Do you have any money saving tips to share?

[AprilDHarvey]

I saw a thread about life hacks the other day and found it really helpful an interesting, I've recently been trying to cut back on how much I spend so I thought I would start a money saving tips thread

[jmc3]

Try to Freecycle where you can. It'll save you cash and you'll be saving the environment at the same time!

Here's a handy article on the benefits of freecycling... www.gively.co/post/reasons-to-join-the-freecycling-revolution

[Fluffycloudland77]

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[blueteapot]

Come join us on the frugaleers thread in credit crunch :)

[specialsubject]

in every supermarket except Aldi or Lidl, look up or down for the best price on the same thing. The eye level beans are the expensive ones. Also never buy from aisle ends.

The discounters have a very limited choice of the same product, hence there's no need for this trick on you.

like yogurt? Buy bigger tubs and spoon out what you need into a dish. Less packaging too, and stops waste if you have kids.

if you want dried fruit, don't buy from the 'health' snack section, buy from the baking section. Same stuff, much cheaper. Even Aldi pull this one.

please do not try selling over-priced scammy shit for pyramid schemes. Immoral and won't make you any money. Talking of which - if you have a coin collection, pay it into the bank, not the machine in the supermarket foyer which will take off 10% of the value. And it does NOT tell you that on the front. They even skim off 7% if you donate to charity.

[Vixxfacee]

Don't put the heating on, put on a jumper.
If your on a meter only turn on your hot water about an hour before you need a bath or to wash up.
Boil water in the kettle and once cooled put into bottles instead of buying bottles of water.

[AprilDHarvey]

I meant, leave their CARDS at home, not cars haha!

[AprilDHarvey]

A lot of great suggestions and tips here, thank you everyone I downloaded an app to track my money spending/saving. Cutting back on taxis and taking my own lunch/coffee saves me at least £350 a month

To those who only carry cash and leave their cars at home, what's your daily allowance if you don't mind me asking?

[acasualobserver]

If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down. (For people with a water meter.)

[Caboodle]

A friend used to save pound coins in an old pub style large whiskey bottle...until I pointed out that she had £700 in cash lying around for the burglars
But YY to dealing in cash and having a daily limit.

[figureofspeech]

Some really good tips on the websites below:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters

www.moneysavingexpert.com

[228agreenend]

Go to the supermarkets in the evening. I've picked up,loaves of bread for 13p, and packs,of bread rolls for 9p, although that was a particularly good shop. I stock up and freeze them. Sometimes you can get lots of good bargains,,other times none. After a bank holiday is a particularly good time to,get good bargains.

Also, make a list of very thing in your freezer and meal plan around this.

[ChessieFL]

Write down everything you spend for a month and what on. At the end of the month add it all up so you can see the totals for different things. £2 a day for a coffee or whatever doesn't seem bad but when you see the month total it makes you realise what you waste.

[EveOnline2016]

Car insurance.

Your job title can mean you pay more or less.

[FinallyFreeFromItAll]

Know what is really a good deal.
Sometimes deals that are highlighted as deals aren't actually the best price wise. There are a few things to watch for in this respect.

1. Say the andrex 9pack is on offer, it may still work out more expensive, per roll, than the 16pack at normal price.
   
2. They'll put an offer on that is for example £1.20 each or 3for£3. Looks like a good deal. That is until you realise that most of the time they sell the same product for 75p so you could actually buy 4for£3 most of the time. - that one happens an awful lot.
   
3. They'll have a lovely end unit display with signs making a particular item appear a really good offer. Go to the main area for the product to compare and see if the price of the item on end unit really is a good deal or not.
   So its worth making sure you pay attention to prices when you shop so that you know when something is really a good deal (if you don't have a memory for prices, you can get apps to help you track the prices of items you buy or there's an old pen and paper method of listing what you buys prices each week until you find the pattern)
   
   Also pay attention to prices of items you buy and then check your receipt. You will be amazed how often supermarkets over charge. There's an ASDA near me that on average ends up over charging by around 10% of my total shopping bill, each time!!! Morrison's and Tesco also regularly do it by a few pounds a shop.
   
   Know when to buy brands, own brand and smart price/value range. Some things really need to be branded, some own brand things are fine/just as good as brands and some value things are just as good as own brand and branded versions.
   
   Sainsbury's (which my auto correct to keeps changing to Saintsbury's), do value fruits and veg, like strawberries and carrots. The only difference is the sizes tend to vary more and the shapes may not be perfect but they are still fresh and nice (in fact some weeks they've been fresher than the normal ones).
   
   Go to different supermarkets (so long as you don't need to go out of the way and thus cost petrol to do so). I like Sainsbury's for fruit and veg - its better than ASDA and the main fruits and veg are the same prices, with the value ones at sainsburys being much cheaper. They also sell DD's soya yogurts cheaper than everywhere else. But I find ASDA and Aldi are cheaper on other things I buy.

[WellTidy]

I'm trying to be a bit more mindful about what I buy in the supermarket or boots. I've made a list of everything that is in the bathroom cabinets, to stop myself from buying more essentials every week than we need. I'd find myself buying shampoo, conditioner, bubble bath, cotton pads, tampons, soaps etc every week, but we already had plenty, so I was stockpiling it. Now that I know that I have multiple bottles of things already, I don't buy them impulsively. And we actually get through what we have.

[Mairyhinge]

Whitney168 this is me! If I buy something that's £1.80 ish and they give me change, for a tenner, in £2 coins my heart skips a beat! And I HAVE TO put them in a seperate part of my purse, I CANNOT spend them! Sad!
Told a freind to try it, and they saved enough for their Xmas dinner, with booze etc.
Well worth it, you soon learn to NOT spend them.
And our 'in' joke is, that hubby sells them to me for favours

[Whitney168]

LOL at all the £2 coin savers. They're not real, you know, you can't SPEND them. Ours build up until the pot is full, then go in to our holiday fund. A full terramundi is usually around £800.

My husband is dreading the pretty new £1 coins coming in 2017, as I just know I'll be the same with them. A Mars Bar can already cost him about £9 if he gets all the change in £2 coins and 'has to' submit them. (Family joke, all in good spirit.) I buy them from lots of other people too.

[Mairyhinge]

My top tip is to save £2 coins. I've got a tin I put them in, I cannot bear to spend one now, I have to take it home and put it away! That in itself saves me money as I will not spend any £2 coins I have on me!
It's quite easy to get them built up too, I've just counted mine and I've £120.
Although hubby gives bribes me his, the kids give sell me theirs, and I buy them off my mum!!

[BarbaraofSeville]

YY to the 'it's only £3'. Stay out of shops if you can - if you don't see it, you can't buy it.

If you spend £3 on a coffee every time you go to work and you work full time, you could be spending close to £1k per year, just on coffee. And some people spend a lot more on that on drinks and lunches outside the home.

Unless you are on a very high income, not spending that money can have an enormous impact on the amount of money available for other things like holidays, days out, Christmas etc.

[EverybodyHatesATourist]

Have a piggy bank and put what you can afford into it each day. I used to have a purse full of coins but then would spend on something trivial as "it's only £3". If I have to break into a note it makes me more aware of what I am spending and over time it does all add up even if it seems like petty amounts.

I never spend £2 coins, they go straight into a jar. Each time I reach £100 I buy Premium Bonds, over a year I generally save between £200 and £300 this way.

[Kateallison16]

Haha I can be the same! I started work recently and it has altered my budget drastically.

Dont be hard on yourself, its so so easy to fall into the spending trap!! A little treat here (fancy crisps, bottle of drink and a magazine) A new top here and suddenly its the 8th of the month and all your money as gone.

This very month I brought home less money than I thought I was getting (signed off work sick) and its crippled me. I need to take my own advice haha.

You clearly are really busy, what with work and Uni, thats so awesome. I think the best tip for you would be carry on taking your own lunches and drinks and keep your bank card at home. It something I also need to do.

Ive got spending on household items down to an art but I need a firm hand when it comes to the little treats.

Spending is an addiction for me. Little cute bits on ebay here, bit of munch for the evening there, the odd takeout and swim session and its all gone. Its never the big stuff im spending on, its the little treats that are breaking me.
Oh Taxis as well! I am awful.
I worked SO much better as a stay at home wife haha!

[LoisWilkersonsLastNerve]

Bulk buy essential items like toiletries/cleaning products and have a store cupboard for them. I worked out I save 1k annually! I stock up on clothes twice a year at the sales and buy out of season things to save. I bought some garden furniture in November and got it with 60% off.

[londonrach]

Buy with cash only! Take a certain amount if money out of the bank per week and that is the money you have for the week. Meal plan on food. When the money is gone thats it till next week. You be surprised how little you spend if its in cash only.

[RedMapleLeaf]

My first tip is to keep a budget and record everything you spend. Information is power.

Sign up to Money Saving Expert weekly email.

Shopping around for the bills (gas, electric, phone, insurance etc and considering a water meter) is time well spent for saving hundreds.

Also double-check your direct debits and that you're happy with everything you're spending.

I had to do all of this out of necessity last year and it practically became a hobby.

[LovelyBranches]

I use quidco. I've recently switched my phone, broadband and tv. My bill had crept up to £50 a month. I used quidco to take out a new deal and got £180 back. My new contract will now cost £16 a month.

Change gas and electricity suppliers often if you can. Try and always be with the cheapest.

Go through your direct debits with a fine tooth comb. Do you need everything you pay for.

Declutter your house, not only will it be nicer to live in, you can sell things on ebay or gumtree.

Take in a lodger if you can.

Rent out your garage/driveway etc if you can.

Don't kid yourself- don't bulk buy things if you wont get around to using them. For example, It's not a bargain to buy reams of fabric for clothes you never get around to making.