Need to cut costs drastically - where's cheapest/top tips !

[LouThomp]

We need to cut our general household outgoings dramatically - and we don't live a particularly lavish lifestyle as it is!

Where is the cheapest place to shop? Top tips for cash cutting with a one year old, three year old and husband who all eat like there is no tomorrow!

I don't think you are allowed to sell used cosmetics, perfume on ebay anymore.

greggs You're not - but there are loads on there! I've only done it once, years ago, and was staggered at how many people wanted something pretty manky used!

Look on the credit crunch section of this site - hundreds of ideas for saving cash inline with what all the above posters say.
Me -
I walk everywhere I can,
never buy magazines or more than one or two newspapers a week - it's all online and magazine just keep repeating themselves, but I do pick up all the free mags the supermarkets produce,
only have a coffee out if I'm out all day not when I pop into town,
don't eat out/buy ready made lunches if you want to save cash,
get rid of Sky package - standard TV is pretty good at the moment.
Good luck

As well as meal planning another good thing to do is take advantage of seasonal gluts of various fruits and veg, when you can buy very cheaply in large quantities.

As a low-labour option one can at least make soups and freeze them. Or during a tomato glut buy a whole box, stew up and sieve to make all-purpose tomato sauce that can be frozen and used in pizzas, curries, soups etc.

And if you get into it (which I admittedly never have) there's all the opportunities of pickling, preserving (e.g. in oil or vinegar), drying etc.

Aldi is ok - but yr limited to what you can buy. You still need to pop to the usual supermarket for many things. There are items that are not good value you much check the weights as I have found there is considerably less in cereal and against a main supermarket own brand there isnt much saving.

Ebay is a savour, I buy loads of clothes and sell too. Even shoes that have hardly been worn - fantastic brands.

Agree meal plan is a must. Dont believe that a value brand is the best way forward you still need to feed children well and not just on white cheap bread. Bulk up on brown wholemeal pasta and brown rice - it does work better than white.

Many towns have farmers markets/food fairs you can get a free packet of sausages with every purchase or be cheeky and ask. Portion control is essential - you want left overs! I always make sunday dinner stretch to another day.

Birthday cards from markets/cardwarehouse and rolls of wrapping from Wilko etc.

Cleaning products - just one pop in spray gun and its like an expensive one.

Ive bought used perfumes on ebay - marvellous value! Still get 50% of the spray cheap and cant justify paying £60 anymore.

I organised my dry food cupboards one night so that all my pasta, rice, couscous, tinnned food, cereals are in the same place. When I come to do my shopping I check my store cupbaord to see what staples I have and then just buy fresh.

So if I know I have rice and pasta I will buy the mince do a chilli one night and add red kidney beans but have some spare mince for the nxt day and do spag bol. Shopping list and stick to it, use the internet to check prices b4 if you have time. Meal planners help.

I horrified myself in Jan 2012 when my food bills averaged £120-£150 pweek

Now its high if I get to £55 and I have DS 3.9 and DD 20 months me and DH.
Porridge, lots of fruit ( less bought crisps and stuff only if a real treat as it all adds up) make cakes instead, own brands instead of branded stuff if need be.

We're eaten alot healthier, last quarter I spent about £800 on groceries as opposed to nearly £2000 this time last year. ( i know its horrible) we're eating alot better:

Invest in a slow cooker and keep tracking and keeping notes of things.
I've stopped buying kids lunch we either have a packed lunch or are home for lunch or plan round it. Means that when you have to spend the money you can or its not so stressful because you know you're doing what you can.

I don't find Aldi limits me that much, tbh - it's mostly things I'm picky about, eg golden gran sugar, decaff teabags (although Lidl has those), tri-colour pasta, cider vinegar, certain cuts of meat, organic stock cubes as already mentioned - all things I could do without

Also they are gradually introducing more general grocery items, eg lasagne sheets (6 months ago those were only available in Italian food weeks)

I think it's a good idea to review all your direct debits. Are there any you can ditch? Are there any you can save on?

Track your spending (I have a little app on my iphone called ireconcile which we both use to track cash spends - everything else I download) You might notice little things that add up - magazines, books, coffee are all easy to cut back on.

Eat seasonally and eat less meat. Lentils and pulses are a really good cheap source of protein. Even when we do have meat, we just have a small amount. I make big hearty soups that are healthy and really fill us all up.

Second Panasonic breadmaker (ask family if they can buy you one for Christmas?) I use organic flour and get three loaves out of a bag of flour which is £1.85, if you used non organic flour it would be even cheaper!

Go vegetarian for a while! Might sound extreme, but our budget is about £75 per week for family of four and that is eating organic and shopping at Waitrose!

Eat lentil and tomato soup once a week, that is super cheap to make.

As someone as already said, jacket potatoes are very cheap too.

Use half the amount of washing liquid the bottle says.

Make big batches of cookies instead of buying packets, cheaper and you know what's in them.

Make batches of fairy cakes with a blob of glacé icing on top, again healthier treats treats then processed treats IYKWIM

Never, ever eat out, always take your own food and drinks.

Great cheap snack I front of the telly, home popped popcorn.

Before you write your meal plan for the week, look in all your cupboards to see what meals you can make from store cupboard/fridge.

Buy frozen veg over fresh veg, much cheaper and just as healthy if not healthy as all the nutrients are locked in when they are frozen.

Cut bananas in half to give to your little ones, and only give the second half once they've eaten the first so there is no fruit wastage and it gets abandoned after one bite! If they don't want the second half , leave it until later and slice the end off and it will be just like new! I've done this for a long time. If you think your child will only eat half an apple, rather than wasting it, cut it in half, lay un eaten half on a plate, when you return to it later on simply slice the side off and it will be ready to eat again with no brown bits. Or make large fruit salads to keep in fridge and only spoon out small amounts so you're nt throwing food away. Same with main meals, only serve what you know will be eaten. You can always go back to the kitchen for more if they clear their plates.

Don't use kitchen roll, used washable wipes.
Also don't use baby wipes to clean sticky hands after a meal, you can buy a pack of 7 cotton flannels at the pound shop and use warm soapy water to clean up and chuck in washing machine.

I agree with Bacon about value not definitely being way forward all of the time, we eat very good quality food on a budget, it's just choosing what you cook and looking at cost of ingredients & eating seasonal & like I said, being vegetarian must be our biggest money saving factor when it comes to food.

Oh, and cook double! Enough for whole family to eat same thing two nights running! This essentially means we only buy ingredients for three meals and one snack meal like grilled cheese sandwiches with sliced fruit. This really cuts down on money spent as we are buying ingredients for three (large) meals to stretch to two nights but it is cheaper than buying ingredients for seven separate meals. It saves time too! It's lovely going to fridge on second day and seeing your evening meal there all ready prepared. So there might be a glass jug of chilli and it means that evening I just need to cook fresh jacket potatoes or rice.

Also weigh food, like cereal, you'll probably pour out more if you're feeling hungry and it won't be you or your child's typical serving side. Weigh cheese as well so you don't slice off more than you need. Seems extreme, but it helps getting through cereal too quickly and you don't pour far to much out...

Size, not side, sorry for any typos...

Pick up money from the street - it'll eventually mount up !!

Always shop per kg. You'd be amazed at how you not only save money but improve your memory.

Look up and down in supermarkets-don't rely on eye-level products being best (sounds daft but trust me..)

Invest in a freezer (Ebay/auction/local paper/freecycle it), buy meat when on offer (end of day or just flippin cheap) and freeze. Do the same with butter,stock, soups, pastry and fruit & veg.

E-bay/swap meet/facebook sales for children's clothes. At the age yours are I bought off e-bay regularly for DD1 and DS2. DD2 is still wearing quality e-bayed stuff that I bought for DD1 and I've re-flogged DS2's.

Get cheeky, be a 'Supermarket slut' and don't be scared to haggle (I haggled successfully in Sainsburys at the butchers counter).

I use Aldi and Lidl for certain things like toilet cleaner, washing up liquid, kids treats, some veg, cheese. I use Home Bargains for nearly all our toiletries - it's fab.
However you can still shop in Sainsburys and save just as much if you are canny. I have managed to cut our food bill in half with just judicious shopping- buying special offers or basics range. Some of their basics are usually better than branded. I made spag bol this week and I have used the same spag bol sauce for years- the Sainsburys one was a third of the price and much nicer. I put loads of veg in it and there was enough for 3 of us for 2 nights and 1 family portion for the freezer and my husband eats loads.
I enjoy getting food bargains and knowing we are saving money.

poozlepants Spag bol sauce? From a bottle??

Canned tomatoes, mixed herbs, garlic, onions and a squirt of tomato puree then add veggies and/or minced meat.

BIG

I know there are mixed opinions about Freecycle/Freegle but people give away the most amazing things on our local one - it's worth signing up and keeping an eye.

Thank you all for taking the time to help - have shopped in aldi (£50 as opposed to normal £100!!) and will be using lots more if your other ideas.