Those of you who live on a (tight) budget..

[JustifedAndAncient]

I KNOW there are some on here.. not just me :)

So what do you do when you literally have days and days to go before you have any money again.. there is hardly any food in and you have just filled the car with petrol (necessity) knowing that doing so is going to incur lots of horrid bank charges..

There is literally no money with which to 'rob Peter to pay Paul' this week.. sent DS to school with a really crap packed lunch this morning.. hope nobody looks at it too closely, there were not many food groups represented and the lentil weavers on here would have had a field day with it!! Usually I can juggle things when we have weeks like this.. I also get a buzz out of being a tight wad when I have to and seeing how many days I can go without spending anything. But I'm going to need bread and milk and stuff.. and there are no yogurts and things like that for the kids.. I can usually juggle the money on weeks like this but this weekt there is nothing to juggle..! (Have 'online banked' DD's money from her account to mine already.. to try to keep us under overdraft limit.. and that was before I bought petrol. Will pay her straight back again when I get paid of course.. but that's how the vicious circle works, it's like having a much bigger and unaffordable over draft..)

So who else has weeks like this and how to do you manage them?

Sorry if I am repeating but haven't read all of the thread... get on the phone to the bank now and negotiate a higher overdraft. It may not work BUT it is worth a try. Say you were expecting money to go in (0r something) make it clear when money will be going in and make sure you get an agreement that you will not be charged.

Do not get a credit card.
If you are on enefits you maybe entitled to a social fund loan which is cheaper than a bank but does take a couple of weeks. This would not be allowed for food but for other things. (Check DWP website).

I will try to post our IandE. I am a bit scared to look into it actually.. and embarassed about the benefits I admit, because there are ALWAYS people who judge...

Ok but at the end of the day..thomas socks/empty fridge...what needs sorted first

J&A - I was the same about 18 months ago, then I realisetically had it forced upon me, no choice i'd rather know now than ignore it, we promise not to judge, besides we don't know who u are rembermber! lol.

you cant spend a childs birthday money on food!!!

Its their money - i would spend it on shoes/clothes for them, but not food. Food is what WE provide, not family and friends who give money as a gift

you don't need babywipes!

Seriously, you must have an old towel, sheet, piece of cloth somewhere in the house.

Cut it up into squares big enough to fit your hand, hem edges (if you haven't got a sewing machine borrow one, or do it by hand) and voila! Run under tap and wipe. Chuck in washing machine and re-use.

We are still using the washable wipes we had for dd 4 years ago.

I fear that my financial circs will make it obvious to those who know me who I am.. but I am totting things up...

I ran out of babywipes last week! Who mentioned babywipes??! :)

whats done is done - but you could have had a tea party at home with 4 friends for a tenner - and finger food.

i wasn't talking organic yoghurts - am talking ANY yoghurts - yoghurts arn't essential food.

fruit isn't essential

bread potoatos rice - these are esseential - these cost you £1.60 for all three - but you will eat.

JARM regarding catalogue - go tell them to fuck emselves - go to CAB and get them to write a letter telling them your paying minimum payment.

you wont be able to order with them again though.

you really need to set up a direct debit - to a bank account with a book - not a card - one you have to go out of your way to get the money out.

a DD for say £10 per month. then when sommat blows up - that £2 per week you have been saving will come in handy.

every skint person should have a penny jar - we actually have a wicker duck! chuck pennies and 5ps in there then when we are skint - theres enough for bread butter and milk.

am not sure we are talking bones of your arse skint here. and therefore i am getting slightly agitated. sorry!

but really yoghurts and fruit - and putting petrol in your car and seeing thomas?

you really need to sort out your priorities.

mine are in this order

food
rent
fuck everything else

ok, either way, might also help, I buy bulk of hte good stuff when things are on offer - ie I get all our essentials then for example, tescos have the dishwasher tablets on half price or dogs food etc so I get as much as I can spare to afford that month when it's on offer - glist tablets were £2.99 for 30 in wilkos brought 4 boxes at xmas and still got 2 left. it works out dearer that month when i've got spare cash but cheaper when we're skint cos I don't need to buy so much - iycwim?

oops! Sorry, it was JARM!

JAA - firstly happy birthday to ds! Also, are you going to see TT on Saturday - if so my sister and mum are going as well. Small world eh? I do know who you are and please don't get embarassed (as I know you will). Zafira's do guzzle the petrol don't they? And don't worry about spending money for the hols - you won't need it! Just take a packed lunch to the beach and take your own drinks with you at night. It can be done (we've been trying to cut back and have managed it).

You really needn't have worried about rushing to sort things out, you know! Please don't worry about the rest until you are above board. However, I do know you are very proud person.

I'm with Barclays as well and have lots of accounts. The way I've managed to cut back/get rid of our credit cards/start floating again (after a 4k overdraft) is, everytime I receive our wages, I budget the food/petrol we need to cover us for the period until the next pay date and transfer this amount to one of the "spare" accounts I have. I then take out just the cash amount from the current account and transfer from the "spare" account to cover the cash withdrawal. I also set ourselves a weekly "cash" expenditure which is also transferred into the "Spare" account. I withdraw this every Friday and that is our money for the week (clothes shopping/birthday presents/going out/etc). I hide the Debit Card and cannot take any more money out. "Back to Cash" is definitely my slogan at the moment.

I actually felt quite proud the other day when I was offered an Interest Free Credit Card and said that I have nothing to transfer - something I've not been able to say for a very long time.

and i mean everything - birthdays and xmas - if we havent got i can't buy. the kids might want something - but they have to understand money has a value - it has to be earned it doesnt come from bank when you stick your card in - and you can just get what you want when you want it. you have to earn it.

i've done xmas on a tenner. three teddies from a charity shop and hope to fuck some relatives but them something - and that meant we had to go without gas!

if u really need some baby wipes i've got a stack ful here, incl some I brought b4 Joey was born which I'll never use (they're only wilko's ones but don't seem to be any good for him) DH uses em when he goes away but honestly we have that many, I don't mind sending u over a pack or two to tide u over.

Sigh. Don't get agitated Cutardo. I didn't say we are starving.. we are not. I realise that we are not on the breadline.. and I started the thread to be inspired with a feeling of solidarity if nothing else, which is what I got. Yes I could have spent the £40 yesterday on things OTHER that treats that helped DS have special day but I didn't. If I was saying "Help! My babies are starving!" I could understand your irriation.. but I don't think I have given that impression.

I just like to put yogurt in DS's packed lunch. He has cystic fibrosis. He needs a lot of calories and dairy products.

I dont have catalogues Custardo

Baby wipes - ok not a real necessity, but when you have 2 kids under 2 who poo ten times a day between them, washable wipes arent really practical.... with all the washing i already have to do - surely one pack of baby wipes is cheaper than the washing powder and electricity.

Yoghurts are essential in my house, my jess hardly eats as it is (fussy little madam) so if she refuses a meal, at least i know she will eat a yoghurt and have something inside her.

Fruit - another essential in my honest opinion - what else am i to give an 8 month old to eat to give her the best start in life? cant give her mashed potato 3 meals a day can i.

Oh arse I am soooo crap at being incognito. And I wish I didn't get the urge to share everything with Mumsnet...

It's ok MrsR. I'll get over the embarassment. :)

My face is flaming here.

Custardo I do appreciate your advice (it's always good) but please stop snapping at me.. I am having a very cringable moment!!!

I thought fruit was 'essential' to but a bit reluctant to say so.

i thought someone said you had catalogues in this thread- sorry wrong end of stick - was trying to be helpful.

wrong end of stick ocmpletely i see. this is more about keeping up apperences - with holidays and stuff and a zafira.

i disagree about the fruit- i think fruit is expensive and is a luxury. i always buy it - but there was a time when i didn't becuase i couldnt but this is my personal opinion - and our budgets could be wildly different. i had three under 5 at the time. will take my penny pinching tips and sod off then!

best of luck - viva la zafira

have to say, i got the same impression as custy.

Getting ,ixed messages from this thread. foirst u say you spent £40 on a day out (WTF??? parks r free!) and then u say u and DH are taking turns to eat?

Sort out ur priorites and ur finances will follow i think

Munz it's JARM who would benefit from the babywipes (very sweet of you.) I can manage.. my nappy-experiences relate to my six year old and they don't do such sloppy poos!

ah jarm can sod off! :o hehe he no baby wipes offered to her

in seriousness thou in our house the priorities are:

rent, (also counscil tax)
food - DH first Joey's BF then i'll have a small portion but DH always has a big portion.
gas/elec
debts
luxuries

Dont sod off just yet.

If fruit isnt essential - what do i feed an almost 8 month old?!

Its JAA with catalogues.

Budget wise. We take home £1100 a month, of which we rearely have more than £200 left once bills etc have been paid. I then get £70 a week tax credits and £113 every 4 weeks ch ben.

Yeah, theres being skint and budgetting and having money and spending it on the wrong things. No comparison.

MoM sorry. I didn't mean to give the impression we were starving I really didn't. Wish I hadn't started this thread although I have had some practical advice.. I just don't like people to think I am pleading starvation. The taking it in turns to eat remark related to a convo I had had with DH this morning when we were sorting through the freezer.

Please understand though, it was DS's birthday yesterday. He had already had his party at soft play centre cancelled. I was not going to just take him to the park. He doesn't get many treats like this as he is severely disabled so things he can enjoy a lot are not that easy to come by. Not going for the sob factor, just a fact.