Can we start a general frugal tips thread please?

[poshsinglemum]

I tried starting this on the money forum but no-one took it seriously.

General money saving tips very welcome. Am on benefits and struggling. Very hand to mouth.

My tips;
Buy second hand baby clothes on ebay/nct sale.
Sell stuff on ebay.
Turn off lights.
Make sure appliances aren't on standby.
Cook a bit too much and freeze.
Am really getting into charity shops.
Make Christmas decorations/presents.
Lentils with everything.

-Left-over roast potatoes can be used to make (nice, bulky) Spanish omelette.

• Left-over rice and/or vegetables can be made into egg fried rice

-Buy in bulk, never baby/child portions of anything (e.g. yoghurt; buy the big container and spoon it into Tupperware; whole rolls of saltless Be Good to Yourself adult rice cakes, not baby rice cakes which you lose a portion of in crumbs) -Speaking of Tupperware, if you have succumbed to any takeaways recently, the takeaway containers can be used to freeze food, meaning no need to buy Tupperware, either.

• Buy fruit and veg in the market, not the supermarket
• Use the library, and if you want a particular book which isn't on the shelf, use the request system to "order" books for 50p rather than buying them!
• Use the library play sessions rather than paying for a course
• Save brown paper packaging/bubblewrap/boxes from internet orders (because buying online is another way to save money) to wrap up your own eBay sales. Save wrapping paper for Christmas!

Hmmm, will try to think of some more, but hope this is enough to be getting on with. How old are your children?

P.S. One book you might like to request from the library is India Knight's "Thrift" (or something like that). Some of the ideas are a bit aspirational (and can induce real discontent!), but she hammers home quite effectively the point that sometimes it is just planning that saves you money, and that it is possible to live well without spending the earth.

There are links to recipes and tips for making things cheaply, even quite luxurious things such as sugar face scrub!

My biggest tip is:

Soup and Stew, in a slow cooker!

Use your unwanted nursery/school paintings as cool wrapping paper.

Cut the kids and DPs hair myself (its quite easy).
Try to never throw food away.
Recycle paper from office for kids drawing/scribbles etc.
Make/recycle presents.