Lets share tips for cutting back

[Madmog]

Do try Aldi and Lidl, even if you don't want to buy everything from there you can save. If you prefer to shop at Tescos/Sainsburys, do try their value/basics ranges. If you have certain products you always use, stock up on them if they're on offer.

Only have heating on when you really need. Check if it's worth changing energy supplier.

As mentioned in another discussions, do put bubble bath in soap dispensers - I've started doing this and my family haven't noticed!

Always take a drink and snack with you in case anyone is hungry, to avoid expensive buys.

Buying sacks of potatoes is so much cheaper than bags. For example Morrisons were selling a 12.5kg sack 6 weeks ago (ie in season) for £2 standard price , £8 for a 25kg is more standard price, still a huge saving. And when I realise the potatoes are going off I make mash and freeze it.
I too only ever buy washing powder and only use half. Also buy dishwasher stuff separately, it works much better even with own brand and much cheaper.
I use my slow cooker loads, but that's mainly as with two small DC's means I'm less likely to burn meals. It not just for casseroles, I throw a lump of meat in, some 'jacket' potatoes and 2 hours before the end some corn on the cob. Not gourmet food, but plenty good enough for tea.
I buy a lot of things direct from China on www.Aliexpress.com Some things are much cheaper, who needs a packaging! Also follow the MN Christmas bargain threads.

Only buy food in the supermarket, cleaning products, toiletries and other bits are cheaper elsewhere.

Never buy prepacked vegetables they are always cheaper per kg loose and you only buy what you really need.
If you make a stew with beef stock, pearl barley and veg and make dumplings you won't notice there isn't any meat in it.

Never buy prepacked vegetables they are always cheaper per kg loose and you only buy what you really need.

That's not true any more. Often the bagged stuff can be Class II where the loose is Class I. You have to look at what you're doing.

But if you do buy a bag and it's more than you need, chop and freeze, or cook and freeze, rather than letting it go off or eating it just because it's there.

For example, in my supermarket leeks are about 90p each, but there's often a packet of three for £1. I chop those into sandwich bags and keep them in the freezer.

Just lurking to mark place

I buy shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and cleaning stuff. I prefer the washing powder tablets - you are meant to use 2 but I only use one each time.

I also take money out of the bank on pay day and put it in a tin, every time I need fresh food I use that money rather than using credit or debit card. If I use the credit card it gets paid off every month so no interest.

Lidl do great crisps, biscuits for packed lunches. If I see things on offer I will buy loads.

I buy toilet rolls and kitchen towels off groupon. Initially a bigger cost but saves loads when you don't have to buy it every month. I have also just bought a load of tea bags off there. I worked out even if teabags were on offer at a supermarket I will still save at least £20.

I use carrier bags from shops for rubbish which saves massively on black bags.

1st paragraph should have said from lidl!

postbellyroast what do you do with the other roast chicken? one lasts a few days I our house. I usually roast a tray of veg to go in sauces and a cake if I there's room.

Use your local Poundland or 99p store. Quite often they have the same name brand products that the supermarket does.

Roast a chicken every week- makes roast/curry/soup/stock/dog food

Bake own bread, no clothes softener, drink only water and wine

Clothes/books from ebay where possible

Online food shop- no petrol or impulse purchases and easier for menu planning

I may have some tips.

Approved food, trying them out now. Very slow for delivery so far it's been a week but I'm hopeful it will save me a fortune. Stocking up on the tinned basics.

Base your weekly meals around one set of ingredients, it's cheaper and isn't as tedious as it sounds.

Farm foods is good for loo roll, cheap cheeses and the odd other bargain.

Buy huge bags of rice, potatoes and porridge oats.

Cheap school lunches invest in flasks and send kids in with soup or dal.

Cleaning products you really only need white vinegar, bicarbonate soda, bleach and beeswax in a tin.

Tesco and semi chem sell a brand of washing machine liquid called Enrituals it's a £1 for 28 washes and is brilliant, own brand nappies for £1.40 are really good.

Keep the food you cook to 6 ingredients a meal it saves loads of pennies and makes you think about what your eating.

Ebay for clothes and anything else you may need you can buy new and it's often cheaper.

Is Approved Foods the one that sells canned stuff close to or just past their use by dates? I really don't see how stuff like tinned tomatoes can go off really.

Yes it is, still within the sell by and consume by dates but close or over the best before. I also use clearance XL they were really good and came within 5 days, we had cereal that was 6 months past the best before but they were great not soft, still very fresh you couldn't tell they so far past the bbf. It's changed how I shop, it's cheaper not meal planning but finding the cheapest food and building meals around what you've found.

I think ordering a supermarket shop on-line and having it delivered, even with the delivery cost can be cheaper (there's always cheaper or free slots anyway). Stops frivolous spending.

I get my fruit and veg delivered from the local market. The amount you get is incredible and it makes you meal plan to ensure everything gets used.

Add beans to meals to bulk up, have a vegetarian dish once or twice a week.

Once a week we have a 'cheap' meal. Jacket spuds and cheesy beans, omelettes etc.

Sometimes, buying own brand or Aldi products can be false ecomony. We have found this with cereal for the DC, the absolute rock bottom price stuff tastes like cardboard and is wasted money.

Have to odd luxury to keep you on track, mine is ground coffee, just a strong cup, made first thing.

I have found having an amount going into 'locked in' savings makes me less likely to dip into a more flexible account. We've got one that is high interest but has to be held for at least a year. Minimum payment is £50, so not a really huge, massive amount iyswim?

Old bananas make lovely banana cake/bread.

If we do have leftovers, I mix into the dogs food (within reason, I draw the line at a madras!!), which bulks it up.

Unless I put something new on and think 'wow', I send it back/return it.

I only use half a tablet in the wash, and that seems to work, all washed on the shortest coldest wash, except bedding and towels and now reconsidering that!
Freeze all leftovers, including even things you would not consider eg hummus.
Aldi, Lidl, 99p shop as much as possible
Basic nappies were fine, just not decorated!
Clothes from ebay - doubt I could ever buy full price now, even if affordable
Asda school shoes - the best, never scuff - only full sizes though
Use your nose and mouth to test food, sell by might last longer then date given

Last winter I discovered wrist warmers which really helped keep me warm and meant I could delay putting the heating on. My husband goes round with a beanie hat on most of the winter! The DCs also learned to wrap up well. We all had hot water bottles close at hand. Eldest revised for exams in bed with a hottie and we all watched TV under a rug with a hottie. And then went to bed with a hottie. We were also putting our hot water on for one hour morning and one hour evening. We then decided to turn off the evening hour and found that we really only needed that extra evening hot water at weekends as we all had showers in the morning and one kettle of water did most of the washing up that was needed at the end of the day.

We also found that we were setting the dishwasher off because we had run out of cutlery, so every night I would hand wash some of the cutlery in the dishwasher and that meant we would run the machine 4-5 times a week instead of seven. Every little counts!

I don't buy newspapers any more. I follow Huff Post, BBC, Guardian, Independent, ITV, Daily Mirror on Twitter and signed up for BBC and Guardian news emails and I get all the reading that I can possibly keep up with.

*hand wash some of the cutlery FROM the dishwasher - obvs!

Go to the supermarket before closing, some of the price reductions are ridiculously good! And you can bung it in the freezer.

I have tried giving up fabric softener but it's a guilty pleasure of mine, it makes my laundry sparkly [big grin]

Can anyone explain to me what the difference between Class 1 and 2 veg is?

Avoid the shops. If you do an online shop after breakfast, list items only, you will buy less.

Never go into Waitrose when you are hungry.

Ultracrepidarian Yes Approved Food are slow normally a week to ten days. They also use lots of boxes.

Do an inventory of your cupboards often - don't waste anything.

Beware batch cooking if it means you'll eat a more expensive meal than you otherwise would.i.e if you're eating a casserole where you'd normally have beans on toast, just because you've got casserole in the freezer. Eggs are cheap and so good for you. Jacket potatoes are brilliant for Saturday lunch.

The class thing is usually about appearance - class 2 are less pretty. Matters not a jot for eg carrots for casserole, potatoes you're going to mash, blueberries to put in muffins.

Also - we have Blue Peter badges for our DC saved us an absolute fortune over the years as they get in loads of places free- we have been to Alton Towers, Tower of London, Drayton Manor, National Space Centre etc.
Have a look on the website for what to send in.

Slightly mad, but it is my pet thing. When we are hard up we live on rations for a few weeks. I buy six pounds (cash) of meat, 4 oz bacon, 4 oz ham, 8 oz cheese, other than that, season fruit and veg. Dried milk (this can be used for making yorkshires, custard etc) to supplement milk from supermarket. A quick online search reveals exact quantities allowed. We love it, it is educational, thought proviking and very very cheap, feeds us all (usually 4) for £30. Couldn't do it all the time as it gets very dull. Could be worth a try though.

Don't buy those box sets of toiletries for Christmas.

They cost about £5 for a small one (set with one Lynx body wash and one deodorant in it for example) but you can buy exactly the same body wash and deodorant in Poundland or B&M or Home Bargains for £1 each.

Which saves you £3 and you can just put them directly into a Christmas stocking or a gift bag or even buy a cheap toiletry bag to put them in if you really want to. Again, any of those other shops stock all this.

I saw waterproof wash bags in Poundland today, they had packs of three gift bags for £1 and they had all their Christmas things in so had the stockings as well.

Or, if you are the crafty type and have supplies, you can package them together in your own cellophane, jute ribbon, normal ribbon, bakers twine, whatever.

I just looked on the Boots website and their Lynx sets are selling for £6.50 with just two items in them. It's basically paying £4.50 for a bit of cardboard and plastic packaging.

I quite often put my own packages together in a gift bag, with body wash and flannels and soap and those netting body scrub things, in a normal gift bag, for a lot less than I would pay for a gift set in a box, and it's more likely to get used.

There seems to be no end of the boxed up stuff being sent to the school fairs because they are weird gift sets with weird things in them, but the normal basics get used right away.

Anything in tins can be made to go a bit further by either adding milk or water to it (depending on what it is)

Poundland in cheap but Poundstretchers in often cheaper

Lidl and Aldi if you are careful can save you a fortune.

Never buy full priced clothes - always wait until the sales or on offer.

I am currently using Morrisons dishwasher saver tablets £1.34 for 30 and have noticed no difference compared to more expensive ones.

Take a pack lunch out with you when ever you leave the house!

Remember kids don't need lots of money spent on them to be happy, a nature walk, picnic in the park, bike ride etc are the stuff childhood memories are made of