What have you done to cut back on spending ?

[Kindnessproject]

Interested to know what people are doing to make ends meet from a reducing outgoings perspective plus looking for extra ideas!

here is mine:

energy bill:

• heating on 15 during day and 10 during night (used to be 18 and 12). keep warm as have fleece bedding with extra blankets, an electric radiator in room in if needed, electric blanket if needed, warm drinks, layers, oodie, double socks
• barely use tumble dryer
• use air fryer instead of oven
• Turn all plugs off when not using
• rewearing clothes more so washing them less
• hoovering less often
• only putting enough water in the kettle for the No of cups I’m making

food/drink

• buying supermarket own brands or value brands instead of more expensive brands for items such as coffee, weetabix, tomato sauce, shreddies, crisps, squash
• buy much less fresh meat/fish
• buy much less treat food
• given up alcohol
• making hot drink to warm up

beauty:

• Using home dye rather than hairdresser
• New toiletries and make up ban (I have loads so will use all up first which should take months)

household

• changed from tabs to washing powder

entertainment :

• cancelled Netflix
• Strict one meal out a month only
• strict two coffees out a month only

other

• cancelled dds to charity :(

I'm on a book, toiletries and cleaning product buying ban until the surplus is used up.

I'm trying to shop my wardrobe. This does mean I avoid town because I have no willpower.

No magazines. No lunches from work canteen. Cut down on wine.

Trying a stretch day before doing a supermarket shop, on one to two days I eat whatevers lurking in the house even if its a slightly odd meal. I'm terrible for going in to buy a loaf of bread and a bag of carrots and coming out 40 quid poorer.

Batch cooking and using more veg and less meat, most meat options are chopped to spread through rice/pasta meals. Buying most food items on offer or own brands.

No magazines, newspapers or books
No takeaways
No subscriptions, only TV license. If it’s not on Free View or YouTube I don’t watch it.

Stopped using washing powder with dark clothes, which is most of the laundry now. Only use tumble dryer once every 10 days, or so, towels, underwear and socks. I plan the laundry so that the socks are on a quick cycle of wash the day the towels need washing. This is much easier now that DDs are at Uni.

Thermostat downstairs set at 18, 16 upstairs. DH doesn’t get cold so I use a fleece blanket on my side.
Lights turned off when not needed snd plug sockets switched off too.

I’m sure there’s more that I haven’t thought off.

I cut everyone’s hair (including my own and the dogs’).

I’m using my pushbike more.

Don’t own a car, always public transport or walking / cycling. (Do live in London though.)

Always online food shopping (have done for years) - means we meal plan meticulously and only buy what we really need when we need to save £££.
Buying less meat. Much less alcohol. Never buy takeaway coffees, rarely buy books or magazines and newspapers (for a number of years now)

Batch cooking (I’ve always done this since DC), always using up leftovers for lunches or to put into “new” meals. Dividing up packages of E.g. meat from supermarket and freezing it in smaller portions for each meal.

Switching everything off “at the wall” where possible (not things like fridge, oven clock, microwave) but things like computers, smart speakers, phone chargers etc.

don’t own a tumble drier - I have recently discovered the wonders of a dehumidifier for getting things dried indoors in winter though - life changing 😄
never been in the habit of changing beds weekly though (probably as never owned a tumble drier!)

really good insulation in the home where possible makes such a difference to retaining heat.

lots of fleece at home and WFH - fleece blankets, jackets etc. slippers and socks on all the time.

we’ve massively cut down on takeaways - used to be weekly really and now monthly or 6 weekly.
eating out is once every 3 months or so.

camping holidays in the UK for the past 3 years, are hoping to get abroad this year though.

I’ve really prioritised the “luxury” spending that is important to me - e.g. keeping up with my hobby (musical), only going out for spendier social nights when it’s really important to me.
only buying clothes that I’ve carefully considered I really need or want to add to my wardrobe - never impulse buying, if it’s not on my “list” I don’t get it.

as pp - only watch films at home, cinema is once per couple of months with kids at Sunday morning showings etc.

taking advantage of hand me downs for kids clothes from friends and family and always passing on our DC clothes to other families we know. Creates a great system of wasting less and helping each other out.

Less laundry by wearing clothes again where able.

and not being precious about darks/lights etc (unless it’s new clothing in which case it goes in a colour matched wash with a colour catcher)

our tumble dryer is heat pump and a 9kg drum so already economical but I plan my laundry to do two loads on the trot so I only use my tumble dryer once rather than twice. Using the dryer works out better because if we were using maidens and radiators I have to do smaller wash loads to be Able to dry it all so now I’m using machine less and have heating on less

Oh I save all my dishes til I have a dishwasher full. And then rinse them all in one go and then dishwasher. Same with hand wash only stuff - stack it up so just filling up the sink once. House feels a bit untidier but I guess needs must

We only use small top over/microwave now. The oven is pretty much a cupboard now. Washing powder. All own brand/discount brand products.

We still use the tumble dryer. I
bought some of those wool balls to make drying time shorter and I really like them.

I think I'm pretty low maintenance. Don't buy new clothes, don't have hair cut, don't wear make up or use expensive toiletries. Haven't put the heating on. DS does lots of expensive hobbies though so if it came to it those would have to go.

It bloody grim.isn't it? Hang on in.there people.

I'm not sure if I've already commented but weve really stripped back and it feels like each month I'm trying new ways to save money.

We are on one salary I'm a SAHM so super stretched for money. I'm also a full time carer so can't work due to caring needs.

As a pp said, our oven is basically a cupboard now! Mainly use the hob or air fryer. Making sure the DC eat well but DH and I often have random creations for dinner. I'm also making a freezer and pantry inventory and trying to find time to meal plan so we only shop what we need rather than just throwing the same stuff week in week out in the trolley.

Heating very limited, we are consistently using a third less gas over the past few months compared to last year.

No eating out bar the odd coffee. In times gone by often on a Saturday we would pop into town to buy something and then go out for a pizza or something just because we fancied it. Not now.

Almost exclusively "shopping" on vinted. It's my first point of call for anything we need now.

Arranging to meet friends for a walk and coffee rather than a meal.

Always looking for new ideas!

Doing many of the same things here too. Got excited to learn last week that you can read magazines for free on the Overdrive app linked to your library card as magazines were my weakness.

Aw. Thats a shame. Why did you give soft play and cake up?

Some soft play centres near me are getting very expensive with lots of hidden costs. The food and drink is double what you would pay in a normal cafe and some charge adults for entry too.

I think I've always been boringly frugal so lots of these suggestions are easy for me ... never had heating in overnight in my life, do have a tumble dryer but probably only use it a couple of times a year, only buy clothes from charity shops (have done this for years), model day at hairdresser (£5), am lazy so wouldn't dream of hoovering daily or washing clothes & bedding too frequently . Library for books, hobbies are 'free' - volunteering which I enjoy but costs nothing, occasional walk with friends. Gave up on present buying years ago, not bothered about days out unless National Trust (life membership- had it over 30 years). Holidays are 'house swaps' with friends or family ... fortunately we live in a fairly tourist type location. Rarely eat out or have a takeaway... am a confident cook so can easily make a decent meal out of leftovers and store cupboard scraps.
Non negotiable are decent coffee and private dental cover!

The Libby library app has free magazines that you can borrow. I use that a lot.

We're cutting back on meat for health and environmental reasons, so most meals are now padded out with much more veg. We grow some of our own veg too, and have found that courgettes can be put into almost anything.

I use the pressure cooker, steamer, microwave, and halogen oven more often to reduce oven use if I don't have a whole oven full. (We don't have an air fryer).

The thermals are in regular use now - I work from home, and our house is not efficient, so is rarely warm. I also have oodie-style jumpers.

I make a lot more soups.

I research a lot more before buying things, and make sure I factor in the costs of delivery vs driving to collect.

These were changes we made some years ago, so hasn't come as a drastic shock.

I have always done lots of these heating and laundry suggestions.

Shop at Aldi now - saving £60 a month
hair cuts have gone to every 3 months, not 6-8 weeks
wearing clothes more, tops now go 2 days. So washing machine on 3 x week instead of 5.
heating on 1 hour in morning, 1 hour in evening, we use oil lamps to heat our sitting room now - ugly but fantastic warmth.
Ordering pet medicines online with a prescription from the vets.
Bought a cheap travel insurance for December 2023 (we won’t use it) so we can use the Meerkat Movies deal once a month.

Aldi is no longer cheap here. I am shocked at the prices. Asda is much better. I can't get over it.

People that have their heating set to 14 - is your heating even coming on?

Yes, it's single digits outside, the house doesn't stay at 14 on it's own. Yesterday it was 10 at breakfast time so I put it on for an hour as DS was home because of the school strikes. It's on the timer for the evenings.

we reduced our skiing holiday this year. we normally get a catered private chalet but we went on a shared option this year. was fun. reminded me of my uni days

Stopped buying fresh pies, puddings, frozen pizza. I wont be buying dayrider tickets anymore when the £2 fare scheme ends, a few years back a dayrider ticket was £2, now a fiver. Also it's a lottery as to whether a bus will turn up on time, if at all.

My heating would barely come on if i set to 14. We are set to 18 which is 2-3 hours a day and gas alone was £400 in February. Its outrageous.

I wonder why my house seems to drop lower than 14 then. It's B rated on the EPC, but often hits single digits when it's cold enough. It's relatively cheap to heat despite the temperature dropping so much, £45 in February.

@chanceofpear Have you checked they are using the right units for gas on your bill? £400 for 2-3 hours heating in a house that is so well insulated that it wouldn't drop below 14 doesn't sound right at all!