to ask for your best frugal tips?!

[tryhard]

We are a single income family, 2 DC & things are suddenly very tight financially so I'm trying to find practical changes I can make. A big expense is the food shop which is currently Sainsbury's (normally over £100 a week) - DH thinks switching to Aldi save a lot of money but I'm not sure? Our clothes I get from eBay. Kids are only 3 & 6 so no expensive hobbies yet thank goodness. Planning short break in the U.K. for a family holiday. Takeaway maybe once a month, booze gets bought in the weekly shop, maybe £20-30 on that a week. My big weakness is Audible, I have anxiety & listen to stories in bed at night to get me to sleep so I need to just bite the bullet and stop that habit. How else can I make 2017 my most frugal (but not miserable!) year so far?! Any good tips? Or blogs I can read?

Another one here for Aldi, Lidyl and cooking from scratch.

Where do I get £1.99 leggings and trackie bottoms? We're decorating at moment.

A word of warning - if you switch tariffs for things like gas and electricity - you haven't saved money until you actually have!
So if you start paying a lower DD every month keep on top of whether that covers what you are actually using- although obviously you use less in winter than summer so it won't in Winter but should be too much in Summer. I pay by DD every quarter and submit meter readings - no surprise under (or over) payments...

And cleaning stuff - I use washing up liquid, vinegar and bicarb for cleaning (with microfibre cloths). No wipes. No sprays or 'special' bathroom products etc. I use a cloth and hot soapy water. Damp or dry dust - or use the hand brush on the vacuum. Clean glass with water and a window vac/squeegee/glass cloth. Bicarb for greasy things. Vinegar as rinse aid in the dishwasher. And to clean the loo/mild disinfectant. I only use bleach/disinfectant* if someone has an upset tummy etc (which we never get).
A bar of soap for hand washing rather than liquid handsoap and instead of shower gels. (I use eco friendly products and bulk buy from a co-op I'm a member of - so it costs about the same as branded stuff). I buy washing up liquid, dishwasher powder, washing powder (bio and non bio), fabric conditioner (use a little) from there -and vinegar and bicarb in bulk from elsewhere...

The only 'other' products I have are carpet shampoo for my carpet washer and astonish paste for helping out bicarb cleaning the oven. Oh and magic erasers for scruffs etc. It takes me years to use a bottle of bleach * I have been using more Zoflora disinfectant recently to sort out a smelly washing machine - which worked and I now I do a load with it every 6 or so washes.

Not only is it better for the environment and cheaper (ignoring using eco friendly products) but it makes shopping easier - I never go in the cleaning aisles of the supermarket any more... and washing up liquid (ime) works just as well as any fancy sprays on soap scum, vinegar on limescale, etc.

If you've got a big enough freezer, consider switching to a monthly shop with to ups for fresh veg - this saved me quite a bit. Make sure you meal plan and see if you can plan more low cost meals (e.g. swap meat lasagne for a vegetable one, swap beef mince for turkey mince...)

Consider cutting down the booze - just buy a little bit less and when it's gone, it's gone.

I find Tesco cheaper than Sainsburys and Aldi and Lidl even cheaper again, but they don't have the same range, and I don't have a car so need delivery, with Aldi and Lidl don't do.

If you don't already, try the cheapest versions of everything. If you don't like it, you can go back to your more expensive brand.

Do you have a subscription for Audible? Consider switching to Kindle Unlimited - same price as the one book a month Audible subscription but unlimited listening, albeit from a limited selection. You can go to the library for audio books, but I always found the newest ones were only on CD - it's a hassle to get there and you have to upload them unless you've got an old discman lurking around. I don't like the YouTube suggestion - most good quality ones will have been uploaded illegally.

Ooh, also, check the 'price per kg'

Ypou should do this on everything you buy.

Sometimes it costs more initially but you save pounds over the long term.

Could you bare to cut down on alcohol? Maybe just drink at the weekend?

As for food shop I go maximum geek. I right down all the standard family meals and work out how much each one costs. e.g. tuna pasta bake is £2.8 a night, fish fingers beans and veg is £2.2 etc. Salmon steaks is £5.5. Then cut down on the most expensive.

As for audible I know it's cheeky but lots of audiobooks are available on youtube or try listening to radio 4 instead. (I'm also an anxious sleeper - I have to listen to something as I sleep to stop my lizard brain listing all the stupid things I've done in the last twenty years and all the bad things that might happen in the next twenty).

And price per kg - do check - that used to be true -cheaper to buy loose but isn't always any more (sadly for excess packaging) -
I'm the only person in our house who eats brussel sprouts but we get them for Christmas - its 'tradition' - the DCs eat one each with disgust... - we only need a handful really but it was cheaper to buy a biggish bag than what we needed loose ...

I rarely go to Sainsbury's but the last time I went to one I couldn't believe how expensive the prices were (even more than Waitrose for some things!) I tend to shop in Aldi and then either Tesco or Waitrose for extra bits.
Shop around for the offers - those at the end of the row aren't always the cheapest, I try to look at the price per kg or mentally work it out if it's 'buy two for £3' etc.
Another vote for Radio 4/Radio 4 extra for the stories and plays - lots of variety and some excellent adaptations.

Haven't read the thread yet but can I recommend our thread Friendly Frugaleers

Change your mindset - when you receive money don't think what can I spend this on but what can this money do for me?

Martin Lewis mantra also resonates with me - if the answer is no to any of these don't buy it -
IF YOU'RE SKINT Do I need it? Can I afford it? Have I checked the prices elsewhere?
IF YOU'RE NOT SKINT? Will I use it? Is it worth it? Have I checked the prices elsewhere?

Things that have helped me is YNAB, accounting for every penny, doing one big shop and keeping bread and milk in the freezer to avoid the top up shops where you end up picking up a lot more than the one item you went in for, writing a shopping list,

Ok I have spent the morning doing you all proud and doing my first big shop at Aldi. Here's my haul (please excuse the photobombing cat - she wanted to check all out the new grub!!). The only thing I couldn't find was a jar of capers. I was pleasantly surprised by how much of my usual shop I could find and it took me a while to find things, lots of own brand stuff but some random branded stuff too. Total cost - £59 😱😱😱 admittedly I didn't buy much meat this week cos I stocked the freezer up last week.

And yy - just because it is a bigger package - doesn't mean it is always better value. (Once cornflakes in Tescos cheaper per kg in a 750g box than in a 1kg one...)

Actually watch for that in Lidl etc - cheaper but smaller packages. (Irrc some cereal - own brand shreddies maybe - a box in Tesco/Asda etc was 750g - in Lidl 720g)

Pound shop etc do things like that all the time - and eg packaging saying 6 for the price of 4 when elsewhere you would get 6 for £1 anyway - or £1 for something you can get in home bargains for 80p...
(I never go in poundshops any more unless I want something specially from there and even then I'm disciplined - I found I was always coming out with lots of cheap and 'useful' things that I didn't really need and were often crap quality - and I'd be £10 lighter!)
I'm trying to curb my Homebargains/B&M/Pound stretcher habit for the same reason...but some things are real bargains. (Teen DD has a Knorr packet chicken noodle soup 'habit' - one of the few things she can face, she takes medication that is an appetite suppressant. 39p a packet in home bargains - 79/80p everywhere else...I buy 10 packets a time )

If you cancel Audible you can still listen to the books you have, or as part of the cancellation process they will offer you x months half price to stay.

Amazon kindle unlimited includes audio books and you can obviously share your login across all family devices. Loads of great kids books too.

My local library has an online catalog of audio books to download.

And yes it's a lot of booze hun. I'm sure you know that and perhaps it's a blessing in disguise that you both need to cut back.

Quit sainsburys! I moved to Ocado and even that saved about £25 a week. If you have to meal plan, perhaps try this..? helloglow.co/slow-cooker-freezer-meals/
It's a lot of planning, but we do this and bung it all in the freezer, use cheap cuts of meat and it costs less to run the slow cooker than the fan oven (2p per hour vs 33p for us). The Library should have audio books, although it makes sense to keep Audible and cut one or two bottles of vino out instead? If you have lots of accounts (joint, credit, personal etc), maybe consider using a money tracker like www.moneydashboard.com ? It suits some people. Good luck - I hope you get your holiday!

I'm a huge fan of Aldi/Lidl. Food snob DH cannot tell the difference.

Also check whether any of your local supermarkets are running a "£20 off your first online shop" or similar - I got £20 off Sainsbury's (on a £60 shop), followed by £15 from Ocado, then £15 from Morrisons. It adds up.

Use your freezer. Anything about to go off in this house goes in the freezer and gets used at a later date - so mushrooms about to go soggy get chopped up to add to a pizza or bolognese later. Bread can be frozen so it doesn't go mouldy.

I agree about cutting back on booze / having a posh cordial instead. Otherwise set a booze budget of £10 a week and stick to it.

Have one super-cheap/veggie meal a week. For us that's a lentil dahl with any random veg we have chucked in, with garlic, a stock cube and water. Costs about 50p a portion, tastes brilliant.

When I started cooking from scratch my food bill went from 300/mth (for 2 adults, 1 kid) to 150/mth I didn't have to give up my local supermarket (Waitrose) or my local market but I did have to get smarter with my food choices. I bake my own bread once a week, I make my own pasta (it's nice enough and fairly easy too), and we now only buy fresh fruit/veg from the market as it's loads cheaper & we freeze it to make it last longee - got a kilo of mushrooms and a kilo of 'mixed berries' for a pound yesterday as the stall owner wanted to get rid. So they went into the freezer and will be brought out for crumbles/stews etc.

ALDI! You will save a bomb!

For eg.
4 bread rolls in Sainsbury's £1, Aldi 55p
Sandwich spread £1.35 v 85p
Chicken crown £5 v £2.85
Pasta sauce £1 v 85p

Honestly, you'll save a fortune.

Sorry, only just saw the update! Good!

Browsing the BC Radio iplayer is a bit of a revelation, there's loads on there! I've joined my library's audiobook app but the selection is really limited.

I've got the £7.99 subscription to Audible and always buy more books each month (you get a book a month with that subscription) - I don't understand the difference between that and Kindle unlimited Audible?

Also, something I like about Sainsbury's is the be good to yourself range, so it's easy to find low fat & salt meat, crackers, baked beans etc - from what I could see of the Aldi meat there wasn't the same range of low fat options and with things like crackers and baked beans, there was just one brand and it wasn't the low salt type that I normally buy, so am I better off buying bits like that separately?

Any other frugal beauty products I should try?

No cat food in that haul? That's what Mogs is looking for!

My cat is happy with Aldi cat food, btw.

One thing that is tricky in Aldi is buying wholemeal things - they don't do wholemeal pasta, or brown basmati rice, or wholemeal pitta. So, I end up going back to Sains for those.

But, their booze is very good value, meats are good (steaks are the best) and it will save you money.

I see you have 'pre cooked' chicken slices in your haul. Buy a chicken - cook it, use the meat instead of buying pre cooked. You'll find it much cheaper. those packs are, what, £2 each? Do two lunches? A whole chicken in Aldi is c£4 and would do several lunches, plus bones to make stock as the base for soup.

Roast a chicken one week, a gammon the next, swap them about week by week - chicken for lunches one week, ham the next....and swap....

Give The Digipill app a go instead of audible. I used to do the same thing and ended up spending a fortune with Audible. The Digipill app you can download specific podcasts that help each reason for anxiety and even has a sleep podcast which is brilliant for getting me off to sleep. It's about £3.99 but well worth it.

I like farmfoods and iceland

outtogetyou I've been buying wholemeal pitta in aldi for over a year now in ROI, are you sure they don't have it?
I've not bought a gammon for ages, but have a chicken out to do the very same thing tonight!

mammymammyIRL

I'll have a look at the weekend. I also like some Weetabix oatflake things (prefer not to have wheat at breakfast) and Aldi don't sell anything like that. So, I do always end up in Sains (though I only need a box of those every two weeks or so).

Re precooked chicken slices - you can also do this with ham. I buy ham joints when they're on offer, cut into chunks and freeze. They can be slowcooked very easily with a bit of liquid and you get a big lump of it for the cost of a handful of slices ready made. Or, erm, buy pate instead!

Making your own clothes is rarely a moneysaver these days. Fabric by the metre and patterns are niche products now compared with mass market clothes and they just can't compete on price with primark etc. if you want to try it, Fabricland is your best bet for fabric, but I think your ebay buys are a much better bet for reducing spends. But as PP said, mending is a useful skill. Also make sure kids' clothes are named.

You can also save money by buying kids' clothes bigger and turning up hems to get an extra year or more wear out of them. Pick carefully what you do this on so it's worth your while and you still get a nice fitting garment. School trousers may or may not be worth bothering with, depending how quickly your child goes through the knees. I've shortened party dresses successfully at the waist and hem then let them down as the child grew. Sleeves are trickier but can be pintucked. Cuffs can be mended by turning under. But I expect you are doing well at keeping clothes costs down already. I think the biggest saving is just not to overbuy - do they need more than, say, 4 long sleeved tops and 3 pairs of trousers for home?

Any other frugal beauty products I should try?

the Superdrug vitamin E range, its really good, doesn't irrigate and cheap as chips

Try mysupermarket.co.uk it compares the price of your weekly shopping in all supermarkets. It's cut down the price of our weekly shop. Also cut back in booze, that would save over £80 per month. Xx