Help! DH not getting paid at end of month!

[alp]

So DH came home and said that at then end of the month he won't be getting a wage. Great.

What can I / need to do to make this months £££ stretch?

After the initial fear I now need to put a plan in place to feel a bit stronger.

Thank you!

[alp]

Just spoken to Vodafone and as I am due an upgrade will allow me to keep handset and just reduced my price plan to £10.25!

Every little helps!

[FourThousandHoles]

mortgage break? beans on toast twice a week? shop at aldi?

why isn't he getting paid? (sorry am nosey)

[PotteringAlong]

Have you got any points cards you can use for stuff? Boots advantage points? Nectar points?

[alp]

He is part owner of a company that is having a rough time. He is very good at keeping work and home life separate so hadn't told me the situation.

Was thinking of the aldi shop and mortgage.

I'm hoping this is a short term thing.

[alp]

Yes I do have nectar points that's something I hadn't thought of at all! I think I've got about £90 worth!

[pooka]

I hope you don't mind me saying this, but really keeping work/home so separate that you are kept in dark or "protected" from things like this is a BAD thing.

My uncle owned a company. Was great. Then in the last recession things got bad. The first my aunt knew of the horrendous remortgaging and refinancing that hed done in order to try and keep it afloat was 2 days before a family holiday when they needed to go bankrupt. That was about 13 years ago and the long term impact is still being felt. I hope this doesn't happen to you, but I think he should be communicating with you so at least you get fair warning of belt-tightened months and so on.

[alp]

Pooka - yes I agree it is not a good idea. We are not yet at that stage but I would have liked to be told about it earlier.

Strangely DH is remarkably positive about it all and considering his struggle with depression is an odd thing to be saying!

[maxylou]

You could check with your utilitirs supplier whether you have credit on your account, as paying by monthly dd is usually over estimated. They will issue you with a cheque if you have overpaid

[Seabright]

Have a really good hunt through your cupboards and freezer. I bet you have stuff in there for meals that you have forgotten all about.

Less driving to save on petrol?

[CoffeeCamel]

Any direct debits for non-essentials that you could cancel? Magazine subscriptions? Charity donations? (You could make up for the latter when things improve.)

[solidgoldbrass]

Anything you could sell? If you have gold or silver jewellry, for instance, that you don't wear or don't much like, you could get cash for that (Don't use online gougers for this, go to your high street jeweller/pawnbroker). Or, with jewellery, you could pawn it for a couple of months.
Also things like laptops/phones that you still have hanging around because you upgraded, you can get a few quid for those.

[solidgoldbrass]

Oops, I forgot to mention that some of the chains like Cash COnverter will actually allow you to sell your stuff as 'buybacks' which is more like pawning it.

[alp]

Thanks for suggestions.

I did a bit of a freezer rummage and we've got a fair bit that I can stretch out for meals - also the shops delivered 2 packs of fish cakes in my order by mistake and didn't charge me so that's an added bonus

No DDs but we are stopping going to gym classes.

[alp]

Solidgold - we sold old phones to pay towards Xmas. Last laptop was stolen in a burglary so we don't have that to sell.

Feeling a bit better about things now as I feel a plan coming together.

[Seabright]

We have had several months with DH being paid very late or when he's needed to put money into the firm (it's a partnership) for cash flow, so am happy to swap ideas with you.

I stretch meals a lot. Do you have a slow cooker? Any casserole dish can have a handful of red lentils and a few grated carrots added and by the time it's finished cooking they have disappeared but you have a extra portion or so to freeze for another day, or you can just add less meat to begin with.

Join your local free cycle/freegle group, you can often pickup stuff you would otherwise be buying.

[alp]

Seabright - yes it is a bit of a shock to us. I feel a bit silly looking back at the 'good times' and seeing how we should have saved/cut back then.

I don't have a slow cooker - do you think they would save enough for it to be worth buying one?

I think when it will start to affect the kids I will feel a bit more gloomy - All their after school clubs are paid for for this term.

[Haagendazs]

Have a look on money saving expert website for loads of good advice
Do you have stuff you can eBay? Clothes/shoes/toys/unwanted gifts
Can you earn some money - babysitting/unofficial childminding, get an evening job (market research or suchlike, supermarket), are you any good at art/craft/baking etc?
Yy to using boots/nectar points etc
Good luck

[Haagendazs]

Oh and you may find a slow cooker on free cycle but I wouldn't bother buying one when you're in a tight squeeze!

[phyllisdiller]

Slow cookers are good for cheap cuts of meat like braising and stewing steak, but tbh you can get the same effect with a big solid casserole pot and a low temperature in the oven. I made beef casserole and dumplings the other day (in the oven), really tasty comfort food and very easy. The slow cooker comes into it's own for me if I am both skint and tight for time, then it really is my savour as I can throw in browned mince, tins of tomatoes, onions etc and make a very yummy spag bol.

Lentils are you friend too when times are hard, they plump out most meals and are good for you (secondary protein or something I think). Red are easiest as you can just throw them into what ever you want without pre-cooking. Green lentils need pre-cooking and the residue from the cooking water thrown away or you will all suffer from dreadfully bad gas and inflated tummy's!

Other money raising/making things include (for me anyway) visiting 2 supermarkets for the best deals (e.g waitrose have washing powder on offer atm and Tescos have nappys). Buy stuff from boots and spend the points on make up. I also gathered up all of my old broken gold and sold it (in a shop, don't send it off in an envelope. Shop about you should be getting about £11 per gram for 9ct currently, lot's of places will offer less).

Hope things all work out and your DH's pay gets back to normal soon.

[ThatVikRinA22]

slow cookers on sale at Tesco for £12.

my best xmas present ever from a good friend....

[Seabright]

Also, I never cease to be amazed at what people will buy on eBay. I've made several hundred quid over the last few months selling stuff that was just sitting around the house.

I try and make it a game/challenge - how little can I spend on shoppping? How many things can I list on eBay? That works for me.

[glammanana]

Here's hoping that things get back to normal for you soon,when my DD had a few bad month's last year she made a point of going to her local supermarket for the reduced item's and she used to load up on bread and other food stuffs that where just on date and she would freeze them and use when needed,this helped her out a great deal,good luck

[alp]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I am almost looking forward to shopping next week to see how much I can reduce my bill by I might Lidl shop then online the rest as I am terrible for picking stuff up as I go round.

Also I will nip out the night before I shop to see what bargains I can get - once got 2 Duck Breasts from Waitrose for £1.60!! We can eat like kings even if we are cutting back

A very very good tip about the green/red lentils - the last thing I need for my mood is a bloated belly and the last thing DH needs is more wind

We did have a mass sell up prior to Xmas but I know we have more so I will get listing this weekend.

That's what cheeses me off as we had sold stuff to pay for Xmas and kept to a strict budget - so we had worked hard for the last 3 months of last year but that's nothing compared to what's going to come.

[Seabright]

It is definatly better if you look at it as a challenge. Living frugally and really good budgeting can almost be a job in itself, you do need to apply time and thought to it, but when you succeed, you do get real boost.

Yellow-stickered meat (reduced in price) is great, if you have space in the freezer. Try calling at the supermarket at around 5:30pm or about 9:15pm - those are the times our local supermarket reduces stuff. Sometimes to really silly prices too - Organic meat down to 50p a pack.

As you have no slowcooker, why not put a "wanted" on your local freecycle? I got one that way.

If you don't already get it, sign up for the moneysavingexpert.com weekly newsletter. Their forums are great too. The "Old-Style" forum is packed with ideas for saving money at home on cooking, cleaning, presents etc.

[QuintessentiallyShallow]

Boots points?

If you have collected lots, then you can just spend them now.

One good reason for buying my glasses in Boots, I think!