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?

i apologise. i couldnt possibly know your car was a mobility car and it isn't the kind of thing one asks usually.

nice car, holiday booked, pricey party considering financial situation - it wasn't an unwarrented leap.

JAA - Your bank charges sound way too high. have you seen this thread? \link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=2230&threadid=166668&stamp=060617220937\Did you know that bank charges of more than £12.00 have been ruled as unfair by the OFT and you can claim your money back? And your claim can cover the last 6 years?}
Hopefully this will give you a little windfall which you can then use as emergency money and will mean your charges are not so bad in the future?

Don't worry Custardo it doesn't matter.

Re parties I usually have them at home (at least for the other two), but because DS is disabled he goes to school out of the catchment area. Last year I booked a soft play place right near us (cheaper one.. and because soft play suits DS as he can climb but not walk) and no one from school came!! And none of them let me know either! I was so gutted for him that I decided to book one in the town he goes to school.. which is the one that let us down this time. I was fretting about what to do and saying to DH 'we cant just have a party here at home (or in the garden.. house is way too small even for us!).. because they won't turn up again! So I shelved the party idea completely and rashly booked Thomas the tank.

But he really did have the best time.. we have such lovely photos of him smiling from ear to ear all day long that I don't regret spending the money. My dad paid for part of the ticket price anyway.

And although DS1 doesn't have anything much to go in his packed lunch this week, it was worth it :) We will manage.. my original post really doesn't look desperate I don't think.. I just had a read back.. I was just after practical advice from people who are/have been in same boat

peace and love.
forgive my piousness and upmyarseness " in my day we were so poor we ate the floorboards" i mean jesus where do i get off with this shit?

they are nicest boiled with just a touch of sawdust for seasoning

JAA- I think that if you don't want criticism then you really shouldn't start a thread like this. Custy has experience and has suffered some harshities that she is not telling on here, so she is actually trying her best to be helpful. I understand that you will feel defensive about what you spend, that is no-one's business but your own. However if you post on Mumsnet your outgoings and incomings you need to expect criticism.

So far you seem to just want to moan about what you spend but you don't seem to have taken on board much advice or be prepared to make that many changes. If you want a good moan then feel free, we all need those from time to time! But you really should say so from the beginning.

I've been in your shoes too and it's not nice. I agree with a lot of the good advice given and I also understand how defensive you are feeling about it all, esp as you have blown your cover so to speak. Perhaps it would be an idea to give yourself a bit of space away from this thread just to clear your head and then read it again and see what changes you can make.

Good luck anyway!

That reply wasn't meant to be as harsh as it now sounds reading it back!

We're not skint now, but have been in the past. Agree with other posters suggesting that if you really want to get it sorted you need to go for it as intensively as possible.

You need to develop a selection of recipes that cost next to nothing, which will tend to be variations on the theme of potatoes, pasta and rice, tinned tomatoes and onions. Porridge is an extremely cheap alternative to boxed breakfast cereals. I disagree with Custy about the veg, but an organic box is a luxury not a need. If you take a detour via your local market at closing time on a Saturday you can get more fruit and veg than you can load on a buggy for a few quid. Then you plan your meals round that, and simply don't spend any money that isn't budgeted for in your plan.

Similarly, kids do not need brand new clothes. I could theoretically afford to kit mine out in mini-Boden each season but frankly it would kill me to do it, so they run around in motley selection of handme downs and charity shop gear. And they don't look like extras from Annie, either.

I suggest you have a look at The Motley Fool's \link{http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?bid=50079\Dealing with Debt} board to get an idea of the kind of mindset you need to get into. And put the kids' and your own savings money in an account that you can't get into via internet banking, so you can forget that it exists and not be tempted to spend it.

www.fixtureferrets.co.uk or .com - has listings of all the shops with special deals or bogofs each week. Also www.petrolprices.com tells you who's the cheapest petrol in the area each day.
bulk buy some long life milk as standbys for lean times.
Buy frozen/tinned fruit and veg (organic or ordinary) - for the lean times too. But tbh fruit and veg aren't really filling if the name of the game is to fill you all up. But agree - fruit market is v. cheap and fruit sourced locally so just as good as organic.

did any one mention open markets? not sure if they have those where u live, they don't here but where I come from every day there's an open market (different local place each day) the fruit/veg there is v cheap, they do the scoop of nanna's for £1.00 type thing and if u got around 4 when they're about to pack up everyhting's loads cheaper. althou I think u have to be caareful who u see for it.

I still spend frugally even though I don't need to. It is a habit that you have to develop and you have to start by changing your mindset. I just refuse to waste money. I even buy DTS clothes from Aldi (trousers £2.99 and there is nothing wrong with them)

i have a brill little book called 101 ways to save money, its been a goldmine of info, im sure you can still buy it.

J&A I haven't read the whole thread but reading your original message, when I saw "There are no yoghurts...for the kids" I wondered if you really do actually buy individual yoghurts for them? Buying big tubs is a lot more economical. You'd probably run your car for a couple of days a week on what you'd save?

Rhubarb, where did I come across as if I just want to moan and not take on board anyone's advice? I will going to copy and paste every single response of mine in which I had commented postively/thanked people for their advice but that seems a bit pedantic and extreme! (I admit to stamping my feet about my veggie box and Take That ticket but that's all.. and that was in tongue-in-cheek fashion)

Do you think Gary Barlow would pay you £10 for a BJ??

Jan, main issue with yogurts is that I always try to have Provamel soya ones in for DS2 because he is dairy intolerent and thick and creamy ones in for DS1 who has CF and needs lot of fat/dairy/calories. Unfortunately these things rule out the cheap option. (We are such an awkward family!) Poor little DD just gets cheapo ones whenever I can afford them but I will look out for big cost effective pots that we can all share.

Yuk re Gary Barlow.. maybe once but not know. He would nrrd to pay lots more than that and I doubt he could afford it..

[I'd do Robbie for free... )

Me too!!
Do you or any of your friends have a Costco card that you could bulk buy the yoghurts and split the packs up?

Years ago every time my mum got a pound coin in her change she put it in a separate pot, and then every 2/3 months she would use this money to get through the lean weeks.

She now does the same with £2 coins (which are still fairly unsual). You'd be surprised how quickly it can mount up.

Also, have you though about switching utility/telecom. providers? Do you have anything you could sell on ebay or at a car boot sale?

Completely agree with Frogs re getting fruit & veg at the market, meal planning etc.

Sorry JAA, I did apologise as the post did come across as harshier than I intended it to. I was just reading your responses to Custy's posts and knowing Custy very well indeed, knowing that she was trying to help and that she had been through it all herself, I guess I felt compelled to come out in her defence.

The problem is here on Mumsnet we don't know half the story. For instance that you had a mobility car, or children with special needs, we can only give advice based on the information you choose to tell us. But I see that you are both ok with it now so that's alright. Hope you find some answers!

Ok Rhuby sorry.. Yes it's difficult because I was making a poor attempt at discrection (ie intitially deliberately not posting details about my boys disabilites/full financial situation etc) so that people who know me in RL on here would not guess who I was.. but they did anyway.. sigh.. :) And obviously if I could afford a posh holiday and a posh car then I would deserve all of Custy's comments and then some..

Crossed wires really.

JAA - dd2 is lactose intollerant as well. Nightmare isn't it? I did try and see if I could get rice milk cheaper if I brought bulk but couldn't find anywhere.

Re. the meals - I have a Costco Card! But then I have the space to bulk buy loo roll/kitchen towels/meat/tins etc. Shame you're not my side of the City, we could take a regular trip to Costco and split the goods. I made a really cheap meal this weekend and dds loved it - mince with tin chopped tomatoes, grated carrots, onions - on day 1 this was the sauce for spaghetti bolognaise on day 2 this was the sauce for my bourittos (tortilla wrap with sauce in it). DDs loved it. And not a single trip to the chip shop all weekend (was at the van).

Hi J&A, I'm trying to think of ways I make money - even small amounts! Have you signed up with cashback sites such as \link{http://www.freefivers.co.uk/register.php?n=2398\freefivers} - there are loads of sites out there where you can make money through changing your car insurance, buying through them or just clicking on sites! Sometimes it can amount to quite a lot!

If you click on jobs on \link{http://www.dqmgroup.com/\this} site you can apply to become a seed, where you get sent mail and get paid for receiving it (25p per letter) You just put the date on the letter and send a bundle back to them - they then use this information to track mail etc.. It took a while for mine to start coming through but I now get up to 4 letters a day! They also do mystery shopping to if you fancy that.

Check the \link{http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=37\freebies} board on MSE and apply for anything that might come in handy - samples of shampoo, chocolate, cat food, washing powder .... I have had loads of stuff - it's nice to get things through the post too!

You can earn money by answering surveys online or becoming part of a testing panel. I test for johnson & johnson, you get to keep the product and also get £2 Boots voucher for each trial. The best survey site is pineconeresearch but they very rarely advertise for people, I luckily managed to see an advert - they send £4 in meal vouchers for every survey completed. The best place to find these opportunities is Moneysavingexpert.

As you like online banking, when you get back on track have a go at logging on each evening and transfering the odds (ie. £238.45 - transfer the 45p) to your savings account and hopefully it won't make much difference to your current account but it will start to grow in your savings account!

I know none of these will make you rich but they can help! If I think of anything else I'll post - sorry if I've repeated anything already posted, it's such a long thread I couldn't read it all!

ps - I don't buy organic veg but isn't it cheaper to grow your own in the garden or even have an allotment if you want organic?

Good luck and hope some of the brill advice on here helps!