Come tell me your top three tips for saving money that work for you please

[graceinabundance]

trying to learn, in this must needed area

Waiting with baited breath

Heres my 3:

1. I go to hotukdeals and check if there are any bargains if I need something in particular (ie have a wedding coming up and need to buy a gift)

1. Have started to shop in Lidl / Aldi - learning whats good there (any recommendations most welcome!)

1. I have started a budget sheet (wish me luck!)

Natwest banking online has a savings goal tool that sounds pretty similar to nine dragons' bank, I used it when saving up to go on mat leave, it links to a savings account and has a progress bar telling you how much you need to save each month to hit your goal

Marking my place-great thread.

Costco is very good. just bought 12 tins of chopped tomatoes for £3.99. the mini juice cartons are always very inexpensive too. I buy loo roll and kitchen roll, wash powder, dishwasher stuff etc and it is bulky but does last for ages.

I do like buying clothes and stuff though and do like my toiletries.

I am also trying to use up all my cleaning products before buying more and the same goes for the cupboard full of toiletries.

You can buy industrial sized washing/dishwasher powder on amazon too if you dont have a costco nearby.

You can use soda crystals instead of dw powder/tabs but I am still finding the right dose, one table spoon doesnt get lipstick off glasses so I am trying 2 spoons tonight.

Find out what time they mark down food in your local supermarkets, I'm paying 20p a loaf for branded bread. DH still hasnt come round to me needing a deep freeze.

We got a chest freezer off eBay and I calculate it paid for itself within the first six weeks. We plan for it to be empty on Christmas Eve and the day before Good Friday, and go to the supermarket very late in the evening when everything is marked down to cents in the dollar.

I shop at tesco sainsburys with a little bit of lidl thrown in.

Not only do I get a great selection of offers , but I buy the products I like but rarely pay full price ( shampoo, deo, cleaning stuff, clothes wash etc). With some stuff I'm brand choosy, with others I'm not.

Nearly every time I go to t or s, I get a money off voucher for the next shop. This week £6 off £40 shop. It pays to spread your shopping love around.

Use lots of in season fruit and vege for best prices.

Have discovered the joys of cheap veg at our local market and cheap but good quality meat at our local college's butcher shop (where they train butchers).

Love this tread - feel very inspired!

1. ALWAYS look at the reduced meat section and buy as much as you can for freezing at home - I don't know how anyone affords to eat meat otherwise.

1. Get a cashback credit card for petrol, shopping and large purchases. Mine gives me up to £250 back every March (but try to pay it off each month obviously).

1. TK Maxx and eBay for clothes and amazon for cheap second hand books.

One tip I read which has worked for me is to stretch the time between food shopping. So if you normally do a weekly shop, eke your food out to last an extra day (or two). That way you can save the cost of a whole shop every 7 weeks or less.

I live in an area with lots of flats, so there are communal recycling bins on many corners. Yes, I am that well dressed woman digging through the paper recycling bin for glossy mags and fave newspaper sections.

I don't buy the Saturday guardian any more, as everyone round here reads it too then bins it.

I've had stacks of pristine magazines too, interesting stuff like interiors mags, and I even got 'which motorhome' for my dad!

I love magazines but they're pricey, this way I can keep the habit without the financial or environmental cost of buying new.

It's become a hobby tbh, I love the thrill of the chase, and all walks are now treasure hunts!

also fairs and fetes are good. I just went to the bank holiday one at the local church and bought some plants for the garden which were much cheaper than the garden centres. they had all sorts. I got some lavender for £1.50. (I am no gardener by the way but thought i should try this Summer if it ever stops raining.)

also they have a toiletries stall with loads of cheap good make cosmetics and a brick a brac stall and at least you are supporting a good cause.

I suppose i did spend money but got some good bargains.

Nice one MorrisZapp. I admit to throwing magazines in the recycling because I'm not sure who to give them to.

Just accidentally found a new money saving tip... add water to full fat milk to get skimmed or semi skimmed! Worked fine on my cereal.

@ MorrisZapp

Great thread.

Have visions of MorrisZapp dangling out of a recycle bin Good for you though.

Get a savings tin, save every 50p peice that comes into your possesion. (i also save £2 coins) Last Christmas i saved nearly £300 without missing the coins.

From moneysaver.com i enrolled to do on-line surveys, the points you earn turn into cash and can be transferred to paypal, again, it was £60 for Christmas on-line shopping...for nowt really. 10-20 mins every few days to fill in a survey.

Cut out meat, or at least cut it rght down. We have a piece of meat about once a month...even then its a cheep cut or on offer greatly reduced.

Also, petrol from Tesco as the club card points soon add up, i save mine for Christmas, had £80 last Christmas...paid for my food shopping.

I shop around too, bit of Tesco, home bargains, Lidle, Aldi...especially for fruit & veg, much cheeper than anywhere else.

My food shopping for the entire week has come to £36 this week.
Agree with the eeking out an extra day, making food stretch 8 days instead of 7. Something on toast does this for us!

Packed sandwiches for lunches, i just do not take my purse to work with me, then i cant spend at all.

I dont own a credit card, my moto is that if i havent got the cash then i save till i do. Its always served me well, personally.

Great tips everyone :)

My must-do ones are

1. cook as much as you can from scratch - for example - from one bag of flour costing about 60p (own brand) I have made 2 large pizzas, one sponge pudding, batch of yorkies, a victoria sandwich and there's enough left for maybe some pancakes. Adding a bit of fat, sugar and an egg here or there adds a few more pance to the cost of each one yes but still massively cheaper (and probably better for you)

1. leftovers - keep EVERYTHING! there's not much that cannot be frozen, cream, milk, cheese, fruit, veggies, eggs if seperated or beaten. Even dregs of wine/beer bottle (yeah I know, as if!) in an ice cube tray adds flavour and depth to a casserole. veg peelings and chicken bones can be frozen for stock. scraggy fridge bottom veg = soup. 1 slice of bread - crumb it and freeze for crispy topping on chicken/fish. Mould on cheese/jam? Cut/spoon it off, the rest will be fine!

1. de-clutter and sell on ebay or preferably gumtree/local facebook groups as no fees. if you've not used an item for a year you don't really need it. if you have loads of dvds/cds/books then again if you've not re-used them in a year, get rid.

I'm a bit late to the party, but i just found this thread, so here goes!

1. You will never earn as much interest on your savings as you will pay on your debts, so if you have a credit card, pay off as much as you possibly can (and ideally then close the account). The interest you pay is money you are just giving away.

2. If you sell on ebay, leave the money in your paypal account until there is £50 in there - then it's free to withdraw, but it still takes 5 days to hit your account, so it works like a savings account that isn't too easy to access.

3. When you see "x% extra free" on anything in the supermarket, check whether it is actually saving you any money. Today I needed gravy granules. The 300g size was on offer at £1.11. The 500g size had 20% extra, making it 600g, and was £2.75. Two of the smaller packs would be the same weight but would only cost £2.22, so buying the bigger pack is not actually saving me anything. Had I not done the calculation, I'd have probably grabbed the larger one, but as it is, I just bought one smaller pack, so I spent £1.11 rather than £2.75.

I hope your DH realises you need a freezer after reading this thread!

1. Slice bread & freeze half the loaf so it doesn't go stale & get thrown away or fed to the birds.
2. Only buy stuff that doesn't go off (toilet rolls, tinned tomatoes, detergent etc) when it's on offer. You get especially good offers when you bulk buy, so you do need somewhere to store it all.
3. Cut ends off toothpaste tubes, shampoo & conditioner bottles etc, to make sure you use up every last ml.

Hope I'm living up to my name! Love the idea of getting reading material from recycling bins.

watching with interest!!!

1. Suggest to all the adults in your family that you all stop buying birthday and christmas presents for each other. This has saved my family a fortune, and we're also all delighted to not have to trawl round the shops to find stuff.

1. Bulk buy blank notelets/cards and use them as birthday cards. 8 for £1 instead of £2+ each.

1. Downsize your car.

bump

Stop buying stuff - sounds very simple but really think if you NEED something before you buy it.

Check prices in supermarkets - it is VERY often cheaper to buy 2 smaller packets than one big one!!! Get into the habit of mentally scanning prices and comparing them. Look at the price per kg/lb/ml on the shelf tags.

Gets your DC to make all the birthday cards you need. Ot cut pics from artwork and glue to card to make a card. I keep Xmas cards & used them to make labels for the next Xmas's presents. I also tape together DD's (less special) artwork to make wrapping paper :)