Operation Cost Cutting

A few weeks ago George Osbourne announced the first budget of this Parliament.  He made cuts.  It inspired me to go through our finances and see where I could make savings.  (My mother has been urging me to do this for years but I am stubborn and fought against it).  I was shocked when I calculated how little money we had left at the end of the year when all our outgoings (including children's clubs etc) were taken off.  The money left was theoretically  to provide clothes, holidays and treats for a family of 4.  It would also have to cover any unexpected costs. 

So Operation Cost Cutting was launched in our household with vengeance.  As Chancellor of the household I have implemented some changes.  We have separate monthly budgets for food, petrol and extras.  I had to relent a little when I saw the confused and terrified look on my husband's face; so this system isn't as hard and fast as was originally planned. 

My husband was dispatched to the phone to find the best phone and Internet package.  This nearly caused him a coronary but bless him he has secured us a good deal.  Well, we think it is good but time will tell.  Oh and the TV is going completely.  We watch a lot but purely because it is there.  The programmes that we follow are very few and far between so the monthly cost is not warranted neither is the yearly licence.  As long as we don't watch things live we can get most of what we want on the Internet (we made sure we got a larger monthly download limit for this purpose.)  We may have to sweeten the girls with a DVD box set of the A-team series. 

It is my job to see what I can save on the Gas and Electricity bills.  Some of the deals require the money up front which seem a little odd so I will keep looking into that. 

So readers if you have any ways of saving money then please let me know.