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.

Evening not vending!

Platespinning I've just ordered these for DS's 5 birthday party bags:

www.dotcomgiftshop.com/pen-10-colours-spaceboy

These with cake and a few (cheap/multibag) sweets will be perfect (also ordered packs of the 10p cat erasers at same place for the girls bags).

From experience I've learnt to under cater at kids parties (goes against all my beliefs, but unlike the adult 'do's the kids barely eat, so scale down to one/two savoury items, crisps, something sweet plus/or cake. Too many parties I've done and been to where plates of grapes/carrot sticks/houmous etc are being chucked away)

We've been using our local leisure centre for kids parties - we used to do family/friends bbq at home as we thought it was saving money, but by the time you've bought the food and drink for the grown ups, and decorations etc it works out more expensive that the £70 fee + a few sandwiches it costs, so check out local village halls/leisure centres etc.

www.dotcomgiftshop.com/pen-10-colours-spaceboy

Sorry!

Use overripe fruit (pears or apples are perfect) to make cheap pancakes to feed 5 easily for brekkie/quick tea. My fruit-phobic DS will even eat them!

Jamie Oliver's recipe: 1 cup/mug milk, 1 cup flour, 1 egg. Add a grated pear/apple or other fruit of choice.

Yesterday I cooked a large chicken in the slow cooker with a few carrots/celery/bay leaf/onion & few peppercorns, topped up with water to brim.

Ate the chicken for dinner with spuds/veg, saved the stock and veggies which we're having with some more of the chicken and added noodles & stock as chicken noodle soup tonight, then chicken risotto tomorrow. Used to think homemade stock was a faff and not worth it, but honestly it makes a difference to finished dish and is really satisfying always having a pot of stock in the fridge.

If time is an issue, google 'slow cooker freezer meals' - some great ideas for prepping food to take from freezer to slow cooker. It echoes what others have said about meal planning; if you've planned ahead you're less likely to pop out to shops (never costs less than £20, even when you just go for milk!), or get takeaway.

Bea I'm with you - we're having a week in Cornwall (admittedly it's camping), which is costing £80. Factor in petrol/food etc it still won't be too expensive and we can keep it cheap or splash out as we choose.

Anyone with pre-school kids - GO ON HOLIDAY NOW! ALL THE TIME, AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!

Term time hols are a real bargain in comparison.

Switch mobile phone providers. I've gone over to GiffGaff & taken the DCs with me. I have saved myself hundreds of pounds a year.

Always use comparison sites for all types of insurance.

ebay or gumtree everything you don't need.

Make a cake or some biscuits to give as a gift, rather than buying something. Doesn't have to be fancy but people love homemade stuff & it is a great gift for very little money.

Use own brand cleaning products - they are just as good & cost so much less than branded products.

On things you absolutely have to have (loo roll, tea bags etc) bulk buy wherever possible.

Always check the price per gram / ml - it is the only way to know what is a good deal.

Sorry to keep jumping in, but I wanted to re-iterate what others have suggested re lunchboxes/snacks etc.

One of the best cost saving pieces of advice I was given was this:
"Anytime you have to pay someone else to chop/wrap/wash it for you it costs a whole heap more"

Buy a block (there's always an offer on cheese at the supermarket) and put chunks of cheese in lunchboxes instead of the pre-packaged stuff like Babybel. Not only will it be healthier but use less packaging and you'll save money.

My poor kids gaze longingly at the 'lunchable' things in the supermarket, telling me every kid in their class has them, but the cost is ridiculous, and how much more effort is putting slices of cheese/ham and crackers or breadsticks into little pots?! Just like making your own jellies, washing a whole lettuce (even better if you can grow your own), putting a few grapes/raisins/strawberries into a pot etc..

I cant believe no-one has mentioned Stardrops yet on this thread! If you dont know what it is that go to MSE where there are many threads on its uses. But its basically an all purpose cleaning product. I use a few sqirts of it in an old cleaning product bottle filled up with water to clean my entire house. A squirt of it in a bucket of water for the floors, can use it to get stains out of clothes, in the car as windscreen wash, in the carpet cleaner, literally EVERYTHING! and its available in the pound shop so a complete bargain. Plus it lasts for ages as you only need a little bit as is very soapy.

The only other cleaning products I use are white vinegar for windows/limescale removal, and bleach for putting down the sinks and toilets.

Also for washing powder, buy the cheapo power (tesco value etc) and mix 2 parts powder to 1 part soda crystals (about 70p/kg in the washing powder aisle) and just use a tablespoon of this in your wash instead of your usual detergent. Use a little bit more if clothes are actually dirty instead of just been worn and in need of freshening up. I also water down the concentrated softners. I could just use half or a third the recommended amount, but my OH cant seem to grasp this and so i have to water it down instead!

I honestly cant remember the last time I bought a cleaning product as all of the above lasts for ages.

Would also recommend keeping a spreadsheet of monthly outgoings and updating it daily so that you can be sure that you dont forget anything and you might be suprised at where you can save money. Deffo put money in savings at the start of the month, rather than seeing how much you have left at the end to save. But maybe start with a slightly lower amount than you would ideally like to save per month and gradually increase as you start to implement all of the great money saving ideas people have given you here.

Un-subscribe from any emails that are trying to tempt you to buy things.

top banana - thats how I do my shopping too! Its suprising how easily you can knock a tenner off of your bill sometimes.

Also, even if you dont want to use the internet shopping to actually buy stuff, its a great way of identifying the current deals and using to plan meals around stuff thats on offer. Also, if you shop as if you were going to buy it, but then dont, you can remove stuff you dont really need if you go over budget as top banana says, and then print yourself out a shopping list to take to the supermarket with you and you will know how much its going to cost beforehand.

oh just thought of another one! im getting excited, i LOVE money saving tips!

When you make dinner, make a bit extra that you can take to work the next day for lunch. Then you can put it straight into a tupperware pot whilst you are dishing up dinner, then lunch is ready and really doesnt seem to cost anything or require any effort. I always find that buying stuff for sandwiches etc is so expensive and such a waste if you find you cant actually be bothered to make the sandwiches and it all goes out of date.

Charity shops are not too bad for clothing if you have a good look, and especially if you're handy with mending/altering stuff. We've got 6 charity shops that sell clothing in our town, so I have a look in them now and again.

Look at quantity of type of veg you're buying to get best value. I get frozen organic garden peas from Waitrose for £1.47 for 500g, if I chose baby sweetcorn instead from the fresh section it would be a similar price or possibly slight more for 250 g so I always choose the frozen. Carrots are a cheap veg to buy.

The same goes for fruit. It might sounds obvious but I make sure the DC eat a banana a day as part of their Five A Day, a Fairtrade banana is about 10p each where as if they ate an extra organic on top of their usual apple a day,that extra apple is approx 50p for that individual piece of fruit IYKWIM. I only get organic fruit and veg that are part of the 'dirty dozen' things with thick skins like pineapples I buy non organic and pick up at w local market.

If you have a food chopper, you can grate your cheese in it.
We never buy grated cheese from the supermarket, just an extra piece of cheddar which is normally free or on offer, cut in quarters, grate in processor and keep in sealed plastic container.
It's something like £4/Kg more they charge for grated cheese.

mommi my greenhouse is the very cheapest one from Argos. quote I've saved your post, you've inspired me to do more!

Cut the top off toothpaste and hand cream tubes and scrapping out the insides makes them last loads longer.

Poundland have done some good garden products this year (netting and onion bulbs) - just choose carefully.

I've got a memory like a sieve and am desperate to pay off a credit card so set up a direct debit so I never miss a payment. I then throw any extra cash I have at the debt to get rid of it asap.

Meal planning should include snacks and lunch as well as the evening meal.

For every single purchase I'm about to make, I ask myself if I really do need it.

Crisp, chocolate etc are not necessary for a good diet. They are treats. It took me ages to not feel guilty for 'denying' the DC these but I'm probably doing them a favour not giving them all the time.

Ditch all brand loyalty.

Another one for DS's party - a poster mentioned cheap party bag items, also I make our party bags! You can buy white paper bags on Amazon, then DS and I cut out and colour pictures to stick on them, according to theme of party. Then it's actually quite fun to choose items to go in, either online or from the pound shop. You could also make invitations. it's more time-consuming, but DCs can help, and I tend to do a bit at a time in front of the telly in the evenings

The more I write on this thread, the more worried I am that I'm actually a bit tight!

For DS's third birthday I only bought a few with gifts and put a few quid in his savings account instead. He seemed really happy with sticker books and second hand DVDs etc.

I'm sure he'll thank me more when he's 18 and needs driving lessons/ uni fees than assuaging my parental guilt by filling the house with plastic crap that he'll break in seconds and wont remember.

This will be happening a Christmas too. Also, only children will get pressies this year, not adults. There's just no point and I'm too poor.

Orange wednesdays, even if you aren't on Orange, get a freind who is to text 'film' to 241.

they get a code, they can text it to you. think it costs 50p for them to get a code.

I buy special offer everything. Anything that can be frozen gets frozen.

Re Christmas presents, DS is getting his dad's boxed 1980s vintage Lego sets this year

We don't over-buy at Christmas at all and try and keep it as simple as possible. The DC's have a lovely stocking each with good quality stuff in it which is useful like hair bands, hair clips, cute socks and knickers with a picture on them from Marks, a lip balm each etc etc Some of this I try to pick up half price throughout the year so I'm not rushing around in December paying full price for stocking fillers. I then top up the stockings with chocolate coins and unusual sweets they don't usually have and an usbourne sticker book each. They always love their stockings They will also get one pressie each from me and DH or possibly one to share like a Creator Lego set or something. They don't need a ton of stuff on Christmas Day to make them happy.

I also love living Christmas trees. I bought a Nordman tree from B&Q two years ago. I keep it watered throughout the year and its still growing strong. It's growing fresh branches now so it should be good for its third Christmas. If I didn't do this, a new potted tree would cost me about £35 each year.

Ooh I love threads like this! Let me think...

Instead of buying hand wash I buy a huge 1 litre bottle of cheapo shower gel and refill the bottles I already have

Use half the amount of washing powder and put a spoonful of soda crystals in.

Sainsburys do a box of 80 teabags for about 27-35p (price changes) and its really nice.

Using my tumble dryer less and hanging stuff outside.

Meal plan - this has saved me a fortune, also shop at aldi.

Use quidco for everything don't buy anything online without this!

Don't go to shops for a browse, you will spend money on crap.

Buy things like mushrooms, onions, peppers cut them up and freeze them into plastic food bags then just chuck into whatever I'm cooking. I freeze everything, even tomato purée that I didn't use on a pizza, I put this into ice cube trays

Wow, just got back from going out and the thread has exploded! Think I need to go through it with a pen and paper and note all tips down, ticking them off as I do them...
Thank you for everyone w

Whoops- everyone who has posted tips.

DO people really do this?LIke everyone does the odd thing to save a bit of money here and there but really putting this effort into saving literally pennies,it sounds depressing!how can anyone live like that!