Small everyday savings. What am I missing?

[OhioOhioOhio]

Bars of soap instead of hand-wash.
Jumpers instead of heating.
Packed snacks/lunches instead of cafes.

Don't buy branded medicines, generic versions are often much cheaper.

Pay in cash.

It's saved me a fortune. You notice how much you're spending when you physically have the cash in your hand - if you only have £20 on you, you can't overspend and just stick it on your card.

Meal planning so you only buy what you need.
Walk or cycle to save money on petrol/bus fare.
Reusable sanitary products/baby wipes/face wipes/make up wipes - some initial cost but eventually works out much cheaper.
Library instead of kindle / book shop.

I recently started using AirtimeRewards. It’s an app that gives you money off your mobile bill. You just register your cards with it and it gives you cashback when you shop at various places. My referral code is 6CK7GW87 (which will give you a little bonus) if you fancy it

Make your own washing powder, softener and dishwasher tabs.
So easy and fractions of the cost of main brands

Meal plan and only buy the food for the meals on the plan - it avoids so much waste.

If you have a Nectar card, or similar, have a look to see what's on offer the following week and base some of your meals around that (DD is at uni and does this and saves a fortune plus earns loads of points)

Pick up Christmas wrapping paper etc in the new year. Wilko were selling rolls for 5p the other week.

Or even better cut down on what you buy and who you buy for at christmas ,when i was a child ( who swore we would never say that lol ) we only ever had stuff on birthdays and christmas these days we struggle to think what to buy

Buy reusable make up removing cloths like muslin cloths or pads rather than using wipes/disposable cotton pads.

Work out what a good deal price is for longer life items so when things are on offer you can stock up.

For example my nominal toilet roll price is under 20p/ roll and it must be 3 ply.

If you have a freezer carefully portion your food and freeze leftovers. Remember to label. Even if you have a bit left over thats not quite an evening meal portion it'd do for a lunch or the next time you do the meal and have the same amount left over you end up with a full meal.

Likewise if you're able to buy the odd joint, freeze and label the meat bones, when you've got a good few you can make a heavenly fresh stock/ broth/ base for a rich soup or rissotto.

Lidl veg boxes at £3 a time are fantastic most of the supermarkets do some sort of wonky veg type deal at present. Its always a really good deal and adds a bit of variety.

Definitely Ebay - buying and selling.

Selling - I always list any nice outfits I have purchased e.g. a dress bought for a wedding which I won't wear again. Listed for about half price so hopefully get some money back. Same with DD John Lewis dress for the wedding.

Selling - I sell on children's clothes when they have outgrown them. Try to list in the appropriate season as sell quicker and for more money as more in demand.

Buying - I buy my children's wellies and crocs and jeans on Ebay - usually pay around 99p per pair (and then resell on when outgrown). Saved a fortune.

Buying - I try to purchase out of season - items are usually much cheaper and less competition from other buyers.

I've posted about Chip before and it was on MN about 3 years ago that someone recommended it and I will be eternally grateful!

It's an app that links to your current account and takes bits of money (you can set how little/much) from it based on what you can afford. Sometimes it's tiny bits, but it all adds up and then I use it all at Christmas and start again.

I absolutely love it - I forget it's there and don't raid it and then I have a few hundred quid in December- has made a massive difference to the past couple of Christmases.

If anyone opens a Chip account and wants to use my referral code it's LOWP8Z. I habe no idea what we both get, but probably something?!

Bank account with cash back for utility bills & certain purchases. Also points & vouchers

Don't auto renew bills or insurance, shop around

Yellow sticker reduced food, had soon many bargains !

Try downshifting your groceries. e.g. we buy Tesco cornflakes (70p odd for a giant box), Aldi's Korma sauce (85p and lovely), Tesco own brand cola (50p for 2 litres). Push yourself to try things in case you like them (e.g. I didn't think I would like own brand SanPro, toothpaste or cola but it's fine) Some things we (my son) only like the brand is Nutella and Spaghetti hoops but we tried.

Have some cheap versions of treat food/takeaways so you can treat yourself cheaper without getting a takeaway e.g. oven fish/frozen chips, jar of curry sauce or aldi/Lidl curry ready meal etc. Have sides in if you can such as Popadoms, Naans etc and you can have a real family treat on a Friday for £6 odd instead of £20 odd.

A frozen pizza or two can be a god send to feed the kids if you are feeling too ill/knackered to cook (and save you phoning for one). Bargain at £1 odd.

Make sure you stock up on cheap versions of items you need if you can so you are not caught out and pop to the convenience shop and get dearer version.

Tear up any old towels, sheets that are too tatty to use for kitchen cloths/cleaning cloths and wash them with your washing (cut down on using wipes for cleaning).

Check out Groupon for hair cuts.

@checkingforballoons I've not heard of that app before, I've just signed up with your code.

Mine is 6UN3W8DF

Look on the bottom shelves when you are shopping, that’s where the cheapest version of what you want is placed

@Bridecilla great, hope you find it useful!

Cook a bit extra dinner abd hace it first lunch the next day. Info this a lot with pasta, risotto etc, but my colleague bought sausage, mash , cabbage and gravy in a Tupperware box last week!

Check eBay for anything before you buy it. Particularly good for kid’s non-everyday shoes like football boots, especially Astro boots that only get used indoors.

Minimise buying presents for friends. I don't buy birthday presents for friends any more except for special birthdays. Saves a lot of time and effort too.

Use reusable things - lots of kitchen stuff can be avoided entirely e.g. replace cling film with tupperware, foil with silicone baking sheets, kitchen roll with tea towels. Buy detergent as supermarket own brand boxed powder, not the fancy tab things. Reusable nappies, wipes and menstrual products also save money long term. You could even use family cloth if you wanted to cut down on toilet paper...

Avoid bulk buys, multipacks, and discounts often you end up buying more than you actually need and you don't save money that way.

Shop in charity shops and if you have kids, nearly new sales. I get some lovely quality stuff from very good brands in nearly new sales.

Think "do I need this?" before buying new clothes, shoes etc and buy better quality when you do so that it lasts longer. Take care of more expensive clothes by washing them at 30 and on delicate washes, inside out. Avoid using the tumble dryer.

Meal plan so you only buy what you need
Cook vegetarian more often
Packed lunches
Refillable water bottle
Coffee flask
Do your food shop online, there's often £1 delivery slots at certain times. Go through it a few times and take off anything you don't really need.
Make a proper budget spreadsheet of your income and all outgoings so you can see how much you have left, and then only withdraw that as spending money, once it's gone it's gone

Good luck!