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Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Little things you do because actually you are a bit tight

138 replies

nappyaddict · 02/04/2014 15:58

Just noticed this thread I just posted on is a zombie thread, so I am starting a new one because I thought it was a good thread.

Buy value wrapping paper

Walk instead of using the car or bus.

Walk or get the bus instead of getting a taxi if we want to have a drink out.

Reuse wee-free night pants.

Changed wet nappies every 6 hours (reusuable)

Only buy clothes out of necessity and only 2nd hand or discounted. Same for shoes and accessories.

Buy presents for the year in the sales.

Ignore use by dates and eat it anyway if it looks, smells and tastes ok.

On days out in the summer, will try to find a supermarket nearby where I can buy boxes of ice creams instead of buying them singularly or from the ice cream van.

I use a mobile hair dresser.

Occasionally get nails/tan done as a treat but again use a mobile lady (£15 for nails, £8 for tan if I go to her, £10 if she comes to me)

Take my own food and drink to the cinema. My favourite is hot dogs cooked just before we leave the house and wrapped up in foil and a plastic glass of wine Wink

Essential oils and water for air/fabric freshener. Also spray onto vacuum filters and dab neat essential oil on radiators.

Only put the washer on between 10pm and 8:30am because it's cheaper.

Reuse gift bags.

Ask for nice Neals Yard stuff for birthdays and Christmas as could never justify buying it myself.

Rehome people's shower gel/shampoo at the swimming pool when they have left it behind.

I buy big bottles of castile liquid soap and dilute for hand wash, shower gel, bath soak, washing up liquid.

I only wash my hair once a week. I use coconut oil (the stuff you cook with) the night before as a conditioning treatment and shampoo out the next day.

limit non-hair washing showers to 5 mins. brush my teeth in the shower.

I don't buy fancy face cleansers. I use the oil cleansing method. (google if you haven't heard of it)

I use 1 tablespoon of laundry liquid for all loads and wash colours and darks on a 30 minute fast wash. wear things more than once until they are dirty.

I always try and park for free or hunt out the cheapest car parks.

I take a quick packed lunch for us if we are going out for the day. try and go out after mealtimes and eat at home first.

hand wash, wax and valet the car.

keep a list of products I buy regularly on my phone, the cheapest price I have seen them and where. update the list if I see it cheaper elsewhere not on an offer.

refuse to buy a tumbledryer because of energy costs.

turn lights off and all plugs off at switch. I want to get one of those things that tell you how much electricity you are using.

have an indoor thermometer and only turn heating off if it goes below 17 degrees c.

don't have heating on a timer. turn heating on when we come in/go out.

don't buy fancy cleaning products. everything gets cleaned with white wine vinegar, bleach, bicarbonate of soda, lemon/lime, microfibre cloths.

dp has switched to smoking an e cigarette type thing and is trying to quit.

dp and ds both take packed lunches to school and drink the free water available from the dispensers there.

dp drives to train station and gets the train into work. a monthly train pass was cheaper than driving and he parks there for free.

meal plan and try to batch cook and freeze so using energy costs to cook only once. buy cheap joints to coo in slow cooker which is mores energy efficient too. get 2 or 3 types of meals out of a joint for example a roast, a soup and a curry. I also look in the reduced section and freeze things from there. I only have 3 drawers in my freezer so don't buy much from the freezer section, freeing up the space for meat and batch cooked things.

slow cook a gammon joint, a beef brisket, a lamb breast, a whole chicken and slice/freeze for sandwich meat.

buy big pots of natural yoghurt instead of individual pots.

buy spices, veg, flours, rice etc from world cuisine shops.

snacks are hard boiled eggs, cheese, salad, cold meats, homemade meatballs, leftovers, yoghurt, fruit, breadsticks/crackers/rice cakes. i buy mr kipling cakes for lunchboxes from heron foods when they are 65p for 6. I stock up on lindt dark choc when its on offer and I buy a pudding and ice cream once a week. I find fresh fruit goes off and gets wasted so buy a mixture of fresh and frozen fruit and the little pots of pineapple from aldi.

we have fakeaway (homemade) curry/chinese/kebab nights and fake gastro pub lunches as a treat. we buy more expensive better quality food and drink than what we would normally have for example brie and crusty bread, matured steak and asparagus, a posh pudding, a bottle of chateau neuf de pape, a cheese platter, liquer coffees and chocolates. we make an afternoon of it, take our time between courses chatting perhaps playing a game. we take perhaps 3 or 4 hours over lunch.

cut flowers out of the garden instead of buying them.

grow our own herbs.

I want to plant some fruit trees and have a veg patch but that's on my to do list.

got a phone contract with unlimited texts and unlimited minutes and cancel house phone contract.

I know people who have cancelled their tv license and watch tv via online catch up.

I would cancel virgin/sky tv and get a freeview+ box and netflix but dp won't.

OP posts:
MrsDeanAmbrose · 11/05/2014 19:42

I've stopped using conditioner on my hair, and there's been no noticable difference in my hair's shine or condition.

minipie · 14/05/2014 15:45

probably repeating others but things I save money on:

  • no sky or cable - we bought a youview box and that has 90% of the good stuff for free
  • ignore use by dates and go by smell and taste (this is more about wastage than money)
  • don't buy snacks, coffees, magazines when out. If I am hungry/thirsty I wait till I am home.
  • don't have nails, tan, waxing done. No gym membership. Hair done only 3 times a year.
  • don't buy apps or stuff on itunes
  • don't buy presents for adult family - I realise this could sound mean but we all agreed ages ago that we would only do presents for kids - saves us all a lot of and hassle
  • cheapest possible mobile contract

funny thing is, both DH and I earn very well and we could easily afford all these - I am just naturally tight...

maggiethemagpie · 30/08/2016 20:53

Instead of buying a full takeaway, I make the main course bit (eg stir fry if chinese, curry if indian) then buy all the starters and sides which are usually cheaper, so it feels like a treat but only costs half as much.

Diglass · 22/09/2016 22:17

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Tryingtosaveup · 22/09/2016 23:48

OP you have some good tips, thanks.
If people don't want those tips, then fine, don't read them. The OP has not suggested they are compulsory.
I am naturally frugal and would be unhappy being a spendthrift.
Good for you OP

winkywinkola · 22/09/2016 23:52

F

unicornsarenotjustforchristmas · 21/10/2016 20:27

Some harsh responses though I do think Hmm kids are in second hand whilst dh smokes and watches the most expensive tv subscription I know..... he's got his priorities right?

However, yes we take our own snacks to the cinema, most supermarkets sell 6 packs of popcorn, some Haribo and own brand fruit shoot. Kids are happy, we are happy

Also do the supermarket ice creams instead of the ice cream van

Packed lunches for day trips

Also, order a jug of tap water at restaurants or, if they do free refills, one drink to share.

Our money-saving bits are mainly down to having 5 kids so eating out can be ££££ but we don't want to deny them the trip out so just try to make the food and drink a bit cheaper

malificent7 · 26/10/2016 06:44

Some of these ideas suvh as cancelling Sky are great.
Other ideas such as not washing e ery day are a bit boak!

Rainatnight · 26/10/2016 06:49

I'm so upset by the idea of children being left in wet nappies for so long. And re-using nappies is just as bad. Would you wear knickers a second time, without putting them in the wash?

StealthPolarBear · 26/10/2016 06:52

I suspect the ops child is out of nappies now

caroline29woohooo · 26/10/2016 06:58

Recycled toilet paper

Boolovessulley · 26/10/2016 07:08

I couldn't wait until clothes are dirty to wash them.
Man made fibres trap sweat, if you wear them again your body heat warms up the trapped sweat and this is what b o is.
Fresh sweat doesn't smell, stale sweat does.
I train in a gym wear people are literally wet through with sweat, it doesn't smell but wearing the same clothes a second time would equate to smelling.

pklme · 26/10/2016 07:17

I live like this because I don't like waste! We consume far too much, and nappies and sanpro sitting in landfill for generations is revolting!

I use eco balls in the washing machine.
I wear clothes until they have visible marks or smell of food/sweat.
I wash my hair once a week with gelatine or an egg or water.
Moon cup and washable pads/pant liners.
I lined up friends I trust to tell me if I look or smell grubby when I started this!

Make stock out of chicken carcasses. Lovely for soup.
Cook ham in a slow cooker, so I get more stock for soup...
Never buy sauce mixes etc, it's cheaper to cook from scratch!

Like the idea of coffee in the cinema- I take a can when I go (not very often)!

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