What cut backs have you made recently?
Discussion
Puzzles said:
How much are people paying for food and for how many people? We are paying around £500 a month for two of us.
Just under £200 for two of us. My wife is very into fruit and as a result of that I've found myself moving away from having crisps/biscuits/desserts and eating fruit instead, which happens to be a much cheaper alternative. She also makes sauces etc. so the shop doesn't have many pre-made/prepared items at all - sometimes just curry paste.The above excludes alcohol which I buy on an ad-hoc basis. I suspect that's another £100 on top.
mwstewart said:
Just under £200 for two of us. My wife is very into fruit and as a result of that I've found myself moving away from having crisps/biscuits/desserts and eating fruit instead, which happens to be a much cheaper alternative. She also makes sauces etc. so the shop doesn't have many pre-made/prepared items at all - sometimes just curry paste.
The above excludes alcohol which I buy on an ad-hoc basis. I suspect that's another £100 on top.
Sounds very frugal & well done. The above excludes alcohol which I buy on an ad-hoc basis. I suspect that's another £100 on top.
We need to address this too but I’m hoping retirement will bring more time to take a closer look at our food spend
Note if you have a Sony tv!
I’ve ordered an Amazon smart plug (£7) as I’ve found that if you have a modern Sony tv with wifi many of them are pretty much on all the time drawing 25watts. Even in standby they are constantly waking once or twice a min to check for updates and epg and s
t. Some clever boffin people on forums wired them up with stuff to check.
bds
So I will now be able to shut down the power to it at bedtime and only power up at home time from work ie it will maybe be on for 6 hours rather than 24 hours a day. So if you have a Sony look into this. I think 25w is about 17 pence a day (+vat) which is £62 quid a year + vat is about 65 quid (is vat on energy 5%?)
I’ve ordered an Amazon smart plug (£7) as I’ve found that if you have a modern Sony tv with wifi many of them are pretty much on all the time drawing 25watts. Even in standby they are constantly waking once or twice a min to check for updates and epg and s
t. Some clever boffin people on forums wired them up with stuff to check.b
ds So I will now be able to shut down the power to it at bedtime and only power up at home time from work ie it will maybe be on for 6 hours rather than 24 hours a day. So if you have a Sony look into this. I think 25w is about 17 pence a day (+vat) which is £62 quid a year + vat is about 65 quid (is vat on energy 5%?)
Probably about £600 a month for 2 adults, 2 children and a cat. That’s Sainsbury’s and Ocado deliveries but with no real attempt to economise.
What I’ve found is that the right kitchen appliances can keep the cost down. By that I mean appliances that make life easy, give tasty results and that you’re inclined to use rather than take the easy option of ready-made type meals.
For me that’s a Ninja Foodie ‘heath grill and air fryer’ and a slow cooker. Just so easy to throw meat or veg in it and get something tasty out in 10-20 mins (or all day with the slow cooker). I would go so far as to say it’s saving me £100 a month in ingredients and because it’s so easy to knock up decent food means I don’t take the easy option and get takeaways.
What I’ve found is that the right kitchen appliances can keep the cost down. By that I mean appliances that make life easy, give tasty results and that you’re inclined to use rather than take the easy option of ready-made type meals.
For me that’s a Ninja Foodie ‘heath grill and air fryer’ and a slow cooker. Just so easy to throw meat or veg in it and get something tasty out in 10-20 mins (or all day with the slow cooker). I would go so far as to say it’s saving me £100 a month in ingredients and because it’s so easy to knock up decent food means I don’t take the easy option and get takeaways.
My wife and I contribute £150 each to our food bills per month, so £300 but we usually go over budget, realisitically i'd say £350 for two adults. We could get to £300 but my wife likes a lot of fresh food.
Haven't made any significant cut backs, stopped the post code lottery, thinking of cancelling spotify. I'm getting my hair cut less regularly, and I get my other half to cut it in between cuts. We have reduced our household bills by a fair bit by shopping around, like mortgage/broadband/insurances.
Haven't made any significant cut backs, stopped the post code lottery, thinking of cancelling spotify. I'm getting my hair cut less regularly, and I get my other half to cut it in between cuts. We have reduced our household bills by a fair bit by shopping around, like mortgage/broadband/insurances.
I haven't made any proper cutbacks yet aside from showering less, making sure I switch stuff off at the sockets and got rid of some subscriptions I didn't really use. I will be making a conscious effort to sensibly heat the house with use of wood I have been collecting on walks and ensuring the thermostate for the oil fed heating is set to 17.5 degrees.
That said the 18% citi inflation article and 6-7% mortgage rates spooked me a little yesterday. My mortgage is up for renewal next year and a rise to those percentages would almost double my mortgage payment from £1560 to £3000. That would make for difficult times and would be approaching 50% of household income.
I am concerned for the vast majorty. I live in a pretty high cost area and have probably low to average income for the area but I know elsewhere my income is decent so I am concerned what impact a doubling of mortgage payment, increase in energy, food, fuel is going to do for not just people's pockets but their mental wellbeing - barely keeping heads above water, nothing to look forward to, dark tunnel with no light = this is not living! I will "struggle" to magic out the best part of £2500 extra on mortgage, food, fuel etc increases per month and am actually considering jacking in this house and moving to a cheaper area of the country to half my mortgage and reduce the exposure. I work from home and my wife is NHS so income wise nothing would really change.
That said the 18% citi inflation article and 6-7% mortgage rates spooked me a little yesterday. My mortgage is up for renewal next year and a rise to those percentages would almost double my mortgage payment from £1560 to £3000. That would make for difficult times and would be approaching 50% of household income.
I am concerned for the vast majorty. I live in a pretty high cost area and have probably low to average income for the area but I know elsewhere my income is decent so I am concerned what impact a doubling of mortgage payment, increase in energy, food, fuel is going to do for not just people's pockets but their mental wellbeing - barely keeping heads above water, nothing to look forward to, dark tunnel with no light = this is not living! I will "struggle" to magic out the best part of £2500 extra on mortgage, food, fuel etc increases per month and am actually considering jacking in this house and moving to a cheaper area of the country to half my mortgage and reduce the exposure. I work from home and my wife is NHS so income wise nothing would really change.
Puzzles said:
How much are people paying for food and for how many people? We are paying around £500 a month for two of us.
Family of 4 (2 adults, 8 and 6 year old), 1 Dog & 1 CatTesco online = £360 per month (food, household cleaning, no booze )
Dog subscription food = £65
Cat Amazon Felix = £30
Alcohol subscription = £140 (or more if guests over)
Non Alcohol drink subs = £40
We rarely eat out or get takeaways. Perhaps once or twice a year.
_Mja_ said:
I haven't made any proper cutbacks yet aside from showering less, making sure I switch stuff off at the sockets and got rid of some subscriptions I didn't really use. I will be making a conscious effort to sensibly heat the house with use of wood I have been collecting on walks and ensuring the thermostate for the oil fed heating is set to 17.5 degrees.
That said the 18% citi inflation article and 6-7% mortgage rates spooked me a little yesterday. My mortgage is up for renewal next year and a rise to those percentages would almost double my mortgage payment from £1560 to £3000. That would make for difficult times and would be approaching 50% of household income.
I am concerned for the vast majorty. I live in a pretty high cost area and have probably low to average income for the area but I know elsewhere my income is decent so I am concerned what impact a doubling of mortgage payment, increase in energy, food, fuel is going to do for not just people's pockets but their mental wellbeing - barely keeping heads above water, nothing to look forward to, dark tunnel with no light = this is not living! I will "struggle" to magic out the best part of £2500 extra on mortgage, food, fuel etc increases per month and am actually considering jacking in this house and moving to a cheaper area of the country to half my mortgage and reduce the exposure. I work from home and my wife is NHS so income wise nothing would really change.
Maybe worth remortgaging now to beat future rate rises? Depending on your early repayment charges, it could well work out considerably cheaper in the long runThat said the 18% citi inflation article and 6-7% mortgage rates spooked me a little yesterday. My mortgage is up for renewal next year and a rise to those percentages would almost double my mortgage payment from £1560 to £3000. That would make for difficult times and would be approaching 50% of household income.
I am concerned for the vast majorty. I live in a pretty high cost area and have probably low to average income for the area but I know elsewhere my income is decent so I am concerned what impact a doubling of mortgage payment, increase in energy, food, fuel is going to do for not just people's pockets but their mental wellbeing - barely keeping heads above water, nothing to look forward to, dark tunnel with no light = this is not living! I will "struggle" to magic out the best part of £2500 extra on mortgage, food, fuel etc increases per month and am actually considering jacking in this house and moving to a cheaper area of the country to half my mortgage and reduce the exposure. I work from home and my wife is NHS so income wise nothing would really change.
RoadToad84 said:
Maybe worth remortgaging now to beat future rate rises? Depending on your early repayment charges, it could well work out considerably cheaper in the long run
My 1% deal ends jan 24 . I won’t be re fixing , instead selling up and moving further out .
21% RPI forecasts are quite frightening .
Holidays may well become a thing of the past for us which frankly doesn’t bother me anyway
RoadToad84 said:
Maybe worth remortgaging now to beat future rate rises? Depending on your early repayment charges, it could well work out considerably cheaper in the long run
I did ask my advisor and he recommended to leave it. I guess my ERCs would be pretty high as the mortgage itself is high.Neighbour has got shut of their dog of 7 years. Thought it was quiet over the past couple of weeks as it yaps at the sound of a pin dropping a mile away and is generally a pain in the arse. Apparently it was costing too much to keep so they sent it off to a rescue centre. Feel sorry for the dog but can't say I'm sad to see the back of it.
They've still got the cat for now, but they've said if cat food goes up much more that will be going as well.
They've still got the cat for now, but they've said if cat food goes up much more that will be going as well.
GT3Manthey said:
My 1% deal ends jan 24 .
I won’t be re fixing , instead selling up and moving further out .
21% RPI forecasts are quite frightening .
Holidays may well become a thing of the past for us which frankly doesn’t bother me anyway
I've just refixed for 10 years at 3.6% (up from 5 years at 2.3%) I missed out on those glorious 1% rates by a matter of months. My mortgage is tiny though - £70,000 remaining and should have it cleared within the 10 years (£510/month, plus some overpayments). Best part is, there's no early repayment charges, so can hop to a lower rate if things change. I won’t be re fixing , instead selling up and moving further out .
21% RPI forecasts are quite frightening .
Holidays may well become a thing of the past for us which frankly doesn’t bother me anyway
I'm not particularly financially savvy, beyond fiscal discipline and budgeting, but my priority was getting the mortgage paid off sooner rather than later, and having a long term fix helps me budget accordingly.
These energy prices may ride rough -shod over that though. I'm fixed at 18p/kWh until February (electric only), at which point I'm expecting my £78 a month to become £300+
I'm a bus driver, so reasonable job security, but I'm certainly concerned for the wider economy, and how small businesses will cope in the coming months without some kind of intervention
RoadToad84 said:
I've found that buying the ingredients to make a salad not only works out cheaper, but the fresh cabbage/lettuce etc keeps longer. I typically buy 1 X red cabbage, 1 x green cabbage, 1 x lettuce, 1 x cucumber, and that'll do my girlfriend and me for 2 weeks. I'll add onion, peppers, sweetcorn, cherry tomatoes, along with grilled halloumi or some chicken breast.
Total cost, about £10 for 20 lunches
I must admit I haven't really looked, I just presumed that if my Tesco box of salad won't last much past Tuesday from buying it on Saturday, then having more stuff to get through won't help. That said, I'm only buying for me, and I tend to just use it to bulk out sandwiches rather than actually having "a salad" as a meal. I already get a bit fed up of it towards the end of the box, and I think if I knew I'd got a load more in the fridge that needs eating before it goes to waste, I wouldn't enjoy it.Total cost, about £10 for 20 lunches
I'm currently spending about £20 a week on food which is just for me, though it's difficult to tell because lots of frozen stuff I buy will last for several weeks. Most of it's cheap stuff, I have trained myself to spot a "clearance" sticker from a distance now. Food Warehouse (Iceland with a free car park) and Tesco mainly, but Asda now and again when I can be bothered to walk into town.
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