Frugal tips

[SweetPeaPods]

I am currently pregnant with dc3 and need to really tighten the purse strings before I go on stat mat pay.
We spend far to much each month atm, especially on food which is one area I'm going to concentrate on.
Any tips on frugal living for now but also while on mat leave. Any tips for getting through school holidays without blowing the budget?
Going to have a big clear out and see what I can post on eBay etc too.

There are various threads on here but - as people who thankfully don’t need to be frugal but are being frugal owing to making massive mortgage overpayments for various reasons - the fundamental mantras I live by are -

1. Demotivate yourself from spending. If it isn’t absolutely essential, it isn’t being bought.
2. when you buy - if it isn’t the best value for money for that product - it won’t be bought. (Within reason)
3. Dont see/touch salary account. get “paid” an allowance into starling/Monzo/similar for your spending money for the month and that’s all you’ve got.
4. Learn to cook. Figure out that the same core raw ingredients (mince, frozen veg, eggs, frozen Chicken portions) can produce delectable dinners from cuisines ranging from Indian to Vietnamese to American.
5. Freecycle, vinted and eBay for anything you need to buy for the house or clothing.

Agree with @DuarPorte

Also, don't shop as a leisure activity.

For days out, look for free places, large country/city parks, farms etc or season tickets if it's something local you like to go to. Always take a picnic rather than spending £££s on often poor quality food at the end of a long queue in the cafe.

M&S Sparks are doing half price English Heritage entrance over the next couple of months.

Look on Moneysaving Expert. Get the weekly email for ongoing tips on extra bits of money, eg £150 for switching your bank account (I have a second account with a couple of direct debits that I switch regularly to get these offers)

Also review your budget to cut your bills where you can and free up extra money to spend/save.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

If you have a choice of supermarkets, get to know their prices and buy whatever is cheaper in each shop. Also, looking for fruit and veg offers that most shops have. I find it helps if I add up the cost of what I've got in my basket as I go along. If it's starting to reach my limit, I change things for other options - ie swap individual pies for a quiche, cake for cheap packet of biscuits.

With regards to the holidays, even taking your lunch out to the local park can be fun. Gets the children out and nice for to just watch the world go by. If you have Tesco clubcard vouchers, look to see if there are any days you can book with them. Not sure what age your DC are, but inviting a friend around for a couple of hours - all it might cost you is a couple of cheap biscuits. Take food with you, rather than buying - if only a drink and snack for if the DC say they're hungry.

Look at cutting energy use. Only filling the kettle with what you need. If you bake, do that alongside cooking an oven meal. If it's walkable, walk - our petrol cost have actually gone down despite prices going up. Leave it a bit longer before you switch lights on, don't leave things on standby, switch tv off if no one is actively watching it.

I have found spending a bit more on aldi or lidl treats saves me money as there are nice things in at home. Also, planning lovely meals by thinking more about cooking. Tiktok and insta have great recipes which don't require a massive amount of ingredients. Not buying alcohol is a win. Also buying heated throws. This saves putting the heating on lots of days.

If your friends suggest going out for meal pub whatever, then invite them over for a cooked meal at home or a walk and a coffee (take your own) instead! Perfect time of year for this..

Embrace the lentil - I make many meat dishes, but then pack with frozen veg and lentils/ chickpeas / kidney beans, which doubles the quantity in the sauce, leaving lunch for the next day - freeze bread in portions and defrost as needed - use frozen for items such as mushrooms, peppers - don't forget how versatile eggs are for lunches / omlettes - get a griddle pan to avoid the grill / using the oven - do a cheat stew of packet soup (I use chicken veg mix), pearl barley, chicken thighs, carrots, onions with some seasoning, add boiling water and put the caserole dish into the oven for about 1.5 hours on 160, then mix up some vegetable dumplings and pop in the top for another 15 minutes, with the caserole lid off, makes a great stew and you can always add extra vegetables and will serve 6 easily.

I think membership/ annual tickets usually pays off. If there are places you really want to visit look if you can buy a membership which cover more then one (like National trust). Also different membership offer different deals depending on the child’s age. We did this a couple of times : one year we did National trust , next year we did annual ticket to a local attraction they’ve had different things over the year so it covered every holiday and Xmas as well. The same with any activities, you can choose and focus on one particular this year and invest in it. I’ve just realised that there is a big difference in prices between 2 of our local swimming pools. One of them does discounts for children for a single session whereas the other not so much, but they offer much better deal for a membership, very cheap if you do a lot of swimming, good but not for us.
I also agree that taking a picnic makes a huge difference. Depending on DC’s ages they could do baking for a picnic beforehand so it’s an extra activity itself.
Also checking prices online is very helpful, at least on your main products, if there is a choice of supermarkets. It sounds unbelievable but with certain offers M&S can be cheaper then Aldi, of course it’s 1 or 2 products and not forever but if you can stock up it certainly helps. Switching to Aldi/Lidl helps but more cooking from scratch, ready meals are expensive everywhere. I’ve found that using frozen products are often cheaper like mixed vegetables, fish, chicken.
sorry if you know all these already, it’s a bit difficult without knowing your details but all these helped me and it didn’t affect the quality of our life at all, just more planning.

Scrambled egg on toast
beans on toast
pasta with grated cheese
toasties
jelly in pots for snack
apple quarters
make your own ice lollies

make a list before you go to the supermarket

Money management is more about psychology than maths.

Focusing on small changes helps rather than trying to make sweeping changes, slipping up and feeling “oh fuckit” and splurging.

A good way to start small is to set out each evening a list of what you will spend tomorrow and then try your absolute hardest to stick to it.

Most important things can wait one day - and by the time you sit down to plan that evening may not seem so important or urgent after all (I obviously don’t mean something with an immediate financial penalty like an overdue mortgage payment… just everything else!)

And most impulses can wait 24 hours too. You can absolutely put a bar of chocolate or a bottle of wine on tomorrow’s shopping list - and the thing is you can. They key is that you’re training yourself to spend mindfully instead of immediately.

Mark down every “stuck to the list” day and no spend day on a habit tracker if you like that sort of thing.

Eat from the cupboards. The food choices don't always have to match.