To ask what are your money saving tips??

[Waterbottle1999]

DH and I are moving cities next year and need to seriously save. We've already cut back our supermarket spending and cancelled everything except Netflix.

Any other ideas what we could do? :)

We are planning on buying a house before we move, as we have 3 dogs and would find it hard to rent, so any advice about that would be great!

Take lunch / hot drinks to work rather than buying them.

You might already do this, but if not it saves a stupid amount of money. All those £3 - £5 purchases really add up.

We started taking food in from home about a year ago, it's crazy how much those meals from the canteen add up! :o

Ditch phone contracts if possible and use cheap sim only deals.
Cancel your landline if you have one and just use mobiles.
Take lunch and hot drinks to work
Do you both have cars? Can you manage with just one?
Give up drinking, smoking, gym membership

Go re-usables for everything.
I'm a big fan of menstrual cups and cloth pads, personally I find them a lot comfier than disposables.
1 cup and a few cloth pads will set you back about $70-100 but will last a minimum of 5 years, so you'll make your money back by the 2nd year.
Instead of going out for coffee, invite people over for a cup of tea.
Stay in a lot more, make it special at home.
Buy things in bulk when there's a special e-g if you make spaghetti bolognaise regularly, buy your sauce jars when they're 30% off and buy a lot of them.
Extend your meat dishes by adding lentils and beans to them.
Red lentils go well with spaghetti sauce, and don't need to be cooked for as long as other lentils (as long as you add them to the pan first with the onions).
Go meat free for a couple of dinners a week.

Have you checked utilities and on the best deals?
Any debt? Get onto 0% cards etc.
Sounds like you're already on it with lunches etc. Can you further limit takeaways and booze at home maybe?
Bill buying saves money if you can front the purchases, I love Costco for things like household cleaners etc if you've one close by.

bulk buying, not bill haha

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If you could choose the location of your new house so you can either do without a car all together or at least only have one car, that might be a great saving, subject to that location not being more expensive than you might otherwise live of course.

The old ones are the best. Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves.

It's the magazines, the coffee, the chocolate bar, the "bargain" top you don't really need or even like that much that add up.

And avoid online shopping. If you cba to go out to buy it, you won't miss it.

Go and look at [Moneysavinexpert.com] you will find extensive budgeting spreadsheets and Tips. From the simple such as take your own lunch to work to the more complex such as how to haggle for a discount. I’m really good at getting discounts not just the usual get a reduction on my tv and internet package also in shops. So in a garden centre last year having spent £60 on a bamboo plant and maple tree and wanting pots for them both I managed to get one pot totally free. My friend who was with me was gobsmacked with a what happened there? I’m good at it but did used to negotiate for the pay rises for a couple of thousand people.

Don’t buy jar sauces! Make the sauce yourself.

If you are trying really hard for a year then look at it as a a game.

Have you double checked all direct debits? Any PPI claims? Changed energy supplier? Started to shop at Aldi? Eat less meat? Then spend as little as possible.

Depends on what you do already really. But my usual advice is a few ultra-cheap meals a week (lentil/veg soup with bread, egg and chips), down-grading your food shopping by one brand/level/shop and renegotiating/shopping around for suppliers.

Pay cash for purchases. Only take a certain amount out with you. You will quickly start buying only what you need and not what you want! Saves a fortune.

Get a Monzo account that tracks all your spending from your phone in one glance. You can set savings pots aside on it and it makes money management very easy. Good luck!

Don;t carry your credit cards/bank cards on you and only a specific amount of cash.

Use mysupermarket.com, you shop just as you would at your chosen supermarket but the site highlights when things are cheaper so eg Tesco own brand bacon is not the cheapest in Tesco.

It also tells you special offers.

Check out savings providers and if necessary change your bank account, some banks will also give you money to switch.

Pay yourself first, ie, put money aside for your savings for the month, calculate paying your bills, then what you've got left is fun money.

Does your at-home internet provider do a package for your mobiles too? It can work out cheaper (eg Plusnet).

Be selective about what beauty treatments you pay for. A lot of stuff can be done at home. Are you brave enough for the MN hair cut OP?!

Set up a standing order from your current a/c to savings a/c every month to actually move the money you are saving on drinks/gym/dara/groceries. If it’s nit there to spend, you can’t treat yourself. It’s one thing not spending it, but yiu skso actually need to save it. With saving interest rates so low, think about putting money into Premium Bonds - you might win!

Work out how much you want to save ina year, thrbfivide by 12. Is this a feasible amount to put aside each month?

Don't buy those big, lidded cups of coffee.
Take your own food to work.
Cut right down on the alcohol.
Sim only mobile deal.
Cook more, don't buy ready made food.

Shop around for your dog food and pet insurance if you can (not possible for pre-existing conditions) making sure you don't skimp on cover.

I get all our catfood delivered from Zooplus, cheaper than supermarkets plus a great range of premium foods and I don't have to lug it all home.

Use what you have
Sell things you don’t need (clothes kids toys etc)

When you budget, budget the luxuries (whatever they may be for you) in. I know some will say to cut them all out but from experience if you cut out everything you love you will get miserable and will spend more on “treats” factor them in (be it a nice coffee once a week or nails once a month or whatever) and you’ll save more.

When we were saving for our deposit I tried downgrading catfaces food. She refused to eat for 3 days. So I caved. And continued with her premium brand. Hopefully your dogs will eat anything. But if not don’t keep trying cheaper brands if they won’t. More expensive in the long run.

Also don’t cancel pet insurance.

MSE money overhaul - every bill, every direct debit, examine it (Agree with pp though, don't cancel pet insurance).
Switch your shopping - we save about 30% on our shopping since switching to Aldi from Tesco. Avoid the aisle of shite though.
If you are planning to move, start decluttering and selling what you can before then - that way, you'll have time to sell rather than throwing stuff out at the last minute.
Use Top cashback for any online purchases - I get about £60 a year.
Pet food - if you have a regular brand, shop around. Fetch usually have my cats food at 30% under RRP, but I switch between them and Amazon for litter as it depends where it's on offer.
Direct debit into your savings at the start of the month - if you leave it in your main account its easier to spend.

Do every single thing on the MoneySavingExpert makeover list - unbelieveable how much I saved.

Shop at Lidl/Aldi.

Meal plan.

Be mainly vegetarian and use a lot of lentils/beans.

Buy pet food from Zooplus and switch to one of their European brands - my cats are on Animonda Carny. It's all meat, they love it, recyleable tins and far cheaper than Whiskas/Felix or other high street brands. Loads of choice.

BlindAssasin I'm not sure I trust myself with a pair of scissors, but you have given me a great idea to go to the local beauty school and let them practice 😂

Thanks very much everyone for your ideas! Will discuss them with DH

Try the Moneybox app. It rounds up any small purchases you make (you choose which) and puts the money in a savings account. Eg you buy a coffee at Starbucks for 2.70 and it rounds it up to 3.00, and 30p goes onto your savings. It really adds up for a couple over a month.

Also have you got an account with one of the challenger banks? You can open a Monzo account in 10 minutes online, and the app will show you a full breakdown analysis of all your spending in categories like travel, food, entertainment etc etc so you can master your savings. It will also let you stash money in different pots each month so you have self-restricted budgets for things, eg lunches.

Sell things you don’t need (clothes kids toys etc)

Definitely sell your kids

Meal plan so you don't buy any extra stuff, and don't end up throwing food away because you haven't used it.

Find some way (either an app, or a spreadsheet) of tracking your spending for a couple of months. There might be expenses in there that you hadn't really thought about, or hadn't realised how much they add up, but once you know you can reduce them.
Check all your direct debits, check you aren't paying for a subscription you never use etc.
Also check any loyalty cards you have, I always use my boots card to get points but never pay with it, and only realised the other day I had about £60 to spend. Means I wont have to pay for toiletries for a good while.

If possible get a second job or work over time or pay rise

Do not auto renew any utilities or insurance, shop around for cheaper deals yearly

Use a bank account that provides cash back on purchases & bills

Switch your bank to get money for joining new bank

Set up a regular saver account

Use a credit card that gives cash back

Use cards that give points back like Tesco, Sainsburys, Coop

Bulk buy

Buy from charity shops, car boot sales