Can we have a 'best money saving tip' thread please?

[PlateSpinningAtAllTimes]

Myself and DH have decided that we really need to have a frugal couple of years to start properly saving some money. I think the MSE website is good but can be a little overwhelming- so much info! What are your best tips for curbing spending?

My tip: meal plan, cook in bulk, freeze individual portions. Lasagne and pasta bake seem to freeze well and are cheap to make.

Don't buy sandwich bags or zip-lock. The supermarkets provide perfectly good ones for freezing most things in in the vegetable section. I don't feel guilty about taking a few extra when I see how many are dropped on the floor and left in trolleys etc

I freeze lemon and lime slices in supermarket veg bags. They are rarely discounted but if about to go off, freeze and add straight to cold drinks when needed. Ice and a slice in one A lemon half in a bowl of water microwaved for a couple of minutes really freshens up the inside of it and any gunk should wipe straight off.

I have loads of tips as I'm really stingy frugal, but here are a few top tips:

• Always try to buy fresh produce (fruit & veg, bakery goods, meat, fish, cheese, ham etc) when your local supermarket marks it down for the final time. Ours marks down by 75%-90% off the original price, at around 7-8pm. Just tonight I got a punnet of cherries for 45p, organic Pink Lady apples for about 50p, ready-chopped carrots & broad beans for 10p & some Rachel's yoghurts for 25p - and this was a disappointing night. I know people will say this is not doable as they have DC, but I have 2 young DC (2 & 4), and school to get up for in the morning, but they come with me every other week or so. It means a lot to save 75-90% off this part of our grocery bill, so it is worth the effort.

• If you can't do the above, try Farm Foods for basics - 8 pints of milk for £1.60, 2 loaves of Hovis for £1.50, bananas for 59p, onions for 39p (I think) and loads of frozen food.

• Car boot sales for clothes for everyone. I rarely spend more than 50p on an adult's item, or 20p on children's, unless it is a designer make.

• For free nights out, look for audience tickets for TV shows. Great fun I have even applied for Mr Bloom's roadshow for the DC (fingers crossed)

Check out Asian grocery stores for large bunches of herbs, and also the ethnic foods section in supermarkets for big bags of herbs & spices. Significantly cheaper than the little pots a couple of aisles down!

Christmas we do a lucky dip for every we all spend £20 on lottery tickets scratch cards little tokens n it all goes into one huge bag n we keep dipping it last for hours and it was huge fun

Topcash back MSE

Budget for food shopping one big shop once a month n then only buy fresh fruit n veg

Bulk buy

Automatic savings each month

I'm on a water meter and don't have a combi boiler. When I am running the kitchen tap to get hot water I collect it in empty 4pt plastic milk cartons. I then use the water for the garden, swilling the bath and shower doors after cleaning them or cleaning bird poo off the car. And don't buy ready prepared veg unless it's frozen.

Agree about the ethnic food section of grocery stores being cheaper. I picked up a can of coconut milk and found the same product in the ethnic food section for 1pound cheaper. nuts.

I shop at Poundland a lot but recently noticed that my local cash and carry were selling stuff even cheaper than Poundland even with the VAT added on, it was cheaper eg. ring binders 2 for £1 but you need a limited company (any company).

Ebay : I buy on eBay and sell on eBay too. Anything I don't want, I sell on ebay and with the money I get buy what I need on eBay.

Any leftover veg gets used as pizza toppings or veg stir-fry kebabs.

MY TOP TIP: COMPLAIN!!!
If you feel you have received a poor product, complain online.
Once I had a pampers nappy where the sticky strap fell off making the nappy unusable. A one minute Freephone phone call to Pampers and I got £5 voucher.

I complained about an open walkers crisp packet in a multipack, again £5 voucher.

I complained about Sainsbury bread which went mouldy within a day, again £4 voucher.

Only complain if genuine. For me it's not the money, but the principle, I would complain even if I didn't get a refund. Some of you may think I have too much time on my hands, maybe I do, but the vouchers do help. Recently I ordered three taps on eBay, two were very slightly marked. I complained and received a refund for two of the taps and was told to keep the taps as it would cost too much for the seller to reimburse me the postage!

I have so many other examples but I'm starting to look a bit crazy now! :)

Talking about food cheaper in the ethnic aisles. Did you know you can get 4 packs of wholemeal pitta bread for £1 in an Indian shop, in a supermarket you'd get less than half that amount!

I have to share this one:
I bought an Anya Hindmarch bag for 50p from my local car boot sale and sold it on ebay for £17 :)

I shared a flat with girl who berated me if used tea single time
She fish em out bin,to reuse to prove her point it was perfectly good
To this day,I get a frisson of pleasure using tea bag once.i can imagine her tutting

Oh I complained recently to M&S about the service I received when trying on a garment - which I didn't buy. I wrote a very short email with the bare facts of the incident - they sent me a £15 voucher and addressed the problem

I had dinner for two and a bottle of wine and still have £5 left for lunch some time

if you have a smartphone download viber for free texts and calls to other viber users

get pregnant cheaper than pads or a mooncup

disclaimer, this may not be cheaper long run

Use comparison and cash back sites.

Never buy anything on the internet without looking for voucher codes first.

When making sandwiches you only need to butter one side of the bread, no one notices and is healthier too.

For those of you who mentioned coconut milk overnight, an even cheaper option than ethnic aisle coconut milk is creamed coconut:

groceries.asda.com/asda-estore/search/searchcontainer.jsp?trailSize=1&searchString=coconut+cream&domainName=Products&headerVersion=v1&_requestid=174015&referrer=cookiesDetecting

A single block is the equivalent of FOUR CANS of coconut milk for just 76p (annoyingly, a year or two ago, it was even cheaper at 29p, but I think all things coconut have gone up massively in this time - big brand cans are now almost £2).

You just have to mix it with boiling water. The rest of the block keeps for months in the fridge and you can use as much or as little as you like each time.

Haven't read the whole thread but one of the most obvious ways to save money is to EARN MORE! If you haven't already, start putting together your pitch to your employer for a payrise. Or consider ways to contract out your skills (tutoring? cleaning? ironing? dogwalking? babysitting?). Make sure DH is earning what he deserves too.

If you do want a beauty treat, try the college if you have one. My mum has been going recently and getting full body massages for £5 and pedicures for about the same. I know it's not money saving if you don't get these things anyway and some see it as frivolous but I think it's worth suggesting especially if you regularly get treatments elsewhere. Ours offers everything you'd get in a hair and beauty salon.

Marking place for later :)

Some great ideas posted here. Took a very naice friend to Lidl for the first time last week and she described it as "a revelation". Their fresh produce is good value especially fruit and veg, cold meats, rice, pasta , tinned tomatoes, baking ingredients and jars of olives pesto etc. I find sell by dates at Lidl much better than Sainsbury's. In an effort to stop waste I am making the freezer my best friend.

Get an extra clothes airer and use the tumble drier less. The type that are tall, thin and have pegs and hanger notches - mine is from Lakeland folds very thin when not in use cost £24.99. Hardly used tumble dryer this winter and no shrunken cotton jersey stuff either.

I agree a present box/drawer/cupboard saves time and money. I buy throughout the year in TK Maxx , in sales or when I see something I think would be great present for particular person. Buy a large roll of silver gift wrap - does for all occasions, all ages, male or female. Always keep a stash of cards for birthdays too.

Does anyone use Utility Warehouse? I have my gas and electric through them - you phone in your readings every month which keeps the bill current and keeps you on top of what you use. They promise to track the lowest rates on the market so you don't have to (they don't have lots of different tariffs) And they have an online shopping discount club that gives you up to 10% cash back on your purchases if you go through their website - its a bit of a faff but worth it

I have, over a period of months, ensured that I have a spare of most of my store cupboard basics, like ketchup, brown sauce, and with washing powder etc. So, I have one in use and one waiting to be used. This means that if there are any good BOGOF or 3 for 2 offers I can take advantage of them without the risk of running out of something we need.
I hardly ever pay full price for dishwashing tablets, mayonnaise, beans, gravy granules or quorn because they all seem to be on revolving offers that crop up every few weeks.

If you like chocolate bars for a treat, don't ever buy them in singles for between 60p and 70p, buy them in packs of four for £1.00 for Bounty Bars, Twix, Snickers, Mars, Terry's Chocolate Orange etc. The Co-Op is a great place for this and I also see these packs in Tesco's too.

In terms of actually saving - you have to put it aside at start of month, its no good waiting till later, cos it won't be there!

We're doing sharesave at work which is fab because it comes out of my wages automatically, so might be worth setting up direct debit to a savings account, to come out on payday?

This is first time we've had savings, it feels amazing!

We do what Pootles said about saving at beginning of month. The day DH gets pairs, he figures out immediately what we can save and walks to the bank (five mins from us) and transfers money into savings immediately.