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 😂

If you must have children, limit the number of offspring you produce. Advice I would now give my 30yr old self - before I had more 🤣

On a serious note, I second @Kendodd. Don’t get a bigger house unless you need it, make do with the one you’ve got if it meets your needs. Actually, extend this philosophy to every quarter of your life. Make do with what you have, you’ll save loads of money.

People are consumed these days with upgrading everything, all the time - cars, houses, furnishings. When you stick with the stuff you have, if it does the job & you look after it well you’ll save £££££’s. Ok you might not be keeping up with the Jones but you’ll soon notice the difference in your bank balance. Wish I’d started practicing this lifestyle years ago. Now I take care of my car, my house, my furniture, my garden. And I don’t upgrade. I’m actually able to save so much more these days.

Watch tv in bed under a nice 15 tog duvet! No heating required.

i am confused by “making your shop last 8 days instead of 7”

typically we over spend when we go shopping, the supermarkets are set out to entice you to overspend. Have you ever popped to the supermarket to get milk and bread and yet purchased 6 items?

by increasing the time between supermarket trips you will spend less

meal plan for 8 days instead of 7 and you’ll probably spend £3 more

if you do that 7 x then you’ve spent an extra £21

if your weekly shop is £125 that is a saving of £104 in 2 months

Mine are all pretty obvious so apologies if I'm preaching to the choir.

Mend clothes rather than chuck them. Actually not that difficult to invisibly mend those tiny little holes made by the washing machine. And better for the planet.

Keep radiators lower in rooms that only get use for part of the day - eg bedrooms or dining rooms.

Empty your car boot of clutter so you are not wasting fuel driving a loaded car around town.

Never buy branded medications. Boots etc have home brands for pretty much everything and always cheaper and have same ingredients.

Batch cook all the time. Stretch out meat dishes with tins of chick peas, kidney beans etc - nutritious and adds bulk, goes further etc.

Actually diy funerals ARE an option.
www.funeralguide.co.uk/help-resources/arranging-a-funeral/funeral-guides/diy-funerals
Definitely worth thinking about 😊

Still confused

surely the “tip” is stuck to your 7 day list and avoid over buying.

or is it - accept you are going to overbuy and make it last an extra day?

Genuinely curious!

Apparently they're great for reducing anxiety. My brother swears by them. I'm far too wimpy!

Use babies bath water to have a bath yourself / bathe together.

buy in bulk and freeze things you don’t need right now

when shopping for groceries online you can see how much items are per gram or whatever other weight measurement, you are getting so can work out the cheapest overall

I don't know if this is for real, but if it is, it's pretty depressing

@Endlesslypatient82 - because you budget the money weekly, but only spend every 8 days, by week 8 you will have a 'spare' weeks worth of grocery allocation which you can then save.

@martinsmoneysaver

You claim you got your water bill down to £1 a month. And there are 7 of you in your family home.

ok - I don’t believe you. No way.

so why not post a photo of your last bill blanking out details??

Still confused!

so are you slightly overbuying OR have your portions reduced OR did you previously waste food on the “8th day”?

How is a cold shower good for your mental health, it sounds as depressing as hell.

See Wim Hoff Method

But I think you need some hot showers too! 😁

You explained how you did it

but £1 a month?
7 people including 4 kids

either fibbing OR there is neglect going on

You are very wrong assuming gym membership fees will stay the same.

If you live in the suburbs like me, leaving any food or drink outside would be an open invitation to the local foxes. I would find everything splattered across my garden.

Whenever I would like to buy a non food item I look on Market place first this weeks bargain for a friend a used once Remoska for £65 saving £100 and 2 new beanbags for £5 each perfect condition.So many bargains to be had.Always look at the distance to save more on fuel and ask question to save on a wasted journey.I share a midweek pass with my neighbour for on line shop.Buy in bulk and share with friends.Swap produce ,clothes,plants.Start a clothes swap in the community great for children’s clothes.

Happy to help? With what?!

my laundry? Yes please! Pm me for my address!

Good grief!

All ‘money saving’ costs someone, somewhere though, doesn’t it?!

Is it stealing to buy food on offer, knowing that it means the farmer gets paid less, or Tesco makes less profit. Utterly stupid mindset

I’m senior in my company. I couldn’t give a single shit if everyone was bringing in 10 devices a day to charge, or carrying home flasks of water. If that’s what staff need to do to get through the winter, I would be seeing it as a wake up call to look at our rates of pay before it even occurred to me to consider it stealing

I cannot even comprehend the level of pettiness and jobsworthness that someone would have to have to think of it as criminal to charge up an extra battery pack in the office.
It’s not at all normal to think like that

Never flush after wees. If you have multiple toilets in the house if someone takes a poo then also leave it and that toilet is out of bounds for rest of the day until the bedtime flush. Only flush otherwise if all toilets have had poos in the day.