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Cutting back to save money

Frederick

By Frederick
in NEW - Money Saving Expat

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AnOther Rookie

AnOther

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[quote user="Patf"]We were in the category of "fuel poverty" (one tenth+ of income on fuel.)[/quote]I really don't get this famous alleged 'fuel poverty' equation, it's just a popular headline or a sound byte.

If your income is only €10/12k pa you are pretty well tottering on poverty period - but if you have an income of say €20k by spending €2k+/pa on fuel can you really claim to be in in any sort of poverty ?

I don't think so.

 

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PaulT Newbie

PaulT

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[quote user="halfblind"]Interesting that a lot of the comments on this thread are from people saving money in the UK (Waitrose and Green King in France ?), so I assume second home owners. Cutting back on second homes would save a lot of money [;-)]
[/quote]

Well, we are second home owners in France but the plan was for it to be our only home when we were both retired (which happened last April) until the short one changed the health rules.

Retirement also meant that we relocated to a cheaper part of the UK.

When we lived in Surrey we had a large number of supermarkets and in the town where we lived was Waitrose and Lidl and just outside Tesco. I would rarely venture in to Lidl but if I did it was for their non food offers. Weekend ritual was to buy Pain Rustique from Waitrose and the main shopping from Tesco.

In France it was buying from L'Eclerc and Inter Marche.

In our new location in the UK nearby there is just the Co-op and Lidl so we started to venture in to Lidl. There we found Pepsi Light at 99p a bottle which we were buying. Then we bought a bottle of their own Cola. To test I haded my OH a glass and said which cola is that. She replied Pepsi - it was Lidls own so that is what we now buy. We find that a whole range of items are perfectly acceptable so a lot more shopping is now done there.

With Lidl discovered in the UK this has now extended to France.

The thing I find expensive in France now is eating out. The hotel near us in the UK does a specials night on a Thursday consisting of two main courses (there is only one option but this is displayed) and a bottle of wine for £15 - buy the wine on its own and it costs £15.99! Also during the week at lunchtime a main course (you choose from a list) and a dessert for £7 or in November £5 with mash or £7 with chips. And if you live near a Weatherspoons they are cheap.

In the 'kiss me quick' seaside resort up the coast from us is a hotel that proudly displays outside 'BREAKFAST AND A PINT £5 FROM 8am' - and no I have not been tempted.

My New Years resolution was to get a better grip on our finances - i.e. understand what we are spending money on. I therefore downloaded 3 trial programs for personal finance monitoring, identified which seemed best to me (this allows both UKP and Euro accounts) and later today I will start inputting our finances in to it. It will enable budgets to be set and monitored and also see how we spend our money and hopefully how we can do things differently.

Paul

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Russethouse Rookie

Russethouse

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As this forum is for second home owners and Francophiles rather than solely for people living in France there is nothing wrong in discussing UK sites and stores in this context, in addition to French ones.

I subscribe to Money Saving Expert and Money Magpie for money saving tips.

I'm not a great one for New Years resolutions but I think we discard too much food at home and so I'm aiming for less waste and hopefully less (slimmer ) waist too.

GG will back me up when I say that our regular restaurant is right opposite a Weatherspoons pub. The restaurant makes a virtue of using British food as locally sourced as possible and offers a set menu at a reasonable price. When I look across and see some of the Weatherspoons offers I'm afraid I can't help wonder at the quality and source of the food.

A couple of years ago I made an excel spreadsheet to track our spending...after a few weeks it was obvious where money was going.....
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Hoddy Rookie

Hoddy

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RH wrote "A couple of years ago I made an excel spreadsheet to track our spending...after a few weeks it was obvious where money was going....."

My OH did this some time ago and I have already been informed that we used less gas (heating) and more electricity (cooking) over the holiday.

Hoddy
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Benjamin Newbie

Benjamin

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Don't mess with us old ones. We have all the time in the World.   [:P]

It's nice to see I'm not the only one to keep records. As Rh says it becomes apparent in a fairly short space of time where the money goes.

We threw away a satsuma (gone bad in the box). Mind you the braised little gem lettuces that were past their best weren't a roaring success.  [+o(]

Here's another one for you PaulT. Never ever accept an insurance renewal without going on to more than one comparison website to check for cheaper quotes.
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Gardengirl Rookie

Gardengirl

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My husband uses Microsoft Money, which was part of the Works suite package when we bought a new computer back in 2004. You can use multiple currencies with it; he's used it for quite a few years and is happy with it.

He also tried Grisbi which offers similar facilities to Microsoft Money and is free. He tried it when looking for something for use on other operating systems, such as when he was using Linux.

I get mildly irritated at times when he wants to pounce on every receipt, but it's a really good way of knowing exactly where the money goes. It's a really good planning tool, which means we know how much money we need to transfer to France and when.

The restaurant RH mentions is excellent, and the set menu(with choice) is very good value. I'm hoping to get there while we're in UK this time, but having had bronchitis for a week, it hasn't been possible yet. And we're hoping to be back in France in time for the local truffle fair, so time is running out.

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Russethouse Rookie

Russethouse

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My own feeling is that value for money is more important than cheapness, that's can be hard to identify, but I suspect other people feel the same as while many stores are having a tough time John Lewis seems to be riding out the recession fairly well......

GG we usually eat at the restaurant on a Saturday, (although it will be the Sunday on the 20 th) do let me know if you are likely to be there......
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PaulT Newbie

PaulT

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[quote user="woolybanana"]Paul, which software did you download?[/quote]

I downloaded  BankTree, Accountz and Accounts3 and assessed them. BankTree only allows 7 days for evaluation and also limits the number of accounts in the trial version to 2. The other two allow 30 days and no limits. I have opted for Accounts3 from EZPZ software.

To my mind the advantages over a spreadsheet is the ability for multiple accounts and to monitor via categories and sub categories easily. Budgets can be set up and monitoring of actual v budget. There are also numerous reports and also reminders etc.

I used to use Quicken for the accounts of a club that I used to run but whilst memories fade I think what I am now using is more user friendly and has greater functionality.

Paul

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Rabbie Newbie

Rabbie

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As she says "You only get one chance of an education" so I feel you should do your best for your children in that respect. Not sure how much money you really save by switching from Waitrose to Lidl but that is her choice. Most of us have to prioritise what we spend our money on which I think makes us more appreciative of what we have.
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