Money-saving hints that aren't...

[TheFifthKey]

I've been looking through momey saving blogs etc and the same things come up that annoy me every time because they're either not good hints or just unhelpful.

Firstly, the "if you stop buying lunch/coffees/magazines" tip - maybe there's the odd person who hasn't noticed that £5 a day at Costa adds up but it's irritating when you never really buy these things anyway - funnily enough if I had a £100/month black hole in my budget like that I'd notice!

And the second is "use lemons for cleaning" - they don't bloody work and a bottle of Flash is £1 and lasts aaaaaages for me - I don't use loads and it's fine. A net of lemons is at least 50p and would last one cleaning session - this is not a saving in any form!

I don’t get the fuss about changing energy suppliers. For 25 quid a year? It’s not worth the hassle

Take in ironing. Oh, yeah, that's a real money spinner. Sell stuff on Ebay. Never mind the fees, the PayPal fees, the chancer buyers who can fuck you or having to wait for your money.

Where I've moved to now, most shops don't accept card payments at all, and the ones that do, seems like their card machines are always broken.l, so for me taking cash out bank and spending it is actually worse because you get loadsa unwanted change that you end up spending in the shop.
My number 1 tip for saving is I don't use the corner shop, unless I'm topping up my gas and elec, take my DC with me and buy them a treat from their. Also I find topping up my gas and elec works better if you do a large amount not £5 or £10 here and there. So I visit corner shop literally once a month!

A L D I

@Roomba

Possibly the most contradictory post I have ever read!

You can save a lot more than 25 quid by changing energy suppliers.

I just checked and even within supplier there's a £170 saving between the standard tariff and the fixed price one assuming bills of £1600 per year

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

No hassle

I got £100 through referrals
And I save £27 a month

It’s all such tiny savings, which I appreciate is sometimes the best that can be done.

As a previous poster said, it’s all about earning.

I went from single mother SAHM on CTC and (admittedly generous) CM from my ex. I went back to work, £40k a year. CTC dropped slightly but then I got WTC too, and CM stayed the same.

So in short - my income was suddenly hugely increased. Saving that amount would have been impossible.

So now I’m studying (and working damn hard to impress management) so that I’m able to take next leap up the ladder to £48000 a year. It’s in sight.

It’s all about improving your earning potential. Saving £1.45 here and £3.80 there may help towards an unexpected car repair but it’s not going to actually tangibly improve your finances

For those who do enjoy a take out coffee every now and then, go to McDonalds, Subway and independent cafes.... much cheaper (and nicer imo) than starbucks/costa type places

I love the transfer the pence into savings from the bank account me and DH are going to do this!
Keep the helpful ones coming lol!
Some of these are ridiculous!

I just checked and even within supplier there's a £170 saving between the standard tariff and the fixed price one assuming bills of £1600 per year

Assuming bills of £1600 per year, is no better than assuming people have a takeaway coffee every day. We pay 650-700ish per year (depending on weather) combined gas and electric.

Someone upthread mentioned using cash instead of card. For me it's the opposite, if i get 10 pounds out the bank to pay for something that's 2.50 i'm far more likely to spend the remaining 7.50 than if i'd just used my card for the 2.50 to begin with.

kiki well done on getting your earnings up. It's not easy to do it but I found it a million times easier to save by earning more.

My top tip is the find the cheapest place to buy everything non-perishable and keep a good supply of them. For example Asda sells the cheapest bubble bath at 45p, so when I go to Asda I buy 10 or 20 of them. I never buy bubble bath anywhere else. When I go to Wilko I buy lots of kitchen rolls as they are 4 for 90p in there. I source the cheapest of everything and keep a good supply of those things. I keep a simple spreadsheet to keep track of where to buy everything and how many I have. For some reason I find this fun.

Also, think about how much each meal costs you to make, roughly. Then start to eat more of the cheapest meals and only occasionally have a more expensive one as a treat.

Bread making doesn't save much money, but it does save some. A bag of flour costs 45p in Aldi. I sachet of yeast costs about 5p. With that I can make 2 loaves of bread, a pizza base, some rolls and some cinnamon twists. All that would have cost me at least £3 to buy, instead it cost about 60p.

Buy a jar of Diamond Dip and put in the jewels you have worn each evening when you come home. It will save your PA having to take them to the jewelers to be cleaned and they will always sparkle.

Not your opals or peals, obviously.

These are my money saving tips:
I always buy food in bulk when I’m shopping. When it comes to days out I save money by taking my own food and drinks. Rather than buy food we have a family picnic. At Christmas time I make my own gifts. I even design my own cards.
I reuse a lot of the time. Instead of buying brand new clothes I visit charity shops for clothes for the kids to wear. I’ve even altered them for my daughter. Or I poke around online. There are lots of amazing deals out there.
I fly out of season. I detest flying in a crowded plane full of germs. Plus it’s waay less expensive. My middle name is Thrifty.

I am one of those people who buy little treats to cheer myself up, so advice to stop buying takeaway coffees etc has worked for me.
I also save all the £2 coins I get - I don't get so many that I notice them bring saved, but by Christmas I usually have over £100. I also save coppers in a jar.
My best money saving tips is simply to stay out of the shops!
I think that if you are already meal planning and shopping sensibly, there's not much you can do to save money - if you don't have enough coming in, there's only so much you can do to save.

@PigletJohn

This is tried and tested is it?...

The money saving tip that annoys me is the idea that a smart (electric) meter will save you money.

It will only save you money IF you heed the messages on the display - the ones that tell you how much electricity that, say, your tumble drier is using etc.

The thing is - you only have your tumble drier on when you need stuff drying, it’s not something you put on for fun.

There is a school of thought that having a smart meter can make it easier for electricity companies to introduce and operate dynamic pricing ie the cost per unit goes up at times of high demand - like fares for Uber taxis do.

It’s far simpler to get the household used to switching stuff off when not in use, getting LED bulbs etc.

Shopping: meal plan & cut out most meat and processed products- they are expensive. (Try and have 2-3 vegetarian meals / week) Write a shopping list, if it is not on the list, it's not going into in the trolley. Bulk buy dry goods like lentil & pasta if you can store them correctly. They don't have a use by date and will last.
Always stick to your budget. Try and rotate things like washing power, toilet paper and other cleaning products so you don't have to buy them in the same week (and go over budget) This will also encourage you to use less (e cloth might be your friend).
Showering: use a good old fashioned soap bar, you use less and it's cheaper than shower gel...

There is a school of thought that having a smart meter can make it easier for electricity companies to introduce and operate dynamic pricing ie the cost per unit goes up at times of high demand - like fares for Uber taxis do.

A friend who works for an energy company told me the only thing smart meters do is encourage old people to turn their heating off resulting in hospital admissions and early death

I’m sure the money ‘saving’ ideas are written by the same people who write the articles on how to get the most out of a small kitchen. Firstly, the included photo of the ‘small’ kitchen is always bigger than our sitting room and kitchen combined, and secondly, the ‘tips’ are often ridiculous - ‘create more room in the kitchen by moving infrequently used items to the utility room’. Well that’s just super advice. I’ll move all the books out of the sitting room and into the study. That’ll save room too...

@3out that really made me laugh

I agree that “getting a smart meter will save you loads on your electricity bills” is probably not true if you’re already reasonably clued up about how electricity works.

Thanks, poison ;) What really makes me laugh is the ‘Readers’ top tips’ in Chat/Take A Break etc. ‘Deirdre from Derby: Don’t waste money on a recipe book stand in the kitchen. Just hook an old trouser hanger on a cup hook and slide your book on to the hanger (picture attached)’ Some of the ideas are just ludicrous!

Sanitary towel slippers for example ...