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!

economical

Facebook have a 'buy nothing' thing. You join a local site and people put up stuff they dont want anymore for free and other people ask if they can have it. Its great for getting rid of stuff thats too much hassle/not worth putting on ebay etc, and you can get all sorts, ours has stuff ranging from bottles of squash - kids/baby clothes - whole dining suites!!!

Ive already saved a fortune on christmas jumpers for later this year

I think more people should live in cities or large towns so they can walk and cycle everywhere or use public transport. People who live in little villages and drive everywhere are probably the worst polluters.

A taxi once a week for shopping costs a lot less than a car does.

We don't have a car. Will need to when we move soon to a rural area, but it's been a huge cost saving, and environmentally brilliant, too. And the hospital actually asked if I attended a gym regularly because my resting heart rate is so good, and my trace looked like something out of a textbook. I'm a lazy cow, but no car means you have to walk more, by definition.

The car is going to mean we have to cut back in a lot of areas. They're just so expensive. Without one, you effectively have a several grand boost on your income every year.

Those kind of tips seem nuts to anyone who is fine at managing money.
But a friend I used to have used to spend lots of money on having her legs waxed, make up, coffees and magazines and used to always moan about being skint - she earned about £60k.
When she got married and had a baby, they had less money and her Husband sat down with her and went through what she was spending every month. She told me how shocked she was when she realised the amount she was spending on things like this. I wasn't at all shocked. But some people don't seem to see even the basics in terms of saving money unless it is pointed out to them.

A taxi once a week for shopping costs a lot less than a car does.

Home delivery costs even less!

We have to move for a school, unfortunately.

We only have one car because the cost of running two cars would be so high.Where we live having a car does make a big difference. We could use buses, but we would spend so long just getting places that are quick to nip too at the moment. But some places are easy to walk to or get to by bus. So we prioritise who has the car depending on what we are doing.

Can I ask a question about topcashback? I've just signed up to it and they've put me on the 'plus' membership which costs £5. Is this worth it?

Yes it’s worth it

I worked in publishing when downsizing – in the sense of moving out of London (where these books assumed everyone lived) and to a charming cottage in Devon, or whatever – was a hot topic. I can remember a bit in one of these books that went (I'm paraphrasing) 'Once you're out of London, just think of the money you'll save on taxi fares!'

Clearly written by, and aimed at, people who routinely jetted about town in taxis between meetings and lunches.

Actually once you're outside of London you're more likely to need taxis, not less, due to public transport everywhere else being shit. I always found London cheap to have a good standard of living in, apart from housing. I pay far more for a frankly mediocre meal out where I live now than London restaurants would get away with charging, there are lots of nice little clothes shops, other shops have proper sales because they can't get away with selling the same old shit year after year, free museums, most workplaces offer free tickets to the proms etc.

And thanks kikipost I'll keep on the plus scheme then.

@namechange I also like the 65p tip and have just gone onto my banking app and transferred 26p into my savings account
Something so little that I hadn’t even thought of but will help go towards Christmas presents. Thank you!!

If you're salaried, work out how much you can afford to save on paper and set up a standing order for the beginning of the month. What's left is what you've got to spend until next pay. Try to squeeze as much out as possible.

I like the 'saving the pennies tip' too.
I should have thought of it as my employers offer you the chance to do it with your salary every month, for charity. So, every month I always get a 'whole £' amount and the pence goes to charity. Obviously completely unnoticeable in terms of your whole salary, but, with 21000 employees (when the scheme began) that could potentially have been £10K a month they raised. FAR fewer employees now, and, you don't ever see it mentioned / advertised which is a shame, as if it even raised a few hundred a month it would make such a different to charities.

Sorry, off topic a bit.

Another tip I've seen is 'get rid of your car'

I agree that 'get rid of your car' doesn't always make sense.
My car is paid for in full, has free road tax and I only pay £200 a year in insurance. Getting rid is a negligible saving.

Ha! Get rid of the car??
In the morning I have to drop the kids at breakfast club at 7.45 then get to work by 7.50!
There’s no bus and it’s a 30minute walk to school and another 20 mins walk from school to work
Until someone invents instant teleportation I’m keeping my car
Saving money?- just don’t spend it stay out of the shops Or leave your cards at home

Tinned potatoes freak me out. Opening the tin and seeing potatoes sitting there aaaaaah!!

Logically I buy them and know that’s what’s in the tin but still....potatoes come from the ground. Not in a tin. (Live in jersey...potatoes are fresh field dug...arrive home still with mud on them...)

But tinned ones are ace for soups etc

I agree, I can't abide the money-saving tips that completely ignore the reality of poverty.

I grew my own potatoes last year but the cost of the soil, fertiliser, and chits was about 5x more expensive than just buying the same amount of potatoes at Morrisons. It was purely for fun.

I do think that foraging for blackberries, apples, etc. is a good money-saving activity though. If you're going out for a walk why not get a week's worth of fresh fruit while you're at it?

One small money-saving strategy that works for me is having a Post Office savings account (in addition to Regular Savings ISA). Whenever I pass a Post Office, I go in and deposit whatever cash is in my purse. Just out of habit now. Otherwise I would spend the money on coffees or treats. It adds up quickly.

Tinned potatoes bring back memories of caravanning as a child - always good in a hash though

I'm very good at trawling round shops to get cheaper deals, but admit that this is pretty useless advice if your budget is at the stage where you just need to stop shopping.

Blackberries are great, but will only get you through about 3 weeks of the year. There is a surprising amount of other stuff you can forage if you look into it though.

Never use a coinstar machine, or anything which charges commission for converting change. Many banks have machines for paying in mixed coin, for mine (HSBC) you don't need to do any sorting, just throw it all in a tray.

Yes agree on foraging.

Loads of apples, nettles, blackberries, gooseberries, Jack-by-the-hedge to be found. My town does fresh herbs in community gardens.

*I think more people should live in cities or large towns so they can walk and cycle everywhere or use public transport. People who live in little villages and drive everywhere are probably the worst polluters.

A taxi once a week for shopping costs a lot less than a car does.*

Oh, yeah, with those corresponding higher rents for less space so you're even less likely to be able to afford your own home and eternally subject to the whims of landlords who can turf you out every six months all so the eco warriors can feel good about themselves and wax a little moral superiority.

Cycling is taking your life into your own hands in lots of places. No thanks.

I use my car for way more than shopping. Mine's cheap to run.

Where I live the city is cheaper to rent or buy than the surrounding areas.

Most cities have cycle networks so safety isn't much of an issue. Driving isn't exactly risk free is it.

If you want to keep on using your car then do so. Don't take my advice so personally. Take it or leave it. I have better things to spend money on than a car.

Another couple that gets me is “just move house to somewhere cheaper” not always that simple. Or “get a second job”

If I was to take on a second job I’d likely be fired by my first job for breach of contract. I’d imagine a few people would be in the same position.