Regular bargain Habits/Places

[2006hildy]

Hello, Can anybody add to my list of bargain Habits/places, (I'm economising-stretching my money, not stopping spending)?;

It's my new hobby.
Go for all the discount variety stores amongst others I call bargain shops.

home bargains
b&m bargains
poundstretcher
gumtree
preloved
Bargain foods
Markets
TKmaxx
Ikea
Amazon,
Aldi
Lidl
Ebay
Charity Shops
Freecycle
Matalan
George at ASDA
Tesco Clothes
H&M
Library
Car Auctions
Camping
Carboots
Wilkinson
Iceland
mysupermarket.com
gocompare
I was using mysupermarket.com to work out cheapest trolley.

What I have done is go through all my receipts and statements to work out what the heck I have spent it all on. Then I prioritise the largest amount for cutting back and so on. Not cutting it out but how to do it cheaper eg butchers etc.
Also, check out quidco.com, if you do buy online and the site is affiliated, use the quidco portal and you get money back.
And I have a purse full of loyalty cards.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I have tried to list every bargain place where you can find everything you might need in life, including a car! Every aspect of my money is made to go further. So will be watching this thread.

Cutting back not cutting out.

Any body else?

Feed your family on £50 a week: Top cook Prue Leith shows how - and you won't just be eating baked beans.

This is what she has to say in todays Daily Mail.

As a young chef earning just £12 a week, I learned to cook on a budget. And today, although Leiths School Of Food And Wine frequently teaches chefs how to prepare michelin-star-style dishes made with expensive ingredients, I still love the challenge of creating something from leftovers ? opening the fridge and playing a game of ?ready, steady, cook? with whatever I find inside.
These cheap, home-made dinners are often far healthier than fat and salt-laden ready-meals.
So I was saddened to read research published in the Mail this week, which revealed that soaring food prices are having a terrible effect on the nation?s diet, with cash-strapped families filling up on cheap processed foods, and failing to eat enough fruit and vegetables.
I?d like to prove that it is possible to make healthy food on a budget ? and that, in fact, you can feed a family of four for a week for as little as £50.
Of course, this isn?t easy, and requires careful planning and shopping around. But the money-saving tricks I learnt when I was a struggling young cook have stayed with me, and can be used to help you, too.

Read more: Feed your family on £50 a week: Top cook Prue Leith shows how - and you won't just be eating baked beans | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Cutting back not cutting out.

Anybody else?

I like lots of yours, plus The Works - books and craft stuff, and The Book People. Often can find free delivery codes or extra discount codes for them if you shop online too.

Book People also do cashback through Top Cashback.

And a very simple one - Amazon are very easy to use, but often not the cheapest.

Poundland

The Works

Holland and Barrett

The £10 deal in M and S for a treat meal for birthdays if you can't afford to go out

Libraries - I love libraries

Pleading poverty.

Phone bill too high? ring and ask to cancel. They will offer a discount.

Electric DD going up? not in this house it isnt, I told them under no account is that bill going up.

Meal planning and packed lunches.

topcashback.co.uk is cheaper as it doesnt charge £5 admin fee.

Breadmaker, flour has hardly risen in cost in the 5 years I've had mine but bread prices have really gone up.

I try to make bread a couple of times a month purely because if I nip to a shop for bread I never spend less than £20. So if I only need bread and nothing else, I make some instead.

I shop at the 99p shop and Family Bargains too, I've had some great deals on hair/beauty products recently.

Sky are also good if you call and threaten to cancel, everyone I know who has done it has been offered a much reduced deal.

The Money Advice Service -brilliant!

This one has been advertised on the telly quite a bit so I thought, I would look at their website. I can't understand why I didn't earlier. I suppose because it's so obvious.

Loads and loads of good advice. Even has a section on how to be frugal with your money.

Has easy-to-use calculators can help you budget, save and cut-back on costs.

As always Cutting back not cutting out.

Anybody else?

A kindle. £69 outlay but 1000s of free books to download.

Are some of the free books to download, from kindle, children's story books and what proportions? Have DS who is mad on a nightime story.

Shop online, that way you can swap your shopping about, until you are on budget (whatever level you choose for each product) then check out.

You will not be tempted then.

Save a little for bread and milk and then buy them when you are not hungry. But make sure you buy, when you can go and check out the YS whoopsies at the same time. Or when you buy your Aldi Super Six or when you buy the Lidl half price weekend offers.

My meals are: Shep pie, Spag bolognaise, casserole, curry, omelettes, eggs, chips and beans, Most of these you can pad out with vegetables. I do, much healthier and veggies readily disguised for the kids. Make use of all Aldi Super Six offers chop and freeze if need to and then just as and when stuff needs padding out.

Good luck with it. It is hard but once you have seen a few strategies work, you will be hooked and looking for more ways of saving money. Lol,