Budgeting...

I have so much going around my head right now, I could write ten posts. But I'll try to condense all my brainwaves into a coherent post...

Perhaps if I wrote this with headings? Hmmm, ok.

Saving Money

We are unbelievably skint right now. Since hubster took his current job (after being made redundant in January last year - his current job is lower paid than his previous) the cost of living has rocketed. For example, a loaf of Warburtons is now £1.20 and supermarket bread is awful (hence me making my own bread right now), diesel is now £1.10 a litre (that, my American friends, is US$6.78 a US gallon), school dinners are now costing me about £70 a month, and our gas and electric bill for a MONTH is £124* (I have negotiated it down to £105, but more of that later). *I've been online and I've read two separate average gas and leccy costs - one said £149 a month and the other was £71 a month.

My budget is shrinking and shrinking. I won't say exactly how much hubs is earning a year, but it's not huge - however, neither is it tiny. I continue to look for jobs in schools - my next application is to be an examination invigilator at a local school.

So, what am I doing to save? Well, nothing spectacular.

• Moving to a cash only envelope system;
• Trying to use the tumble dryer less (although this is hard, as I have said before - particularly in autumn and winter. In summer I love using my washing line outdoors);
• Switching off appliances when they're not in use;
• Switching to economy on the dishwasher;
• Turning down the heating a degree to 20 ^oC (68 ^oF);
• Planning my meals for the week.
  

The hubster and I have discussed a variety of ways to save money. Trying to find an NHS dentist is one, so that we can cut out the dental insurance payments. The other is getting rid of my car, though hubs is against this idea. What I am going to do is see if I can avoid using my car for the next few weeks, to see how much I can save.

The one place I don't want to skimp is with food. Cheap meat, in particular, isn't as good quality as the decent stuff. Cheap ham, for instance, is 'reformed meat' - urgh! However, by planning meals, using ingredients we already have, and not going shopping when hungry (lol) I hope to make some savings. The average cost of food, apparently, for a family of 4 (two adults, two children) in the UK is around £100-£140 a week. To me that seems to be a lot, what do you think?

Oh and we're having roast cat tonight...she has to sacrifice too...hahahahaha JOKING! Seriously though, with all the redundancies, etc., during this recession, we are SO grateful to God that hubs has a job. As I have already said, I continue to look for term-time work and there are opportunities for me to pursue. We have family and a church that will always support us if we do get into trouble, we are mightily blessed!

Lol, run out of time...I will have to put my thoughts into multiple posts after all!


TTFN xxxxxx