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!

@Bubblebubblebah Thank you I know about the cherry pips. I check very carefully what we can and cannot eat - and I have several books on foraging so I am unlikely to poison us 😁

Slow cooker tomato sauce. Freeze it in yoghurt pots. Add any random veg to the pasta, and that's a cheap, easy meal

Just a small thing but I have wrapped an old red hair bobble round the hot tap in the kitchen. It is to make us think if we really need to use hot water or will cold do instead.

I agree with the PP who suggested simpler meals. We have always considered a couple of sandwiches and some salad to be a meal. A cup of tea if you need to be warmed up. It not only saves cooking costs but also dish washing costs.

Love Meera Sodha’s recipes!

@Inertia I normally cook dried pulses in a pressure cooker rather than slow cooker- do you know if this is any better for you? Don't always remember to soak though!

Just like turning the oven off 5 minutes early, do the same with your hob and put the lid on tight. It keeps cooking as well.
Use period knickers instead of buying sanitary products, when you can.
If you’ve got a water butt, and it’s now low like mine , put any buckets etc that you’ve got out in the rain to collect more and fill it up.

I try to make a bit of extra money through apps:
Shoppix, Storewards, HuYu Amazonrewards & SnapMyEats- you scan your receipts in and can earn cash or vouchers, takes a while but very little effort.

OnePulse, Vypr, Prolific- complete surveys for money. Again takes a while but adds up.

BeMyEye- mystery shopping tasks

Then there are apps that you link your bank cards to and will give you points for selected shops.. money for nothing!
Airtime Rewards- Do you want to reduce your phone bill?

Download Airtime Rewards for free with my code CE8XBGL6 and save money off your phone bill every time you shop with brands like Boots, Greggs, Wilko, Argos and loads more: airtimerewards.app.link/WkEVQGZT4rb

Daali- Never miss a reward from hundreds of your favourite brands for shopping as usual, join Daali today and get 200 daali points using my code 6KDPB

We collect "waiting for the tap/ shower to run hot" water in a bucket and use it to flush the loo or water drought-wilting plants.

Me too !
The kids think I’m bonkers, so glad I’m not on my own doing it 🤣

Get rid of the car, or have the smallest one you can get.

Some good tips on here, great for environment

But, if the aim us to save money, then a PP made a good point that, sometimes, increasing your earning potential has greater impact

SeeClearNow, love the fact that you don't have to soak and boil pulses if you cook them in a pressure cooker - we have an instant pit and it's great, just bung all the ingredients for a chilli in, including kidney beans and set it off.

Pressure cooker also brilliant for things like gammon joints - cooks really fast and much nicer (and cheaper) than packet ham.

I'm reducing portion sizes and freezing one portion each meal. Then when I'm alone in the house I don't shop and live off these left overs.

I also do click and collect rather than go in store. I do my order a week in advance then 24 hours before I pick through it questioning whether I really need things/can afford things looking to reduce my basket price.

I cut up any clothes that are outgrown and not high enough quality to sell/give away and use them in place of cloths or kitchen roll.

In the winter I will be keeping the heating to a minimum and using hot water bottles, heated blankets and heated clothing to stay warm.

Great advice. I work in mortgages and see the rates getting crazier every day. Some are reducing briefly so will keep an eye on this. Was planning to just fix again with current lender at the end of the year because it's less hassle but will probably need to change lender asap. Will check our early repayment charges and see how soon we can do this without penalty.

Great food tips - we are big fans of "fridge raid" fried rice and pasta salad. Love your idea for potato cakes with fried egg and beans, sounds delicious and more importantly, something my children will actually enjoy!

I totally agree with you re Christmas. Thankfully within my family we already buy gifts for the children only but I find that there is always one person who buys for the adults anyway which can become awkward! Same with birthdays, I tend to get trapped in the gift giving/receiving cycle. I'd really rather save the money and equally don't want others to spend on me unnecessarily. Nevertheless, I do keep a sinking fund for these types of expenses which helps immensely.

In addition to a lot of the housekeeping changes I've switched to Aldi skincare just as good as Liz Earle Estee Lauder nd loads cheaper. Also gave up my yoga membership and now exercise a few minutes morning and night at home using stuff from Pintrest.

I found an article in a paper recently, 100 ways to cut down spending, am already doing them all except one which is dropping dead !!!!

I have an old fashioned big metal mouli that I dig out once a year for stone fruit jam and compote. It pushes all the pulp through and leaves the stones.

Stock take your fridge/ freezer/ food cupboards before making a shopping list.

Always make a shopping list and meal plan, the days can be flexible but you need to know how you are going use the random packet of quinoa in your cupboard.

I keep a cashbook so I know where every penny goes, it's how we can create a budget, see if we are over/ under budget and work out our long term goals. I have a cashflow forecast set up so I can see where we'll be in a years time.

Credit cards have been excellent for cashback, i use them for everything. I'm on track for £170 back from Amex and have had £40 amazon vouchers from my Amazon Mastercard.

I use receipt scanning apps for cashback too, storewards/ huyu and shopping.

I have every loyalty card if available, sometimes I get offers. I keep them on my stocard app. No-one has space for all of those.

I also use Quidco and have honey on my browser as an online discount code search.

Try to avoid adverts, tune them out. Marketing is really clever but once you stop listening to them telling you that you need XYZ, the want disappears.

Most importantly, don't spend for the sake of it. Follow minimalist blogs. Only buy what you need, make a list of what you want and wait until next payday. You'll find you don't really want it anymore.

Eat seasonally
Don't buy berries

Get an allotment. Start up costs can be quite high but it soon becomes a low cost hobby.

Things we get from our allotment:

• soft fruit
• vegetables
• flowers for the house
• apples/pears

From our produce we make jams and jellies, pasta sauces, cider.

It isn't free but it gives us a touch of luxury at a low cost.

Thanks for this - I have used your Gousto code and will give them a try. So many delicious looking recipes to choose from but got there in the end

After throwing out the soak water you need to bring them to the boil and boil for ten minutes to get rid of the toxins, then they are fine to put in the slow cooker.

Insurance
Pay attention to home contents insurance that just renews each year - a few years back in conversation with a friend I realised that I was paying about three times as much as she was for almost identical cover, and had been doing so for years.

I could have kicked myself for being lazy and just filing away the renewal notice each year instead of reading it!

Water meter
I live alone and didn't want a meter 'on principle' - talk about cut your nose to spite your face! Eventually had a meter installed and my monthly bill is less than half what it was.

There is a woman on Instagram who tickles me. Black forager. Love her!
People often underestimate what they can forage. Young dandelion leaves are actually nice. I once run out of salad leaves so just used clover and dandelions from garden😂

Do you have a dehydrator? Absolutely worth every penny, especially if you like mushrooms etc.

I challenge myself to a day a week where I spend nothing

easy for some but not easy for a family of 5! Feel good when I do it

This made me laugh! I can totally relate!