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.

I buy boxes of notecards from the Works for 1.99 BOGOf. You end up getting 2 packs of nice cards with envelopes for a pound each. I use them as Thank you cards, party invites, birthday cards and sympathy cards. They come in themed packs with say, balloons, flowers, cupcakes, etc.

I haven't read through so may be repeating...

• At the fish counter in supermarkets skinless fish costs more than fish with skin on.... if you want it skinless ask the fishmonger to take it off - no extra charge!

• Use old muslins for spills instead of kitchen roll. Flannels instead of wipes.

• Websites like TablePouncer give 50% of total cost of a meal out - great for special occasions. You have to book on the day, or just a day in advance though.

I do have to say though that although supermarkets are the most competitive, they are cornering the market, and soon there will be no independent shops...the more we use these independent shops now the more chance they will stick around. It's terrifying what the likes of Monsanto and Tesco are doing, and if we keep giving them our money they will soon have the monopoly and we'll have no choice but to pay what they ask. Independent shops aren't always more expensive, and shopping in them has more of a reward than just saving a few pennies.

Shopping at Poundland is a great idea, but it's very easy to rack up £50 just chucking stuff in a basket (the same happens in IKEA kitchen dept - everything seems to be 50p but before you know it you've spent £200!), so keep mental check as you go round, then do a 'sense check' before the till and take out the stuff you don't really need.

Also, be aware that pound shops aren't always the cheapest option for everything. For example, I buy paracetamol tablets from Tesco at 19p a packet, whereas they're 3 for £1 at poundland. Likewise, baby food/snacks, handwahs/shower gel etc are often better purchased when on offer in supermarkets (a bag of organix crisps is 86p in supermarkets, £1 in pound shops).

Could list loads of examples - suffice to say it pays to exercise caution and shop around.

curryeater I used to put all my coppers into the charity pots at the shops but some people literally do throw them away. There's a corner shop in the middle of a very deprived estate near me and the outside is littered with what DD calls, "lucky pennies"

OK, I have a money saving and weight loss tip! Weigh out the recommended amount of cereal to see how much you're meant to have- I did it and it looked tiny. I'd got into the habit of filling my bowl (sometimes twice ) and was getting through 1-2 boxes a week . It now takes ages to finish a box of cereal, plus it helped me lose all the baby weight

sib I agree aout PoundLand, also sometimes packet sizes are made smaller too. I think good deals can be found there and it's also good to have a root around on the shelf. Last week I was looking to buy a pack of Terry's Chocolate Orange bars and Packs of four were near the counter and packs of three were on the shelf with the rest of the chocolate...

Agree with Plate is what we do! I always weigh all our cereal and have taught my eight year old how to do it too otherwise extra will almost always be tipped out.

I sometimes also weigh cheese if I know it needs to stretch to a specific number of meals in a week that will need cheese so I make sure I don't run out.

Also write down all your meals that you and your family like, work out the typical cost of each one and then you know which are the cheaper meals so you can work them into your weekly meal plan. I know Lentil and Tomato soup is cheap with homemade bread so we have that most weeks. It costs a little over a £1.00 for a family of four and that's organic ingredients too.

£1.00 is just for the Lentil and Tomato soup not the bread.

That sounds nice minimalist - don't suppose you could give us your recipe?

Most cinemas have Saturday morning showings of kids films for £1 a ticket. We go to the O2 every Saturday taking our own snacks, it's a fun trip out -especially in winter.

Buy stuff in advance- Christmas decs in January etc.

All shrapnel in our house goes in the change jar. It has a counter on the lid so the kids love putting it in. Last time I emptied it there was 26 quid in there!

reading with interest.

We put all our £2 coins in a money tin that you can't open without a tin opener! Must be at least £100 in there so far, but hopefully we won't open it until it's full & there'll be at least 3 times that! We don't miss it, as it just goes straight in there, whereas if I had £2 in my purse, I'd probably spend it.

Also have today hidden the ham & cheese intended for sandwiches in the salad drawer of the fridge & left yellow-label pork pies visible. Living with my dparents for the time being & my Ddad always wants a meaty snack when he gets in from work (despite dinner being about 10 minutes away ), and will polish off stuff for sandwiches given half the chance, which means I'm constantly having to restock (am buying all groceries while we're here as they won't accept housekeeping money).

Christmas crackers are cheapest in the weeks after! Just don't store them in the loft!

DH does the fireworks at our kids' school, he buys the lot waaaay cheaper in the summer, typically in July - August

Get a second job.

Love these type threads - always get ideas here.
Three things we do.

cut kitchen washing up sponges in half. Won't notice the difference and they will last twice as long.

cut end off tube of toothpaste. You will get a few more days out of it which is handy at the end of the month

Keep a bottle of cordial at your desk in work and bring a glass. No need to buy a drink at lunchtime.

If you are changing your mobile check if your company uses the mobile network supplier for company phones - i know Vodafone do it (as i just got my mum a new contract) and you get a discount if your company is there. You can also add (I think) 4 other people. You do need your employee number but you should be able to get this easily from HR or payroll.

Sorry, can't remember the discount but it's worth asking about!

Also, if you work for a reasonably sized company you might be able to persuade them to start a discount scheme where employees can get cash back or discounts e.g. www.perkz.com/ or www.asperity.co.uk/.

If I fill up with Tescos petrol I get 50 miles per tank less than if I use BP or any other petrol station.

Has anyone else noticed this? My DH and I clocked our mileage and it did work out the same for both of us.

Tescos petrol seems to be used up more quickly. If you drive a lot then check it out and prove us wrong please.

i have definitely notice this with tesco petrol.

I was talking to someone who said a few yrs back the very same lorry used to fill up both the Tesco and the Esso near him, so not sure how thay would work.

Unless they have changed their suppliers.

Dh says the same about morrisons v sainsburys. Annoyingly he is right.

I think you get more miles per gallon from BP than ESSO, however we no longer have BP petrol stations nearby so this may no longer be true. I need to do a comparison of the different petrol stations again, we now have a Sainsbury's!

This is a tiny tip but if you buy salad onions, don't put them in the fridge, put them in a vase and change the water every day. They last longer and because they keep growing you get more onion for your money. Of course if you have a garden you'd be better growing them outside.

I'm a big fan of the Amazon wishlist, both for myself (got my slow cooker as a present last Christmas because it was on the wishlist and enough books to last almost the whole year for me and the kids) and for other people. I'm from a big family and we all buy books and CDs for each other at Christmas. You can view someones wish list by cost which means you can easily pick out a cheaper present for them. What's the point in spending £12 on a DVD for someone when they want another that is only £3? I also buy Sainsbury's basics birthday cards, saves a fortune in comparison to buying them individually. We also use blank cards quite a lot for the kids to do arty cards.

I'm a great believer in not subscribing to anything. We have PAYG phones, use iplayer and blinkbox for TV/films and don't have newspapers or magazines delivered.

My brother works in the insurance industry and says always have the biggest excess you can afford. Confused.com have the same deals as comparethe market but you get nectar points rather than a soft toy with your car insurance.