Tell me your best money saving tips please!

[SevenOnwardsAndUpwards]

DH is going down to a 4 day week soon, it's intentional as he works over 50 hours and is finding it too much, but it does obviously mean we'll have less coming in than before. On paper we should easily be able to afford it, but we don't seem to have much spare cash and nothing in savings though I don't know where it all goes tbh. We don't spend loads on going out and don't have sky so no obvious savings to be made there. I've already thought we need to cancel experian, switch phone away from BT and drink less . What are your best and easy money saving tips so cutting back doesn't come at the expense of a worse quality of life for the DCs? They're 5, 22 months and 5 months if that's relevant.

Watching with interest, I love these threads.

we don't seem to have much spare cash though I don't know where it all goes tbh.

That's your first problem. Take a couple of months or so to record everything you do spend.

Batch cooking. Huge savings to be made at the supermarket if you plan your meals carefully.

DP is doing an experiment with Jamie Oliver's leftover recipes to see if we can cope with spending £30 a week on meat/fish and having 3 or 4 leftover meals every week. So far it's going well, but I've never eaten so much rice or lentils in my life!

Do blw with baby. They'll be no need to buy special 'baby food' as you can offer what you eat (just don't add salt/sugar obviously). Go down a brand with nappies. Tesco own, Sainsbury's little ones & Aldi's own are all just as good as branded IME.

IMO cheap clothes etc are a false economy because they wear out so much faster so buy better quality but only buy what needs replacing. It will be cheaper in the long run rather than buying cheap and having it wear out

Have a meat free night once or twice a week & a frugal meal such as egg on toast once a week. Meal plan, don't go shopping for leisure, only for groceries, write a list & stick to it. Write out/do a spreadsheet of your annual budget. Save £100pm for car tax, insurance, maintenance. Similarly for holidays, etc

Make your own wine!!

Saves us lots of money...

Don't throw away food! We waste so much. Today i Have just cooked a shoulder of lamb (1kg) with roast potatoes, parsnips, cabbage, carrots, leeks,brocolli cheese and yorkshire's. Thats done the three of us, two meals wrapped for my elderly grand Dad to reheat plus enough meat and veg to make 3 monster pasties for tomorrow
Also cheap cuts - my friend turned her nose up at me buying shoulder but its the only way I can eat lamb as leg is so expensive. Also try offal - liver and bacon is a filling and delicious meal - a packet is only £1

Invest in good tupperware that will stand up to repeated dishwashing/washing up to save food bits in, easy storage for rice, sugar etc. means you don't end up with sodding little bits of dried goods all over your cupboardsa - saving you time and cleaning wipes!

Only shop for luxury items that are on offer/supermarket value brands - e.g. biscuits/chocolate tends to be just as good in the cheaper versions, and if your kids like expensive crisps, only buy them if they're 2 for 1 or similar

I've saved loads by building up my Nectar points carefully and using as many vouchers as I can.

Just been down to Morrisons before it closes and come back with various things for either 9 or 19p, including a punnet of strawberries and organic plums. Helps for extras even if you can't rely on it for main meals.

I stopped buying shit I didn't need. I saved money and lost weight.

Going down a brand
Turning the heating down one or two degrees
Walking instead of the bus
Packed lunches for adults
Cut out takeaways
No starbucks/Costa etc
Could you get a saturday job in the run up to xmas?
Make sure windows/doors a re draught proof

1. Don't run a car unless you really need one.
2. Don't have a TV, or at least don't get extra channels.
3. Buy all your clothes (except underwear), accessories, toys, books, furniture and crockery from charity shops.
4. Buy food in markets or from the reduced section at supermarkets.

Good luck!

Give yourself a budget for frivolous spending such as books, CDs, going out, etc.DH and I each get £12.50 a week.

Buy groceries at Aldi and make food from scratch at the weekend instead of buying processed crap and make more than you need. Then freeze for weekday meals. Right now we have tons of homemade pizzas, lasagna, burritos, hummus etc frozen and its all food we really like and is nicer than processed stuff as we vary the flavour to suit our own tastes. Much, much cheaper, too.

Meal plan. for whole days not just dinners. Saves me fortunes. Although some variation from the Plan always happens it saves waste and stops me buying crap I don't need.
Free fruit- blackberries, and apples are free and available to pick in my area and we pick by the bucketful. Porridge with berries and a spoon of honey is incredibly cheap as a breakfast.
Buy going off bananas, slice and freeze, again to go in porridge or banana bread %another cheap and tasty brekkie)

I like the frivolous budget idea, Cantdance.

Why would anyone turn their nose up at shoulder of lamb??

Meal plan: decide what you're going to cook for the week and what you need to buy. Make a list and buy only that stuff. If something runs out, it runs out - do without it until the next shop.

Don't carry cash, only cards. This stops me buying unnecessary things like magazines, cans of drink, coffee etc at newsagents and the like.

Look at the Credit Crunch board here on mumsnet for more tips.

Sounds silly, but I managed to save lots by just not going anywhere near any shops (except Aldi food shop) at all. It is so easy to feel you need something if it is there. I also leave my purse at home as often as I can.

Meal planning is the way forward.

Having a slo cooker saves loads as cheaper cuts of meat taste lovely when cooked slowly. YY to frugal meal. We often have egg and beans!

Go shopping at around 6pm- you can pick up lots of stuff that is perfectly good but has been reduced as it's near its sell by - if it's meat, fish or bread you can then freeze it - I do this quite oftn

Go for a walk - then look online/in encyclopaedias at the birds, trees and other stuff you saw with dc, draw some pics, make leaf collages.
Cut out ALL coffees, newspapers, sweets bought by the till. Buy a big bag of sweets then carry a small ziplock bag of 3-5 of the sweets (or however many) as treats/to stop whining!
Stop shopping. Honestly, just don't go into shops.
Cut up credit cards. Carry what cash you need for the day and spend only that.
Have a pot for loose change - 1p/2p etc, it soon adds up (we have £27 so far this year in 1,2,5p!)
Use the library for: books, dvds, cds, newspapers.
Re-jig mobile phone, broadband etc to get the best deal.
Get rid of tv, watch everything online.
Put fleece behind curtains and drop heating by 1-2 degrees. This works brilliantly!

You can add cheap oats to mince in bolognese, mince in gravy (pies, jacket potatoes) and it makes it go further. Kids don't seem to notice!

Go to supermarkets when they are marking the reduced meat etc, as you can pretty much stick everything in the freezer and defrost as needed for use.

Save power on baked potatoes by microwaving them til they're mostly cooked then briefly cooking on high on the oven to get the skins crispy.

Also re: Baked potatoes, cook loads of them in one go and store in Tupperware in the fridge, to be microwaved as occasion demands.

We only eat reduced food from Waitrose. Saved us a fortune.

Currently have pigs cheeks in freezer which were 10p each. Dh will cook them for hours and they are soooo tasty.

Soup! With frozen veg. Cheap and tasty.

Eat out of the freezer and have some random meals. Kids had meatballs with asparagus the other day! Odd but tasty.

Shop at Aldi.

Bake your own cakes and biscuits. Much tastier and something to do with kids at weekend.

Do not buy anymore shoes or clothes at all from now til xmas. You can make do with what you have.

Limit alcohol to the weekends.

No heating on til Mid November....wear a jumper instead.

Hth

After working out how much I spent on holidays mine would perhaps don't go away. ( I would have saved a shed load!)