Living cheaply

[Samsamsuperman]

I'm sure people must live way cheaper than we do. What are your hacks?
FYI family of 4, DC 1&3
Both of us work FT
Shop in Sainsbury's which I know is meant to be expensive but honestly don't seem to spend much less in alternatives...
Are places like Costco, home bargains, B&M worth it?
How else do you save?

Sainsbury's is the most expensive supermarket around here by far. Switch to Aldi for a start.

One last one, washable and reueable sanitary products save me a fortune

userxx no alcohol! I know bloody awful! Tbh I could get my food shopping at Aldi cheaper if I took the time to plan better.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers That's where I'm going wrong it's the bloody gin. I'm on a mission to cut my food bill down so the booze will have to go.

Shop at Aldi. I also get lots of things 50% off there, to reduce the bill even further.

Don't buy lots of prepackaged food eg cheese strings, pepperami, boxes of raisins, ready meals. I buy bigger packs of eg cheese/raisins & portion them out myself into tubs or foil. Less plastic packaging too & better taste usually.

90% of our clothes for the whole family are secondhand. Even things like Scout uniform, I stash if I see cheap. 5% of our clothes are new in sales & the rest full price, but often supermarket or Primark.

We also buy everything else secondhand! Toys, furniture, books etc.

I sell on things we no longer use. Even if things only sell for £2/3 it soon adds up.

Use your local library for books rather than buying.

Go on main 'summer' holiday in Easter hols. We saved even more by buying Easyjet flights on the day they were released.

Check you're getting the best deal on gas/electric, phone, internet, mortgage, insurance etc. (but beware of exit fees for cancelling contracts early - read the smallprint)

Go through your bank statements and check you have no direct debits going to subscriptions you no longer use.

When I switched from Sainsbury to Aldi many years ago, my weekly bill dropped by about 30%. Seriously.

However, it does depend on you having an Ald near you
I presume you are looking at all expenses, not just supermarket though ?

Do you shop around EVERY YEAR for a better deal on car insurance; house insurance; broadband ; gas & electric; any other insurance you pay; mobile phone bill ?
Have you looked through your bank statements and checked you aren't paying for things you don't really use ? - magazine subscriptions, gym memebership, etc ?

I think it is worth carrying a little notebook with you (or if you prefer making notes on your phone) for a month a literally writing down every thing you spend (getting your dh to do the same), and then you find out where your money is actually going.

It is difficult for us to suggest savings if we don't know what your money is currently going on:

Cigarettes
Alcohol
Magazines
Takeaway coffees
Buying lunch rather than taking it from home
Make up / creams and potions
Hair cuts, tans, nails
Hobbies

You need to see what you are spending it on

I’m doing a bit of spending analysis this month. I’ve taken my debit card out of my wallet and anything I buy is with my credit card. I’m much much more conscious of using it, I think twice. That evening I refund the card from my current account.
I’ve cut out alcohol completely for a while, best move ever. I’ll have some on hols in a few weeks, and at Christmas and take it from there. I’ve saved loads already

Lots of inspiration on here you lot - thank you!

I second Lidl

Stating the obvious but I don't go to shops unless I actually need something. Otherwise I found myself buying stuff just because it seemed like a good deal (I always end up spending a fortune in pound shops) I also really try to keep clothes down to what we actually need rather than stocking up on 'bargains'.

I had a serious look at our spending a few years ago and, as well as many things already mentioned, found we were spending a small fortune going out at weekends. Not even really things we particularly enjoyed, just a feeling that as we were at work all week we should do something together- lots of soft play places in the winter, cinema, petting farms etc. As well as entry fees it was costing us loads in petrol, parking and lunches and snacks etc.

We've found that with a bit of thought and planning we can actually have a better time together for much less- eg film night at home, playing games at home, walks/parks etc locally. If we go out locally we try to plan it so we can be at home for meals and if we go further afield we either take a picnic or at least have a look at what the food options are so we can factor it in to deciding where to go. If we do go for a more expensive day out we try to go when there is a discount offer. We also always keep a few drinks and snacks in the car for the DC so there's less need to buy them out.

Sounds a bit kill joy, but at the time we really needed to watch our money. Plus half the time we were spending £££ on food etc we didn't really enjoy.

@lovelygreenjumper Yep, doing things is bloody expensive! Even for going out for a few drinks adds up, £7 for a glass of wine sucks the fun out of it.

I take cash out and only spend that (I always check my balance every time I withdraw cash).
I just got back into living the way people used to live - simpler plainer food, only buying clothes and shoes when you really need to, mending things when possible, walking whereever possible, etc etc.
Economise on your heating - wear jumpers or a housecoat and socks indoors instead of sticking your heating on as soon as it's a bit chilly.
As a bonus, I lost weight without having to really think about it and I'm much fitter.

Forgot to mention, I cut and dye my own hair. I get my dye from Aldi or poundland and I learnt how to cut my hair from watching videos on youtube. It's not a precision cut or anything and it might not do if I had to maintain a really smart professional appearance but it looks fine for everyday life.

Shop at Aldi/Lidl with a list of planned meals for the week or ASDA home delivery. One car if possible -cars are so expensive to run. Shop around for gas and electricity providers (we’ve just chopped £30 pcm by changing ours). Don’t go shopping as a leisure activity. Smaller things are using powder for the washing machine rather than pods or tablets. Don’t skimp on things that feel very important to you, otherwise you will feel too deprived.

Live in a city (she said, ruefully). Out in the sticks it's lovely but no public transport, too far to cycle to anywhere (if you want to get to work on time), no free entertainment and food is more expensive!

On the plus side, you do have to shop in bulk, so I found shopping once a month (if you have the storage space) is great and removes the temptation to buy 'extras'. You need a shopping list though...

Organise a clothes swap to get a whole new wardrobe for free.

Meal planning is a big thing and shopping with a list. I recently bought an Ecoegg on amazon for £20 to use instead of washing powder. It's supposed to last up to 3 years (720 washes) and works great!

-Lidl (I've started buying my toiletries there as well now)
-Savers also good for body stuff
-B&M, Poundland etc. for cleaning products etc.
-I don't really buy meat
-Meercat movies 241 cinema on a Tues/Wed
-We go out for lunch now instead of dinner unless it's a bday etc., usually cheaper
-I book holidays, train tickets etc. early and research to get good prices (and we have a Two Together railcard which helps)
-I don't replace things till they're fully broken
-Use Freecycle, Gumtree etc. to check for home stuff when you need it (I got a washing machine secondhand on Gumtree for 80 quid and it's still going strong after 5 years)
-I don't stay in hotels (use AirBnB to find apartments, that way can cook on holiday which also saves)
-I've trained myself not to buy endless skin stuff (stopped being taken in by all the marketing claims, I swear most of it does nothing), I also cut my own hair and don't get my nails done or anything like that (probably look scruffy but I don't really care about that)

Oh also, live in very untrendy area not near city centre (and not in London) so mortgage payments low.

Sainsbury’s is massively expensive. Aldi or Lidl for me. We spend £60-80 for two adults, a baby and a 9 year old. That includes all nappies and toiletries.

I meal plan and buy the ingredients for those meals, I avoid doing mid week top up shops and keep a mental note when I do, so that I don’t get carried away. As much of that is fresh I tend to make 4/5 larger meals at the beginning of the week so everything gets used freezing half the portions then use the meals already frozen in the freezer for the latter half of the week. Means there’s still plenty of veg and goodness in our food but we’re not having to top up shop to buy fresh.

Frozen fruits and berries (I add these to our breakfasts), again avoiding a top up shop.

Use a slow cooker! Great for cheaper cuts of meat and to throw all your veg in for a tasty and nutritious stew.

Also we get all our toys off FB and gumtree.

So I just saved £7.92 on our weekly supermarket shop just by switching from sainsburys to ASDA (I know I could save more from Aldi/Lidl but online delivery is a lifesaver at the moment).

Also paid £24 for a midweek delivery pass which means we will need to be more organised with shopping but big saving compared to the £60 anytime pass I had with sainsbury's.

I've planned the weeks dinners with cheapness in mind!

You really gave me food for thought with the car. I do really need it for work and to get to my mums but I'm going to use it less and the seeds have been planted when it comes to alternatives in the future.

I use mooncup and shop around for utilities and insurance already but need to use less gas and electric - that's totally doable.

I think one thing I clearly need to do is track my spending because a big thing for me is buying 'stuff'. Because of Amazon and the like, I think of something and the next day it is in my hand and I just had to press a couple of buttons. I did think I could make the rule that I only buy things in shops - I won't then bother unless I actually need it. However, often things are cheaper online. So maybe make myself wait for a particular day... Not sure on that one.