Is penny pinching worth it?

[rayn]

We are trying to save. My hours just been cut due to current circumstances. We are not great with money but been reading a lot of threads about cutting back.

Tips such as cut the toothpaste tube, reuse teabags, reuse wrapping paper, envelopes etc
Maybe this is why we are poor! It all just seems abit too extreme. Do little things really make a difference?

I know pennies make pounds but walking half a mile to save 20p on a cheaper product doesn't make sense. Maybe that's where I am going wrong. I don't see the odd pound or 50p as meaning much. Over 12 months though I suppose it adds up!

Penny pinching sounds miserable. It depends on how extravagant you are now though.

You can save money by switching the tv off at the mains, not leaving phones/laptops plugged in when they are fully charged, having a drought shower, switching off the tap when you brush teeth, only boiling as much as you need (kettle), doing most of the shopping at Aldi. These things are just sensible and once you get in the habit, you won't even notice anymore. You'll just notice your bills going down.

You can be more extreme - watering down cosmetics, boiling the kettle once a day (and filling a flask with hot water), reusing teabags (I draw the line at this one).

It all depends what you are doing now and what you want to save.

Yes it's definitely worth it. But I wouldn't call it penny pinching! I stick to things like... second hand furniture and cars (never ever hire purchase), meal planning every week. Get some posh ready meals in the freezer for a treat as they are half the cost of a takeaway. Take a nice picnic on days out.
Second hand clothes for all of us, only occasionally new.
However I do believe in buying good quality once so for example kitchen goods I will pay more for and plan to use the same pans forever.
I guess the absolute key is only buying what you need, I almost never browse for fun and if I do put something in my shopping basket, I leave it there for days to consider whether I really need it. It's definitely a change in mindset.

It's worth thinking about whether these things are worth it to you, but don't lose sight of the big wins - I remember friends trying hard to cut down their food budget and eat more vegetarian food, which was all sensible but turned out they'd let their mortgage deal run out and had been paying £300 a month more than necessary. Look at your biggest outgoings first.

Lots of it is also good for the environment so a double win. I use washable make up remover pads so haven’t bought cotton wool in years. Buy concentrate pods to put in empty cleaning spray bottles and top up with tap water. shampoo bars are cheaper in the long run. Washable cloths for the kitchen, which get chucked in the washing machine, along with flannels. Old t shirts make rags and cloths. don’t EVER buy wipes. Buy less meat and bulk meals out with lentils and more veg. Grow your own if you like doing it, but not sure that’s terribly cost effective unless you have an allotment and a big freezer. Buy a couple of heated throws instead of having the heating on. Nice and cosy and use less energy.

It's a mindset issue. You need to frame it in a way that works for you. So, you're squirreling away money for a specific purpose eg house deposit or paying mortgage off early. Each time you make a small saving, note it down or move it to a special pot. Or you're being environmental so using less, buying secondhand etc. Or each pound you spend is a vote for something and you'd rather vote for holidays than diet coke/big tobacco/primark. Calling it penny pinching sounds unhelpful.

But I would really recommend sorting the big tickets items in your budget first. No point in saving 2p a week on reusing teabags when you're haemorrhaging hundreds on higher than necessary mortgage rates or mobile phone contracts or overdraft fees. The things you can save money on without reducing the experience are the place to start. Gas and electric are gas and electric no matter who your provider is.

Interesting ideas here. My furniture has been here forever, with the exception of the sofa, wrecked by the cat. We replaced it with a charity shop sofa, on the grounds that it wouldn't be such a tragedy if the cat wrecked that one too, and I got quite giddy with the idea that we had spent about £50 on a good clean sofa, rather than spend about £1000. I come from farming stock, and I like to think I have inherited some of the 'carefulness' I like good stuff, and I draw the line at recycling tea bags, but I would rather have a smaller amount of good stuff, than a load of crap and clutter. I also get quite excited to cut the top off a make up/face cream tube and use the insides, I can get up to another week that way. If you cut the top off leaving a good inch of the top, you can often 'envelope' it over the other part to stop it drying out, or put a bag clip on it. I have also overpaid on the mortgage to get rid of it quicker, and have never had the maximum mortgage I would have been granted. My cars get used until they start costing lots of money to run/develop underneath leaks, which is usually around the ten year old point for me. Only then will they be replaced. I try not to chuck food out of the fridge, but use it in soup/fritata and if I cook a shepherds pie or whatever, I double up for the freezer. I am pretty generous with my family though, and I see having nice things and holidays/breaks as the reward for it.

Switching things off at the mains will save an absolutely negligible amount of money - literally single pennies a month, even if you unplugged everything except the fridge and freezer. Modern appliances use so little electricity in standby. You’d probably use more electricity waiting for the damn thing to reboot itself afterwards (every appliance I have seems to need a good think every time it’s switched on after a while).

I tend to think if I save/don't spend £1 a day
that's 365 a year
Married 30 years
That would be nearly 11k
Makes sense to me

It depends.

A few extra minutes when going around the supermarket to check prices can make a big difference. Whether that's considering between named brands and stores' own brands, or even just between sizes within a brand (generally, the larger size works out less per unit (kg/l/washing capsule etc), but sometime the smaller sizes are the better ones so it is useful to do a mental calculation).

If you have coupons to use on things that you would be buying anyway, then it makes sense to use those and reduce the cost. But don't use coupons on things you don't normally use unless you want to try it out once, but not just for the sake of making a saving. Or buying "3for2" offers is great on things you will use or that you can put the 3rd into longer term stores to use in the future, or will reduce the cost of a nice version of something to the same or less than the cost of 3 of the cheaper version IYKWIM (so buying 3 Sanctuary shower gels on offer could be ok if the cost of the 2 that you pay for is the same as or less than the cost of 3 of the shower gels you normally buy). So you get a nice treat but it doesn't cost you more.

But buying bags of salad on "3for2" is not so good if one and a half of those bags will end up in the bin as you can't eat that much salad so fast.

Buying "yellow stickered" food is often fine - check them carefully to see if they are still ok, and either use quickly or freeze. And don't get things you won't eat just because they are stickered - get things that you know you will use. Personally, I don't usually get berries, salad leaves, spinach, pre-chopped fruit/veg, cooked meat, liver or mince that is yellow stickered - but I will get joints of meat, chops/steaks, especially bacon, other fruit and veg that is whole and looks ok, eggs, etc, and I will very carefully examine chicken or fish to see if it is still fresh enough.

I will also make good use of things that are going past their best in my fridge - different kinds of stirfries to use up handfuls of different veg, Spanish omelettes, potato cakes with different fillings, diced mixed roasted veg, etc.

I'll spend on some things to make life easier - stretching my money as Empress refers to it. Like paying €800 per year for a car parking pass for parts of my local town - but I use it daily for my commute to the city by train, on Saturdays in another part for my Cub Scouts meetings, and Sundays in another part for organising Junior Sailing, and can use it to park for shopping in the town at times just walking further than if I'd parked in the shopping centres - so it is worth it to me.

One thing I have done to try and spend less is to take out money at the start of the week to cover incidental spending (coffees, lunches, occasional book, etc) and try to not spend more than that amount. It does help (or did, until Covid meant most places want card sales only).

And loyalty schemes in supermarkets, chemists, etc can all help - getting vouchers occasionally, and also money back based on your spending (usually vouchers to spend as cash in that shop, but Tesco ones and now SuperValu ones have booster offers alongside). But I have signed up to them all, to get all the points no matter which shop has the better offers on different weeks (although I also shop in Lidl and Aldi even though they have none, and the Asian supermarket near my office for certain things occasionally which also has none but is very cheap for spices and other items).

I also have good menders for my things - a couple of cobblers to repair heels and soles on shoes, 2 decent tailors to alter and mend clothes, and an electrical guy who is good at fixing various appliances. Buying quality items and keeping them in good repair is worth spending the money on as they generally will last a long time and cost less over that time than buying (and needing to replace) a number of cheaper items.

And while it felt like spending a lot when I was just getting married and getting our house, I bought a sewing machine and that has saved me a fortune over the years. I've made really good curtains for 2 houses (basic floor length curtains for a north facing single glazed bay window were over £400 18 years ago, I spent under £250 on fabric AND interlining (blanket type stuff for an insulating layer) and made them myself - they not only looked good but also saved our heating bills hugely before we could replace the windows), cushions and other soft furnishings to match, shopping bags and storage bins, loads of repairs, and lots of gifts for people too. And it is still going strong.

There is also the mindset of what you enjoy as a person. I love nothing more than a long country walk, as does DH. Now for some they would want lunch at a pub or afternoon tea at a little tea shop. I am fine doing this but just as happy with a picnic. I have never enjoyed shopping I only go in to the city if I really need something.

Small things I do.

Turn off the oven when for last few mins cooking as it remains hot enough
Only replace stuff when broken or worn out
Buy good quality stuff

Large things to do
Look at all outgoings such as mortgage, gas, insurances and get the best deal possible. Negotiating further is where the big savings come. I have negotiated extra off insurances and the tv and internet many times.

Turn down invites you don’t want to go to. I have not gone to a couple of weddings because the expense vs how much I like the person is too great. Also stuff like a charity I was involved with were having their annual dinner at a restaurant that I deem absolutely awful, so I just made my excuses and didn’t go.

I agree, it is about the mindset. I make cutbacks in some areas so that I have more money to spend in other areas.

Likewise, I know of people who go amazing holidays and have designer handbags because they have said they will never be able to afford to get on the housing ladder in the London area.

The key for me is that I comfortable with my decisions and I don't feel deprived when I cut my empty tube of toothpaste in half to get to the last of the toothpaste.

I'd say we are quite frugal but that is so we can afford to go on nice holidays and have takeaways. We're 'millenials' and so some people might not think these are a big deal but our peers dont tend to do them. Some of the things we do:
-shop at Aldi in one shop a week and meal plan for that week
-never buy lunch/coffee out at work but take packed lunch every single day.

• second hand car paid in full, not new or hire purchase
• second hand furniture/white goods etc. Our sofa 3 piece set was £30 nearly new on face bay and is so good. Our friends buy brand new sofas they pay off for years. Ditto our dishwasher, £20 face bay
• always, always use top cashback when buying anything online inc. Insurance, holidays, takeaways. We gain about £100 a year from that
• cheap gym membership at a basic gym. Hooooow do people spend £75 on gym membership. The equipments the same whether it's at a pure gym or a david lloyd!
• buy clothes with discount voucher codes online
• dont buy new clothes just because they're fashion, buy only what you need and know you will wear for years.
• walk anywhere up to half an hour walk away

Cant think of other things

We are trying(!) to be more frugal as currently looking to buy our forever home which will either be expensive as done or something we need to extend so need the pennies

Things we already do:

• weekly shop (bar top ups of milk) and meal plan;

-packed lunches/snacks from pound shop for work; -home grown veg (we have poly tunnel, greenhouse and several raised beds); -water butts x 2 for watering veg; -put everything on credit card which gives us points we then turn into amazon vouchers; -got 0% credit card for second hand car so didn’t need to put in finance and paid off before 0% period expired; -home made compost (saves a fortune).

Things we need to do-
-have a clear out and sell things on face bay (golf clubs etc which won’t get used for years as no time!);
-be more frugal on weekly shop (DH wanting to make a Jamie Oliver ragu tonight which has cost over £40 in ingredients due to cost of meat/wine in it) (he’s justifying this on basis we’re not eating out much at present);
-get chickens for eggs/manure for compost (can’t do until in new house really);
-try to use less electricity

I try to make my money go as far as it can.

Somethings I do that probably don't save oodles, but equally it's still money I haven't wasted.

For example, I do write lists on old envelopes, but this only saves me the cost of a notebook, but it's still another pound!

I do reuse packaging that has a tangible benefit, for example the paper wrapping from amazon parcels is used as the basis of painting paper for my child, has also been used for wrapping paper that my child made a personalised design and also for wrapping up pass the parcel. Again, not saved me more than maybe £3, but I haven't wasted £3 either.

Teabags.... If I've only made a tea in a cup, then I'd often reuse. But I do sometimes make a dozen cups a day!

Groceries - I have a key ingredients list that I look out to see if on offer. Then some meals will be based around what's on offer. For example, if cauliflower is 45p we may have cauliflower cheese or soup. I meal plan, planning how and when I'll use leftovers - this saves me the most that is "visible".

I have learned, which shops have the cheapest products for certain goods, so will for example do a 2 monthly shop for those goods to stock up. And I wouldn't as a rule, outside of covid, pay the prices in the mainstream supermarkets for these items, we'd go without or have an alternative.

When grocery shopping consider going to the next level down. So for example, if you only eat a brand, maybe try the supermarkets premium version. If a supermarket premium item, try a standard version, standard try the basic version. Somethings you won't mind, others you will. For example, I'm not that bothered by biscuits whether branded or cheapest, so just get cheapest. I am bothered by the taste of cheaper chocolate, so stick to what I like when it's on offer.

Use comparison sites for buying insurance etc. And always check.

Getting rid of sky, saves oodles.

Annual passes can work out cheaper as a way of having a way to go out for cheaper.

Vouchers and voucher codes are key.

I agree it's about mindset, it would pain me to buy kitchen roll or any kind of wipes. When my children were small I would take flannels out in a baggie and just wash their bum and take the flannels home. I know....but it's better!

burntpinky how does a raging recipe amount to £40?

Look for offers on everything you want it need. Bar soap can last longer than liquid hand soap. And look at own brand things too. My DD wanted a Spa Santuary bubble bath last week. She now knows that the Boots brand £1.99 is just as good as the £12 one she wanted.

Things like laundry, I use half the recommendation amount unless things are badly soiled and none for dark clothes or towels.

I spotted years ago that the ingredients in M&S hand soap and their bubble bath were exactly the same, but you got at least twice as much bubble bath for the money. Buy one hand soap and after that decant bubble bath into the empty bottle.

If you like a posh branded hand soap in the downstairs loo, buy one posh bottle and then refill. It's a rare guest who'll notice.

It IS the small things op - I used to regularly spend a few pounds a day on takeaway coffee on my way into work - plus the odd cake or tray bake. Since lockdown I've saved over £20 a week on this alone, and now nice coffees are a treat rather than an everyday thing that I didn't really appreciate. A grand a year on coffee in a paper cup? I'd rather go to Italy and have a crazy strong coffee in a pavement cafe for the same price!

Fully agree it's a mindset. So many things that have been said resonate with me; I'm single, have been for 9 years and have a now 19yo DS still living with me. So the financial responsibility is all on my shoulders, which makes a difference. I've always been quite frugal when it comes to big stuff and shopping around, mortgage, insurance etc but not so much with the day to day stuff. Lately I've got more of an environmental mindset, David Attenborough saying 'don't waste' seems to have really hit home with me. So I've started using bar soap in a sisal bag instead of shower gel, cutting open tubes (gobsmacked at how much is still left in them!), making my own toner and facial oil. Small steps and there is SO much more that I can do. I look after stuff really well, so the sofas I bought 9 years ago are still going strong, I've only recently replaced my 15 year old bed (kept the mattress though as that is fine), I sell stuff on eBay rather than just dump it. But I also have bad habits like a stationery obsession (recently got rid of sooooo many pens...).

I spend on stuff that really matters to me, like a good holiday, or a decent laptop.

Such good advice to try it out for a month and see how you go.

Before we moved house we went really, really frugal for a couple of months. It was worth it to be get the mortgage down but something to do long term.

I really think it all helps. I use Top Cashback for online shopping and that has been fantastic. I reuse teabags, 2 per cup (so every third cup is free!) I always collect and use loyalty cards points, such as nectar, co op etc. I have a cashback credit card, paid in full every month, I have an Asda weekly delivery with the cheapest delivery pass, we run our clothes into the ground, we use every scrap of food...

It becomes a mindset and truly helps to save a decent amount. I recently purchased £85 insurance via Topcashback and got £75 back! Have just discovered gift vouchers on there too and sent my daughter a £50 book token and got £2.50 back! It does add up!