Help with costs from mums

[leahsbabybump]

we have like £625 left each month and we only earn £20k a year between us while im off on maternity getting ma and when i go back to work we will be on 23k per

but each month we spend about £300 on shopping each month that includes all the nappies toilettries everything we need
it cost us £240 a month to run the car including fuel
rentand c.tax is £460
electric tv liscence and mobiles cost us £140 per month
thats all we pay out i get on buses for free cos OH is a bus driver

all this is for a family of 4

back to your question though on nappies and wipes each month we spend abot £40-£50 depending whats on offer
we bulk buy sometimes when there are offers on to save money in the long run and we dont go mad with the food shopping we do one big shop each month were we fill the freezers in farmfoods and jack fultons so in asda we only have to buy bread and milk each week and a fewother bits and bobs for round the house n that

 

[leahsbabybump]

^^ oh and i breastfeed which saves an absolute fortune

 

[hulahoop09]

Thanks. Im deffo gona give bf my all. I wish our council tax and mortgage was so low. Lol. Thanks again for the reply!

Xx

 

[leahsbabybump]

Thanks. Im deffo gona give bf my all. I wish our council tax and mortgage was so low. Lol. Thanks again for the reply!

Xx

we only have a 1 bed flat though were waiting t be rehoused cos we dont want to go private as we have had too many bad experiences :-/
if we private rented a house the size we actually need wed be looking between 450-600 pcm :-/ the council tax would stay at £91 though cos its a low ban area we live in. Whathelps us is when me and OH moved in together we made sure we had payedof any debts finance and things like that before i got pregs other wise we woulg have been up poo creek without a paddle lol in that list is literally everything we pay out for thenthe rest we usually end up spending on kids its very rare we treat ourselves lol

 

[nickibrum]

Apparently aldi's nappies are very good. I dont have a LO yet, but I plan to start adding baby shampoo and sudacream and baby wipes to my fortnightly shop. and raid the baby events. Im planning on buying 1 box of tiny nappies and then lots o bigger sizes. Also save up your boots points along with tesco. also look at cashback websites if you do online shopping.
I find this thread really interesting. Asda are great for clothes!

 

[hulahoop09]

Thanks. Im deffo gona give bf my all. I wish our council tax and mortgage was so low. Lol. Thanks again for the reply!

Xx

we only have a 1 bed flat though were waiting t be rehoused cos we dont want to go private as we have had too many bad experiences :-/
if we private rented a house the size we actually need wed be looking between 450-600 pcm :-/ the council tax would stay at £91 though cos its a low ban area we live in. Whathelps us is when me and OH moved in together we made sure we had payedof any debts finance and things like that before i got pregs other wise we woulg have been up poo creek without a paddle lol in that list is literally everything we pay out for thenthe rest we usually end up spending on kids its very rare we treat ourselves lol

Lol. If u had waited til paid off money i owed completely i would be 40, we can still afford the bills etc and to feed our baby just for the first couple of years wont be a holiday anfd major luxuries. Loool. Xx

 

[leahsbabybump]

Thanks. Im deffo gona give bf my all. I wish our council tax and mortgage was so low. Lol. Thanks again for the reply!

Xx

we only have a 1 bed flat though were waiting t be rehoused cos we dont want to go private as we have had too many bad experiences :-/
if we private rented a house the size we actually need wed be looking between 450-600 pcm :-/ the council tax would stay at £91 though cos its a low ban area we live in. Whathelps us is when me and OH moved in together we made sure we had payedof any debts finance and things like that before i got pregs other wise we woulg have been up poo creek without a paddle lol in that list is literally everything we pay out for thenthe rest we usually end up spending on kids its very rare we treat ourselves lol

Lol. If u had waited til paid off money i owed completely i would be 40, we can still afford the bills etc and to feed our baby just for the first couple of years wont be a holiday anfd major luxuries. Loool. Xx

tbh we was lucky as the inlaws paid off 2500 of debts for us :-/ so didnt have much more to pay :-/
we are pretty tight when it scomes to food shopping we dont but whay we would like we just buy what we need and cant go without it took us 3 years to be able to go into the supermarketand only spend £30 lol i used to spend £100 per week in asda for 2 of us :-/

 

[hulahoop09]

Loool. I budget 100 a fortnight for us and the dog

 

[nickibrum]

I shop for the month and then top up fresh bread/milk as and when we need it. i find that works, and going toe the market makes a big difference in saving money.
LO can have blended food when they are older. I will be doing this eventually.

If you go on moneysavingexpert it has a section about baby savings and also a forum.

 

[aimee-lou]

Hmm depends on where you shop and on your LO.

Earl is my only frame of reference and I know he was an expensive young'un. Not so much now, but defintiely in the first year.

First 6 months he was on 40oz of milk per day (give or take) so some weeks we would used 2 full tins per week! This has now gone up massively in cost, and don't forget you'll also need steriliser and new teats for the bottles on top of the actual milk.

Nappies - supermarket own ones are great on the whole. Generally better value . However, I'm thinking of going for cloth with the next one as Earl is a big lad and the size 6s are getting teeny on him! Early days we would use 8 nappies a day, now it's usually 5. Cost - I buy morrisons so get 66 for £10 currently so that will last 2 weeks.

Sundries - wipes are usually pretty cheap especially if you wait for offers or buy in bulk. I get Boots own for Earl and the're usually either 2 for £1.85 or on 3 for 2 at 98p per pack. Sudacrem is expensive to buy but lasts an age (don't forget to get a small tub for your changing bag!) Other bits you'll need are things like nappy bags and toiletries like bubble bath or cream, all can be bought pretty cheaply.

Clothes - 2nd hand for things to wear to the childminders/nursery. The rest I buy from supermarket or sale. Shoes are the only thing I splash out on and insist on clarks (£30 a pair! ) but worth it for me. Our problem was that Earl went through Newborn clothes by 10 days old, 0-3 by 6 weeks, 3-6 by 12 weeks and 6-9 months by 5 months! We bought a lot of stuff in advance, but never expected to be buying an entire wardrobe of 9-12 month clothes for a 5 month old!!!! He's now in 2-3 years, with a few 3-4 years creeping in for good measure! He's on his 3rd set of shoes in 10 months as well.

Food - I never found this to be too much of an expense. First few months it's just fruit and veggies on the whole that we would buy, and we go to the market so it's cheap anyway. Cereals are cheap enough and last a long time. He had jars quite a lot from 8ish months onwards due to circumstances and there is always offers on them which made them good. Also, if you top them up with fruit, veg and healthy snacks, and some meals cooked by yourselves, I would say that be probably added about £7 per week to our shopping bill. About £1 a day I would say is about right on top of what we would normally buy for ourselves. He does drink a lot of milk, and we go through about 8-12 pints a week.

Good luck!

Nowadays our shopping budget for our household is £60 per week, and that has to buy everything....food, toiletries, nappies etc. Clothes are bought when needed and I would say I spend about £10 a month on each of us, plus extra for shoes every 3-4 months, so another £10 a month.

So for a family of three, all food, toiletries, clothing and cleaning products the budget is around £300 a month. about £75 a week.

 

[hulahoop09]

Thats fab thanks! I would love to shop for the mnth.but we havent got the space. Lol. Aimee lou thats fab. I am hoping while on maternity i can shop around which is a bonus! Xx