Completely skint, please help me cut down on 'normal' stuff

[pamplemousse]

Hi dp started new job as taxi driver, theres loads of drivers and the work was very slow for January and February so we are desperatly scraping around every few days to pay some direct debit or another.
So my question ladies is, how to stop yourself from being depressed and permanantly grumpy with your poor dd and dp...
And more importantly what do we NEED and what can we get rid of?
Do I need the Internet for example? Probably not. A mobile? A car? A TV?
Seriously give me on what to get rid of please I am going nuts debating it alone.
TIA

Well,it depends what you're spending now.
Cut out ready meals.
Plan weekly meals and cook from scratch.
Go to uswitch and make sure you've got the best deal on household bills.
Cut down car use and walk where you can.
No internet=no mn - don't do it!

Check out 'The moneysaving expert' website.

Search for old threads on the subject.

If you are out of contract on the mobile knock them down on the tariff (see above website for great advice on this.)

I considered getting rid of TV, but licence fee not huge for a year. Cancel subscription viewiing though.

Look at talktalk and other providers of Broadband and phone lines. TalkTalk would save me money - just can't stand the thought of all the hassle changing.

we use talk talk for phone calls/line rental and broadband and only pay £24 a month max.... that cut our bills down. Erm, being more selective with heating/washing etc.... ie no heating on in the day unless really cold.... the woman at electric company said 'just put another cardigan on.... it does work. We dont tend to change our clothes so often (ie the wear once then wash philosophy) my washing has been halved!
petrol cripples us and we are quite remote so do need the car but have cut down on the journeys we make.... helps a bit. And check out if you can get a cheaper ins deal, made £8 a month difference!
Mobile pay as you go is cheaper for me..... am not text mad though, i bought the cheapest deal (£10 i think with a really old fashioned phone) and top up once a month with £5.
Erm.... we are still poor though but at least not so in the red!
We buy clothes for ds on ebay.... lots of bargains!

Thanks WT already do all those things...
Will look on mSE site thanks RA. I am on Tiscali for phone and 2meg broadband for 15.99 a month. TV is standard tereestrial and free view.
Do i need my lovely lovely car?!!! I hardly use it but my Dad lives 20 miles away and in the counrtyside so no buses etc. It really does make me feel saner having it there cos if dd is being awful and I don't have anything to do or anyone to meet I just go and drive somewhere and she sleeps and I listen to the radio and all is good. It is extremely economical as it does 60 mpg and is low tax BUT it still costs me insurance, tax, diesel, wear and tear every month, can I live without it??

x posted with you ff. Thanks for all those ideas x

Personally - I couldnt get on without the internet. We had to do this. Switched to cheaper internet provider, got pay-as-you-go mobiles. Got rid of sky TV and went for freeview.

The thing is I have done all these things, maybe we just can't afford to do normal stuff and need to cut down on what most people class as normal can't live without things. But what to start with?!

cbfsms- free texts off the web

skype- speak to friends and family for free, calling them off your computer

Living without things- well, what do you do/have that you don't need? takeaways, classes/activities, gym memberships, etc

Anything you can sell? Can your dp do any delivery/driving work in his spare time? DHL were advertising round here looking for people to deliver parcels for them within a 2-3 mile radius, about 30 a day, so 2-3 hours work, they said you could make about £100 a week (you get paid per parcel)

Turn washing machine down to 30, and only use quick cycle - that cut down our electricity bill.

Selective loo flushing cut down our water usage to 1/3rd of original levels .

When I was made redundant we had a 6 month "holiday" from buying consumer goods (clothes, DVDs, things for the house etc). We managed fine, and it really saved money, and we havent gone back to buying stuff anywhere near as much as we used to.

Does that mean you are in the countryside, or your Dad? We live easliy without a car, but then we're on the outskirts of London with good buses and only 20 min walk to train station. If you could do without ie its not essential, then it'd save you a packet! I wouldnt bothre scrapping telly etc; they are such small yrly costs in comparison with everything else.

Do a few basic things like only paying for groceries in cash; then you add up as you shop, and really think about the price of things. It stops alot of impulse buys.
And when we had no washing machine for 2 weeks we were soo frugal with washing; it was actually a shock how often I'd just bung something in the machine when as quick wipe of a mark would've given it another days wear.

Also, how about things like using dishcloths for all spills instead of wasting money on kitchen rolls? Soapnuts instead of washing powder? You dont have to go and 'weird and hippy' as my friend calls it, just use common sense!

BTW i do empathise entirely! We are usually £100 a month overdrawn. We have no car, no skybox, no gym subs, no takeaways, a night out probably once every 2-3 months each. I walk as much as possible, although ds1 sometimes needs the bus after nursery. Dh only has a bus pass as its £100 a month cheaper than the tube, which means he spends 3 hrs a day travelling. Its so hard to find ways to cut back!

erm... get rid of dish washer, use wet flannels instead of baby wipes, if your little ones are still in nappies you will save if you buy washables (2nd hand off ebay?). If your rural am not sure getting rid of car is a good idea, can you not just take it off the road for a couple of months whilst things are tight to see if you can live without it. do you work??? if not you could do a child minding course (all paid for, well it is in my area) and pick and choose your hours to fit in, my friend does this and gets about £50 a week extra for being at home and doing what she would anyway be doing with her dd..... plus you get the added benifit of being able to claim some of the tax back on things like art materials/toilet paper/a certain %of your heating/food etc.
hand wash the small things so you save space in the washing machine, i used to wash sheets weekly now do it every other week.... erm have run out of ideas now!!! know how you feel though!

oh as mrm said.... soap nuts are a good way to save on horribly expensive washing powder..... and better for the environment!

god, I only wsah sheets when I remember or need something to do with the boys as a time filler

mrm,was to embarressed to admit that i normally only do them once a month (thought people might think i was smelly) but seeing as how you have.......

Havig said that, I've done about 6 loads of sheets in the last 2 days, as the boys are taking it in turns to be sick at night

mrm you are in the same situation and your suggestions are spot on - where to get soap nuts please? Thank you
Got to go out and walk with dd to get her to nap now will check back later, thank you people very very grateful for ideas

PM you need to do a spreadhseet of incomings and outgoings to see where you can save. If you are brave you can post it here for others to comment? Or alternatively on the fool.co.uk discussion boards, where people do this all the time and get very useful advice.

Go through the last 6 months bank statements and write out a list of everything that you have spent money on in categories of house bills (gas, electric, water, council tax, insurance), food, shopping, cars etc. Then decide what you really need to spend on the variable stuff such as food and shopping per week, and then only use cash for that.

Go to the market for food - my parents buy all their meat from a frozen food guy at really cheap prices. Haggle on the fruit and veg - often way cheaper to buy a 25kg bag of potatoes.
Try a bulk bin shop for dry stuff - some of the farm shops round here do that for flour, rice etc and its much cheaper.
Cut down on meat and fish and use pulses instead or in addition to.

Use Freecycle instead of buying clothes, toys etc - you'd be amazed what you can get.

Make sure that you are getting everything you are entitled to in terms of tax credits etc - I think theres a website called entitledto.go.uk where you can check

I 2nd using cash to pay for your shopping. I've saved money just withdrawing cash and using that instead of using the debit card.

Try to buy own brand stuff where possible (and in some circumstances even the "value" own brands do the job).

Again the MSE website has a basic budgeting program which you can download or use online. It's a bit horrifying (for me at least) when you put everything in and find out how much it costs, but then you can take items out and see how it affects your total yearly or monthly spend.

Of course, sort out anything like debts - ie, make sure you don't go over your agreed O/D limit, or bump it up so you don't pay extra charges. Savings earn less interest than debts pay, so use savings to pay off debts is usually the advice.

Try to see it as a challenge so you don't feel that everyone else has more than you. Even when your finances are back on track you can use the money you save for holidays and treats.

Can you car-share with a neighbour? I worked out that it was cheaper to get taxis than keep a car where we live, because of expensive parking, insurance, etc.

Thank you all so much.
Have done that spread sheet RA, it is indeed terrifying, I'd not budgeted at all for birthdays!
Will defo take cash food shopping although I have to take a calculator as well or I get into a panic that I'll be left at the till giving things back with an irate queue behind me, my mental arithmetic isn't great whilst controlling a toddler!
And I'll try LIDL, their fruit and veg is so cheap right now.
Have gone through spending for the last couple of months and realise a few things we can save on - dp always buys a drink when he's out, so now he takes a flask, and I buy magazines, now my friend has agreed to give me the ones she's read. Little by little..
Am also reading up on budget cooking on MSE site, some v interesting tips!
Thanks again, am less panicky now as my lovely Dad has paid my mortgage this month to help us out, how sweet of him?

use a mooncup instead of buying tampax / towels...

would you be better off with a water meter (if you dont already have one)

yes NEVER buy food / drinks out... take them with you

find some free things to do... storey time at local library, or if you have a sure start centre they ahve free / cheap things to do to enetertain the children..

switch to enrgy saving bulbs to save a few £s per year on elec...

now summer is on its was (im a bit optimistic lol) you can get out for free more easily... to the park / woods / feed ducks / walks / bike rides etc which are all free and kill a morning / afternoon

Do lots of cooking from scratch, meal plan and only buy what you need...
maybe make a double portion and freeze half... bear in mind 1 pack of mince makes 1 meal but 2 makes 3 meals, especially if you bulk out with veg!

Thank you NannyL - I do all those things would you believe, but I wanted to thank you for your optimism about summer!! There is light at the end of the tunnel!
How do you know if you a) have a water meter? b) would be ebtter off with one?
And soapnuts info anyone please?