Looking for money saving tips please.............

[becaroo]

......I am expecting baby no2 in september and am desperately trying to spend less money!

I have switched our credit card (which we have a £3,000 balance on) to a card with a lower interest rate, no interest on balance transfers and no interest on new purchases til oct 2009.

I have capped our energy rate with our energy provider til oct 2009.

I have started shopping at a cheaper supermarket and buying less ready made/expensive food.

Anything else I could/should be doing to cut costs?

Any tips gratefully recieved!

Write a list of what you are spending money on when you go shopping and everything else during the month. This will help you see where you are overspending and what you can cut back on.

Write a shopping list and stick to it.

Don't buy coffee etc when you are out, take a flask if you can. Also take cartons of juice and packed lunches/snacks for dc rather than buying expensive drinks and food while out.

Write out a budget so you can allocate your income against your outgoings and keep a tally of what you are spending against each budgeted bill etc. Get help from CAB etc with this if you need it.

Look for bargins at charity shops, hand me downs and second hand uniform for school etc. Only buy what you need not what you'd like.

Don't carry cards and only as much cash as you need so you can't be tempted into impulse buying and have to stick to your budget in the supermarket etc.

I use www.mysupermarket.com to shop online and find the best deals and then always use a tesco voucher code for £5-£10 to knock off the delivery charge and more.