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Original poster

Just been paid £300 to last until 28th Oct

30 replies

sickandtired · 03/10/2006 09:58

Any ideas how I can stretch this, I still have to pay gas and electric (86) and all the food shopping for 4 people (6 at weekends when SD's are at ours).

I don't want to go into overdraft as this is why I only have £300 for this month!

Plus, I also need to have enough money to entertain my boys (2/3) for one treat a week (which usually is around £5 - swimming or something like that) the rest of the time is making cakes, playing camps, riding bikes or the park.

Top money saving tips needed!

OP posts:
MerlinsBeard · 03/10/2006 10:01

doin't have treats that u have to pay for. make kites that u can fly in the park for exapmle. menu plan every meal and buy only what u need. (means rooting thru ur freezer and cupboards to see whats really in there.

£300 for a month is a lot of money to me! even if it is for bills and food!

charliebat · 03/10/2006 10:02

Ok, pay the bills first.Then they are done.
DO NOT go down the cleaning products aisle or shampoo aisle unless you really must have something...and buy the value versionof whatever it is you are in need of.
No magazine for you or anyone else this month. Only buy whats neccesary.
Meal Plan round fillable things like Potatoes and Pasta and Rice.
Look for buy one get one free frozen things that you can spread over a few nights over the month.
You could if you wanted save the fiver from swimming and put a paddling pool in the kitchen
Or maybe not

charliebat · 03/10/2006 10:05

also freebie ideas for this time of year...conker and chestnut collecting.

Bugsy2 · 03/10/2006 10:25

S&T, once you've paid the bills you have £214 left, which pans out at £53 per week - for 4 weeks.
I'm with all the others who say go through your cupboards & freezer and work out exactly what you need.
Take out £50 at the start of each week in cash & spend no more.
If you are short of cleaning products, you can buy a huge bottle of thin bleach in Asda for 28p & that will do kitchen surfaces, floor, toilet & bathroom for at least the next month.
You can do really cheap meals with pasta / potatoes & rice like the others have suggested. If you need ideas, I'm sure we could give you lots of recipes.

Original poster
sickandtired · 03/10/2006 10:27

I am hopeless at menu planning, but will give it a good bash. I appreciate that £300 is a good some of money - although it doesn't seem it at the moment. I am constantly mortgaging into my O/D each month and each month is gets worse - I don't want to end up living on it - and if I keep on the way I am thats how it will end up.
As a family we are still going trough 5 x 6pints of semi skimmed milk a week, and thats mostly the boys!

OP posts:
Bugsy2 · 03/10/2006 10:46

menu planning is not as hard as it sounds at all. Here are a few cheap ideas for supper:

  1. Baked potatoes & baked beans with bit of cheese grated on top
  2. Pasta with frankfurter sausages & peas
  3. Chile con carne with rice (small packet of mince bulked out with an onion, a can of tomatoes & chilli beans)
  4. Sausage casserole with lots of mashed potato (fry onions & sausages, mix in a bit of flour and add water - casserole made)
  5. Risotto a la pork/ turkey. Fry onion & pork or turkey, mix in with boiled rice & peas. (Pork & turkey are cheap meats to buy)
You could probably buy all of the above ingredients for less than £20 & you'd have plenty of pasta, rice & potatoes left over for further meals. Buy lots of bread too, so that the kids can have bread or toast snacks. Don't get ready made stuff or lots of premium brand products. If you are drinking fruit juice, change to squash for a bit & save yourself a fortune.
Original poster
sickandtired · 03/10/2006 10:54

thanks for that - its also the nappies at night that add up, my 3 year old will not wear nappies (babyish) so I have to buy pull ups and nappies, and if I don't get pampers (I have tried the cheaper brands) they leek and I am left with bedding to wash everyday.
Plus we have just moved which doesn't help with living in skintsville!

OP posts:
noddyholder · 03/10/2006 11:04

No treats Loads of supermarket own brand stuff Not the best but ok for one month.Beans on toast soup baked potatoes etc No trips out apart from frr stuff like museums and parks etc Rent a few cheap films and have cinema nights with make your own popcorn which is really cheap at sainsburys

Bozza · 03/10/2006 11:06

I really think you need to budget tightly and do a proper menu plan. And stick to your £50/week. Have to admit that it will be hard, especially if you want to include a treat for the children. How old are they? What about going to look at the animals at the garden centre? Or is there anywhere with free admission near you?

lunavix · 03/10/2006 11:08

have you tried tesco pull ups I personally think they're better than the posher brands.

Otherwise try and find the pull ups on ebay/makro/costco?

Could be cheeky and ask for the money off vouchers for pampers/huggies ina post? I'm sure I have a couple lying around that £1 or £2 per pack saved will make a difference.

Start buying your nappies in boots - esp whenthey have triple points offers. Save the points up and get free packs.

Bramshott · 03/10/2006 11:10

Can you go veggie except at the weekends maybe? I'm always amazed now much less vegetarian meals cost than ones with meat.

Original poster
sickandtired · 03/10/2006 11:14

they are 2 and nearly 4 - I'm in crowthorne - just moved here so not sure about free admission. I am going to give this a good bash - is it worth shopping in lidl instead of tesco/sainsburys?

OP posts:
Bugsy2 · 03/10/2006 11:18

Urgh, nappies are so blinking expensive. My DS was a very heavy wetter at night & I found that the tesco brand nappies absorbed more than any other nappy. Not the value brand, just tescos own brand.
It might be a good idea to spend a bit of time doing a monthly budget. Make a note of all the bills and then all the "have to haves" (nappies, milk etc) to try and get a better idea of how much you have realistically each month.
Not wishing to teach grandmothers to suck eggs & all that, but have you checked if you are entitled to any tax credits?

Bugsy2 · 03/10/2006 11:20

sainsbury is definitely expensive. If you have an Asda any nearby it is much cheaper. Lidl is really good value, but not always 100% reliable with exactly which products it will have in. Excellent for things like loo roll, tinned products & cleaning products.

PretendFriend · 03/10/2006 11:26

This is one of my economy drive bargains, it's almost always on bogof so you get 1kg of good quality mince for £2.69 - great for pasta bakes, shepherd's pie, spag bol, chili etc - we use one 500g packet (£1.35) per meal for 4-6 people eked out with loads of veg.

PretendFriend · 03/10/2006 11:26

(You'd have to go round sainsburys in blinkers though, buy the mince and leave )

PretendFriend · 03/10/2006 11:30

And if there is a Lidl near you stock up on things like tinned toms, fruit juice, canned fish, mixed peppers as well as paper products and cleaning stuff.

seb1 · 03/10/2006 11:37

Lidl do pullups don't know what they are like but their nappies are fab. For cheap entertainment lovefilm have a free 3 month DVD trial going at the moment and as long as you cancel before you first billing date should it should be free.

Original poster
sickandtired · 03/10/2006 12:16

Whats lovefilm?

OP posts:
seb1 · 03/10/2006 12:22

Online DVD rental you make up a list of 50 or so DVDs you want they send you 2 you watch send back, they send two.

Holidaymum · 03/10/2006 12:39

Get a big sack of spuds from a farm shop, greengrocers often do them, generally costs about £5-6 for a 25kilo sack should do you the month!

Bake, buy the economy bags of flour @ 20p scones, pies, bread even!

Deffo ditch the treats! Conker collecting and autumn scavenger hunt with a nature book from the library!

Get you ds's to cut down the milk they don't need to drink that much a pint a day for the kids then whatever you use should be able to get it down to 3 or 4 6pt bottles. I started rationing my 3 as they were drinking it like water which is what I made them drink instead!

NatalieJane · 03/10/2006 12:47

Sorry no help but I have a question, how on earth do you keep a bag of potatoes for a month with out them going off? Our bag doesn't last a week.

Holidaymum · 03/10/2006 12:49

The sacks are made of paper not polythene like supermarket ones so they don't sweat and are kept in the dark. Plus the spuds are not washed which might help?

Mum always bought them like this and they kept well and now I've started, no problems yet!

Bugsy2 · 03/10/2006 12:55

natalie jane potatoes should be kept in a paper sack in a cool dark place. They should easily last a month like that.

portonovo · 03/10/2006 12:59

I echo what everyone said about menu planning. Look for cheap but nutritious meals, some of which you can vary in many different ways.

First of all, check what you already have in the house and try to base some meals around that.

Things on toast - baked beans, perhaps with a little grated cheese; poached or scrambled egg; cheese on toast

baked potatoes - again, a variety of fillings/toppings. Beans, cheese, coleslaw, grilled tomatoes (or just heat up a can), grilled or fried mushrooms, tuna mayonnaise

omelette

quiches and pies - if you make your own pastry these can be really cheap. Flavour with a few cooked veggies (even just frozen peas and sweetcorn) or cheese and tomato or cooked lentils. A few herbs will boost this.

corned beef - one tin can feed all of you, either something like corned beef hash or in a corned beef and potato pie

pasta - buy a big bag that will do several meals. Try simple sauces - for example, soften some onion and perhaps some carrot or pepper, add in a tin of tomatoes and some herbs and simmer until nice and thick. Or do pasta and tuna or just pasta and veggies.

pizza - home-made pizza is gorgeous, and very cheap. Either make a bread base or a scone dough for the pizza base, then add whatever toppings you've got in the house.

scones - home-made scones make a great lunch or tea

mince - usual suspects like shepherd's pie, spag bol, lasagna, meatballs. Pop in a few lentils or oats if you want to 'stretch' the meat.

Lentils - red or green lentils cook really quickly, are dead cheap and delicious. Look on the internet for recipes or try your library or ask on here!

Soups - gently cook a diced onion for 10-15 mins, add in whatever combination of veggies you can find cheap, add some stock and cook for 20-30 mins. Liquidise and add more stock or water or milk or wine or whatever if you want it thinner. Serve with cream crackers, scones or home-made bread.

Your children are very young so won't really know if you stop bought treats for a while. Concentrate on free activities to get you through this month.

For the adults, if you have a video recorder keep looking in the TV listings and tape any films you fancy. Then treat yourself to a 'cinema at home' night. You can even do home-made popcorn if you like!