Ok, so now my husband has been laid off from his job he won’t be having a wage so we are going to be struggling moneywise.
The poor man has lost his confidence and I think he wishes he could retire now as he isn’t in good health and has only one arm due to an industrial accident many years ago. He also thinks his age which is almost 62 is going to go against him finding a new job.
We have a mortgage and I’ve been worrying about us not being able to pay it so I’m trying to think of ways to save money.
I’ve decided that I am going to start buying my fruit and veg from a local market on Wednesdays and Saturdays as its quite a bit cheaper and I’m going to do most of my shopping at Lidl and Aldi as food is a bit cheaper there.
I will also buy my meat and cooked meats at the market too so my shopping bill should be a bit less.
I went to see a mortgage advisor yesterday and I think we may change our mortgage over for now to a interest only mortgage as the payments will be manageable.
We have also been talking about selling our property and moving into over 50s housing complex as that would release some money up for us and we could live off the proceeds of our house.
The mortgage advisor mentioned equity release but I don’t think I like that idea really.
We are still in thinking stages of what to do about the house.
I’m trying to think of other ways to save money. We have never had very much spare but at the same time never really had money problems so this is going to be a bit tough going learning to watch the pennies but also a challenge.
I’m interested in any ideas you can give me to help us save money.
First of all, if you’ve not already done something similar, methodically go through your house, and loft, shed garage, etc, and sort out things you no longer need or want, and could sell. That includes clothes, too.
Either eBay or carboots/table sales.
At the same time, ask friends and relatives if they have things to get rid of that they wouldn’t mind you selling. It saves them a trip to the charity shop or tip.
Don’t worry about how rubbishy things might appear to be; you’d be surprised at how some things you might have taken to the tip can realise a couple of pounds here and there at car boots, and it all adds up.
If you then keep a look-out for people giving things away, you might pick up a lot of saleable things.
Note though, that once it starts turning into a bit of a business, you would have to declare any profits, after expenses, but unless that exceeds the personal allowance, there wouldn’t be tax payable.
This might be a project your OH could get his teeth into while he’s looking for another job?
I’ve done boot sales in the past and although I enjoyed doing them I found people want things for next to nothing and I’ve even had things stolen from my stall. The stall fees have got really high, I think its £15 a stall now. I must have a route through my house, my cupboards are fit to burst with junk that could be someone elses treasure.
Ebay is quite good but they have gotten quite greedy with their fees haven’t they but yes, I think I’ll sell some clothes on there, I’ve got a wardrobe of clothes that are now too big for me just stuck in there so thanks for the idea!
Lots of next-to-nothings can add up, though! If you have a garage, there’s always the garage sale option…no overheads.
Or even a front garden sale!
Look out for schools and church hall/community centres having table sales… fees are usually a lot cheaper than commercial carboots.
Then there’s the option of selling things for friends and family who don’t want the bother. They provide the things to be sold, and you do the work, and then split the proceeds 50:50 after expenses.
Great idea Pyxell,
It’s a bit more difficult for me to help since I’m in Canada but do you people have online selling places that are exclusively for selling things either new or used Thats completely free?
Here we have kijiji and Craigslist? You can post the things you wish to sell for free and even lets you post lots of pictures.
If you don’t want these people coming to your house then plan to meet them at a mall parking lot or some place that’s busy.
Go through every room in your house and get rid of duplicates and things you no longer need or use. You’ll need to do this when you eventually downsize anyway.
Another idea is to find a creative niche( hobby ) and sell your stuff on Etsy. My husband and I sold about 300 items in less than two years. It was good extra money which we used to purchase new windows which we installed ourselves.
It cost little to list your stuff and Etsy takes a percentage of your sales and it’s not a lot. The software Etsy uses is really user friendly so it’s easy to manage an online store. It would be especially helpful for your man. That must be incredibly difficult for him.
Another thing you can do which you have already started is to look through all the food sales, find the best deals and plan your weekly menus based on what’s on sale. Cook in abundance , label and freeze for later.
Make it a game to see how little you can spent each week.
Get a change jar and save every penny.
Use coupons whenever and wherever you can.
Price compare with everything.
Buy second hand clothes which I know you already do.
Facebook Market Place is good. When I moved I sold lots of things I didn’t need on there
Take a look at your utility bills, I saved a lot by switching things off at the plug, having a water meter etc. If your roof rain water goes into a soak-away instead of drain you get money off your bill etc.
See if you’re eligible for Warm Home Discount in the Autumn and any other benefits, you’ve paid in so don’t worry about asking for help.
Lidl and Aldi are very good, I was a bit sceptical but now I do most of my shopping there. BM and Home bargains even sell medicines and chemist items.
Good luck and I hope things look brighter gor you soon x
Thanks Swimmy, I love Home Bargains and B & M, they both do cheap food too, thanks for reminding me.
I think he really has lost his confidence, he is in IT but his skills are very outdated, I’m trying to talk him into doing some courses to update them but he’s very down at the moment and not motivated at all. I’m trying my best to keep him positive and his spirits up.
It’s early days so I’m sure he will bounce back, he’s overcome some life trials in the past he’ll do it again.
Queenie, I’m sorry to hear your husband lost his job. It was only recently he got it too wasn’t it?
Listen petal, think positive. It isn’t all bad on the job front.
There are still plenty around, even for your youthful 62yr old hubby. After all, it was only recently he found the latest job. Even though it is no more the fact he got it, means he still employable
Is good walking? To fill in the time while he’s looking for another job, how about doing a bit of dog walking? Is he good at anything DIY - lots of people need handymen.
Somewhere in my memory banks there were some people who blogged about their ability to live under a certain amount of money, which was really quite a poultry sum.
No idea what they were called, but it’s bound to be on the net somewhere.
Wishing your husband luck in finding his next job petal. He’s sure to be feeling deflated, but with you nudging him, he’ll bring himself up again. Betcha
I work 4 hours a day and I had a second job up until recently but had handed in my notice just before all this happened so I’m on the lookout for a second job again.
Dog walking, oooooh what a great idea, I’d love to do that, thanks for the idea TessA. I could make myself a facebook page couldn’t I.
Thank you TessA fingers crossed things start to look up, I know there are people a lot worse off than us so I’m trying to keep that in mind. I have faith that things won’t always be like this, its just we hit another of lifes stumbles x
Thanks Pesta, yes he had only just recently got that job, he was only 3 weeks into the job when they announced that they were going under and someone was coming in to try save the company but heads had to go, my husband was one of them.
I will never understand why they set people on knowing the company was going under, had he known he would have never left his previous job even though he hated it.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed and praying that all will come good in the end.
