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?

Lol went to Sainsbury's a few days ago as Lidl was closed (don't ask) and hubby nearly lost temper on seeing price of butter.

Cut / reduce alcohol(but you know that).
I shop at sainsburys, since I no longer have a car I pay for delivery(£30 a year Mondays to Fridays) you have to shop on line ( so you can instantly check/budget)and have a bill ofmore than £40 but it works for me. I don't buy alcohol, but it's usually £50 for two adults and a large dog (store cupboard stocked for CDs when they visit so they can fill up).

I really cut our food bill by going to Tesco once a fortnight and getting their reduced food. Last week I got £71.06 of food for £3.96. Lots of fresh meat to freeze, lamb, beef, venison,, chicken breasts. Really worth it but luckily all very civilised and no food scrums!

Books - I use the online version of my local library and get loads of books (can download 10 at a time) so don't need wifi etc to listen. Saved a fortune and can listen while I work all day it's fantastic!!!

Shop - Aldi or Lidl. Some things I prefer branded but it's worth trying stuff out, but Sainsbury's basics is also quite good value. Do you have something like Booker (a shop for business owners) you could bulk buy alcohol for a bit less if you stick with offers.

Resale - go through things and sell on Facebook local selling sites, also switching from eBay to those Facebook sites will save you the postage fees, plus you will find people with similar tastes/aged children and you can get loads of stuff off them over time! I made a bit of a friend who sent me photos privately before advertising, it was great!

Not too sure how it works but Uber?? To make extra cash.

Good luck!

Listen to podcasts instead of audible. There's so many brilliant ones. Weekly released. I listen to podcasts to get to sleep they are free too!

Cut out alcohol and takeaways. This is what we suggest to our student DC.

Which shop is cheapest if you can't go to aldi/Lidl?
We have to online shop as we don't drive so which is the best supermarket to go for?

Whoever wantwd decorating clothes - is there nothing scruffy in the house? If not, charity shop trackies and t shirt, job done.

I online food shop via ASDA online and have a strict meal planner and weekly recipe list so I only buy what I need. Online supermarket shopping also means I'm not tootling off down the clothes aisle and popping stuff I don't need in the trolley.

I do like Aldi but would also get lost in their Aisle of Dreams in the middle and end up sticking lots of stuff I don't need in the trolley.

Ah yes, the Aisle of Dreams, so many things you never knew you needed! Do you have a local market? They're often great for very fresh fruit & veg at decent prices, and I like being able to buy things that don't come in tonnes of packaging. Our local market also sells very cheap cleaning products, j cloths, dusters, tea towels, loo roll, that kind of thing.

I am ok with the Aisle of Mysteries, but my Dad can be lost for days! He isnt allowed to go with my mum anymore :o

I really cut our food bill by going to Tesco once a fortnight and getting their reduced food. Last week I got £71.06 of food for £3.96

FlissFloos - that is astonishing! Can you expand? Where does one have to look to find these bargains? What kind of things to you buy? Is there a special day to go to Tescos for these savings?

7pm is good in tesco...yellow label stuff at the end of the fridge aisles, and also in the bakery. Sometimes they move the bakery reduced trolley near to the fridge so the stuff is together.

It depends how good their order system is. Ours got better, and there are far fewer bargains now! Or at least, they are not there when they used to be!

peanutbutterandbanana, Tesco reduce goods each evening to about 10% of full price for fresh meat and ready made meals, eg. 2 chicken breasts for 25p, lamb mince 35p. I pick up bread for 5p. I stock up the freezer each time.

Morrison's, great prices, offers & products. I buy their value mayo, pasta, spaghetti, baked beans all approx in 20/30p range. Online now too so I find that really helps. I'm always willing to try out the cheapest value products (and not be put off by the packaging!) some stuff is great some stuff I go up to the next own brand choice. They have children's clothing now too & always a sale rack going with some great bargains