To ask for your tips on frugal living?

[SeeClearNow]

First time poster. Reading some posts earlier prompted me to start a thread for us to share our tips on frugality and budgeting. Most of us are feeling the pinch and I thought it would be helpful to hear all the different ways we can save some money that perhaps we hadn’t thought of.

Would love this to be a friendly, judgment free thread. Hit me with your top tips, no matter how big or small - I want to hear them all!

I too do all of the above, batch baking, even Dr Michael Mosley's 5 ways to get healthy, my favourite is to shower and wash in cold water.

Go to Morrisons every night around 6pm and get the yellow stickers and put in the freezer any excess.

Reuse tinfoil and teabags.

Use the microwave rather than oven.

Drink tap water.

Wear clothes until they are dirty and don't tumble dry.

Weekly baths rather than daily showers.

Keep hot water off and use cold for handwashing etc.

Put on an extra jumper when you walk into the house and sit with throws over you.

Only hoover weekly.

Never use a hairdryer.

Use potatoes to make chips.

Walk every journey that's under 4 miles.

Get MSE weekly emails.

Charge phone when out.

Use libraries.

Only buy clothes from charity shops.

If I see anything in the reduced/yellow sticker section while shopping (usually meat or things like bread, wraps or pancakes) I'll get it and freeze it so we've a stock of things in the freezer for those times just before pay day when money is a bit tight.

I buy most of my clothes and things for my DC second hand on Vinted or from charity shops. I sell the things they've grown out of and then use the money to buy things they need. My DS is 18 months old and growing very quickly, so it's much more cost effective to buy bundles of basic things from Vinted (vests, trousers, sleepsuits) rather than buying new and them getting little wear before they're too small.

Buy ahead for the winter. I've been taking stock of what we will need for the winter and buying things now while they're cheaper. I've had a lovely thick coat for my DS from Vinted for £2.50 and also replaced my DD's worn-out boots with a brand new pair, also from Vinted for £3. I needed a new winter coat so I've brought one, again from Vinted and keeping an eye out for boots and jumpers now.

Use what you have - if you've got clothes that are fine but have a tear/hole, repair it. If you knit, bake or crochet and have craft supplies, make a present for someone instead of buying it.

Pass things down from one DC to another. I keep anything from my DD that my DS can use, and once they're done with clothes I pass them on to a friend for her baby. Baby things especially get such little wear that they're usually in great condition and can be used again instead of buying new or throwing them out.

Can you explain how to do this please? It’s brilliant. Do you join your local library and that means access through their page? Thanks.

They usually have campaigns with two duvets for one. Still expensive I know, but they will keep you warm even if the room is feeezing cold.

That's an existence, not a life.

mycat I was thinking the same thing.

Weekly bath, never use a hairdryer, weekly hoover. That's awful. Hairdryer and hoover would be pennies. This is tips for making sensible savings, not eeking out a miserable existence. Mind you, £600 duvet suggestions are just as unhelpful.

I'm not sure if this is about using the local library to access magazines but in case it is.

I joined the local library. Then I set up the free Libby app on my phone/tablet. The app links to my library card, you can link more than one card.

I use the app to download my magazines in virtual format, borrow them for a month and get notifications when the next one in a series is published.

Unlike books which often have a limited number of ecopies there seems to be unlimited copies of magazines being I get them on release day.
My library has a huge range of magazines but I guess that might vary.

Placemarking so I don't lose this thread. Some awesome advice here. Thank you everyone.

Bought a telescopic dryer £18 stuck it in the greenhouse - never use the tumble dryer again.

@lightand totally agree. My sister lives and works in a city with plenty of public transport (huge discounts if you buy season tickets). Gave up her car last year and can't believe how much money she will save.

I was also surprised how much I managed to save on house insurance when I shopped around.

Oh, god. Don't re-use teabags. Drink half the tea if you must.

My husband and I are coffee fiends.
We have totally stopped buying coffee out.
My recommendation is to invest in an Italian Bialetti Moka which you can use to make exceptional coffee at home. You can buy them for about £30.
We pour coffee into thermos for walks or trips out.
Now we have gotten so used to our coffee this way, one rare occasions where have bought coffee-shop coffee we have regretted it, since it doesn't taste as good as home coffee from our Bialetti.

Thanks to people mentioning the Gousto iffer. I just got myself a free box.
Very happy not having to think much on my next weekly shop😂

Make a meal plan, write the shopping list and stick to it. Yellow stickers are only money saving if it's cheaper than what you had planned.
Menu planning for six nights a week, leftovers for the 7th.
Cooking a large roast and then using the leftover meat for meals for two or three nights, stir fry, curry fajitas, things you can bulk out with veg. It makes meat more affordable.
Freeze leftovers and have "freezer surprise" meals.
I have started meeting friends in a park and bringing a coffee in a thermal cup rather than meeting in a coffee shop.
Own brand is nearly always cheaper and tastes just as nice.
Tinned potatoes are brilliant!
Dry your laundry on a line! Not in the tumble dryer and not on the radiator, (if you have to dry them indoors in the winter use a clothes horse but be aware that it can make the house damp, especially if we're all turning off the heating.)

I expect this has been said already - but buy a second hand phone or returned due to a scratch etc, rather than a new one. Don't get a contract, get a PAYG SIM which you can upload a minimum to and not have to add payments monthly. DH and DCs have a three mobile SIM where you pay £10 up front and as long as you make at least one text every 6 months you don't have to pay any extra. DD has had the same £10 since Xmas before last! (She's 14....)

They use wifi at home but obvs it costs if you turn on mobile data outside - but lots of people don't need to. If they want to ring me they ring and ring off and I call them back. I do have a contract but own my own phone, so the contract is £5 a month and I get quite enough minutes and data for normal life. I couldn't stream a movie outside but nobody needs to - I keep my mobile data off when I remember, and it's fine. I do think people nowadays spend silly amounts on phones and contracts without considering their options......

Good luck!

I never Hoover more than once a week. Is that another mumsnet thing?
I also regularly use herbal tea bags for more than one cup, hardly ever use the hairdryer and don’t shower every day. Don’t feel like I’m just existing.

Buy full fat milk and water it down to make it go twice as far.

Also wash my hand with cold water as it takes ages for the combo boiler to warm the water. I always put another jumper on when i get home.

We have Netflix but have never paid a penny for it. Every Christmas when my inlaws ask what I want, I ask them to get me a Netflix gift card. They are quite generous so it lasts all year.

When money was really tight, I asked for Amazon gift cards for birthdays from relatives. I would credit my account and the money would be there to buy gifts for relatives throughout the year. Bit cheeky but no- one knew. I have started treating myself now and again which is nice.

We need to hoover daily, we have 3 German Shepards.

@Bubblebubblebah Yes it's great isn't it!? We got ours yesterday & made one of the recipes. Very tasty. I've recommended it to 2 others who've bought already so I got 2 x£20 credits towards future dishes. Don't know how they can do it for free but I suppose they'll get leads that become customers in some cases.

I'm no coffee fiend but have use a Bialetti since 2008, for my one a day. And yes, it tastes way better than anything that can be bought in the coffee heaven that, apparently, is Melbourne

That's fine if that's what you want to do. For me, with three kids, I hoover (and mop) most days. It's not a MN thing, it's individual difference.

We all shower most days (DH and DS1 every day - DH has a manual job, DS1 is at the gym/ cycles back from work).

Lots of tips are completely irrelevant to me, I just scroll on by, I suggest you do the same.

Lots of tips are completely irrelevant to me, I just scroll on by, I suggest you do the same.

@JS87 wasn't so much commenting on tips as on the fact that one poster seems to think that some sensible tips equate to existing rather than living.