Stopped Myself Wasting Money Today. Have you?

[stoppedmyselfwastingmoneytoday]

In from work. Tired. Hungry. Grumpy. Dominoes pop up on my phone any pizza of any size for £7.99. So tempting. Resisted and had beans on toast and a cup of tea instead. I Saved £30.00 in total as we always have wine with Dominoes but IMO wine does not go with beans on toast. I have put the £30.00 cash in an envelope labelled 'Money I felt I did not waste'. Going to keep stuffing this envelope with cash (I hope).

Beans on toast toasties I remember them well. I was trying to explain to my teenagers that towards the end of the month in my student days we would live on salad cream butties! They looked at me disgusted and beans on toast seemed like a feast to them after that revelation haha! I will buy a toasty maker. I have tried in the past but my DP is tired of fighting through all the gadgets in the kitchen cupboards so he always dissuades me. I will pick one up next week after work and will put toasties on the weekly menu. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

What a great thread!!

I ran out of coffee and decided to walk the coffee shop as I am WFH. Realised I was ridiculous and got 30 coffee pods from aldi for the price of 1 take away coffee!

Brilliant save for you. It is this mindfulness around parting with my cash that I am hoping to develop and save more in the process.

This week I’ve renewed my Tesco delivery saver and RAC with clubcard voucher points. Normally I just accept my car insurance renewal as it stays around the same each year, but did an online chat and saved £30, also pet insurance reduced £30 when asked. I get a weekly Tesco delivery and pop in local shop for top up mid week. I stick to my list, but do look at the offers aisle. My son is paying for a takeaway Nandos tonight and my other son took us to the theatre and a meal in the week. So I’ve done quite well. We also have one meal each week, from the freezer, basically anything in there that needs eating.

Back from holiday now and dried 6 loads on the line, no tumble drier used. I’ve brought all the half used toiletries home so will be using after sun mixed as moisturiser for a while! I’ve put water in the fridge to avoid people running the tap for ages in the quest for cooler water.

I’ve enquired about a slow cooker on marketplace, I’ve always avoided it due to fussiness and intolerances but reading up, it appears that I could use it for more than I thought, at a minimum pulled pork, bolognaise, stock.

Meter readings done, we’ve “only” has £150 credit for gas and elec so I’ve increased our S.O’s slightly.

Roast chicken and jacket spuds tonight, I’ll cook extra spuds for the freezer. My challenge to myself is to use both shelves when cooking a meal, rather than a shelf and a gas ring for example.

I love things like this, I meal prep most weeks and use a list to go food shopping with. This week I made the decision to use alot of things I had in the freezer already and prep it for the week ahead or know when to take it out the freezer to give time to defrost. Last night while making tea I also used up some minced beef to made a lasagne for the freezer and made up some turkey and courgette burgers which is for tonight's tea. A couple of weeks to run the freezer and cupboards down and I can get the freezer cleaned and restocked

I have just done the same and no longer need to go to Boots !
Also sold 2 dresses on Vinted !

Great stuff Readinginthesun! The trouble with going to somewhere like Boots is you always buy more than anticipated!

Might do my food cupboards today!

I got one last year, but you can change the plates so I can use it like a George Foreman and make waffles.

I also use it to cook an egg rather than getting out a pan.

@Passthecake30

You can also use baked potato with flour to make gnocchi, just take the potato out of the skin and add flour.

You can cook pasta by boiling a kettle and pouring the water over the pasta - just leave it for 10 mins.

@Passthecake30

I have 2 slow cookers, you can cook joints of meat or a whole chicken in them. I also make soup in mine, just veg, stock and water then use a stick blender to puree.

I worked with someone who would put a piece of chicken and a jacket potato in her SC but I've not tried it.

I put an apple in my rucksack when I walk up to the weekly pound shop Savers etc so I don't get peckish and succumb to a Madeira cake or lemon cake in a local coffee shop. Not only am I saving on petrol but it is also good for my health my wallet and the environment! I do enjoy the occasional decaffeinated coffee though.

The one thing that changed how I view finances is a budgeting app. I've been using it nearly a year and it's made a huge difference.

Forces you to choose what's really importan

I resisted buying all 3 of us breakfast and drinks in costa this morning when I popped to the village to do some chores .
We had toast and juice in the garden when I got back and it was just as lovely !
We have a "slush fund" account that we transfer any money saved into and use for Xmas etc so I put £20 in there this morning.
It scarily adds up !

Kerberos can you share which app? Think it would help me.

@ stopped- yes to salad cream sandwiches as a kid😁my toasties maker was 14.99 from B&Ms it's right good!

I love the envelope idea too. I might try a variation of this - popping it into my savings account or something similar. Thanks for the inspiration op 😊

I've cancelled Amazon Prime. I've been considering it anyway and they've put the monthly price up so biting the bullet.
It will save me £10 a month but I also think it will stop me buying so much stuff I don't need, so hopefully a win-win.

Dp and I did this too. I do miss the convenience of it but it has really made me think about what I buy - I tend to put things in my basket and wait till I've got enough to reach the £20 free p and p threshold and by the time I do I've often decided I can do without.

It's called You Need a Budget (YNAB). We have a small thread in mumsnet, but I tend to keep in with the reddit community.

One tip is to not have all your money available.

I have a very old building society account, one with a passbook which some of you will not know what that is, it is in the town I grew up in so until recently the only way to get money out was to send the book and a letter and ask them to send a cheque or to drive for 2 hours.

Recently they have started online and phone banking but I'm so used to not being able to get at that money that I don't even think about it. The interest it is getting is, well not a lot so it's no good for actually saving but it is my last back up money.

I have a few shares, and I do mean a few, so the premiums for them are paid into it, about £2.50 a year.

BUT it can be worth buying some shares for the discounts you get. Usually you have to have the physical share certificate but I bought £50 worth of shares in Signet which gives me 10% discount at H Samuel, Ernest Jones and a few other jewelers.

I have two nieces who I have bought jewelry for over the years so I have 'saved' more than the £50 I spent.

So many good tips keep coming in. I will look into a budget APP. At the moment I use pen and paper. I have 4k on 0% credit cards which I aim to pay off by March 2023 and my car is paid off in Feb 2023 also.

@Fearofawelshplanet I am researching toastie makers now I am considering a dual one so my DC can take it to Uni next year September 2023. It would also mean he can do dinner once a week here til then and learn how to cook the dishes he likes (meat and salad basically) as well as the toasties. However, they are a bit expensive so I am indecisive.

@flowerexpress I have been indecisive about my AP membership up for annual renewal next week. I didn't realise you get free postage and packing if the order was over £20.00. I am trying to be more mindful of the environment and how I live my life and the waste I contribute to. I think I am brave enough to cancel my AP prime membership now thanks for the information.

I don't have Prime, but do use the delivery to locker service, which is free even below £20. We have a locker which is less than a 10 minute walk from the house, so it's no bother to collect.

We have a locker nearby too thanks I will use that. Cancelled AP yesterday and I feel good about it.

I'm going to start doing this . It's a great idea .

Not for everyone, but in our house renovations I’m adding an old fashioned ceiling laundry pulley into the utility room, to cut down on winter tumble dryer use. It’s separate from the kitchen so cooking smells on laundry won’t be an issue.
My mum managed to bring us up without a tumble dryer so I’m aiming to minimise our use of it-although easier said than done when your kids have been brought up being able to use it without a second thought!

I did consider one of these my Grandma had one but our current house has low ceilings. I have changed to an electric maiden instead of the tumble-dryer and last year our electricity usage was down due to this. Keep us updated on how you find it.