To ask for your most ingenious money saving tips

[Toothiehurtie]

my Best one is…

a visit to the card factory for cheap cards and gift bags and then picking up presents from car boot sales or charity shops. I have got some brilliant kids party presents for 50p so with the card and a cheap gift bag I have brought the cost of a present in for a pound before.

looking for any tips at all, obviously you can buy porridge oats in bulk cheaper than buying expensive kids cereal etc but anything clever or that people might not have thought of before.

don’t know how bad the fuel crisis will be but considering charging battery packs to charge phones at work and taking a thermos of boiled water home 😂

My money saving tip @Toothiehurtie is using the search function on Mumsnet for “money saving tips

Do not have multiple dc or dpets.
Wish I had thought of this many moons ago...

The tip I always give is menu plan and shop once a week but actually make your week 8 days. On day 8 use up all the odd bits and pieces in the fridge. That way you have 46 shopping weeks in a year and gain 6 weeks extra housekeeping money. This funds our xmas.

Cut dishwasher tablets in half.

I've found a way to get completely free internet and phone bill. Instead of buying broadband I just hotspot from my mobile. 100GB is enough for me to do everything I need, including copious Zoom calls. This costs £10 per month. Then use 'Airtime Rewards' and claim money back from my
train commute (and other purchases). This covers my mobile bill, and therefore all my internet.

I do all my debit card spending through Chase - you get 1% cashback on everything you spend. I've had £60 back so far.

Also, every time I cook I cook double and freeze half - that way we have a meal good to go after a long day at work and that means we are able to resist convenience foods and take aways... most of the time...

I’ve stopped watering the garden - hope to save water on our water bill that way (sorry plants).

I also charge my phone at work....

@Toothiehurtie the hot water from work is actually a genius idea. Could then use it to fill up hot water bottle at home. 🤔

This is genius! Thankyou!

All summer I've been spinning the clothes on the lowest spin on the machine. Comes out abit wetter than normal but on the line in the sun it dries so does not matter.
No need to spin clothes fully when sunny.

One of the ladies at the gym says she now has her showers and styles her hair etc at the gym, rather than using her own hot water and electricity for hair dryer etc.

I do similar but rather just buy 'meals' for about 5 days and cobble something together for the other 2. Leftovers, store cupboard bits, stuff from the freezer, etc.

I make my shopping week 8 days too, sometimes a bit longer. That was a tip from Mumsnet originally though.

I buy bigger packs of eg chicken and split them into freezer bags before freezing (so a six piece packet becomes two bags of three pieces - there are three of us). Much cheaper than two smaller packets.

Cool once, eat twice

The people charging their phones and filling flasks at work do know it stealing electricity don't they?

There is always one, isn’t there 🙄🙄🙄

@tenbob
Yup I was just waiting for that too 😃

I've got loads. They're so built into my life now, I can't identify them all.

If you're the sort of person who pays their car/house/pet insurance monthly rather than annually, your paying more than you need.

Take out a 0% purchases credit card, where the 0% lasts at least 12 months, and buy your annual policies on that. Then pay off monthly. Save a fortune.

Fwiw, Martin Lewis took that idea from me when I rang into a Money Savers slot on Radio 2 back in 2004. Martin trumpeted it everywhere for the next few months and, all credit, said he'd picked it up from a savvy money saver.

We've got wireless phone chargers by every desk. If I'm stealing electricity, work are supporting me to : )

f

Get a job with accommodation included.
My employer pays all my bills.

My brother has worked out that 10 minute shower will cost £2.50 on the new rates. It cheaper to pay for gym membership each month and shower there everyday.

Death.

Really?