Your number 1 money-saving tip

[PupInAPram]

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

Also definitely don't buy into the coffee machines that need expensive pods. We use a cafetière and really nice own brand Sainsbury ground coffee that we often get compliments on.

My reasoning for breakfast at work - I cycle to work twice a week. Up at 0630, out of the house at 0700 - am really not hungry then. Takes an hour to cycle to work, lock up my bike, and get to the showers. Half an hour to shower and dry my hair. Walk to Pret, get a croissant, back to work, set up laptop and online for 9am.

I have tried taking Shreddies in a sandwich bag, but other office users steal my milk for their tea and coffee on the days I’m not in - I don’t like hot drinks. So a croissant is my luxury. And given that I’ve ridden nearly 10 miles first thing in the morning and saved about a quid on petrol and £7.50 on parking or train fare, I think I’ve earned it

Only buying genuinely essential cosmetics/toiletries. All I use on a daily basis now is toothpaste, floss, shampoo, soap, Nivea moisturising cream and an SPF face cream. I only buy razors in the summer, use a crystal deodorant that's great and has lasted for almost 2 years now, and use a mooncup. Since the pandemic I basically don't wear makeup at all. (Only use a 'drugstore' brand concealer and mascara if I do).

Not for everyone I guess but some easy savings to be made imo.

@Kirstos1

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).

Why is it on in the morning? Assume you shower then so do you need to have it on again and heat up a whole tank for additional bathing and dishes? If you wash dishes by hand boil a kettle and have a wash in the evening.

Put clothes on the airer to dry at night. Wood burner/ coal burner fires are so much cheaper at the moment with the price of gas going up and also electric.
Use loyalty cards and also checkout yellow labels.
Checkout the reduced sections of the supermarkets you will find damaged boxes will be reduced to half price and most have no damage to the product at all. I’ve bought crisps/ chocolate/ cereal items all where the packaging was damaged but the inside was all sealed.
Thicker duvets for the weather, this will save in heating. Also have throws for the bedrooms too.
Shop second hand and also check out charity shops. I’ve bought many items brand new with tags in the local charity shops many of which are designer and also brand new school trousers for 1.50 a pair. It saves a fortune when you have a child who regularly puts holes in the knees from a game of footy.
Don’t shop when there is a sale. Buy only what you need.
Draw out cash and separate into envelopes. Using a cash envelope system will save you money as you can’t spend what you don’t have.
Sell all items no longer used on platforms like fb marketplace/ ebay/ vinted. I sell many items on vinted and also flip items from charity shops to make a profit.
Meal planning is key and check out prices of other stores to save.
Download apps like shopimum to get cash back for items you would usually buy.
Download receipt apps and receive vouchers for uploading your own receipts. Shoppix is a good app.
Ditch contract phones and opt for a pay monthly as you can get deals for 15.00 for unlimited calls and texts and internet.
Save on bills by using a fire tv stick and getting apps like Netflix, Disney plus and prime video and YouTube. By ditching live tv and the bbc i player you will save on the tv license fee every month and also ditch high tv packages like sky.
Put yourself on a social media ban when money is tight. When your focus shifts to what you really need not what you want, you will save money.

If I run out of biscuits/pudding type foods like yoghurts (I’m not a fan of either but DS is) I’ll have a look through the cupboards and see what baking ingredients I have in. I find that baking is generally quite expensive these days, but if you stick to plain things that you already have the ingredients for in the cupboard then it works out cheap. A batch of plain fairy cakes made with the last two eggs, the sugar in the hot drinks sugar canister, the bit of flour at the bottom of the bag and whatever butter or marge is in the fridge stops me from going to the shop for biscuits or similar and I can put half the batch in the freezer. Ditto shortbread, flapjacks or rice krispie cakes. I often have a block of the 30p plain or white chocolate from Aldi in the cupboard for things like that - you can stick that in the microwave with a little bit of butter and golden syrup and mix in any leftovers from cereal boxes or broken biscuit bits from the biscuit barrel, handful of raisins if you’ve got them or nuts or seeds. Whatever is in the cupboard. Then into the fridge and cut into squares. It works out more expensive than value biscuits but it stops you from making the trip to the shop and spending on other stuff.

Only buy branded items when on offer. Never ever pay full price- shop around

No Costas, Starbucks, Nando’s on the regular, same for takeaways keep it to once per month if at all

No smoking, you stink and it’s grossly expensive

Go sim only if you’re out of contract

Only have 1 subscription ie Netflix, Prime, NowTV, Disney+ etc

Turn the towel rail off

@Nnique I would like to be you when I grow up (I’m nearly 40)
I always have a plan like yours in my head but I have 3 under 4 so we end up with beans on toast a lot of the time
Food waste is definitely my biggest issue, I hate throwing anything away especially with increased costs so I really need to pin down our meal plans and tighten it up a lot.

It’s amazing how you can live when it comes to the end of the month and you can get through a week without hardly spending anything.. if only I could live like this the rest of the time 🤦🏼‍♀️

I’ve got another meal prep one inspired by the prep I used to do years ago when I was a chef in a little country pub/restaurant.

At the start of the week make the following:
A basic tomato sauce
A big tray of roasted veg
Cooked new potatoes

You can then use those throughout the week in different ways:

Pasta with the sauce with or without the veg stirred in.

Pasta with the veg, pesto and feta

Pizza or puff pastry tarts with the sauce spread on, the veg on top then cheese on top of that.

Reheat the potatoes as they are, pan fry them or roast them. Try crushing them in a frying pan with the roasted veg or stirring pesto through them.

Meat or fish on the sauce

Using the sauce for bolognaise or adding curry spices to it as a curry base.

It was quicker than prepping loads of individual meals but cheap and cut down on cooking time during the week.

It’s so sad reading some of the tips like ‘no treats’ when this is literally the only thing we live for and we’re doing away with them just to be able to survive week to week ☹️

frugality is not the same as cheap it is not scrouging or free loading off others
NO Impulse purchases at all
have a no spend month you only pay bills, pay for transport or fuel for car and buy essential food toilet paper etc no clothes no makeup no hairdressers etc no eating out or takeaways; anything you want you put on a wish list for next month almost certainly by 1st May there will be things on the list you no longer want or need
ask yourself before you buy something do I already have one of these? ( hidden in a cupboard drawer) is there something else I could wear / use instead, if it's a tool or appliance could I borrow one? would second hand be OK? if the answer to all four is No then ask am I getting the best value for money / deal? do some research, good value is is not necessarily the cheapest.

@madmomma

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

I agree with this - Monday and Tuesday are always "what is left in the veg drawer?" I often make soup and roast veg with something like cannelloni beans mixed in. I have surprised myself!

Eek out your weekly shop to 8 or 9 days.

I don't shop until the fridge is literally empty.

I now use my Ninja Foodi (which was Xmas present a few years ago,) for everything that I'd use the oven or hob for - it's definitely reduced my usage by about 20 units of electric a week. Definitely worth the initial outlay.

Farm Foods do £2 discount on £25 shop (vouchers 0n line) Lidl do £10 off if you spend £200 in a month £2 off if you spend £100 in a month with Lidl plus - also you get money off vouchers . Lidl also do cheap boxes of fruit and veg and reduced bread on an ad hoc basis. You can link your nectar card to ebay and Argos and collect points on purchases.We use timers/thermostats on our heaters .

Kids clothes can add up to a fortune so I always look out for bundles on Vinted, eBay etc. These are usually the basic things people can’t be arsed to list individually, and it’s good stuff for nursery, day to day wear etc. Recently I got 5 boys tees and 3 pairs of shorts for a little over a tenner including postage, and when DD was a baby I got a massive bundle for about £20 and barely bought her any clothes for months.

Also, Facebook marketplace for pretty much everything. I’ve had furniture, bits for the kids rooms and so many toys from there. One year I even wrapped some as Xmas presents as they were still in boxes and barely used. Luckily the kids are still too young to notice.

Cutting my own hair. I just can’t be arsed to sit in the hairdressers. Bought some good scissors and learnt the ponytail method from YouTube. It’s long and straight and I only ever want a couple of inches off anyway.

@KissedintheDark

Throw another dog on the bed

Is it ok to use a random one from the park?

If you can catch it 😂

Only ever use cash.

When doing a shop write a meal plan for a week or 2...I do a quite detailed one to eliminate waste...and stick to the plan (easier said than done!)
I budget what bills/expenses we have and budget according to pay dates and calculate what we have 'to live on'. I try to put any small amount available into savings for 'rainy days'
Check if all direct debits are necessary...some of the subscriptions we have been paying for we don't use.

TBF it's not easy in these times, just do small things they all add up and like most of us just hope things are better soon! I think a lot of us are just winging it 🙏

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

This is a new one for me! Thank you! I am going to try this.

Don’t be afraid to borrow something you only need once. People like to be helpful and it makes it easier for them to ask to borrow something.
There’s some sharing app being set up with the tagline ‘the average drill is used for a total of eight minutes in its lifetime’. That’s shocking.
I have borrowed clothes, tools, niche items from friends and neighbours and happily lent things out. Reduces clutter too.
Lent my steam cleaner to a friend today and borrowed a power washer from another.
Too much unused shit in the world.

No credit card or credit, save up and you probably won't want it once you've accrued the money.
Credit will cost ££££ if you don't pay off the balance in full monthly.

I'd recommend reading some thrift books (from the library or ebay if you can!) I read some when my DC were younger and we were not very well off and it did wonders for my mindset. It helped make being frugal into a challenge and an achievement rather than about depriving myself.

I'd recommend The Tightwad Gazette which is a classic, and also Kath Kelly's 'How I lived a year in just a pound a day'.

If your commuting costs are zero (because you walk or cycle) or low cost then work in the office rather than at home. Might as well use their electricity than your own

Our office has started to get busier for this very reason with some people even taking advantage of the showers, that are there for the cyclists, rather than having one at home - even if they don’t cycle

People are also filling up a flask of the tea or coffee that’s available for free before heading home in the evening

Personally I charge my phone at work and it lasts me until I’m back in the next day. On a Friday I will also take my laptop in and charge that, which will last me through the weekend