Your number 1 money-saving tip

[PupInAPram]

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

Moonspoon who is that with? I have been thinking about doing this recently.

Change halogen bulbs to LEDs
I love my pressure cooker and slow cooker. Saves blasting the heat of the fan oven too many days a week.
After fridge audit, leave out things that you want used up that day…family sees them in passing and takes them for lunches/snacks and stops me forgetting to use them up or cook them that day.
I have come to weekly meal plans very late in life, but doing it definitely reduces waste. Now my family is working from home more frequently than we used to, we factor lunches in to the plan. Saving on not being out and buying sandwiches and drinks during office lunch breaks as much as we used to.
Roasting tin recipe books seem to help me save loads of time and use up stuff languishing in the fridge.
‘Chicken’ flavour soup without the boiling fowl….Use chicken flavour vegan stock, celery, carrots, onions and a parsnip….tastes as good as the real thing and takes about 20 minutes in the pressure cooker.
Snuggly, soft blankets in living room and all bedrooms and try to reduce heating use.
Trying to achieve 10k steps a day makes me use the car less.

Try looking on social media and ecycling sites, lots of good deals, swaps and some
Freebies

I’ve been setting my washing to cold for a few months now and no one has noticed any difference in the quality of the wash.

@Mix56

I heard on the radio on a driving/car programme that the best way to cut costs is to only fill tank to half full, & regularly check tyre pressure, (to do with carrying extra weight & inefficient drag on the tyres.) Can save 20% they said.

I've always done this, my car is never more than half full because of the weight factor.

Instapot and air fryer are game changers for me.

Keep cereals in desk at office— eat them at 11am plus a piece of fruit. I never actually eat lunch . Just late breakfast and evening meal. Stop worrying about fashion— good quality black leggings and a selection of nice tops/wrap dresses over them cover most occasions I’ve found. Same goes for shoes, I now have 2 pairs of very good quality boots one with heels and one without— plus a few pairs of pretty but modestly priced sandals and 2 pairs of sketchers — I wear them till they drop to bits — I simply have less than I used to but wear it all

@PupInAPram

I line dry already but I had never thought about washing in cold water. One to try. Wish I could try airfryer and pressure cooker cooking without the initial investment in them, just to see how got on with it 🤔

In Canada, almost everyone I know washes reg clothing in cold. Only sheets and towels get hot/warm water

• Mix56

I heard on the radio on a driving/car programme that the best way to cut costs is to only fill tank to half full, & regularly check tyre pressure, (to do with carrying extra weight & inefficient drag on the tyres.)
Can save 20% they said.

I've always done this, my car is never more than half full because of the weight factor.*

I'm not sure that the half full tank argument still works when the price of petrol increases by more than 20% in the period it takes to use a full tank. It all depends on other factors such as size of tank, miles driven and mpg, for example. It's a general statement that may not apply in all cases.

Sorry, quotes got mixed with my comment!

Buy a 1kg gammon joint, boil it and use a mandolin to thinly slice and you have 1 kg of sliced ham for £3-4 which can be frozen in portions for sandwiches etc. much cheaper than buying ham

I write everything down (you could use a spreadsheet, but I like old fashioned pen and paper). Understanding how much you spend daily really helps you to see where you might be spending frivolously. I guess it’s a bit like calorie counting, decide how much is comfortable and stick to it. If I manage to get to the next payday with money still in my current account, I move it straight into savings even if it’s just a few £’s.

Work out how much you need to live on each month and transfer the rest into an account that isn’t as easy to access (but still accessible if you really needed it). Have a buffer that is in a different account but easy enough to access in case you go over your limit

@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).

@SpringLobelia sorry to laugh but that’s absolutely hilarious 🤣 What on earth did you do with it ?

Trouble is dogs cost money to feed and take to the vet.
‘Borrowing’ one could be a plan I suppose. Actually scrub that I don’t like the way dogs smell.
And cats wake you up if you snore.

@babbi I am ashamed to say we never even picked it up. As far as I know it is still in the seller's front room.

Eat a large meal before going shopping, so that when you see the crisps or chocolates you really don't fancy any.

Never buy makeup - people look fine as they are. As people, not Instagram works of perfection.

Never buy skincare (I don’t know anyone IRL who does all this skincare malarkey - tubs and tubes of shite that cost £££).

Hair care - another malarkey. I just have shampoo and condition occasionally. If it needs more than that, it’s too long. Don’t have straighteners, hairdryer or dye. Just leave it how it is.

Don’t shower every day. Totally unnecessary.

Don’t wash bedsheets every week. Totally unnecessary.

Oh yes, don’t smoke or drink either.

If you go shopping on a Thursday, then the next week go on Friday, moving the day forward once a week, until your back to the Thursday.

Once your back to a Thursday, that week shopping is "free" as you are moving forward a day each time.

Just keep repeating! Write it on paper if your struggling with the concept. It works

Bulk buying and meal planning.

We also turn off most sockets at night, unfortunately we have to use the tumbler as ds is anaphylactic to pollen/dust mite however we use the tumbler during the night on remote timer for 50mins (reduced costs) and the rest we put in the hanger room to dry with the heat of the usage of the tumbler.

[quote Gilead]@Carpediem15, thank you for the online wholefood idea. Just what I needed.[/quote]
You're welcome. I have used them for ages and l couldn't be without the dried onions.

Eat when your hungry

[quote SpringLobelia]@babbi I am ashamed to say we never even picked it up. As far as I know it is still in the seller's front room.[/quote]
@SpringLobelia OMG even funnier 😂
You are definitely a MN legend 👏👏

I've never thought of doing that with chickpeas, thank you.