Need help making budget swaps

[Miratea]

Sorry if this is confusing, Someone just helped me do a budget but it’s just so I can see where my money is currently going. we haven’t yet properly looked at how it can be changed or cut back on but there are some obvious things. I have £20 a week left over for anything I need like clothes or to save which isn’t sustainable at all. To name a few, I currently spend £70 a month on herbal tea. I get through hundreds of teabags. It’s for my anxiety and I am constantly drinking it. It’s easy to say cut that out but then what will replace it? Anxiety pastilles are £40 a month rounded up, I think they’re £9 for one tin and I get 1 a week, and they enable me to leave my house. I am on anxiety medication now but that enables me to sleep.
next biggest expenses are dog food, can I just give her chicken rice and vegetables or something like that or do I better not?once a week I could cook it all at once

I find herbal tea bags very strong and tend to just keep topping up the hot water somit lasts 3 or 4 cups. Which brands are you using? Can you down grade to a cheaper brand?

What’s in the anxiety sweet are probably not doing much more than a placebo effect. I would try switching for mints.

£70 a month on herbal tea?!? Is it actually doing anything to help your anxiety or is it just a comfort thing? If you're taking medication then you probably need to be careful how herbal stuff you're taking alongside it. Ditto pastilles.
What sort of dog food do you buy? Have you tried her on cheaper brands?

You can only store cooked foods for 3 days. Sorry, I don’t know anything about dog food but again what brand are you currently using? We had to down grade our cat from
royal canin to supermarket own brand and he was fine.

Dog food, is she on a raw diet, only because you mention chicken and rice and veg. A 12kg bag of kibble is less than £15. Depending on size depends how long it lasts
If it is raw you could do 50% raw and top up with kibble?

No she’s not on a raw diet she’s on lilys kitchen.
The £70 figure it just estimated based on if I have a box a day. I easily get through that, even with using twice. It could be more it’s not the brand that’s an issue. I don’t drink water as much and don’t drink juice etc. I am prepared to make sacrifices for things if there’s something that can replace them.

How many cups of herbal tea are you drinking a day?

30+

Lily's Kitchen is a bit of a rip off tbh. You can get better food for less money! Take a look at All About Dog Food, you can put your budget in and it'll make recommendations of foods that fit.

Herbal tea budget is ridiculous. Get chamomile and peppermint from Lidl, grow some herbs yourself, and save £65 a month.

£70 on teabags, Twinings do 20 for £3.50 , so 400 for £70, that's roughly 12/13 per day!
If your on meds now, you could reduce that.
Definetely cheaper dog food available

I think you could cut down on herbal tea and have one every other drink or one an hour or something.

Put the dog on supermarket food.

What are the anxiety pastilles?
Adding them in and your at £120+ for herbal bits that tbf won't be making a huge difference.
Try other drinks, it sounds like it's become a habit rather than a need. What about decaf teabags?

Make the tea in a teapot if you aren't already? One bag would then make two cups, and from the sound of it you'd drink it continously so it wouldn't get cold.

Also / as well, bring in that you drink one glass of water after every cup of tea before you start the next cup?

I mean this in the nicest possibly way but I think you need help with your anxiety more than you need help with your budgeting. Drinking all that herbal tea isn't normal, it's clearly a habit or coping mechanism for something. What brand do you buy? Supermarket own brands are considerably cheaper than the brands such as Pukka, or maybe try hot water with a slice of lemon instead.

At 30 cups a day, you'd be having about 6 litres of water a day...so that can't be right

Have you ever tried using a roll on or balm for your anxiety. I have a couple of different ones that I put on the inside of my wrists and find a few deep breaths really does help. Neal’s Yard ones are very good but Boots does slightly cheaper ones.

Another suggestion is to make a pot of tea as you’ll get more cups from the same amount of tea bags.

I think that you need to go back to see your GP and ask them to review your anxiety meds - maybe you need to be on 2 different types one in the morning to help get you out of the house and one at night to help with sleep. It might help to overhaul your diet - there is evidence that foods high in zinc and magnesium help with anxiety. (Maybe look at milk of magnesia instead of the pastilles?) Some ideas here https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-strategies-to-ease-anxiety-201604139441

On the herbal tea front maybe what you are experiencing is the comfort of a hot drink so see if plain hot water works?

Assuming you're awake for 16 hours a day, you're drinking 2 mugs of tea every single hour. Do you leave your house etc? If it's as bad as this you need MH help first

Can you get a cheaper brand of herbal tea, eg Aldi or Lidl? Same for the pastilles or can you get these online.

But if your anxiety is so severe that you can't leave the house without some quite extreme coping mechanisms, have you sought appropriate medical advice and possibly applied for PIP? That's no way to live.

But without any more detail like your income and where else your money is going it's hard to suggest any other budget swaps, which you might not feel able to implement anyway.

Moneysaving Expert has a good comprehensive budget review article that walks you through all your spending to suggest ways to increase your income, reduce your bills and spending to hopefully free up money left over to increase the £20 you have leftover . Have a look at:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

It is right

As others have suggested, a teapot would help - maybe with a tea cosy to keep it warm? What herbs are in your herbal tea? This might help in suggesting alternatives. I agree with others though - a trip to the GP, making sure you tell them all about your herbal tea and herbal pastilles, sounds like a good idea.
Re dog food - try posting in the doghouse - someone will have a suggestion.

Herbs are so easy to grow, you could grow in a window box and use a tea strainer?

That’s 9l of water a day. Have you spoken to your dr about this?

I agree that you should speak to your GP, Op.

Aldi / Lidl so some wonderful herbal teas that are more like £1 a box and the boxes will be bigger than your ones so that could help?

Can you space it out so only have 1 an hour?

But yes I agree with everyone else that help with anxiety is what you really need.

What other lines have you got in the budget that we could help with?