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I recently heard a discussion on the radio about how much it costs for a family to survive in this day and age. The company that conducted the research decided that an average family needs to make £40,000 per year just to have a basic standard of living! So no going out, no buying new things and just eating basic food.
The question for the discussion was whether we as a society are becoming greedy?
What are your thoughts on this? I personally don’t think we are, I think that the cost of living is just getting too high. Everything seems to be expensive these days, from food to fuel.
The main culprits for the rise in the cost of living was apparently down to three main things…
1) The rise in childcare costs
2) Travel costs rising
3) Benefit cuts
In an effort to reduce are outgoings we have decided to cut back on all sorts of things that can be deemed as unnecessary spending.
For example I now only have a very small car that only costs £30 to fill up and that lasts me a good two weeks. It may not be what I would chose to drive but it gets me from A to B and saves me a ton of cash in the meantime.
Cutting Back on the Weekly Food Shop
We are super careful with our weekly food shop, we never spend over our budget and always buy just enough food for the week. This is the mans job, he has this amazing ability of being able to add up, compare and come out with the best possible bargains.
Stop Buying New
I can’t remember the last time we brought anything’ brand new’, whether it be furniture, clothes or items for the home. I just don’t see the point these days especially when there are so many good sites now for trading and getting rid of unwanted items, such as Freecycle.
Grow your Own Food
We have also started to grow our own food, only a few bits just to see how we get on but it all helps I suppose. I’m also intrigued by the prospect of ‘foraging’. Nettle soup here I come, a post for another day perhaps!
Read: 10 Tips for Foraging with Kids
So what about you, what do you do in your household to save money?
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Wow £40k would be lovely to live on! We are a family of five and we live on a lot less than that. We changed our car from a petrol to a diesel car, thus reducing our fuel bill by almost half and the road tax is half as much too. We are pretty good with not overbuying food and making sure we do use most of what we buy. It is getting harder because wages aren’t going up as much as the price of things.
Thanks for the comment. You’re right it is hard and I predict that it’s only going to get worse. x
It is so challenging, I spend every month watching money go out in despair…. I try and save money by making sure everyone has a packed lunch and I shop at Aldi.
You’re right It is challenging. We are going down the pack lunch route when ours start school too, it all helps I suppose x