidly to a list.

Our weekly budget is £150 inc of food, petrol. Petrol costs are £45 per week for us and are unfortunately essential because we don't live anywhere near our workplaces.

Our food bill has reduced by £40 per week just by careful meal planning, no prepacked stuff and we eat organically/seasonally.

Meal planning is essential! We buy one organic chicken and it makes 3 meals for 5 people in our house

Look at the cost of running your car if you have one. Walk when you can. Car share to work if possible.

Cancel all unnecessary things like gym's, subscriptions etc.

Start with the list of things you absolutely have to pay like Mortgage, utilities, CTax. See if you get these cheaper, utilities esp.

Then add the things in that you are tied to like credit cards, car payments that kind of thing. See if you can switch to 0% deals, sell car for a cheaper one etc.

Then add in things that are luxuries like nights out, cigarettes, takeaways etc. If there is room, ration these.

Food shopping may well be your biggest spend depending on how big your family is and there are loads of ways to reduce this.

hth

Maybe we can help with specifics

Thank you everyone, some very good ideas on here. Don't know where to start!

I don'tleave work until July, so I think it's a very good idea to see if we can live without my wage for a month.

We would save £400 per month on childcare, and we're going to see if we can pay a bit off our mortgage using most of our savings (but leaving a buffer)to reduce the monthly figure, and dp will cancel his bupa. Even so , we'll be down at least £1000 a month .

But I honestly don't know where it all goes to, so will have a look at all the links and websites listed.

Thanks everyone!

I have been keeping a close eye on this thread because I've just been told my contract isn't being renewed in September (not because I'm a crap teacher, just because they don't have the part time work for me any more )

Some fab tips already for how we're going to manage - you're all full of useful stuff! Have already removed my salary from the monthly spreadsheet and living on dh's but I am so bad at economising. So thank you for some great ideas!

One of my own to add - if you have Sky, do you know about FreeSat? Pay £20 for a card and then you get basic channels but through the Sky box (vital for us because reception's so bad in our area and we can't get Freeview) - no monthly payment. Sky don't publicise this - wonder why?!

Change phone provider - we have primus saver option 2 - which is waaaay cheaper than BT. Also 1899.com - prefix before phoning which reduced phone costs

Get a pay as you go SIM card. I have an o2 one - think they are doing free ones right now. FOr mine, I have to top up 10 quid a month but for that i get my 10 pounds credit plus 1000 more free texts. I rarely spend more and i text LOTS

really slayerette? I didnt know about that! (the freesat/sky comptibility)

I just looked it up - theres a list, but I dont see e4 or living tv. Can you get these?? (hoping the list on the site is not complete!)

love look of the sat/sky thing- please can someone link website for me?

freesat stuff