Your number 1 money-saving tip

[PupInAPram]

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

for as little as £100

One tip I have always followed is to start every supermarket shop in the reduced isles. Shop in the evenings when reductions are even greater. I've had pineapples for 10p.

Calandor

I think you can pre soak the beans overnight to save on boiling time and fuel as in needs less time boiling then to cook . It the same with porridge or oatmeal or anything like that dried pre soak the night before cooking them

Thanks to this thread, I had a lightbulb moment and realised my RAC membership is due to be renewed tomorrow at £££££.

They’re getting a call from me today…

[quote gracedentssketty]@notanothertakeaway do you have any good recipes for slow cooker curries? Every curry I’ve done in mine comes out shit!!![/quote]
@gracedentssketty
Here are some slow cooker curry recipes that I like

bakingqueen74.co.uk/chcken-saag-curry-slow-cooker/

www.slowcookerclub.com/slow-cooker-butter-chicken-murgh-makhani/

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/262273/slow-cooker-chicken-jalfrezi/

www.everydaymaven.com/slow-cooker-chicken-saag/

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/274053/slow-cooker-thai-green-chicken-curry/

showmetheyummy.com/crockpot-thai-chicken-curry/

And also - not curry, but other takeaway substitutes -

www.lecremedelacrumb.com/slow-cooker-general-tsos-chicken/

www.easycheesyvegetarian.com/slow-cooker-enchilada-chilli/

www.rachelcooks.com/slow-cooker-chicken-teriyaki/ (this recipe works well but it's too salty for me. Next time, I'll try with a low salt soy sauce)

Perhaps (sensible) people do this already, but check your bills VERY carefully. After my direct debits came out this month it left me without the rent. Double checking I've found that - 1) my electricity was estimated at £144 more than the meter reading which I had submitted 2) the council tax has me as still working at a seasonal job which ended on Christmas Eve, I told them that before I started it 3) my water bill had over doubled based on my meter reading - except I don't have a meter. I'm awaiting refunds and apologies, but I'll settle for just refunds!

@gracedentssketty

And here's a recipe for lamb rogan josh -

1.5kg lamb shoulder, cubed
2 large onions, sliced
25g / 5cm fresh ginger (or from a jar)
3 cloves garlic (or from a jar)
150g rogan josh curry paste
2tbs tomatoe puree
400g tin chopped tomatoes
125 ml beef stock
4 cardamom pods, bruised
2 dried bay leaves

Stir everything in a bowl. Cook in slow cooker for 6 hours (low) or 8 hours (high)

Stir in some coriander before serving

offer less than the companies want you to pay
go down a brand
make up meals from what is available in your cupboards
eat left overs

Some more recent tips:

My kettle kept tripping the electrics. I changed the plug fuse instead of immediately buying a new kettle. Turns out that that's not the problem. I remembered there's a camping kettle stored away in our camping box (haven't been camping in years). As it's quicker to heat using gas and is cheaper per unit than electricity, I pulled it out and won't be purchasing a new kettle!

DC and I are on holiday, but plan to go out just twice over the period. First to free museum and gallery and for a treat use 20% off McDs order app deal. Second to family who are hosting us for a night and day - saves us power and doing a big food shop.

Telling my husband "No"

Meal plan; pop a white board in the food cupboard and look at what you have. Make some meals and anything you need put on a list.
Only shop with that list. Bargains are never bargains unless you actually need them. If its BOGOFF, have one for that week and freeze the other for the week after. There is nothing wrong with having 10 staple meals and rotating them. (But I am not a foody, I guess. Some will hate that, but it saves on getting fancy ingredients that you only use once.) Never buy bags of salad. Buy a lettuce and put in a bowl of water, will last weeks. Store fruit and veg by the instructions and will last a long time. When on the turn, make cakes/smoothies with them. Spuds mash and freeze. Buy frozen veg and only use what you need.

Stock up on dry goods and tins when there is a deal on. Make cakes, and biscuits, don't buy. I find that if I need cake that badly, I will make, but usually the urge subsides, so good for waistline!

We eat basic but well, on £80-100 a week for 2 normal people and 2 eating machine young men, that's 3 meals a day each.

Good luck x

For those cutting down on meat I can recommend soya mince. It’s about £1.99 a bag (but often on multi buy at Holland and Barrett) and a bag will do three bolognese/mince type meals for a family of four.

I’ve halved the amount of mince I use by using half mince half soya mince in all mince recipes and nobody can tell.

Spend it. God will send it!
So, God is going to pay your gas bill?

For some people with energy, joie de vivre and a huge sense of entitlement this approach does seem to work. I’m thinking of Winston Churchill leaving his unpaid bar bills all over the empire.

For most of us I would say be extravagant when you are young and can increase your earnings to pay for it. You can retrench when you’re old.

I suppose God has so far given me the opportunity to pay my gas bills - not that I’m big on God.

Agree with investing.

I set up an investment account with revolut which DS likes to play around with. Started with £100 and has tripled his money in last year, despite appalling current market.

1. All lighting changed to LED
2. Minimising the ironing.

(Some washing eg towels, pillowcases, flannels etc I do at 40 degrees for hygiene reasons. The rest I do at 30.)

1. Put an old-fashioned door curtain made of cotton velvet over the front door.

Best tip for saving money. Don’t vote Tory.

I've saved a fortune doing my food shop online. That way I'm only buying what I need (and can run around the house checking as I go) I can see how much my bill is (and stick to a budget) compare prices against similar products, save time actually going to the supermarket not to mention petrol. And it's ace on bad weather days or if I'm not feeling great, knowing I don't have to go out to the store.

Don't follow fashion for the sake of it. Repair items if possible, only replace if worn out.

@User76745333

For those cutting down on meat I can recommend soya mince. It’s about £1.99 a bag (but often on multi buy at Holland and Barrett) and a bag will do three bolognese/mince type meals for a family of four.

I’ve halved the amount of mince I use by using half mince half soya mince in all mince recipes and nobody can tell.

Cheaper still and healthier to replace with lentils I suppose, to the extent that it will work in the recipe.

@prettyteapotsplease

Don't follow fashion for the sake of it. Repair items if possible, only replace if worn out.

Unless you can do the repair yourself, it's likely to cost you more in the long run. Better for the environment maybe. I have a pair of jeans that I keep getting patches put on, but that's because I like it. It makes no financial sense to do that.

Keep track of finances (Direct Debits, Standing Orders, routine bills) and continually review them and try to make them cheaper.

Be ruthless in what you actually need vs what you want/would like.

Simplify life - stick to stuff you know works and you like, reduce what you need/use and make use of whats around you.

After this it comes to finding best places to buy stuff cheaper - you have to way this against cost of getting it i.e postage/travel. Batch/bulk cooking or even just planning the weeks meals.

But then again I'm no millionaire!

We’re vegetarian, don’t drink or smoke, so that really helps us I suspect. I have stopped buying organic veg. I’m not at all happy about the pesticides, but we are pensioners, so I suppose there is less time for them to harm us than when we were younger (they still kill bees and damage the environment of course).

I have some lovely lamps around the house that I enjoyed having on in the evening. Now I only switch on the ones we need. I hate having washing drying around the house and especially the garden (much loved for its beauty), but the tumble drier will have to be avoid.

I second the poster who said ‘to save money, don’t vote Tory’. That one won’t be new to us though.

I'd add to zest them first then you can put the zest into cakes or risotto/pasta etc too. You can store zest in the freezer and chuck in frozen.

Lemons I mean! If yr freezing them.

@joesev

I'd add to zest them first then you can put the zest into cakes or risotto/pasta etc too. You can store zest in the freezer and chuck in frozen.

@joesev

You can freeze lemon slices. Great in gin and tonic