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.

Stella Obviously not ironing is the ideal but if you're doing 5 school shirts do them all in one go as each takes (for example) 1 minute to do and the iron takes 30 seconds to heat up. If you do them all together then the iron will be on for 30sec + (5x1min) if you do them individually then it's 5(30sec+1min) meaning your iron has been on for an extra 2 minutes.

On a similar note, turn your oven off 5 minutes before it's finished cooking. It'll stay hot enough to get the job done.

Run appliances like dishwasher/ washing machine at night. Layer up so you don't need the heating on. Get out in the fresh air, works up an appetite and stops me grazing all day. Meal plan and write shopping list. Stick to it. Go down a brand when you shop. If possible shop at Aldi, Iceland, Lidl or Asda, all have their merits and often have fantastic offers on brands (if you really can't swap...I have to have Heinz beans!). Only boil as much water as you need in kettle. If you have n immersion heater for water set it to come on early hors of the morning. If it is well insulated it will hold the heat all day so you'll hot water for dishes.
We've made these changes and have survived my pay going down to a fifth of what we're used to while on maternity leave. There's still plenty we could do that I've seen on this thread, leaving the purse at home s a good one!

Just wanted to jump in re: the washing machine etc at night. Don't do it! A lot of house fires start that way if there's an electrical fault. We used to run ours overnight but since reading about a fire in here we only use it in the evenings - I think the cheaper price kicks in around 7pm so we are still awake throughout the whole cycle. We don't put it on when we are out anymore either.

It's not more likely at night, it's more to do with the fact we can be less vigilant at night. The same electrical fault can occur during the day but you will presumably see it to turn it off before a fire takes hold. Our washers are in a utility room off the side of the house, so the risk is the same either way. We get everything serviced and clear of lint etc to be as safe as possible, and plenty of fire alarms don't worry! Our cheaper price kicks in at 11pm

Obviously only do it if you can be sure that you are being responsible. I never have anything on while I'm out of the house.

some great ideas here - lots seem to be 'bung it in a veg soup' or 'make a veg and lentil curry'. sounds delicious but i am crap at cooking without a recipe. has there been a thread on credit crunch recipies (but no jamie pls - i have nowhere to buy half an organic cow in brown paper and make it last a week by adding chilli to all the leftovers)

I moved to a 4 day week earlier this year, and its great! Make sure you and DH plan to get the most out of that extra time - a walk in the woods or by the river, spend an hour clearing out cupboards and recycling or selling what you find, messy activity time with the children.

Meal plan...but only for 6 days a week. There will always be leftovers or some other change of plans.

At weekends, I clear out the veg drawer and make soups. I freeze these in individual portions. Sometimes I'll add a tin of beans (pinto, kidney, chickpeas, etc) to make a more substantial stew.

Music magpie your old CDs and DVDs. You'll get more for them on eBay, but it's more hassle. Gumtree's very good for selling off stuff too.

Use Freecycle to obtain things you need, as well as get rid of stuff you dont.

Have a swishing or shwopping session with friends, where you can recycle your (or childrens) no-longer used clothes.

General soup recipe:

Chop one large onion into small pieces.
In a large saucepan, heat some oil (any old oil will do, but dont waste the EVOO)
Soften the onion in that. Add a crushed garlic (or a squirt from a tube/ jar - I find these last longer so are cheaper in the long run)
Chop the harder root veg - parsnip, carrot, swede, squash, sweet potato - into cubes, and add to the onions, Let them all sweat together for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cover with stock. Any stock. Bring the level past half way up the pan, so that there's still room to stir the veg.
Let simmer for 20-30 mins until soft.
Add softer veg like sliced mushrooms and spinach.
Add a tin of tomatoes (optional)
Add a tin of beans (optional)
Add seasonings - dired herbs, a chopped chilli (I use jars of this too), dash of balsamic.
Blend when cooled if you like a smooth soup, or else leave it chunky.

Serve with a sprinkle of grated cheese, or croutons, or a blob of natural yoghurt.

That's what I meant really - not that it's more likely to happen at night but the fact that a fire etc might be more dangerous if people are asleep and can't sort it.

I am you have a utility room! :o

Its all about planning, which I used to be good at before I had a child and my grey matter got mushed into playdough and sleep deprivation caught up with me.

Everyone's mentioned food planning, but also:

• birthday planning so you can buy cards from Card Warehouse/other cheap shops for around 29p to 79p each rather than a couple of pounds

• ordering presents online so you can find something the other person might actually like at a sensible price rather than ending up buying something expensive and probably unwanted from the nearest shop

• using quidco or similar to get money back on things you were going to buy anyway - look here www.quidco.com/user/395062/ if you fancy having a look and helping me too, or here www.quidco.com to just think about signing up - I'd been meaning to sign up for ages and once I got round to it had over a tenner in cashback within a week on stuff I would have bough anyway!

• making sure you stock up on dull but expensive items like nappies/fabric softener/washing powder when its on special offer so you never have to pay full price for it

• consider splurging on an annual pass to a local tourist attraction for all the family... we have one near us that has a great indoor play area, so we end up going there frequently which works out cheaper than having to pay for the local little soft play every other week and has more options on what to do when you're there

• save tesco vouchers to convert them for breakdown cover/christmas presents so you get more for your money

Am sure I'll think of more later...

loving these tips!

Haven't read full thread so sorry if these are repeats, but these are things I do:

Weekly meal plans, based around seasonal veg as far as possible. Cook 2 family portions (or more) so you can freeze stuff. Avoids running into the shop for convenience food which makes a BIG difference in terms of money spent on food (unless you didn't do that in the first place.. with 2 small kids myself and a full-time job it definitely happens too often to me when I don't have meals planned). Kids eat the same as adults.

Review whether you can buy supermarket own brand instead of branded products. Some stuff differs in taste, but with other things you don't even notice or the supermarket stuff actually tastes better. And especially stuff you don't eat: toilet paper, washing powder, dishwasher tablets.

If you buy ready snacks for your kids, see if you can save there. Individually packaged things (yoghurt/fromage frais pots, boxes of raisins, little cheeses) are expensive in the long run. Just buy the bigger version and use a bowl or pack in clingfilm (don't pack yoghurt in clingfilm.. that could be messy. But raisins or whatever)

Recommend Moneysavingexpert.com They have a programme for actual proper budgeting (as opposed to what most of us do, glancing occasionally and selectively at list of standing orders). It takes a couple of hours to complete because you have to go through receipts, bank statements etc (and budget for all expenditure, holidays, Christmas, carpets, sofas etc). Quite an eye-opener. Starting point for any financial planning. And we've just down-graded from cable to Freeview without any loss of family enjoyment, saving ourselves £50 per month!

If you're a bit of a sucker for a sale like me , remove yourself from every single store mailing list (or at least have them instantly direct to a different folder and marked as read). That means that you won't be bombarded by opportunities to save 20% on a dress/day out/saucepan that until that very second , you didn't need.

You're not actually missing out on deals, because when you do want something, you can search "thing i want voucher codes" and get exactly the same deal that would be sent to your inbox.

Some people may be fine at resisting all that stuff, but it's saved me a lot of money not looking at it all the time!

oh and following on from rrreow, although you don't want to clingfilm yoghurt, you can put it in a sandwich bag and tie a VERY TIGHT knot in the end. When it's eating time, snip a corner off and you have a homemade frube :)

I think most of the things we've done are covered here but can only echo

Try the supermarket value stuff. We use Sainsbury's basics and there's quite a few things where I wouldn't go back to the pricier stuff - and I wasn't even a 'brand' person to start with. We use the grated mozarella for homemade pizza, and a hard parmesan type cheese for sprinkling on pasta. 30p basics chocolate (dark and milk) is great for baking with.

We go to Aldi probably once every 2 months and it helps that there's one in walking distance from where my parents live so no extra fuel to get there. I only use their washing detergent now and pick up cereal, marmalade, jam and other bits and pieces. You need a good idea of the price of stuff in Sainsburys etc tho to be sure it's a bargain. Also you'll wipe out any savings if tempted by the 'random stuff' - compressor anyone?!

I do the regular weekly shop online and think I'm less tempted to buy rubbish as it isn't so easy to browse. You can also get up and check the cupboards mid-shop.

Been doing packed lunches for DH and I for years - saves a load.

Lots of soup in this house - normally referred to as 'bottom of the fridge' soup. Contains the tired stuff from the veggie drawer - usually heavily features carrots - but cheap and tasty. I don't have a recipe really - fry some onion, dried herbs add whatever veg I've got and stock made from Bouillon powder. Great in the winter. I used 3 10p leeks from M&S a few weeks ago.

We stopped pay TV a couple of years back - shocked by how much we spent and how little we watched. We only have free-to-air now and a Lovefilm subscription (£6 a month) which gets us more movies etc than we ever have time to watch. Don't miss the pay stuff at all.

Good luck and once you get into it it actually becomes quite rewarding.

Give up all alcohol.
Drink only water.
Never eat out.
Never visit places like Starbucks.

Switch off the TV and any appliances when not in use. The only items I leave on when I go out is the fridge/freezer, this saves a bit of electricity. Also cook from scratch - I love making stews, casseroles and soups this way and they taste much better than the shop bought ones! I also buy my fruit and vegetables from my local greengrocers as it works out much cheaper than if I were to buy them from my local supermarket. Don't switch the heating on until you absolutely need to. I prefer to watch TV with a blanket round me.

If near Waitrose get a My Waitrose card and take advantage of their free coffee and newspaper when you spend over £5 (but tempting though but would be good in combination with the discounted food or Essential stuff)

This is tree-pruning season for some of us, so I'm passing on tip for free(ish) Christmas tree.
Sort out nicely-shaped branches and paint white, then assemble into tree-shape, perhaps using a jam-jar (covered in Christmas paper) and filled with sand or gravel to keep branches in place. Ask friends/volunteer garden help if no branches suitable on own property. Mine's been stored in garage (hung from a nail in wall) for three years now, it's actually my favourite tree and has lots of compliments when decorated with small LED lights.

Get a cash back account, they pay you for utility direct debits that would go out anyway. Mine has a £2 monthly fee but makes about £14 a month back. Same for a credit card, cash back on food shopping and petrol covers the fee and makes a profit. Be ruthless about paying it off each month tho!

Chuckling at so many of these 'I shop at Waitrose' posts. Such a Mumsnet cliche !

And I've been here years, it's always been the same :)

Definitely going for the fleece curtain idea, thanks!!

But Floris......only shop there cos it is sooooo cheap! Main shop is Aldi!

Love this thread Does anyone know if you can interline roman blinds with fleece?

I have just bought my first ReLIKE bundle - £15 incl delivery for 11 items, so £1.36 per item and DD's winter wardrobe is sorted! Brilliant system