Your number 1 money-saving tip

[PupInAPram]

What is your number 1 tip that saved you the most money on regular household spending?

Mine are:

Don’t buy takeaways. That’s easily £30 down the pan for one meal. So expensive. We get a Sainsbury’s ready meal for that evening where we would otherwise be tempted.

I meal plan, and cook from scratch with fresh ingredients, pasta, eggs, rice, vegetables, potatoes etc. I cook double portions in one go so I just stash meal 2 in the fridge & with 3 meals planned that’s easily a weeks’ dinners sorted. I’m vegetarian, meat is so expensive. This weeks food shop came to £36 - that’s for a family of four. I’ve batch-cooked special fried rice, paneer (with butter curry sauce), macaroni cheese, and vegetarian meatballs. Each of those 3 dinners will count for two nights, and tonight we’ve had jacket potatoes with cheese & salad - cheap as chips.

An excel spreadsheet of your family incomings and outgoings is your friend. I track all bills, I know exactly how much comes in & goes out each month, how much I’ve got left to play with. I am strict with money too - I don’t waste money on expensive purchases or whims. If I have money to spend it goes on experiences - days out or holidays (mostly UK holidays.)

Baths - the kids are washed in the same bath together. I don’t bathe/shower every day, maybe twice a week. I wash myself with a warm soapy flannel in the areas that need it. It’s really not necessary to bathe/shower every day - it’s a modern indulgence & your body doesn’t mind being naturally left alone for a few days in between washes.

Heating on at night & off in the day. No need for heating in the day if you get out & active. People get cold if they stay in & don’t move around enough. Make sure we always have layers on. Lots of them.

@Tadpolesandcress

Check your direct debits. I was horrified to find I’d been paying a monthly gym fee because I had no idea it was on auto renew. Because it was on my statement (and I’m very un observant) showing a local council payment I thought it was my council tax.

Go vegetarian.

Get brushed cotton bedding for winter and a 15 tog quilt.

Sell all your old stuff on eBay/gumtree etc. I’ve made £97 over the last 3 months. I only sell when there’s an 80% selling fee promotion. Save all useable packaging, envelopes, boxes etc. i rarely need to buy any.

Use ecloths, floor mop and extendable duster. I use very few cleaning products since I started using them over 12 years ago. Some of my original ones are still going strong. I don’t buy floor or window cleaner or polish etc. i have some lidl bathroom spray just for the toilet and occasionally to go over the kitchen counters but it lasts for ages because it’s the only thing I use it for. The actual ecloths are pricier than others but really worth it imo. Often see them in TKmaxx or on eBay.

If you have favourite brands, styles of clothes and know the fit look for used ones on eBay or vinted etc.

Good point about cleaning chemicals..forgot that I buy bulk vinegar, bicarb, bio washing powder and iso alcohol. Cheap and then make up my own cleaning products. Loads of “recipes” out there.much cheaper than buying off the shelf mixes which are mostly water in terms of bulk. I also invested in good micro cloths and use reusable pads for floor mops that can be washed It’s definitely saved money

If you can pay for your insurance annually, it saved me about £150 a year and that was just on my house insurance. I put a monthly amount in a Monzo pot like a direct debit so when it comes around to paying it again I have the money saved up to pay it. I have done it with my house insurance and car.

Look for insurance policy renewals in advance of expiry e.g. 30 days, you may get a better rate.

Shop at Aldi - I usually have to get a couple of things at Tesco on top, but it still saves around £20 a week compared to most standard-priced supermarkets.

Another tip - buy cheaper cuts of meat. For example I always use chicken thigh rather than breast. And chicken wings.

Question - what is the most efficient way to wash dishes if you are not using a dishwasher. I tend to:

• start the tap at full blast and quickly wash and rinse as I go
• turn the tap down to about a quarter and wash and rinse. I have to be pretty quick
• when the sink is full I then soak anything that needs soaking
• I then wash the soaked things and remove plug and rinse

I have no idea if this is energy efficient. I don't have 2 sinks so can't rinse in a second sink.

Any tips gratefully received....

I don’t buy everything at Aldi. But they seem very reasonable for various cheeses compared to other supermarkets. Quite a saving there as cheese lasts ages.

Also don’t forget those MSE tricks to get money back as you spend

• change your current account often to get most of offers like a free £100 switch bonus
• use a cash back credit card - pay off in full each month but it gives good build ups of free cash -including on some of your big bills like council tax *for big purchases use other discount sites or hunt out vouchers
• chase the best interest rate on any savings you do manage to have - they’re on the up so move your money
• similarly move your debt to lower interest rate where possible
• make the most of your tax allowances
• check if your entitles to any benefits like married couples, council tax discounts etc Etc etc Just read MSE really…it’s probably saved me £1000s over the last 10 plus years.

Buy as little as you can, but if you really need goods or services - eg end of policies, breakages, things wearing out etc and you are public sector/civil service/union member have a look at the deals on your corporate intranet or website. I’m at a Gvt agency and we get £90 vouchers off glasses frames as well as a free sight test. Also had 10% off a holiday village in Croyde owned by Unison.

1. Be on top of your finances and resolve all debt except mortgage. Look for cheaper insurance, gas and leccy, mortgage, etc when due for renewal
2. Meal plan for the week ahead, batch cook things like spaghetti bolognese and freeze the sauce in realistic portions, have leftovers, peel your chicken carcass properly, etc.
3. Bring lunches and snacks from home
4. Shop in Aldi. Things like detergent, loo roll, and other boring things are miles cheaper. Wine and beer is also cheaper, I’ve heard 😊.
5. Use the car less
6. Turn the heat down and check the combo boiler is set to around 50-55c and not 65
7. Wash cold where possible and air dry. Pop a fitted sheet over the airer and tuck behind heater to speed that up.
8. Walk around the house turning off heating and lights and mumble “it’s like Blackpool illuminations here”
9. Don’t go abroad on holiday, improve your house and garden instead if you own it so it’s worth more.

10. If you have Disney plus and Netflix, share with friends and family. 11. Leave the car at home and walk 12. Save on school uniform by caning the second hand sales, get bits from supermarket and sew on badge (instead of buying a school blazer can save 75%). Pool with friends who have bigger and smaller children so you can pass things down. 13. Keep an eye on loyalty schemes and clubcards etc and make sure to use them properly. 14. Go through your house and sell anything worth selling that you don’t need. Childrens toys, clothes, 15. Have a capsule wardrobe for each member of the family that mixes the bits well. Don’t impulse buy. Borrow a dress from someone if you can instead of buying one for a one off event. 15. Learn how to diy 16. If you are crafty and can sell anything you make get on Etsy 17. Sign up for too good to go app and use it 18. Check your bank account daily, have a separate slush fund to put extra money you have left over aside. 19. Use all bath and beauty products. Buy tubes where possible and cut them in half when “empty” and you’ll normally find another few days of product. 20. Skip every second hair appointment. 21. Don’t regularly have fake nails, lashes, sun beds, etc. 23. Set a goal. Decide you need to “find” x amount of money and go for it.

@madmomma

Make up weird recipes with whatever is languishing at the back of your cupboards.

I've always done this, it's called a guzinter.

I do not recommend Finefare yellow pack.

I grew up on Finefare Yellow Label products. They were truly ghastly.

Don't buy an A500 Mini, you can emulate an Amiga just fine using your PC and a free copy of WinUAE.

@SweetpeasforEasterfeast

If you use fresh lemons/limes in recipes, buy in bulk and pop them in the freezer...when needed thaw in the microwave and the juice is just as fresh as the day it was frozen...much better than the concentrates... no need it squeeze the juice before freezing and decant to another container...use the one mother nature provided. The same works for passionfruit. Not only are all these PP tips about saving money...think about how much each one is helping the environment with reducing your carbon footprint win win

Ooo…I use loads of lemon and didn’t know this…can you still zest them from frozen too?

@SpringLobelia

Never go on Amazon or ebay when drunk.

( posted under another user name once how DH and I bought a baby grand piano once when shitfaced on pink champagne. neither of us play the piano. Nor do we have room for a piano).

That’s really made me laugh. Thank you, it’s a fabulous story.

Have separate “savings” and “general use” bank account.

Put a monthly budget on yourself for the non-essentials.

When you make a purchase, any purchase. Round it up to a whole pound and immediately transfer the difference into the savings account. Or, that nice bar of chocolate = £1.45 - put 55p in the savings account.

You don’t really notice it out of your own budget, but it builds up and quite quickly too!

I have two slow cookers.
One small 1.5l sized, perfect for stews for two ppl midweek.
One medium sized for whole chicken/lamb shanks & large family stews.
Cheaper cuts of meat turn out perfectly after a long slow cook.

Mnet chicken: roast a good sized bird e.g. 2kg just about fits into the Ninja Foodie.
One roasted breast is large enough to split for two, the other cold breast sliced next day with hot vegetables & lashings of hot gravy. Strip the chicken legs & carcass by hand to get enough meat for two meals for two adults from leftovers. Render carcass & grizzly bits in pressure cooker/stove top simmer to get strong stock to boost dishes based on leftovers. Yes, yes, I know that you’ve heard all this before but it does work.

It took me a while to work out & accept that is a false economy to buy a frugal bird & barely get two meals. For the effort to buy & cost to cook, get a good quality free range bird that is bigger & meatier, it will go further.

@CanIHaveASnaaaaak

Have separate “savings” and “general use” bank account.

Put a monthly budget on yourself for the non-essentials.

When you make a purchase, any purchase. Round it up to a whole pound and immediately transfer the difference into the savings account. Or, that nice bar of chocolate = £1.45 - put 55p in the savings account.

You don’t really notice it out of your own budget, but it builds up and quite quickly too!

There are many bank accounts that will do this for you automatically - google 'current accounts that round up UK' for a selection.

On top of the frozen lemons - freeze bananas. If you freeze then peel off they are just frozen banana cubes and thaw normally or use in a smoothie etc. If the banana is turning, freeze on the skin. It will go black but the inside will turn to mush and weirdly become more bananary in taste and you just have to snip the tip off and then you squeeze it into the mix to bake banana cake.
Same with all crunchy veg especially peppers, cut off any weird bits and freeze the good parts

We reckon we save loads by washing hands in cold water. It takes so long for hot water to come through out system that we'd have finished washing when the water was only just beginning to turn tepid. We now just use cold out of habit and are used to it. The temperature that people wash hands at has no germ killing qualities so its not any less hygienic.

No air conditioning on in the car. It isn't fuel efficient.

@NosyJosie

On top of the frozen lemons - freeze bananas. If you freeze then peel off they are just frozen banana cubes and thaw normally or use in a smoothie etc. If the banana is turning, freeze on the skin. It will go black but the inside will turn to mush and weirdly become more bananary in taste and you just have to snip the tip off and then you squeeze it into the mix to bake banana cake. Same with all crunchy veg especially peppers, cut off any weird bits and freeze the good parts

Again didn’t know the freeze banana in skin…I’ve been taking skins off first and the very ripe ones ( only ones I do freeze when I’ve let one go very brown) always go to mush and dark anyway…but it’s a pain peeling them first…so I wont bother now…Ta for that 👍 they’re for my banana bread stash!

re. MSE. I’ve noticed there’s not that much on there these days. Maybe it’s also partly become a victim of its own success. I occasionally look, remind myself re. haggling etc, but there are much less major “offers” these days.

This is a question rather than a tip, how often should I have my hot water on? Currently it's on first thing in the morning and then at tea time for baths/dishes later. I have a condenser boiler (the kind with a hother water tank in a cupboard upstairs).

Very helpful comments from @4thtimethecharm.

‘ Don't neglect your health (or your kids' health), as long-term health costs are much more expensive than the short term financial pain of early intervention. I had a terrible dentist as a child, picked by my parents (who did not put in any work to make sure they selected a good one, but went with the first name they heard).

As a result, I now need very regular expensive private dental appointments to prevent tooth loss. I am spending the equivalent of a week's holiday costs on dental care every year. It is money well spent, but I wish things could have been different, and my folks would have been more discerning’

Oh so very this.
Stinting on dental care stores up a world of pain & expense later on.
I have a dedicated saving category for the dentist. It gives me peace of mind that I can afford to look after my teeth & gums. I go without stuff to make sure that I can afford the dentist.