what did you used to buy that you now realise is a waste of money?

[overdrawn]

I’m trying to sort out a credit card debt and reduce my spending so wanted to ask what are things you used to spend money on that you’ve realised aren’t worth it?

For some reason, I used to buy the expensive Brabantia bin bags (I have no idea why!) and a few months ago realised it was a complete waste of money and now buy regular black bin bags.

I also bought a home gel nails kit and do my own manicures / pedicures (I did lots of research and bought a good brand, and follow all the advice) They look just as good (if not better) than what I was getting in an average salon and the cost per manicure is much less.

I'd gladly spend £3.50 on a bottle of fairy fabric softener to enjoy the lovely smell of fresh washing. One of life's little pleasures

You pay it.

We did when it happened to us.

Insurance will find ANY reason not to pay. You pay a host of fees, they then up your rates and still only pay the absolute minimum. If you have a pet you should truthfully have the money to pay planned out BEFORE getting them (if you don't you can't really afford to be a pet owner) and you should be wise with money.

As someone who worked for a vets I personally always recommend putting the money you would have paid to an insurance company into a separate savings account, it will pool and add up and cover your bills without red tape better than the companies will.

@JustFrustrated
What is this £10 toothpaste you use? And what makes it so much better?

i buy Brabantia bags -i use them for my recycling bin as black bags are harder or sometimes impossible to recycle. Plus the are good strong bags and don't tear. I also have pull out pins as part of my kitchen and my rubbish bin is an awquard square shape and Branbantia bags are only ones that fit neatly in the bin and don't tear so to me they are not a waste of money
I have cut down big time on buying clothes, trying to buy less but better, no more buying just because its handy and wearing more of my wardrobe ( forcing myself out of leggings and hoody), unsubscribed emails to avoid temptation
less magazines used to buy one every day, now just buy 2 that i like and enjoy reading. Same with newspapers, buy on Saturday as this what i like to read
I would love pet insurance, but as i have rescued dogs got past the age of 8, they wont insure me.
Food waste, using up whats in my freezer and fridge, still enjoy going out to dinner though wont give that up, just not as often
Dont buy loo blue, the stuff that sits under the rim of your toilet, and fabric softener and balls not needed at all

Cheap kitchen towel, buy the more expansive one and use less

@overdrawn

most people would have to have their dog out to sleep

Buy soap, ditch the shower gel and body wash products.

Buy a big set of microfiber cloths in the pound shop, ditch paper kitchen towels.

Automotive sections are good places to buy products like microfiber cloths, decreased, etc.

Look in your pound shop for cleaning products like loo cleaner. A little neat bleach will do the job too.

White vinegar for most cleaning jobs - look online for ideas on how and where to use it, and how to combine it with wash up liquid, etc for good results.

Own brand food items are often very nice.

Stop buying fresh fruit apart from apples, oranges, and bananas. Frozen fruit makes nice smoothies and you can bake with it. Freeze overripe bananas for baking.

Eat leftovers. Don't cook every day. Go meatless two days a week.

Look at your subscriptions. How many do you want to keep. I'd definitely keep union subs and it sounds as if your pet insurance is money well spent.

Look at your house insurance and shop around for better deals.

Look at the value you're getting out of your phone plan.

I also cut and colour my own hair. Took a couple of dodgy trial runs but I actually get compliments from others now and it saves me a small fortune.

I also do my own nails, not gels but I use the Essie Gel Couture colours and top coat (no lamp needed), which last a full week usually.

We only buy kitchen roll if we’re frying something, other than that just use reusable cloths and wash them. Old clothes that aren’t in good condition for sale/charity I cut up to make extra cloths.

Would never get rid of our insurance though, we’ve had 2 bills at nearly 5k for our pets previously and John Lewis has paid out on both occasions. It’s way more than what we would have saved if we’d put the money away ourselves and I like the peace of mind.

Stopped buying Heinz and moved to Branstons, which I actually prefer. I know they’re still branded but I’ve never gotten along with any of the own brand versions.

Can @Trisolaris and @FunnysInLaJardin recommend any brands of henna please?

Tutors for my son, paid a lot of money to some very rubbish tutors. My own fault and not knocking all tutors.

Highlights. I started doing my own box due and had more complements.

Clothes from Jigsaw. I thought they made me look sophisticated. They didn't.

Waitrose food. I just liked the supermarket shopping experience better but it doesn't warrant the much more expensive food shop.

Cut flowers. I grow my own.

It depends on the type of henna used - if it has additives in the mix then it can have some horrendous chemical reactions which is where all the horror stories of hair literally melting off come from. You'll find most hairdressers will be terrified of working over henna!

If it was pure henna powder then you don't get any weird reactions BUT the henna won't go down without a fight. If you dye dark on top, you'll still most likely have a red glow to it in the light. If you bleach you might find it bleaches your natural colour whilst leaving the henna, so you end up orange. Basically only use henna if you're happy to grow/cut it out, rather than change the colour.

That said, I hennaed for years, and in the interests of this thread it was SO much cheaper than my current hairdresser! The colour was amazing and better than any box or professional hair dye I've ever had, and I miss it! I normally got mine from henna-boy.co.uk I've used Lush's before which was fine, but the blocks it come in are a right pain to break down and mix up nicely with water. They smell nice but powder is just easy to work with.

Not really a regular thing, but I don’t tip quite as much as I used to. Say a meal for a few people comes to £100, and the food + service is reasonably good (but pretty standard) then I think a £5 tip is perfectly adequate as a gesture of appreciation. I’d only do 10%+ if the experience was outstanding. It’s just over the top putting £10-20 on the table for basic service IMO.

Just crossposted, but henna-boy.co.uk was where I bought from

@housethatbuiltme Personally I've never had an issue with my dog's insurance paying out – and I've claimed a lot on it... I pay the vet (usually on a credit card) and a few days later the money is in my account and I pay off the credit card. I've claimed far more than I will pay in insurance fees. I think that getting – and budgeting – for good insurance before getting a pet is far more important than having a pot of money.. these things can get very expensive very quickly. I would absolutely hate to be in a position to have to choose between being able to afford necessary care or having to put my dog to sleep for something totally avoidable. My dog has had the operations on her knee she needed and is now completely healthy and living a wonderful life, bounding around outside with no pain. The cost of just those operations is close to what I will pay in insurance over her lifespan... and that doesn't include treatment for things like eating things she shouldn't, ear infections, eye infections, etc etc. It really wasn't the point of this thread to debate pet insurance but it is something I feel very strongly about!

Alcohol.

Off it four years. Have been to more countries and michelin star restaurants in those 4 years than I ever had wasting money on boozy nights out. Looking forward to Paris and New York in the coming months! Money that would otherwise have gone down the drain, better spent on flights :)

Depends on quality of life for the dog in question. Current is a fear-aggressive rescue collie who really wouldn't tolerate cone of shame and no doubt clever enough to get it off, so any surgery has to be considered carefully.
She was diagnosed as needing ACL surgery after xrays and scans, but we box-rested her (tricky!) for a week to see if any improvement, just restricted her by no walks no ball games, no jumping only searching games and ultimately a full recovery without surgery. Took many weeks to get her back fit again.
Don't see why dog surgery would be 10k, but we could afford to pay it from the ££££ we have saved over the years without insurance other than Dogs Trust membership for 3rd party which I think is £25 or so. .I wouldn't skimp on that, it's a no brainer.

This is a very heartening thread to read. I do lots of things on here but some good tips too - not just for saving money but for being less wasteful.

I hate sliced packet bread so I buy buy good stuff, but after we've eaten some fresh I slice it and freeze the rest to use for sandwiches or toast. Uneaten slightly stale can be used for breadcrumbs - great for dipping fish in before frying, sprinkling over cheesy things before baking etc.

@mathanxiety love all these ideas! Thankfully DP pays for house insurance as he earns much more than I do. Pound shops for cleaning products and microfibre cloths instead of kitchen towel are great suggestions that I think would actually save me a fair bit. When I got my last phone I looked at the plan carefully – I ended up paying off the phone through apple over 2 years and getting a cheap plan from 3 which works out way cheaper than what I was doing before. We recently moved and I was also astonished at how high our Virgin internet costs had become... I set up a new account and they are about 80% cheaper!

Highlights. It’s just for way too expensive so I now go longer between visits or do it myself.

I also drink far less alcohol now, I buy the odd decent bottle to share with friends and keep for surprise guests whereas we always used to have cheap stuff around, too tempting.

There is also a French wine lake at the moment apparently - drinking less but better would maybe be a good way to go in general.

YYY to coffee pods.
Drip coffee is much cheaper and you can make your own to taste.

Magazines
takeaways
cut flowers

In the 50s and 60s when we went to matches everyone took a flask, I don't think one could even buy hot drinks, beer seemed to be all there was.

@dutysuite all these posts are convincing me to let the coloured hair go and embrace my natural colour! I've just worked out I would save about £600 a year – which is slightly horrifying!

@mathanxiety our pod coffee machine gave up a few months ago and I switched to a moka pot – it's so much cheaper, and I feel so much better about the amount of waste produced! I also think the coffee is better

I save money on makeup, nothing wrong with rimmel. I used to use much more expensive brands. Total waste of money. I mix foundation with either a glow lotion or a tinted moisturiser to get different results. No need to pay 50 euro. I was nuts over paying for decades