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OK - in the interests of the credit crunch - what are your tips for saving/scaling down?

26 replies

lisalisa · 27/11/2008 12:30

It is ridiculous really. Althgouh I have had a salary cut of 200% I still earn ok money and dh earns fairly well.

We cannot however make ends meet and after paying all the bills and the mortgage have nothing left!

i am looking to make some pretty serious economy cuts but how? We already do value shopping at tesco and never buy own brand or finest. We hvae already largely reassessed our utility bills and appear to be wiht the cheapest supplier.

The biggest drains are the mortgage ( rates due to go down again soon so could imporve slightly) and school fees ( we have 5 kids). They go to a faith school which is technically privaet although doesn't cost a fortune.

So how have you scaled down?

OP posts:
wannaBe · 27/11/2008 12:47

mortgage is something which you're not in a position to change in the short term - for you possibly not even in the long term as presumably with 5 kids downsizing isn't going to be an option for you.

if you're with the cheapest possible utility company then there's not much you can do about that either, although yuu can look to see what energy you're consuming and see if you can bring that down. so i.e. turn down the heating by 1 degree. 1 degree won't notice that much - it's cheaper to wear a jumper instead and will save that bit of gass.

Make sure you turn lights off as you leave rooms. ditto with televisions/radioes/computers you're not using. Don't put the tv on stand-by, switch it off. Television on standby will use almost as much electricity as when it's switched on.

If you're buying value products already make sure you're actually getting value. Sometimes cheapest can be a bit of a false economy, because for instance if you buy cheap cuts of meat you're left with fat and bone, meaning you have to bulk out the meal more which in turn costs more money. Similarly with cheap fruit/veg - often the quality isn't as good and you can end up throwing more out.

Can you bake rather than buying some things? Things like cakes aren't necessarily that cheap to make, but making your own biscuits certainly costs much less than buying them in packets. similarly things like bread rolls - a bag of bread flour costs approx 97p and it will make you 30 rolls. A pack of dry yeast will cost you approx 50p and contains enough yeast for 60 rolls.

Look at other outgoings. Do you have a mobile phone? How much do you use it? is it contract or pay as you go - and if contract is the £20/30 a month worth it for the amount of calls you make/texts you send? If not switch to PAYG and top up as and when you need to. Also, if you shop around most companies offer good insentives for topping up which also save you money. so for instance I was with three. And for every text I received they gave me 2p cash top up, for every minute someone called me I got 5p, applicable when i topped up. so if in a month I had 100 texts and someone called me and spoke to me for 20 minutes if I topped up by £10 I would receive an extra cash credit of £3 based on the 100 texts and 20 voice minutes. Now I'm on orange and again you can choose things to have for topping up - I've put £20 on my phone this month and have received 600 free texts. I have until 25 December to use those, but that means that although I don't know 600 people to text, I won't have to pay for my texts this month, and next month I can just use the credit I put on this month, so £20 of credit will last me twice as long iyswim.

Also do your children have mobiles? Who pays for them and how much? Similar savings can apply there.

What about broadband? What speed are you on and can it be reduced? Most companies are offering sop speed broadband now, but reality is that most people just don't need that kind of speed, unless they're downloading films or streaming video (which most people aren't), so enquire how much it will save you to cut down to the lower speed.

What about television. Do you have sky/cable? If so do you have full package and if so do you use it? if not cut it back. so you have a package you do actually use.

What about your kids' school dinners? do they eat at school or do they have packed lunch?

Will try to think of more - hth

lisalisa · 27/11/2008 12:52

Thanks - that's very helpful so far. Kids don't have mobiles and we don't have tv. Will look at broadband supplier.

Kids don't have school dinners . I find their packed lunches an absolutely massive expense.

I give them each day

Sandwich each with cream cheese - sometimes one or tow of them will have tuna but usually only want cream cheese

2 fruits each ( that's 10 fruits per day not counting me and dh who take 2/3 each with us to work each day an dnot counting after supper fruits too in place of puddings- so you can see where the massive fruit bill comes from)

Snack - a few biccies or pretzels.

Water ( from tap).

Good idea about bread rolls. Dh wants to buy breadmaker too but I'm worried about it slicing too thickly to be of any use wiht sandwiches.

OP posts:
muppetgirl · 27/11/2008 12:54

I would have a weekly (in our case) or monthly meeting with you and dh where you discuss monry in/money out for the week/month.

We have pre printed sheets with all outgoings on so have a very tight reign on our financial life. After bills, savings we then see what's left over to buy any extras not getting the extras first and then running out of money. (BY extras I mean clothes/shoes/going out as they aren't neccesities unless the children need something)

I would cook from scratch, freeze leftovers plan meals from what you have left in the fridge so you use everything.

Get rid of any unnecessary drains on your money, gym memberships, tv etc.

If selling your house isn;t an option then move out and rent it until you can sell it if that would reduce your outgoings.

Sherbert37 · 27/11/2008 12:57

If you buy a breadmaker, you need a top notch bread knife or you will get about 6 slices to a loaf. I have the Panasonic one which I put on each day. Enough bread for three lots of sandwiches and toast for 4 from one loaf. Rapid setting takes under 2 hours. The bread knife came from JL and cost £20. It is SHARP! I have not bought bread at all since July.

anniemac · 27/11/2008 13:01

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muppetgirl · 27/11/2008 13:01

Just noticed you have 5 kids, do they all go to private school? If so then that is your first point of call in scalling down. You can't complain about not being able to make ends meet whilst sending children to a fee paying school!

I think you can't afford the lifestyle you really want after your 200% pay cut and I get the impression that turing off lights and making bread really isn't going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things.

Goober · 27/11/2008 13:02

Breadmaker is a good investment. The bread does dry out quicker, but the loaf is smaler, so more likely to be finished in the same day.
I make pizza dough in mine too and dough for rolls.
Mine is a cheap Morphy Richards model, fancy brands are just the same.

Try Lidl or Aldi if you have them near you. I have switched to Lidl from Morisons and save roughly £15 a week.

I have also stopped doing the mid-week shopping for 'bits' as it became too expensive.

Meal planning helps lots too, not only financially, but also takes the grief out of choosing what to have, and you are also more likely to buy the right things when you take a weekly menu to supermarket with you.

anniemac · 27/11/2008 13:02

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MadreInglese · 27/11/2008 13:06

Some good tips on here already.

200% salary cut? Do you mean 20%?

Are there any suitable non-fee paying schools near you that you might consider moving the children to?

Second the meal planning tips, saves lots of time, money and hassle!

Do you have anything you could sell? Stuff you don't need any more that someone might take off your hands?

stealthsquiggle · 27/11/2008 13:07

school fees must be the largest drain - any chance of bursaries / scholarships?

MadreInglese · 27/11/2008 13:08

What about travel, do you have a car and could you do without it?

lisalisa · 27/11/2008 14:42

actually school fees are not the biggest drain as we have'nt paid for 3 months!!! Can't move them as this is the cheapest faith school near us - jewish school - we have to pay for it .

Spreadsheet is good idea as is bill reduction for food. If I told you what i spend on food you'd all collapse - grapes, apples , tangerines etc - we buy tons per week . Kosher meat is expensive too - about £7 per whole chicken and we tend to eat chicken ( tho not red meat ) quite a lot.

Another area to cut donw i think although fish is also verypricey now. And kids need protein....

Thanks eveyrone - some very useful tips - please keep them coming....

OP posts:
bozza · 27/11/2008 14:52

I think lisalisa has actually had a 75% paycut, which, while not quite 200%, is a fair wack and would send lots of us into financial difficulties.

Lisa I think you need to think about the types of fruit you buy - grapes are expensive, I would stick to apples, pears, bananas, kiwis, clementines/satsumas etc while they are in season. Also think about non-meat sources of protein such as pulses, lentils, beans etc - tin of smartprice red kdney beans is 12p.

muppetgirl · 27/11/2008 16:02

If school fees aren't the biggest drain then you have a mortgage that you can't afford. I think you said on another thread your dh earned over 100K if you only have living expenses + mortgage to pay for you are living way beyond your means.

Basically you are spending more than you earn.

muppetgirl · 27/11/2008 16:05

By lisalisa on Thu 27-Nov-08 12:32:05
I'v eonly read op.

I sympathise . I think we earn more than that but are in desparate straits.

Mortgage is killing us. I've had my salary cut by 200% ( so n0o longer earning such big amoutns) and bills per month exceed what we earn.

You can't 'survive' on over 100K?

bozza · 27/11/2008 16:13

But that 100K is between lisalisa and her DH. So if for instance they earn 50K each and lisa until very recently earned 200k - then it is quite a drop from 250K to 100K and if you are spending on things like school fees and mortgages these things do take a while to sort out - you would have to sell to downsize, arrange places in state schools, that sort of thing.

moonmother · 27/11/2008 16:39

ok heres my two pence worth...for what it's worth.

People live to their means, so if you earn a large salary you live to that large salary, you would have a more expensive house/mortgage, spend more on food etc etc .

If you are on a small salary/benefits then the same applies, you live to what you have coming in, although for these people life and finances are a struggle sometimes.

So, it doesn't matter which salary range you come in, if you suddenly earn less for one reason or another that is going to make a difference to their way of life.

All these arguments about how someone earning 100k a year is having financial problems are immaterial, if your 'mean' suddenly change, so is your lifestyle.

Ok I understand that it is alot of money to some, including me, but it doesn't mean that the op or people who do earn that money aren't struggling either, and deserve a bit of sympathy and understanding.

BigMaz · 27/11/2008 17:28

Try to change your mortgage to interest only.

TheCrackFox · 27/11/2008 18:28

BigMaz you have just read my mind. If the OP could swap to interest only for a year or two it could make a big difference.

muppetgirl · 27/11/2008 18:46

I agree. Dh earns extremly well and if anything happened to him our life would change dramatically. The first thing I would do is take ds 1 out of private school after the insurance term has finished (we pay insurance so we would get the next terms fees paid should we be unable too) and ds 2 out of nursery. We would use up our savings until we sold the house. Then we would rent.

Earning a high salary doesn't mean that you automatically mortgage yourself up to the hilt and if you do maybe you don't deserve any sympathy if you don't have a contigency plan should it all come crashing down around you. Our mortgage is 15% of dh's take home salary and we are sensible to save as much as we can. He is a contractor and you never know what the market may do so we have a contigency.

I hate this idea that if you earn good money you should spend it all. Surely if you are a high earner you have more chance to save for a rainy day and, therefore, should.

sophy · 27/11/2008 18:53

Take in a lodger?

lisalisa · 27/11/2008 23:26

Thanks everyone - muppetgirl - not looking for sympathy just ideas.

BigMaz - we arel ooking into interest only repayments as mortgage is our biggest wack. However we want to remortgage in Jan and tochnage to interest only doesn't look good. I think however that we'll froget re-mortgaging and just go wthi interest only.

There are ways we can cut down and we are exploring these but its going to be really tough.....There are just no other jobs out there at the moemnt....

OP posts:
BigMaz · 28/11/2008 11:32

Get a two year discount product in Jan. You pay more in two years time but work should have picked up by then

HeadFairy · 28/11/2008 11:40

Could you change the fruit you eat? Instead of having grapes etc which are currently out of season in Europe, switch to apples and pears which are super abundant and cheap at the moment. It's a bit dull, but eating in season foods really makes a difference to your food bill. The same with veggies too, during the winter we only have British veg (mainly carrots, cabbage, leeks and root veg like parsnips) and it can get a bit repetitive, but I've tried to think of different exciting ways of cooking them to make it different.

We've switched to only having meat twice a week tops, sometimes only once, to save on our food bills. We have omelettes once a week, risotto once a week (with lots of left over veg and bulked up with lots of rice), veggie curry etc. I don't know much about kosher food, but is that sort of thing acceptable?

dannyb · 08/12/2008 12:51

Change the mortgage to interest only, that's a good starting point.

Talk to the governers about not paying your fees for the time being or cutting them down and if you have some spare time offer to be a parent helper if they need some so that you are putting something back into the school.

Vegetable soups instead of chicken soup, mine are more than happy with this if I still do kneidlach and let them pour an entire box of croutons over it.

Shop online, Just kosher do online shopping and then you don't buy anything unless you need it. Make crumbles / cakes / biscuits yourself rather than buying. I can knock up a traybake in 5 minutes and it's big enough for the kids to take some to school. Buy big bags of crisps / raisins and decant into tupperware for packed lunches. The little ones may go for this more than the big ones.

In terms of food, look at where you're buying your meat. Kosher deli is a fraction of the other butchers and I can get a chicken to feed 4 with leftovers for about £5. buy whole chickens and cut into portions rather then buying chicken pieces, this is much much cheaper. I also buy the frozen chicken pieces both thighs and breasts which are way cheaper than the butchers chicken and really nice. Bulk out your mince with soya mince or use all soya mince, the children probably won't notice the difference. Fruits in season only, the value fruits in tescos are absolutely fine.

If you are entertaining on friday night / saturday, share the burden with friends and ask them to drop in a dessert, or a dish and share the cost between you

I get why you struggle on over 100k. It's not an option to move to a cheaper area, food bills are much higher if you are kosher, shul bills can be crippling, we have negotiated a rate with our shul, state schools demand high "voluntary" contributions. You are expect to entertain a lot and return favours. It's a different way of life.