To ask for your budgeting tips?

[erja]

We are good at budgeting on a whole - but could definitely be better (especially when it comes to cheaper meals, batch cooking, cutting out that extra takeaway!)

I want to start moving towards saving for a mortgage now too, so there's no room for unnecessary spending.

What's everyone's top tips?

@erja write down everything you spend, when you pick something up ask yourself 3 times, do I REALLY need this or is it a want?? Meal plan for the week and only buy what you need....

Don't go into the shops at all during the week. You save a fortune.

Meal plan, batch cook, make packed lunches and homemade cookies/flapjack etc, veg soup from leftover bits and bobs at the weekend. Make shopping lists and stick to them. Keep written spending records and have a savings goal to aim at. If you are tempted to buy non-essentials at the petrol station each week buy fuel just once a month. If you routinely have to go to a shop to buy one special thing that you use regularly and then end up getting other stuff which would be cheaper at your usual supermarket, stock up on six months worth of the special thing (me and Bisto best, sad but true).Bulk buy birthday cards, shop for birthdays and Christmas all year round in sales and keep a list of what you've got people on your phone. Keep a fridge in the freezer for yellow sticker party type food. Unsubscribe from online shopping emails to reduce temptation. Plan ahead for travel as much as possible, not just holidays but car journeys. Consider Air BnB.

Use cashback (topcashback, Quidco etc) for any spending and check if your bank account offers cashback.

Hot UK deals is good for bargains, search on there to see if there are deals on anything you need, or keep an eye on any categories you regularly buy in.

For children's clothes, nct sales can be very good value and good condition, and carboot sales in the summer can be hit or miss, but if you're in a nice area can have lovely stuff dirt cheap.

Make do and mend, so many clothes these days are flimsy and fall apart too easily, I have a basic sewing kit but I extend the life of items for months by repairing as soon as I see holes, frayed hems or loose buttons. I can then replace items when they are cheaper at the end of the season.

No top up shops at all, if it runs out we go without. It sounds brutal but we're now much more careful not to be wasteful as we know the bread and milk must last the week. It also means that we eat all our fruit and veg because by the end of the week there is little else to eat.

No tumble dryer, fresh air is free and eco friendly if you have a washing line.

Picnics or bakery lunches rather than eating in cafe's on day trips. I use facebook to find out when the local attractions are giving discount days because it makes a huge difference when I am paying for the whole family!

Second here for packed lunch and take snacks everywhere. Meal plan everything.
Also a fan of cash back - and get a recommendation from someone as you get a bit of money. If you start now you can save it till xmas.

My big savings are daily coffees and lunches. I now take a cafetière and to work and batch cook a veggie curry or chilli to heat up. It saves me at least £25/30 a week.

Cooking less meat, more veggie, substituting meat for chickpeas/lentils in meals such as shepherds pie and lasagnes.

Buying supermarket branded dishwasher tablets/loo roll/cleaning products.

Join your local library as you can often get free online subscriptions to latest magazines as well as borrow books, DVDs.

The Works, Wilko or Poundland for kids' crafts, stationery and A4 paper for printer. Savers are v good for toiletries and dishwasher and cleaning stuff, loo roll.

If you live in London get your age 5-15 kids a free Oyster card for tube and bus travel. You apply online on TFL website.

If you do go to Waitrose get their free card as you can get a free coffee or tea each visit if you bring in your own travel mug. I shop at Aldi weekly now though: I meal plan, make my own bread in a breadmaker, and do my own cleaning sprays with vinegar/lemon or tea tree oil, I have saved loads.

This may not work for everyone but for me it’s been a godsend. I have an app called Receipt Box (iPhone).

I input my salary and any other income in at the beginning of the month and then put all my known outgoings for the month in, including savings. It then shows in a really easy pie chart form what the remaining balance is for the rest of the month. Every time I buy something I put it in and it reduces the remaining balance. I also estimate what certain events will cost e.g if I have a birthday gift to buy that month or a meal/evening out.

It really works for me.

Meal plan and batch cook... no more takeaways. It's winter so hot pots, casseroles, pies can be good things to make. Take lunch to work, if work has a fridge and microwave even better as you can then reheat things you batch cooked (Do not forget work etiquette, no smelly food).

www.mumsnet.com/food/recipes

Always make a packed lunch for work. I am genuinely stunned how much people in my team spend on their lunches on a daily basis. Make it a habit to prepare I e I make sandwiches while I'm cooking tea etc.
If doing actual cooking, double the recipe and freeze half. You only need to get it out and put it in the fridge the night before you want it.
If doing things like pasta, make extra and it's lunch the next day.
Kids clothes in the sale for the next size up - put them away to grow into.
Monthly shop for your tins/store cupboard stuff - easier to keep track of your spends if you just have that shop then your weekly top up of bread/milk/fruit.
Frozen veg is so much cheaper. Unless in salad or crudités, I only use frozen peppers now and it makes a difference.
Don't buy brands, or significantly limit them to the necessities - tea bags for me.
Pay for as much as possible by card. £x in Tesco is easier for me to put in to our spends spreadsheet than remember why I took out £20 in cash for example.
Got any in nappies? I cloth nappy mine for the environmental reasons, but they work out way cheaper.
Shop around for all services.
Be mindful of meeting friends for coffee etc, every now and then is fine, but it adds up if frequent! We invite round &bake.
We do have subscriptions for Netflix and Kindle unlimited, but that's our entertainment budget... We're not pub people, cinema once in a blue moon if there's something we are desperate to see. We tend to hold off, chances are Dsis will buy the dvd
Put your savings away as soon as you get paid - if it's not in your current account, you can't spend it!
If you impulse buy, make yourself wait a day/week before you buy it.
Be strict with yourself for non essentials e.g. clothes. Keep your goal in mind.
Allow yourself treats every now and then. Imposing a very frugal life on yourself makes the journey much harder! Saturday night for us was a film on Netflix, with a beer for DH, hot chocolate for me and some cookies or something similar between us less than £5 in Asda :)