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 😂

I also shop with what is on offer. So my shopping list will say 'fruit and veg' but I'll go for what the deals are. I have a rough meal plan, but adapt the meals to what has been available. I also buy and freeze a lot of reduced foods. My freezer is awash with yellow labels.

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

Blimey, who have thought? I was doing this in the 80s when I first got married. Husband had a literal pay packet and we opened it a day later every week. I suspect long before Mumsnet...

If you're buying presents for people abroad, don't buy in UK and pay postage to send to them, try and source it within their country. It's much much cheaper and you will avoid the faff of customs charges and label filling. It's amazing what you can find using your browser and google translate.

Using works electricity to charge phones or boiling water to take home just to avoid paying for it yourself is stealing. Someone is paying for it, just not you.

Normally I would agree with you. However, I came back to the UK after 17 years away and IMO companies now treat people like absolute crap. If anyone is stealing, it's them. If you are on this thread, chances are you are working in a not so highly paid job. I am working for a company who is nationally known for treating their staff great. Well f*ck me, if they treat staff great, I'd hate to see the other places.

People now don't get paid for the things they used to. They get no overtime, they get docked pay if they are 10 mins late when trains are on strike, buses don't turn up etc. They have to do 2 peoples jobs when the co.l won't replace someone.

So, although this is a projecting rant, no one is stealing electricity. They are taking a bit back from their own company which has probably screwed them over a hundred times.

@jillymcnilly we do this for relatives in Australia. My siblings and I will each choose something from ToysRUs Australia, for example to get over free (local) delivery cost, and will ask Aus relative to wrap the presents on our behalf. Saves so much money.

I'm also experimenting with regrowing lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and celery from the bottom bits. Lettuce in particular is ridiculously expensive in Australia at the moment, as are most veg really.

I'm also starting a proper veg garden but so far that hasn't saved me money..... and I have just bought 3 chickens which are a few weeks off laying. Going to be awhile till they start paying for themselves....

Covid and the closed restaurants reducing demand and closed borders so no working holidayers picking anything, combined with all the floods has meant the veg garden will pay for itself a lot faster than in 'normal' times.

If you commute to work by train always use Delay Repay if your train is delayed to get money back. They can pay directly into your bank account. You just need to make a note of the train you were travelling on and the length of delay.

You can apply to have your water charges capped if you have 3 children under 19 living at home, have health conditions or are on certain benefits.

More information here.

We claim for our son who is autistic and has never been dry at night. We do a lot of washing!

Turn TV off when not watching it.

Yes I have been doing this, also means they don’t crease at all.

@Kerrrmieee Bloody cat's would rather starve than eat a box different to their preferred brand though. Wankers.

Mine too. How can we explain the cost of living crisis to our feline overlords?

Or meal plan for 6 days.

*We have a left over night once a week.

*I also make soup from whatever veggies are left in the fridge.

*Freeze left over fruit (berries, bananas) or make them into a puree for porridge (apples, pears).

*My advice would be not to stock up. I have run down my cupboards and freezer and my shopping bill has been nothing over the past month. Avoid 3 for 2 and some offers unless it is on your list. It is not a bargain buy if you don't need it.

*It was poor stock control and I literally had hundreds of pounds in my cupboards. I have a full freezer, but it is of meals made from doubling up, frozen fruit and muffins that I have made with frozen fruit.

*You don't need to stick to recipes. I have made loads of muffins with all kinds of scrag ends of sugar bags in my cupboard. It doesn't matter if you use brown caster suggest, with white granulated sugar and a bit of golden syrup. It all tastes the same, maybe better. Keep your cupboards under very tight control.

*You don't need fancy skin care. I am in my 50's and my skin is really good, so I am told. If I hit 16, and put Astral or Nivea, or Vaseline on my face every day of my life, my skin would probably be better than with the 00000000's I've spent on Clarins, Clinique, La Mer etc. Beauty products are a scam. They are basically very clever marketing people taping into women insecurities. Of course, if you have a skin issue, you need to see a doctor.

Not if you want a decent cup of tea.

Might work for coffee, but really doesn't for tea.

Re: Death

Give you body to science and the university arranges cremation at their cost.

So you really can die for free.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/AMA/3653395-My-mum-died-recently-and-left-her-body-to-science-AMA

I cycle to work and shower there. Bike was second hand and cost £30, £0 petrol cost and free shower. Win all around!

Given mine is a huge organisation and I’m expected to answer work emails at home and required to have the internet and work laptop on at home - so that we can do calls from home (!) as well as be phoned at home or on our mobiles in an emergency - our are actively encouraging it. I have about 40 sockets in my room at work and work have said charge everything. every member of staff can request the loan of a power bank etc

we have free tea and coffee at work and they have said use it - far cheaper for them to buy in bulk and heat one urn rather then us all boil kettles at home
We have a gym and showers at work as well as a swimming pool we can use. And we have been told that as from 1st September our towels will be washed and dried by work ready for the next day, they have brought extra washing machines and tumble dryers.

we have also been told anyone struggling needs to ask and there is a confidential set up and literally they will do what they can. We already have lunch included as part of our salary but if anyone struggles any left overs will be given to staff who need an evening meal etc

But I love my work and I won’t leave it until carted out in a box

The cost of charging a phone is insignificant, and you will not even be able to detect it on your electricity meter.

Oh and I don’t need a gym membership either

I have this
l plan for 5 and try and plan most days for bulk/freezable meals (curry/dahl/chilli etc) so any not used can be frozen and then only a 2 or 3 days when I need the exact amount (chicken breasts/pieces of fishe etc). Then I can swap Tuesday chicken with Weds Dahl if DS now going to be out on Tuesday.

It is still worth doing. Really does save money/food. And 80% of what we eat is freezable so again, if plans change just adapt a bit....chuck it in the freezer for another night. Swap meals.

@NameChangeyForThis - if I used Nivea or Vaseline on my skin I would break out in awful blind pimples, and I am in my 50s too. Good skin is not a given, there is a huge element of luck.

grey water is great for cleaning and Gardens. I bet you could clean the car with bath water.

My dad was into being eco and being thrifty way before it was a mainstream issue. I remember he used to save yhe water from washing up (for which he used the tiniest drop of washing up liquid) and gave it to us to wash our cars (late 1990s/early 2000s) . I'm not sure the cars were any cleaner using greasy water with tiny bits of brocoli or sundried tomato in it! 🤣

Go around your house and check all your light bulbs are Led. A 5 watt led bulb cost pennies to run works out something like half a penny for 2 hours

Mine too. How can we explain the cost of living crisis to our feline overlords?

And ours.🙄 and we used to put (DDs) leftovers of meat or fish on their plate and they never ate it. However now if she leaves something we leave it on the human plate on the floor. Somehow the cats find it much better to "steal" the leftovers from the human plate rather than eat from their own dish.
Now wondering if we put own brand cat food on a human plate (with knife and fork) it might become more appealing...?

@BerthaBetty - it's not the amount of money you spend by meal planning for 7 days but shopping every 8, it's that by allocating that amount of money every 8 weeks you will get a 'spare' amount of money that is a noticeable sum, and can be put in savings. £20 a week in savings is easy to sometime's not do - it's ONLY £20. But £160 every 8 weeks would feel like a massive amount of money. Even though it's exactly the same amount of money.