Best money saving tips

[CurryandSnuggle]

A thread to share money saving tips! I really want to be mega frugal, there must be other like minded people 😁

What I’ve done so far:

• Reduced water bill by filling a bowl rather than running tap, and sharing water.

• Buy washing powder instead of liquid. Lasts much longer.

• Cancelled subscriptions I’m not using. £6 here and there really adds up!!

• Got a Tesco club card as our local always has deals on everyday items for club card holders.

• Put debt on 0% cards with view to clear debt within that time.

Love to hear yours!

Always cut tubes of toothpaste open to get the last bits out - it’s actually a surprising amount of servings left in there - normally at least 5.

Oh and before buying ANYTHING think will I still want this in a week/month/year. Thinking about where the £3.95 magazine will be in just a week’s time is generally a good incentive to not bother. Same with a nail varnish!

My biggest tip is to treat it like a game, so that it feels fun not a chore. Keep a track of every single saving you make and be very self-congratulatory.

Great suggestions, anymore?

I’ve just completed my tax rebate claim for working from home. About time!!!

Don’t go to the shops unless to buy food and when you do go with a list.

I do my supermarket on line. I meal plan, and make sure I get all that, and then happily click on everything else in my favourites I “think” we need. Then I go through my basket and cull it all!

When I think I think I want something, I generally wait a few days and realise I don’t.

I shop at the reduced shelves a lot. I only pay full price for meat and fish at Christmas

When you take the DC out don't go to places with shops/cafes.
(eg, go to the park that's just near houses rather than the other park that has a cafe and is near Sainsburies local).

Meal plan and always shop to a list don't shop when you are hungry, buy reduced where you can too!

We just looked through ours and cancelled TV package so only have Internet and then iplayer, itv hub etc and amazon prime. Saved us £60 a month. Cancelled netflix. We only watch a few shows so when new series come out we will wait till all are on it then pay 1 month fee watch it all and cancel.
Mobile phone. Both our contracts finished so we moved to SMARTY and pay £6 each a month instead of £15 each.
We meal plan every week and only busy what we need with tesco and clubland saves a fortune. Tesco own brand is really good quality so we rarely buy branded food.
Weve consolidated all debts like you have onto 0% card to pay off in 1 payment each month saving on interest.
I think we've saved total of around £100 a month possibly more.

That’s a brilliant saving @abbs1

Ooh something else I do is, if I’m buying gifts for people I buy it through topcashback. Don’t often get loads back but it does add up over time.

Go food shopping in the evening or Sunday afternoon to take advantage of yellow sticker bargains, if you're adaptable to what's cheap and available then you can make big savings here.

Try not to throw anything but real rubbish away. Use all the food you buy obviously but also try to sell anything you don't want before binning, you'll be surprised what people will buy and even if you don't get much or end up giving things away you'll have saved something from landfill or incineration. Often it's more convenient also for larger items as people will come to you to collect.

Buy secondhand or end of line or returns. I've been buying all my clothes on ebay for almost 20 years now, many of them brand new with the tags and usually for about 10% of their original price. I always try to sell anything I don't want to find new (eBay) purchases also. For furniture, obviously charity shops and Facebook marketplace can be good, bit also eBay is great for customer returns, for example our Made.com bed and sofa were both bought from eBay as new as customer returns for less than a third of their original price.

Shopping isn't a real hobby so don't treat it like one, some people can browse without being tempted to buy things they don't really want and some can't, figure out which one you are. Try to love what you have remember you wanted it once) and consider longevity when buying anything, will you love/use it for long enough to justify the cost? Remember that there are alway new things and if you can't love what you already have you'll probably never love anything you could get.

Prioritise the things you value and are willing to spend on and then optimise them. For example I love the cinema and always get our home insurance through compare the market to get the meerkat movies 2for1, over the course of the year the saving on cinema tickets is more than the insurance cost. Try and figure out what really adds value to your life and prioritise spending there, maybe it's holidays or eating out or an evening in the pub or a hobby or expensive beauty products etc.

Consider if you can switch to a sim only or pay as you go contract and definitely keep your phone as long as you can and get off the upgrade cycle.

I use save the change, use cashback where I can.
Being mindful not to buy new clothes except needs

My win this month was discovering tax free childcare. Saving us a fortune. I feel so embarrassed that I didn't know about it sooner 😳.

We meal share with a few friends - so once or twice a week my kids eat elsewhere, and once or twice we are feeding other kids at ours. And we batch cook 'adult' meals and pass tupperwares between us all. Doesn't save tonnes but there's an economy of scale.

Our friendship group shares baby / child equipment and clothes via a WhatsApp group, so buying new is always a last option.

This is a random one but I have a car on PCP. I've just upgraded it to a bigger/better model but I'm paying much less. Previous car was £260/month and new one is £185 and the car is much nicer. Its a much better deal ATM because 2nd hand cars are going up in price apparently.

Might be worth looking at this if you are looking at a new car soon.

Oh, and we've started getting a takeaway from the 'too good to go' app. Pakistani meal for 2 (enough for a second full meal of leftovers, too) for £6 this week.

Write down your outgoings and incomings each month when you get paid. It is much easier when it’s all down in black and white. You’ll be able to see where unnecessary spends are going and how you’ll be able to scale back

Meal plan. Make a list of what you’ve already got in the fridge, freezer and cupboards. Base your meal plans on that and do a weekly shop around what you need for your meal plans

Buy breakfast or lunch at work? Stop and take your own. Same with takeout drinks

Days out/trips with the family? Search ahead for free/half price entry codes.

Do you really need to drive to the shop/school/activity? Walk or cycle and save a few £‘s there

You don’t need to see a hairdresser monthly - every 3 months is fine. Even better if you can dye your hair yourself

Eat lots of veg? Have garden space? Grow some veg! Potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, garlic, beetroot, courgettes and such are easy to grow if you’ve got space and even if you don’t have much space, you can be very creative

Batch cooking is a must. Even better if you can reduce portion sizes a little to squeeze another meal out of it for the freezer

Do your research with grocery shopping. Stuff isn’t always cheapest in one particular supermarket.

Bulk purchases can work well if you have storage space.

Always have basics in like tinned tomatoes, pasta, rice, flour and beans. You’ll always get a cheap meal from those!

Amazon is good but eBay is often cheaper, just means you’ll have to wait a couple more days for whatever you’re buying.

Finally, open a savings account linked to your bank account and transfer anything you save,. When you see it mounting up it will motivate you to carry on doing what you’re doing 🙂

@Whatliesbeneath707

This is a random one but I have a car on PCP. I've just upgraded it to a bigger/better model but I'm paying much less. Previous car was £260/month and new one is £185 and the car is much nicer. Its a much better deal ATM because 2nd hand cars are going up in price apparently. Might be worth looking at this if you are looking at a new car soon.

We are looking at doing this in the near future. We have an old ford focus (bought outright) but need something bigger as we have a new baby due soon and will be able to afford PCP or HP. So you found brand new cars from a dealership are cheaper PCP/HP than doing PCP for example cazoo, motorpoint, lookers or other 2nd hand car sale places.

Only buy clothes from charity shops ... haven't bought any new clothes (except a few bras & socks) for at least 5 years, probably more. I know a charity shop that gets brand new knickers & tights from M & S so I buy them there

Right down a list of people you know you will need to buy birthday presents for and look out for offers/discounts whilst out and about (even if it’s Jan s as d their birthday isn’t till June.

Pack a lunch for work and don’t pop to the shop at lunch time.

If eating out always check voucher cloud etc for a deal first.
Look for vouchers for things you would usually buy in newspapers/shop magazines. Eg just got 50p off a pack of always pads

If you have little ones… pampers do vouchers every few months with no limit on if they’re in a sale(usually reduced to £4.50) £9 pack of nappies for £2.50 … currently got a stockpile of 10 packs.
Take advantage of bulk buys if you have the funds/space.
Boots points can build up
Turn off your electrics at the wall at night- saves on electricity

Check for discount schemes on water- severn trent do the big difference scheme for reduced water rates.

Bulk cook and shop around different supermarkets

Get a job with a bus company (free bus pass) haha

Reduced sticker meat saves loads and can go straight into the freezer.

I bulk buy thinks like pulses, lentils and nuts online. So much cheaper!

If anyone in your house eats needs a sandwich at lunchtime make sure that you make them as this will save a small fortune each week. We bought a filter coffee machine instead of the fancy pod type as coffee pods are so expensive.