'It's hard but it's absolutely worth it' - Super spending Sunderland family praise TV show Eat, Shop, Save for turning their lives around

A super-spending Sunderland family have praised TV show Eat, Shop, Save for helping them take back control of their finances.
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The ITV show helps busy families from across the UK, learn how to save money, eat healthier food and get fit.

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They admitted to spending £315 a week on food and found themselves with increasing debts as they continued to spend more than they earned.

Eat, Shop, Save stars Nicola and Jamie Todd, with children Jake and Esther and presenter Ranvir Singh.Eat, Shop, Save stars Nicola and Jamie Todd, with children Jake and Esther and presenter Ranvir Singh.
Eat, Shop, Save stars Nicola and Jamie Todd, with children Jake and Esther and presenter Ranvir Singh.

And now the family have praised the show for transforming their lives.

Mum Nicola said: “The whole experience for us has been amazing.

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“In a very short space of time we got married, had a baby, we moved house and I changed jobs, so we really struggled to get into a routine.

“With all of those life changes we also managed to run up a bit more debt than we would normally have and we were paying no attention when budgeting due to lack of time.

“We were finding more and more day to day things were going onto credit cards and all food was quick food such as microwaved meals, takeaways, and eating out, so we got a shock at how much we were spending!

“We contacted eat shop save to see if they could help and the team spent time and attention gathering info on our spending and eating habits to see what would work for us.

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“They created a masterplan with their team of experts which has worked so well for us.

“From the spending jars which has helped us budget and have more visibility with spend and the meal planning making a list and sticking to it, we have saved a fortune per week.”

And was not the only challenge for the family, as top personal trainer Tom Pitfield joined forces with chef and nutritionist Dale Pinnock to overhaul the family’s diet and lifestyle.

Nicola added: “We now batch cook at least twice a week and I have always got enough variety to see me through a full week if I didn’t want to cook one week at all.

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“With me having various health problems the team decided swimming was the exercise for us and it's been so great to all get in the water and have fun while keeping fit.

“We are in control of our credit spend and have even lowered monthly payments by switching to 0% APR.

“We are a stone lighter in weight and eating a much better balanced diet.

“It's hard, I'm not going to lie, as you have to completely change the way you do almost everything – but it’s absolutely worth it.

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“Thanks to eat shop save for giving us that much needed shove in the right direction!”

Money expert Kate said: “I helped the Todd family get in control of their credit card spending in a big way.

“One of the ways I did that was by going back to the good old fashioned method of savings jars and using cash.

“This helped the family to clearly understand where they were spending and they were then able to take control.

“I am so proud of them for doing so.”