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?

A Zafira is not a luxury - it's a necessity that JAA needs - it worked out the cheapest 7 seater that we could get and that's why we brought one (costing insurance/mpg/depreciation into the equation). Ideally a Corsa would make financial sense but not practial for JAA. Also the holiday is not a luxury believe you me! (Although it is a break away that JAA really needs).

I DO budget Charliecat! I don't 'have money and spend it on the wrong things' normally.. it was DS's birthday!! I had saved up for that express purpose.. and invited two children to come with us.

could u possibly bulk your dinners up with lentils so u can both have a reasonable portion, but make the meals go further - iycwim? (ie we have meat in packs of 2 so if we opened 2 parks for 4 ppl we could just about mange 3 meals for 2 ppl if I bulked out with other stuff - DH would moan but least he'd have a good meal for an extra day)

i have a 3dr hyundai with 2 kids in car seats and even that guzzles £25 petrol a week.

a car is essential if you live far away from shops etc... i tend to take DH to work and pick him up most days because with his knee and back problems, he finds the 30 min walk VERY painful

Custardo the Zafira is a motorbility car. We have it so there is room for DS's wheelchair.

And the holiday is thanks to Mrs Recyle on here who is very kindly allowing us to use her caravan for a few nights and charging us a very small sum of money so that we can get away.

Ok, I appreciate you son needs to have a good birthday, but if theres nothing for lunchboxes and you have no money to replce it then IMO, and just mine, then your budgetting for the wrong thing.
I have spent too much money on FOOD and school shoes this month. I now need to claw it back to stop up getting in a mess.

This is the downside of mumsnet isn't it. People making harsh and unfair judgements without the full facts (and without asking fro them!) and not giving a toss about the effect they might have because they are just words on an online page to the person who typed them.

Can you take in ironing or do something else from home to earn that can fit in around the demands of family life?

Can dh get a part time second job? I know someone who washes windows on weekends in posh blocks of flats (arranges it through the porter), and he earns £20 per flat, cash in hand. Might go some way toward easing things.

Im not trying to be harsh, or unfair, I just think that if you have no food you need to sort that out BEFORE anything else.
Or, thats my opinion, maybe you dont see it like that. But I do.
Food first.

calm down JAA... it isnt worth getting upset about. Im sure we are both feeling a little P...d off at the moment, but we know we are doing all we can for our family.

Dont let ANYONE tell you off for giving your son a FANTASTIC birthday that he will have appreciated more than steak and chips for tea tonight x

It's ok Charliecat it was Custardo and her Viva la Zafira/holiday remark. I am taking deep breaths. It's my fault for starting the thread. Yes food does come first.

No worries :)

Actually quite apt - Jamie Theakston was talking about birthdays this morning and said that the average spend is £140 per kid on a birthday party. He said that he can't ever remember any of his parties (and he's not that old). They did say that kids would much rather have a few friends round to play games rather than an expensive bouncy castle/party bags. Certainly made me think/recollect my birthday parties and he was right, the one's I remembered were the one's I had at home (mind you probably the only ones I had )

Oops that should be £140 per Birthday party and not per kid!!

Actually I AM still reeling at the 'keeping up appearances' remark. And starting to laugh! Custardo, how can someone so wise be so judgemental and so wrong??!! Not only do I not give flying f word about "appearances" (my life is really not conducive to this kind of luxury).. you really ought to see how we live!

A few years ago, I would leave either a £10 or £20 note in a draw or pocket and forget about it. I also saved copper and 5p pieces. Even though we are financially OK, I still do both these things now because you never know what is around the corner. Right now, I keep £20 in the changing bag and it has been there ever since the DTS were born 2 years ago and it will stay there until I desperately need it or until I get rid of the bag. Could you try hiding £5 or £10 somewhere and just forget about it until you really need it?

JAA - please feel free to CAT me (im not signed up - can afford it!) if you can or email me at lindsaymccafferty at yahoo dot co dot uk

thinking of you x

Thank you JARM :)

Fio the diesels at the time all had big deposits.. the Zafira deposit was 'free' (although this changes from month to month.) And you know I do the lovely scandinavian stylee supermarkets too.. :).. we have discussed this! (Seeing as you know who I am too.. sigh.. and [resignedly] lol!)

Thank you for all the constructive advice. I am over my strop :) (But I am BLOODY WELL GOING TO SEE TAKE THAT ON SUNDAY SO THERE! )

ive read this thread with interest.
i go to aldi and do a big food cupboard shop, buying things like orange joice, washing powder etc, etc, bread, which i freeze.
then i do a normal weekly shop of perishable items, but i never ever shop with out a list, that way im not tempted to buy "extras", most times i do it online with ocado, which isnt expensive as i buy ingredients etc, i never buy ready meals.
i will buy a large chicken and we will have roast for tea.
the leftovers either go in sandwiches or make a sald for the next day.
i stopped using baby wipes.
instead i buy cheap value roll of cotton wool and cheap baby lotion, which goers further and does a better job, also leaves dd's bum nice and soft.

don't know if anyone has tried this, but Sainsburys now have a machine in the entrance foyer which takes your coppers and replaces them with a money-off voucher to use in the store. DH and I empty our purse/wallet of spare coppers (even if just 5 or 10p) regularly, and then when we are broke or don't have much to spend at the supermarket, we can always buy milk or bread/eggs using up the coppers. Also not so embarassing at the checkout, as it's a voucher you hand over not the coppers and 5p pieces!

Don't know if this applies to you, but have also just saved masses of money by calling my electricity and gas supplier and given them the actual reading, which was cheaper by about £100 than the estimated reading, and then we got a nice refund, which came at a particularly crucial pre-pay-day moment!

Really wish I could help more, having also found myself in depressing financial circumstances too many times to recount. I do know, though, that the bank charges definitely makes a difference if you can possibly see a way to avoiding them, as it does eat into your funds substantially. Sometimes it's unavoidable, I know, and I never seem to be able to guage it right, but the banks can be vicious and makes you fret all the more.

ive been told, but dont know how true this is, that first direct, online banking are supposed to be v good.

The machines are a good idea but they charge about 7 1/2 p for every pound you change IIRC, you can get change bags from the bank to count pennies into, it's great for dd's maths too!