Has anyone got any tips on living below your means.

[ScarboroughFairy]

I don't mean setting a budget I mean tricks and tips. This could help anyone if you want to chip in. my idea is bar soap instead of bottles. I don't have a problem with frivolous spending but I am living above my means. I am OK with the cost of my food and bills etc which are reasonable. It's just everything else.

The obvious is to not buy what you don't need.

Look from an eco-perspective - don't use the car when you can walk/cycle, wear a jumper instead of turning the heating up, rewear you clothes rather than washing when they are basically still clean.

Make fun at home/in the park, instead of paying for fairly unrewarding activities. Give your children chores so they don't whinge about being bored, and needing to be bought something (which will never satisfy).

Channel your inner 1970s.

Learn to be happy with less.

I bought a cup that keeps my coffee hot. I make a coffee at home before I go out, then I don't need to buy a coffee out. Every week I save money this way. Once I realised how much savings I was making I bought DH and foster ds a cup too. Now we all save money on drinks out. In the summer they keep drinks cold too with ice cubes not melting for hours.

When DH passed last year I needed to really take stock of my finances and two things that jumped out at me as absolute wastes of money were, the cost of our daily gas to heat the hot water, double lagging the tank and reducing the temperature on the boiler (and hw tank) saved me £2 a day.

we have really old tv’s, when I got a smart meter I messed around working out how much things likely cost to run, the tv’s on standby are really expensive so they get turned on and off at the wall now. I unplugged alarm clocks in spare bedrooms,made sure all light bulbs were LED, we have some chandelier type lights in the hall so I popped a lamp on the hall table, 1 bulb v 10, I must admit I got a bit ott, but at the time I needed to as dropping from a double income to a single one was terrifying.

(And yes to the next poster yelling this post is old, just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s a valid addition to the post for the op or future readers, sigh, as ive been shouted at a couple of times recently)

My mum years ago rarely bought clothes and shoes and if she did ensured they were good quality so they lasted. Basic beauty makeup products. Learned to decorate herself (hanging wallpaper, painting). Mostly vegetarian food. Any extra money she got (she published books) went straight towards overpaying the mortgage and she paid it off herself by her early 40s.

Mum always used to write down her spending in an accounts book and check against her bank statements. I think her own mum taught her this.

I have recently started taking time every morning, while I have my coffee, to check my banking app, and write the previous day's spending in a notebook. It certainly focuses the mind and makes me much more aware of random and unnecessary spending on nonsense.

Planning to retire in a couple of years' time, and working out what I will need as monthly income has really made me realise how much money I've been in the habit of wasting. Small amounts on "bargains", often from charity shops, or snacks really does add up. I have wasted a lot of money on food - by not meal planning, not bothering to cook, and by shopping while hungry. So now I'm saving money, eating more healthily and losing weight!

If you drink wine or beer make your own from a kit if you have room for the bins. We don't even bottle it, we just syphon it off into a carafe.

Use eBay for clothes. Look carefully at the seller and the description and you can get bargains! I've just bought 4 new or nearly new blouses from Hush, LK Bennett and Boden for £60. I bought my wedding dress for £45.

Make your own bread, biscuits and cakes is an obvious one but I think people don't do it. A loaf costs around 55p and no UPF.

White wine vinegar is a cheaper and more eco friendly option for fabric conditioner. None of the horrible artificial smells that come with fabric conditioner.

This has got me thinking! We all have different priorities and are all in different circumstances and I would never relinquish my gym membership but I use it 6 times a week and need it for my strength training programme. However I do always walk 2 miles to the gym then onwards to the supermarket to buy any groceries we need before heading home. I haven't used the car for two weeks which has been great. No ranting at other drivers, no potholes, better for my purse and the environment, and a great way to de-stress.
I also cancel subscriptions when I feel I've watched anything worth watching. I use bar soap and basic Aveeno moisturiser and don't wear cosmetics. I use bleach sparingly alongside vinegar and dish soap so don't waste money on hundreds of unnecessary cleaning products. I prepare packed lunches, healthy snacks etc if we're going out and take a cup of coffee with me. We eat really well and don't spend out on junk food or takeaways. My husband was in the army for years so is great at sewing, mending and looking after shoes and boots. I usually always make far too much dinner so that there is enough for a leftover lunch for at least a couple of us. A lot of my sports and fitness wear has been from Lidl, their leggings that I have bought recently have been great for the gym and running. My husband is great at DIY which has also saved us a lot over the years. It's amazing what you can learn to do by watching YouTube videos. The only thing I wasn't impressed with was his attempt at 'skimming' a wall.

Give kids pocket money when they can understand - it stops the pestering when out and about. Invariably, mine did not desire the sweets/magazine/tatt if it had to come out of their own cash. They are 16&17 now and are still the same, and have a good amount of savings.

How does this work? Does it need diluting?