Extreme penny pinching tips

[PennyPincher64]

Hello,

I need to reduce my outgoings and save as much as possible over the next 12 months or so I'm looking for every possible way to save money, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. I've looked at money saving expert and know about meal planning etc. and will be trying to buy second hand if we need anything but I'm really looking for the less obvious ways of making savings. Even if I won't be saving a massive amount I'd still be interested. Some of the less obvious ways I've come up with so far are unplugging all electrical appliances from the wall when not in use, shower with cold water and use the toilet before leaving work so I don't need it when I get home.

Also willing to hear about anything with a bit of an inital outlay that will save money longer term.

Ignore the troll

If you can share a netflix account with someone and pay £3 each as you can use 2 accounts on it.

The biggest issue when you’re saving like this is starting to feel down because it can feel like you’re having no fun.
Make a list of all the free (and low cost) and enjoyable things to do that make life seem more fun.
Make sure you go out. Lots of lovely places are free to go though you may need to pay a bit to get there.
Always take your own water in reusable bottles and snacks.
I used to buy or make and freeze snacks especially for grabbing and taking them out with us on trips.
We have frisbees, balls, buckets and spades and kites which are all fairly cheap but make a trip to the park or beach more fun.
I’d also had a stash of snacks that were only for trips and they were well hidden!
Download Ebooks and audiobooks free from your library.
Find free courses on open university or futurelearn.
YouTube for music playlists, radio drama, some audiobooks and lots of educational and fun stuff.
Podcasts

Haven't been back on the thread for a while now but it's great to see all the ideas that have been added. Yesterday I made cleaning cloths from DS's old pyjamas, sometging I remember my grandma doing and I can't believe I've never done it before. Thanks to this thread for suggesting it.

I reckon I've almost halved my water usage because of this thread and I've rediced the food budget too with some of the helpful meal planning tips.

Absolutley true that you can't suck the fun out of life by cutting every expense possible. I won't really be cutting back on the activities and day trips I do with DS. We will probably take a packed lunch and maybe cut a few corners but I honestly don't think life is worth living if you don't have a few nice things to look forward to.

I keep the tops of onions and carrots and regrow them. That way I have fresh scallions and carrot tops to add flavour to foods. I also grow tomatoes and potatoes from the stuff that has started to go soft or sprout. Spuds are really easy to grow in any containers. If you grow spinach in a pot, you’ll have never ending supplies, as it regrows at an amazing rate. You can add it to nearly every meal going. I’m trying to grow peppers from seed now, so we’ll see how that goes.

I also peel the middle stalk of broccoli and leaves and stalk of the cauliflowers and use them in soup. Delicious and full of nutrition. You can also cut them into strips and use them in a stir fry.

For those that like their little luxuries. Cut tumble dry sheets in half and also reuse them. Keep the left over wax from scented candles and use them as wax melts.

our energy and water use is already pretty low from our natural habits (not particularly because we are trying to save money but I've always been a bit eco conscious).

I do have a bit of food waste so room for improvment there.

Rather than watering down milk what I used to do at uni (and what I've been doing to help make milk last between shops during lockdown) is to use dried milk powder for my porridge. Just add a tablespoon of it and some water and after the porridge is cooked you can't tell the difference. It's what's in those "just add hot water" instant porridge pots. It's only about £1.20 and it lasts weeks. I don't mind it in tea either but I realise that's a shade too far for most people does mean the tea stays very hot.

A cheap way of having meat is to buy those big packs of chicken thighs or drumsticks with the skin on and bones in (usually under £2 for 800g or so). Cook them in the oven (with other stuff this week I also roasted some sweet potatoes and carrots for soup) then strip the meat into a tub in the fridge to add to stir fries, pasta dishes sandwiches and whatever. If yr really keen you can then make stock from the bones. Usually that's enough meat for me and my dd for a week. Cheaper than roasting a whole chicken, easier to get the meat and it's the nice meat too not dry chicken breast

1. I now consume less meat on a weekly basis which has saved me a fortune
2. If you are looking for an initial outlay to save money, try here This is best way to save for the future by a landslide, and goes towards my love for clothes/holidays
3. I was going out at least 10 times a month (before corona kicked in). I have now coped quite well during lock down to realise that I can cut this by at least half. Average meal spend was say £25 x 10 days a month = £250 a month, so £3000 a year give or take. Cutting this by half saves for two good holidays a year
4. I have also got more exercise done during lock down, which means more walking habits. I will save on fuel going back and forth to the supermarket a few times a week. Using the formula above, and you can see another healthy chunk of change saved.
5. You shouldn't just be buying second hand, you should also be looking to sell needless junk. This has brought in a lot of money over the past year, especially with Facebook groups to easily sell.

Hope this helps

I top up the rinse aid with distilled vinegar about 3 times out of 4.

Shop at Aldi/Lidl avoid the useless consumer crap (unless you were already planning on buying the item e.g. Mattress protector)
Shop at charity shops (plenty of new stuff with tags/or in original wrappers e.g. Picture frames, DVDs)
Shop at the Works, home bargains (household stuff, toiletries, cards for 29p), savers
Make your own cold brew coffee (easy, 25p, coffee shop? £3)
Make your own pizza
Bake cakes, portion up and freeze
DIY cleaner; cooled, boiled water and white vinegar
Wine spritzer instead of a full glass of wine
Download Press reader or RB digital library app; never buy a magazine again. They encourage you to buy crap.
Download Libby library book app
Sell your books/cds/dvds on Magpie
Paint your own artwork on canvas
Facebook marketplace for free/cheap furniture
Reuse stuff from your own home
Don't buy crap

Loads of good ideas from posters.

If you are buying one off items in shops, e.g. pair of shoes, outdoor coat, it is worth asking if there is a discount you are eligible for. For example many shops near me will give a discount if you are in the scouts or the military. When buying more than one item it is worth haggling, I bought two jackets in an outdoors shop and offered to pay a discounted price (which worked). I have even asked for a discount on a pair of shoes which were at a reduced price.

Cut open your toothpaste tubes etc when they look empty, you can often get another weeks worth of the contents and Morrisons sells a tube of own brand toothpaste for 28 or 30 pence and its fine.

When we are able to go to a shop, ask for samples at the cosmetic counter, some of these will last for several weeks.

The last post about cutting open the toothpaste tubes also very much applies to anything in tubes or plastic bottles! The amount of mayo/sauce, face /hand cream etc that is left when it’s impossible to squeeze or pump it out is pretty huge! I’ve just cut open a plastic pump bottle of hand cream and there’s loads still there - I’ll decant it into a small jam jar. Waste not want not

Due to shielding I've had to switch to online shopping...it's saving me a fortune! Filtering prices low-high has been a game changer (as sad as that sound lol) ...

-Reuse baking foil - wash it and you can potentially use many times over.
-Stop using cling film - cover stuff in the fridge with plates or keep pre-used plastic bags to use again.

• make pastry - you can eke out meat and much further if you put it in a pie, pasty or pastry case. A root veggie pasty is a very cheap meal.
• also home made pancakes, scones and dumplings are really cheap and filling.
• avoid peeling veg - you lose so much fibre and goodness.

-Certain butchers/shops will still give ham bones for free or at least very cheap , they make great soup. On the same note boil your chicken carcass for more stock and you will be able to get more chicken off it, plus a bowl of the stuff we don’t want to eat for the dog.

• if you can give them a good life, get some ex- battery farm hens.
• get the kids to eat porridge in a morning - brilliant idea already mentioned-to use dried milk powder.

- save seeds from your veg and grow plants on the windowsill. Tomatoes will grow from a slice of tomato in soil. Pepper And chilli seeds will often grow. So will squashes. That old box of dried peas/ beans in the back of the cupboard will sprout if you soak them. - invest in a heated blanket and instead of turning the heating on in the evening, go and sit in bed with the kids and watch movies or play games.

• go berry picking, then wash and freeze them for pies, smoothies , cordial etc.
• become a novice forager - there is lots of info online - this week we are mostly picking elder flowers to make cordial and wine. There is lots of free food out there.

Don’t be frightened to use foodstuffs after “best before” dates - it’s “ use by “ dates you should be careful of. Make vinegar out of apple peelings and cores. Then use for cleaning and culinary use. You can use windfall apples - just not the bruised bits - lots of info online. Then the scary ones - buy or make reusable sanitary towels, buy a mooncup - use washable cloth wipes instead of toilet paper (for wees only I think) BTW I don’t see these things as penny-pinching, I see them as conservation.

@Cailleachian

Grow your own veg?

Seeds are pretty cheap, but if you germinate dried peas and use potato peelings they will work just as well.

Go foraging? Fun day out and free food. (be way of mushrooms tho)

Buy segs for shoes to stop the heel wearing down and make them last longer.

Use a lightbulb as a darning mushroom to repair socks.

Sure, but growing your own veg and foraging/mending is a lot of effort and hard work. Using cashback sites and credit cards is effortless and will actually 'earn' you back hundreds of pounds if you are diligent at switching suppliers every year and adhering closely to the purchase conditions as Poppyismyfavourite says. I think that we forget to assign a cost to the labour that's required to be able to save the money in ways like growing veg for example, and when you look at it that way, it's not actually saving you much.

@

@DDIJ

I think I've got the right poster - bit later but regarding dishwasher tablets

I buy astonish ones and rather than cut them I snap them in half whilst they are still in the little package. Really easy to do and bag of tablets lasts ages.

Theses are do good . I have wasted so much over the years and I do think regardless of finances that it makes sense to do all this.
Thanks OP -am inspired!!

After being inspired on here dishwasher tab was broken in half and I now have a trial run going 👍
It was easy to break in half too
I will also try the tablespoon of powder for the washing machine tbh it seems such a small amount but worth a try
I have started buying Xmas presents too ( not only from a cost saving perspective but also so I won’t be driven crazy with the stress in Nov Dec )

I reuse Christmas and birthday wrapping paper and of course gift bags.
I just found a bag of Christmas wrapping paper in the garage that was torn off last year’s presents (or maybe even the year before ).
Some was only small bits or had been torn and had to be thrown away of course but those from the larger presents I have folded to reuse. I found half a dozen or so gift tags which had been on the DC presents which can be reused too. I also make gift cards out of Christmas cards.