Not even half way through the month and we're already broke.....Help me sort out my finances please

[Nutcracker]

Just been to the cash point to find that we have hardley any money left already. I've written down what has gone out and there is still about 150 quid that i can't account for, but i know it must just be from when we go and get the odd 10 or 20 quid out.
We really need to get this sorted out as when we move to the house our rent will be going up, as will our c/tax and everything else. I was hoping to save some money too.
When i write down our incomings and outgoings we should have enough money but we always end up runing out.
Dp has his account, which his wages are paid into, and rent, c/tax, phone, water and insurance go out of.
I have my account which the wftc is paid into and my loan and a few little bills go out of it.

Is it really cheaper to do my shopping online ?? We seem to spend an awful lot at the supermarket at the moment but never seem to have any food iykwim.

Well nutty it is cheaper because you don't do all that impulse buying. But then you have to pay to get it delivered so I really don't know.

How about getting the money out you need for all your expenditure each week and then not going to the cash point again. I find that I think about what I am spending much more if I have to hand over cash than if I pay with a switch card too.

Yeah that would probably help CD. At the moment we don't have a set amount for food shopping, and because in use mine or dp's debit card i never think about how much it's going to be until i read the reciept.
I really need to sit down a work out a proper budget i think.

Nutty it really helps me to go shopping with cash not a card. Then you think about what you are buying instead of lobbing in anything you want.

I also find there is less wastage that way. (I take my card too in case there are good special offers, bogofs etc

Think i'll definatly try that CD. I do definatly soend less if i'm using cash.
Dd finishes nursery in July which will be saving me at least 60 quid a month (which i was hoping to save) and in september they are both going back onto packed lunches instead of dinners which will save me another 30 quid a month.

I used to be very careful with money and keep track of every little thing but since having Ds i've just let things slip alot.

Nutty IKWYM - this is a definite case of physician heal thyself - I am the worst at blethering cash and then wondering where it has all gone!!

It's tough, isn't it?! We are on one income and we really have to plan our money too. Do you work outside the home? I find now that I am home full time I can make more inexpensive meals from scratch: soups to use up veg, casseroles with less meat and more beans, etc. A chest freezer is great, you can stock up on special offer items, or bread (I find if I nip out "just for bread" I end up spending 20 on a load of other stuff which we don't really need...)I'm sure there are loads of websites to help you with food shopping and cooking, there's one called allthingsfrugal.com, it's American so a bit different terms but still useful I think. Online shopping is expensive, only do it to stock up on heavy things, tins and bags of flour etc. and when you know the delivery won't be more than 10% of the overall cost (which is a lot of shopping!) Good luck and happy moving!

We have an account reserved just for bills. We added up all our bills then divided the total by 12. Each month that amount goes into the account and it all balances at year end. (The bank offered us this account but I think most offer a similar service.)
On-line banking has also been very useful for checking up on expenditure on a daily basis.
Every month we allocate money for various things and then we know what we have left is cash limit for the month.
Some on-line supermarkets charge different amounts depending when you have your delivery so have a look first eg tescos are about £3 cheaper mid-week than at weekends.
For credit card deals, cheap gas & electric, mobile offers etc have a look at moneysaving expert.com
Good Luck!!

I save loads by doing my shopping online. If you use Sainsburys, they cancel the delivery fee if you spend over £60 and have the delivery on a Tues, Weds or Thurs. If you think spending £60 is a lot, do it every fortnight rather than weekly. Tesco, I think, reduce the delivery fee for midweek deliveries and Waitrose (Ocado) cancel it if you spend more than £75. So don't avoid online shopping because of the delivery fee. You can get round it.

Perhaps buying fortnightly is the way to go. In your new house, you will have more storage space, so could take advantage of BOGOFs (buy one get one free) on staple items, such as pasta, rice, etc. If you have sufficient freezer space and are an organised type (this is why I rarely take my own advice on this as I am the world's most disorganised twit), you can bulk buy perishables and freeze them - such as peppers, onions, other veges, etc. (bulk buy when they are on offer).

Also helps to plan your menu for the week and then only buy ingredients you need for each meal. Again, I'm far too disorganised to do this but it does work.

I would love to be able to shop fortnightly when we move, and hopefully will be able to.
I definatly need to start planning a menu as usually i end up going in the co-op every day to buy something for tea, when we do have a frezzer full of bits and pieces.

Wish i was better at cooking, then i could do more home made stuff and freeze it.

Istarted really strict menu planning and shopping twice a week and this has cut our bill in half.I used to buy any old thing I saw and often threw out more than we ate!Now I plan each meal and buy only what we need.Have also dropped expensive brands and don't notice a difference.I often buy reduced stuff and this makes for a varied menu.We have enjoyed eating this way and our meals are so varied-give it a try.For the 1st time ever we have money left over each month -unheard of!!!!!!!!!!!

I shop online and NEVER pay delivery charges. I plan so that I always spend the necessary amount to cancel the charges. I use Asda because it's very cheap, and if your order is over £99 you don't pay delivery. I sometimes use Ocado and as someone said, they don't charge if it's over £75. This week I received a free bottle of wine and a free bottle of soya milk in with my Ocado order - they often add little freebies.

I also shop in Lidl, which is very very cheap - I believe there are other such supermarkets around the country, like Aldi.

And I use our local market which is fantastic for very fresh, very cheap fruit, veg, fish and meat. I go and see what they have in the £1 bowls, and that is what we eat!

On previous threads like this I've noticed a few people saying that they save heaps of money by planning their meals a week at a time and only buying what they need to make them. I don't do this, but it sounds like a winning idea to me.

There you are! Noddy has posted the same thing while I was typing. Great minds...

I saw from yr other thread that your brothers are over tonight for a takeaway so another great saving tip is.....

Make them pay for dinner!!!!!!

Great idea Collision, would work if i didn't have very stingy brother

Oh, me too, Nutty. Once my sister and I walked into a pub with him and with no premeditation took one look at each other, grabbed an arm each, frogmarched him to the bar and said, 'Our brother would like to buy us a drink'

I'll have to try that Janstar. Be interesting to see if he brings any booze with him too

i use tesco online quite a lot. their value brands are very good and they often have bogof or simmilar offers online as well as in store. i did notice that if planning a weekly menu before shopping it really saves money and end up with nicer meals too but in real life you can't always be bothered to do this (at least i'm not that well organized). worth going in the supermaket for your shopping thought because they sometimes have a shelf with reduced items for that day only (i.e. meat) and if you can freeze it it works out really well. another thing i do in trying to reduce the cost is that i never buy sweets, soft drinks, crisps etc. only buy biscuits for snacks and if someone wants a snack it's easy to just make a sandwich or have some fruit. i also tend to bake my own cakes so we have something sweet in the house. supermarket's own brand are just as good as the expensive ones (although i would not buy 'economy', 'saver' or 'value' meat, diary, eggs, bread, toiletries - apart for handwash liquid for the kitchen) things like kitchen towels i only buy the cheapest i can find. hopes this helps a bit.

Before buying anything ask yourself:
is it a necessity,
can I buy it cheaper else where
can I afford it or can i buy it and save money elsewhere
ALso pay bills first then food then clothes etc. then fun things - until you feel financially back on your feet-
Hopes it helps

When we were first married we were really skint, and the only way we could keep track of cash was to write down everything we spent (every £5 on visa at the co-op, every £10 taken from the cashpoint etc.) We found this helped us avoid impulse spending - the guilt factor helped. We also did a big shop once a month and froze a lot, then topped it up with perishables about twice a week.

Oh nutcracker you sound so much like us. That always happens to us, two weeks into getting paid and we've no money!! This month we worked out all the bills and what needed to come out the bank and what we had spare(which wasn't alot this month) we put into a different bank account, so tht was our food shopping money and spending money, so we didn't touch the bill money. Seems to have worked so far.

We started doing online tesco shopping... after the first time, we got a £5 voucher to encourage a repeat performance, which covered delivery. Now we do a huge order of long life stuff, wait a while, and sooner or later a voucher appears! I'm also a huge fan of special offers. Any 'bits and pieces' shopping comes from my bank account, which is virtually empty, so I'm very careful about what I spend. If there's a buy one get onr free offer on fresh produce, we share with our neighbour, so we get fresh stuff all the time. All my and ds's clothes come from charity shops and car boot sales... its cheaper, plus I dont feel so guilty if I get bored of an item or ds has a growth spurt.

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I agree with Sassy.
Both of you must write down every item of spending - that means EVERY item - every single penny. Discuss the lists at the end of the week. You'll very quickly have control of your spending. Every time you pick something off the shelf you'll ask yourself "Can I justify this on Saturday?"
I promise it'll work.

Hi Nutcracker, this thread is an old one but was very useful to me when we were broke last year

If you have an Iceland in your area, they're great. I think if you shop there and get them to deliver, it's free if you spend over £25. They're great for freezer stuff and they have a good on-line shopping site too. If your family drink loads of fruit juice then Lidl are brilliant. They also sell loads of recognisable brands a lot cheaper than the bigger supermarkets. They don't take VISA or credit cards so it's another way to watch what you spend.
Sometimes the best thing to do is to go round the shops where you know they have offers. Check the local papers for these as they sometimes print it.