Frugaility changed your life?

[Buddy80]

Dramatic title, but love to hear from all of us who are frugal. I adopted being frugal about 5-years ago, firstly just for fun and then when I saw how much I was saving, it just took off from there. Started as a set budget for housekeeping, baking own bread, thinking of a re-use for most things, looking at cheap or free days out. From there, it's really kind of expanded and the savings have been massive. I've kinda got lazy over the last few months, but still trying!

It is funny that your lifestyle does improve and you find yourself taking better care of yourself. As you have leftover cash, you are less likely to spend, as it's your savings! Also having more cash, you are in a position to pay for things up front, like car tax ? saving 10 odd quid a year. Another thing I noticed, which was shocking, is that I have been really careful with the electric usage (heat is by gas). I started turning things off at the plug socket when not in use, etc. As you may know, some appliances use a lot even when switched off. Anyway, I got my electric bill the other day and we had saved £150.00 last winter.

But, it's not all about buying the cheapest. As a rule of thumb, I tend to buy cheaper where it is a disposable item, like value shaving foam, but will spend more on better quality meat.

Any others?

fustilarian - could you just switch it off if you're not having baths/showers that day and boil a kettle when you need to do washing up?

Agree with Fimble - boil the kettle for washing up.

Dragon rider - it is safe to use in kitchen - I have a spray bottle with water (use warm water when making it) put in 1 or 2 tsp of borax, few tbsp white vinegar and a few drops of tea tree oil. I also use stardrops (liquid soap) for cleaning. Very cheap and multipurpose, inc floors and as washing up liquid, but can be hard to find sometimes.

Or for floors you can also just use borax in hot water. About 1/2 cup per 4 liters.

I'm not frugal I'm a skinflint. A necessity because of brokeness caused by a DH with problems regarding money.

I do enjoy aspects of it though. Will try and think of things others havent mentioned

...speaking of Borax, did you know that you can make your own laundry detergent out of Borax, soda crystals and household soap? Works out to 35p for a 2 litre bottle. I've made it myself and its really good. It does come out like gloop when you first make it, and then hardens a little, but you can add more water and it goes further. Real bonus is you know whats in it. Let me know if anyone is interested and i'll try and dig out the link

mousey - have you tried switching everything off in your house and checking to see if the electricity meter is still running? Someone on another message board did this and the meter kept going - it turned out that someone was stealing their electricity!

It might be worth trying, just in case.

Think I might do MTM. I was kinda joking about someone stealing it but would like to think someone was, and we arent that wasteful! What did the other person do when they found out? Police? contact supplier?

I can't remember exactly how it panned out - it was years ago and what I mostly remember who my jaw hitting the floor. The person had been asking about advice to shrink the electricity bill and had lots of good advice, and then someone suggested the switching-everything-off thing.

I know that the electricity company had to be called because it was really dangerous - tapping into mains electricity and someone very qualified had to remove it. No harm in phoning the police though - it's very easy to find out who did it as you just follow the wires!

I use 50/50 sodacrystals/cheapest washing powder.
I tried washballs and soapnuts and found they're ok every now and then but not all the time.
I also put half the amount in.

I have read that you can borrow an electricity monitor thingy from your local library - not sure if this is nationwide or not.

Also, make sure you are signed up to moneysavingexpert.com weekly e-mail, lots of offers/handy tips there. I have saved a fortune by using this site.

Also, after reading about it on moneysavingexpert I have just signed up to a healthcare cashback plan. Have so far paid about £49 in direct debits and had £260 back, (£200 for mine and dd's glasses and £60 for my dentist). Can't see a minimum term and will definitely save me money.

I am in the process of changing electric supplier, which should save me about £180 per year, with £15 cashback for going through energyhelpline web-site.

When buying anything over the internet, (especially insurance and mobile phone/Sky etc) check out Quidco and similar sites to see if you can get money back - I have just got £30 back from our holiday hire car.

Hope this helps somebody. I have been absolutely skint in the past, and know that it is definitely no fun.

Today I have picked brambles and cherry plums, both growing wild in a field. We will have plenty for crumbles, jam, fruit syrup, and wine. Over the next few days I will go and pick more, and freeze them for using over the winter.

They would cost a fortune in the shops, so I've saved loads of money, been outside in the fresh air, occupied the children (in an educational way) or a few hours, and eating the will be super healthy (well, maybe not the wine ).

MTM - had a look around the house and there is a cable between my house and next door neighbours. My mum (who owns "my" house") thinks that while rented here (while they were renovating theirs next door) they set up a cable to "share" electric until their one was set up. Its possible that they did not disconnect the cable when they moved out, but since there is 4 of them, it could explain the situation. It comes out from my meter, up to where phone lines are attached to house, and then straight across to (roughly) where their meter is - have been in there house)

Wont jump the gun though - will have a chat with my dad about it tonight. Im sure it would be an honest mistake though.

Blimey, it could really be the case for you too then.

I agree that it's better to find out all the facts first, before you go in all guns blazing. Have you been able to check the meter yet?

We have an outside plug socket and I'm convinced that when we're not here our neighbours use it. One dayI'll catch them at it.

Banana loaves in the oven to use up bananas. Going to freeze the spare mmm

I try my best but it's very difficult. Modern society pressurises you to use everything for convenience because we are all so busy.

I have three young children and my leccy bill is gobsmacking! But I do cut costs everywhere where I can.

From cleaning products, using leftovers, turning off the electrics at night, having a packed lunch on family days out rather than paying for food, cooking from scratch when I can, eating more lentils and pulses, line drying throughout the summer, etc, all help to keep costs down. I ma going to have a go at growing my own next year now that I have a small garden so I hope that might help, even if it's s just toms, courgettes and peppers.

I always buy second hand in junk/charity shops and E-bay too.I buy things like crockery, clothes and bed linen at a knock down price, which leaves me with enough money to pay for other more important things like my daughter's piano lessons. If you can shop around you can get many nice things but you do need the time to look.

I try not to buy things I don't need- I always think to myself, 'Is it a want or a need?'. We have to manage on one salary and it's huge struggle with three kids , after all essential bills are paid for, there's nowt left!

I grew up in the country and know a number of people who ARE particularly frugal by choice but have pots of money in the bank large houses and travel much. Many wealthier country folk really do tend to be like this; so different from the London set where the places you eat at, how you dress and who you're with define your status.

Richer country people like farmers, growers, inherited money and horsey people tend to really dress down, often live without central heating and have a real open fire instead or use an Aga, they don't clean much and live with in filth their dogs. (I do love dogs by the way !) They do still eat well though but more at home with good port.

I have to live in London because of DH's job but I can't at all get used to the idea that you have to SHOW your wealth here.

So it really is ok to live in a pit, surrounded by pet hair, wear old smelly jumpers and jeans surrounded by dust up to the eyeballs.

oh yes, always pick blackberries at this time of year for jams and crumbles

Not yet - didnt want to switch off electric over dinner time!

My daughter is going to see her uncle for a few hours this evening - Ill turn everything off then and see what happens. Freezer would be ok being turned off for an hour, right?

Not everyone is London is profligate- in fact, most of our friends are quite frugal, and so are we (or so I like to think), without living a horrible life.

My personal tips, in no particular order:

1. check whether your house has one of those coils that heats water pipes so that the first water you get when you shower is hot (rather than cold while you wait for the boiler to realise you want hot water). Our neighbour (who has the same type of house as us) tells us it has saved him about £150 last year. We have only realised a few weeks ago, so results not seen yet.

2. shop near quarter end, when shops need to show good figures and so have more promotions (this works particularly well in Boots).

3. use discounts and loyalty cards, buying non-perishables when they are on offer/3x2/etc.

4. use online supermarkets but infrequently, so that they send you money off vouchers to tempt you back, then use the vouchers to stock up on non-perishables that are well-priced in that supermarket (in my experience dishwasher and laundry powder tend to work v well for this purpose).

5. never buy ready-made sauces/dips: they go off quickly and are much more expensive than the home-made version (which is also usually much nicer). Particularly true of things such as tzatziki, hummous, sauces for pasta. Compare the price of 250g chickpeas and two lemons, plus a pinch of spices compared to the price of a large tub of shop-bought hummous??

6. plan meals before you shop and once you have shopped list what you have bought in order of expiry date, so that you know when to cook what. If an expiry date is looming and there is too much, cook and freeze in ready-to-defrost portions (i.e. two-person pots if there is two of you, single portion pots if the food is to be taken as packed lunch, etc).

7. make pizza at home from scratch, rather than buying pizza bases and sauces, or, worse , supermarket ready made pizza. I make a large pizza (four adult-size portions) every week, using top-quality buffalo mozzarella, and it costs us £4.49 for the mozzarella and £1 for the tomato sauce (chopped tomatoes, one onion, garlic and a little oil) and the dough, so £1.60 a person (without the energy for the oven) . When I use run-of-the mill Santa Lucia cow mozzarella (£1.42), which is perfectly fine (and less fatty), the total cost of the pizza is about £2.50, or 63p per person. And the result is much better quality than the ready-made stuff sold in supermarkets. It takes about 10 minutes to make the dough in the morning, I then leave it all day to prove, come home, put the sauce on while the dough has the second proving and the pizza is on the table within about 45mins of me walking through the door.

8. before cooking a large meal, or when using the oven, sit down and think about what needs to be ready when, so that, if possible, you minimise the amount of time the oven is on. Be creative, for example, a casserole normally cooked on the hob can share the oven with the bread, and the oven hot from the bread can be used straight away to cook pudding (which, in any event, is usually better warm rather than straight from the oven). If you want to be extra frugal, turn the heating down in the rooms near the kitchen before you use the oven, and use the heat from the oven to warm them up.

9. read the fine-print before you call a call centre to order goods or services, so that you are prepared to counteract the selling patter (e.g. people trying to sell you a subscription and an engineer installation, arguing they are compulsory, when all you want is a box). And be prepared to argue and ask to be put through to the supervisor if the first person you speak to does not know/understand... I did this, for example, with BT vision, and saved us £60 on the spot, plus £72 for a year of services we did not want.

10. have a spreadsheet showing your income, compulsory spend (mortgage etc) and discretionary spend, cross-check it with bank and credit card statements and review at least quarterly to make sure you are not paying over the odds or overspending or paying for services you do not really use.

11. decide how much you are going to save a month, add 10% and make sure the money goes into a "serious" (as opposed to "everyday", see below) savings account (with the best rate you can find) the same day your salary goes in. Money should never go back from savings into current account unless it is a real emergency. If your bank offers the service, call the "serious" savings account "house deposit"/"rainy day savings"/"car" or whatever, so that you feel even more guilty if you try to take money out for anything other than a dire emergency or the purpose for which the money is being saved.

12. do not leave money in the current account if you can possibly avoid it. Consider having an easy-access savings account into which you can sweep any money on the current account and move it back when needed (even 0.5% on the everyday savings account is better than 0%). Some banks offer an automatic sweep facility but will not tell you- ask!

13. think about alternatives to consumables. For example, I use a magnet to deal with limescale in the dishwasher and ashing machine, instead of calgon. The magnet was £14 from the Science Museum, but it has more than paid for itself over the years we have had it. Vinegar and/or lemon juice defuzz the kettle as well as the proprietary descaler (and, in the case of lemon juice, smells nicer and I do not mind if the taste ends up in my next cup of tea).

14. think laterally when shopping. For example, baking soda is sold in small containers of about 150g in the baking section for the same price for which you can get 500g of exactly the same stuff (labelled bicarbonate of soda) from the pharmacy counter in boots. Sensitive soap is usually much more expensive than the supermarket's own brand of baby soap, and is usually just as good. Bath cream is usually cheaper, ml for ml, than shower cream or hand soap, but will work very well for either purpose if decanted in another container and diluted with a little bit of water.

etc, etc, etc... Sorry, this has turned out quite long- I hope at least some of it is useful (or makes people laugh). These are all things that are done in our house, not because we are on the breadline, but because we do not like wasting, or making the shops rich...

That was really interesting, Sui. Thanks for the tip about lemon juice/kettles. I will definitely be trying that.

Please please be careful with vinegar in kettle - it broke mine (was a cheap plastic one - cookworks i think). seems the limescale had been holding it together, as within a short time, the kettle was leaking around the bottom! vinegar everywhere..

Argh! Mine is metal and relatively new (Xmas present). Do you think it would be safe?

Since facing the prospect of losing my job I have gone on to menu planning for the family meals....not only have I found my food bills cut back enormously but I now find that I can get the stuff out and don't have to think daily about what we should eat - I can go on auto pilot.

I also just got an energy monitor from the electricity provider. I was shocked at how much some of the things we use cost to run (the fan above the hob for eg was one of them). I've started to unplug the "charging" items which DH leaves in the socket 24 hours. I've also changed the water timer so that it's on for the minimal time to heat the water am and pm. I'll be interested to see how that affects our bills......

Interested to see all the other stuff. I've also stopped myself impulse buying things (i've never been that bad) especially for the kids. They never wear/use that much stuff so I really question whether we need it if I find myself heading for the till or purchasing on the net.

One simple tip is to make more than you will eat, and freeze. Works well with chillis, lasagne, pasta.

Seems like almost a bonus meal.

Also buy blocks of cheese when on special offer, grate and freeze in zip lock bags, and use when needed.

Dried beans are infinitely cheaper than canned beans.

Horton I dont know! But I remember reading (on here I think) that it happened to someone. Oh how I scoffed. Obv they had been mistaken. I was wrong. And the vinegar dripped down the cupboard doors and seeped under the cupboards/flooring. Cleaned as best as I could then left kitchen window open for days..

MTM Unfortunately, the high energy usage is entirely my fault. The onlt things that are different between my house now, and the flat I was in before are 1) bigger fridge 2) electric shower and 3)different oven.

I refuse to downsize my fridge - I couldnt fit mindee food plus our in the small one.

Alternative to electric shower (used for no more than 4 mins each morning - I set a timer) is heating water by turning on central heating (we have 2 showers). Doubt thats a money saver as we dont need the heat atm, and I cant heat water seperately.

So, only thing is the oven. Makes sense - it has always seemed inefficient to me (lots of heat loss). I do have weekly meter readings stored in my phone from last month. So, from Monday, when next meal plan starts, I will have a no-oven/cooker week to see how it affects readings. Will be using slowcooker/microwave though.

Failing that, Im gonna buy a monitor like this and torture myself every time I need to switch an (energy saving) lightbulb on.

to add to ilovemydogs great tip, freeze cheese ,sliced peppers, berries etc etc on a baking tray first, then pour into a bag - it wont all stick together

shop on mon/tues evenings as reductions tend to be steep on bakery/fresh/counters.

most shops do final reductions just around 4.30 pm (fresh) 6.00pm (bakery/counters) to ensure sell out by day-end. This is the best time to catch 10p freezable bargains.

though it is dull, i think when DH gets employed again we'll carry on being careful so we can spend money on having fun instead of eating it.