Need to budget, can anyone help?

[isthisenough]

I've changed my name as rl people come on here!

We have 200pounds a month to live off, and out of that is petrol, food and electric (all other bills come out of the bank).

So, is this enough for a month for two adults and two young children (one still in nappies)? I'm aware that people do live on less - I just don't know how.

Any advice?

there are heaps of threads of this ilk with loads of good advice but I'm not really sure how people do it either..... £200 a month for 4 seems very low to me.

The obvious ones would be - Aldi/ Lidl instead of Sainsbury's.

Look at buying in bulk (potatoes in sacks etc).

Be really careful with electric, things like mobile chargers left in sockets even if not plugged into a phone drain it.

Try to do some cost cutting with your utility outgoings.

There's a good webpage by that Martyn Lewis chap somewhere...

cloth nappies if you can afford the inital outlay
your council might do a startup scheme

Thanks for that Wisteria,
It is only until March when bank accounts are up to date, and then council tax will also be up to date!

here

I don't want to be the voice of doom but I don't see how you can do this. It works out at £46.15 per week if my calculations are right.

I can't see how you are going to pay for petrol ( guess it depends how much you use the car), food, electricty & food out of this, but very much hope I am wrong and that someone will come along and say it is perfectly possible. Is there anything you can do to get some extra money in to tide you over until March eg anything to sell on Ebay ?

Agree with chocolateapot. I know some people are really good at budgeting and seeing where you can make little savings here and there which all add up. But there must come a point where you just can't cut the cloth any further.£46 per week - god I spend that just filling my car up to get to work. But I agree that I sincerely hope I'm wrong and you can find a way to manage.

Going to bulk buy, see how that helps. Dh has a moterbike which uses a lot less petrol, and there is someone he works with who is willing to give him a lift every now and then.

Normally, we are fine with money, and admittedly will waste some on coffees out etc, so we have got plenty to but back.

Here we go then!

Have you seen Quidco ? I spent a morning on it the other day going through and made about £70 odd pounds I think. It doesn't help immediately as it takes some time to come through but would help in Jan & Feb. If you look on Martin Lewis's site there is a thread going about Quidco listing all the offers that you don't have to part with any money for.

I have had a free 2 week trial with Love Film which hopefully will pay £14.50, have £20 from Hillary shutters (down side is that they come to give you a quote, but the guy who was supposed to be coming messed up, still looks as if the money will come through. Also made £30 with Gala Bingo (you pay £10, they then pay £30, but I won back my original stake).

If you know anyone who has a Makro card, it's worth going in for some bit. A large sack of onions is £2. Farm shops have large sacks of spuds for £7.50. Lidl/Aldi are excellent for some things. We've been cutting back so have been using Makro for bulk (though have to be careful as somethings aren't cheaper eg bag of pasta is better value at Lidl) Lidl for general shop, then farm shop/market for other bits. Good quality meat from the farm shop has been less than I though but use two as some things are more reasonable in one than another.

The slow cooker is brilliant, still getting to grips with it but really like it so far. Good luck with it all, hope it goes OK.

Am in the same boat pretty much , have been doing the 'new' budget (to pay off huge credit card bill!)for 3 weeks and it has been hard...
I have bought Tesco own nappies and used basic wipes (and been using up some babylotion with cotton wool too for the non scary nappies)
Bought lots of mince and used to make shepherds pie, spag bol , meatballs and just 'mince' and loads of potatoes
A big saving I have found is to freeze any leftovers from the above ..my lunch when at home is then a jacket pot with the left over spag bol out of freezer etc etc
Eggs are great if you like them..lots of omelettes, scrambled & boiled eggs for the little ones
Although it probably isn't very healthy I have been doing puds like Crumbles with the tinned fruit fillings which go to fill a hole too
Then baking bought flours and baking marg etc to make biscuits and fairy cakes for kids which have lasted all month so much better value (the flour and stuff that is ..not the biscuits!)
It is hard and you do eat basic and sometimes bizarre meals but it is possible if you have too Good Luck!!!

My computer guy has just told me not to use any of those sites that mean you have to disable any of your security setups......

He reckons it will end up costing more to keep fixing the computer than you would make off the site anyway! Haven't a clue whether this is true or not but thought I'd mention it!

Chocolate tea pot is right - it is gona be very tight - its the petrol that can be such a drain, in my experiance.

I started walking to work, actually to keep fit but found of course that my petrol bill went down - not an option for everyone though. Cycling can sometimes be an option but it is winter and the dark nights are not so inviting to be out on a bike.

I spent 10 weeks at the begining of this year living on a strict shopping budget - it worked out over the 10 weeks at £22 per week and that included milk on the doorstep.

I did one hugh shop per month at ASDA, I shopped online at tesco before I went shopping and then had some idea how much the cost would be. I planned all my meals on a four week rota and stuck to them - I cooked four lots each night the first week and frooze three portions for the following three weeks.

I am cutting back at the moment and have made myself an ultimate shopping list - it costs me £30 in Sainsbury but I have a feeling after three weeks I will have enough in the freezer for a shopping free week - so £90 for four weeks. This though is for a family of me, dd 15years and dd 9 - no nappies or second adult.

If you like stews and basic cooking i can let you have my ultimate shopping list - its not particularly exciting but wholesome

I'll have it!! please x

Parsnips
carrots
swede
potato
onion

Packet of froozen mixed vegtables such as small carrots peas and sweetcorn

oranges
banana
apples

tin tomato x 2
pearl barley x 2
red lentils
tin of butter beans
tuna tinned x 2

I jar of curry paste - usually about £1.50 not jar of sauce

stock - either boullion or cubes
tomato puree

bread flour x 2 bags
cambells condensed soup (chicken/tomato flavour)
Large bag of pasta

tea coffee

stewing beef/ shina beef Ilb
packet of chicken thighs- with about 6-8 thighs in packet with skin on.

small supermarket own fromage fraich in small pots for pack lunch 44p for 6
pot of natural economy yogurt

it is 39p in sainsbury and 35 p in tesco look at the bottom of the fridge display in the corner and you will find. I can't tell the difference between this and the £1.20 version.

Porridge

The stewing beef, carrots, parsnip, swede, potato, pearl barley, lentils, 1 tin tomoto, 2 1/2 pints of stock with a tablespoon of tomato puree stired in and a tin of butter beans all make a stew which should make 16 portions. Fry of a chopped onion and then when soft add all the other ingrediants sliced in largish chunks, dont cut small(cook of the pearl barley in cold water first and bring to the boil - then add to the stew)coat the beef chunks in flour of you like. Cook for 3 hours on gas mark 1-2. Take out of the oven and serve as it is with bread chunks. Keep the rest in the fridge in a container, the stew will be better the following night and even better on the third night.

Use three chicken thighs skin and bone, place in container and using curry paste stir into the chicken to marinade - keep in fridge for 24 hours - either put a tin of tomato with the chicken thighs and cook in oven for half an hour on gas 4 add yogurt to make mild for children. Eat this with Dalh - using red lentils to make dahl.

Using three chicken thighs - skined and boned and sliced fry up in pan and add tin of cambells soup, add a little drop of water and half a teaspoon of stock, a touch of yogurt if you wish and mix with cooked pasta, which you have cooked and added mixed frozen vegtables to.

Tin of cambells tomato soup and tin of tuna with some frozen vegtables to make another pasta meal.

Not terrible exciting but shouldn't cost more than £30.

I have a bread machine so make my own bread each night and freeze half a loaf and use the other half.

The tea and coffee are rotaed with toilet roll, shampoo, cheap cleaning fluid, etc cos you dont need the tea and coffee every week.

I have milk delived so not included and we have porridge for breakfast with the natural yogurt and banana.

Many thanks, really kind of you - it's always interesting to see how other people do it, I shall have a go and see how we get on. I already have organic boxes of fruit and veg delivered which is actually quite cheap believe it or not.

I make a lot of soup which keeps costs down (although nowhere near as low as yours). I've got to do something clever after Christmas though as our mortgage is going up !!

No more wine and beer that's for sure......