Any other money saving tips? Have just come to the conclusion that we're BROKE!

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Help! We've just come very close to arguing, big time, about money but then realised that it was better to sit down and talk about it I reckon we've spent over £2.5k in the last month due to computer packing up, lots of people here, Christmas presents etc. So we're trying to work out how to cut our expenditure. I know people have just put a lot of money saving tips on the Wanting the best vs affording it thread but I thought I'd start a new thread for any others anyone has got. So far we've got:

Make gloop instead of washing powder (thanks PamT, we're going to try it)
Give up smoking (me)
Stop buying bin liners, re-use carriers instead
Stop buying magazines/newspapers
Turn off lights/TV when not used
Grow some veg (yeah right, but we did manage 2 carrots last year!)
Shop once a week only and stick to a strict list
Give up meat and fish, be veggie for a while (might help with my weight loss too)
Use less olive oil (ditto)
No going out
No huge invitations or offering to feed lots of people (have done this soooo often in past 6 months)
Shop around for fruit
No extras like yoga classes etc - have a video and will do at home
Wine only at weekends (weight also)
Change our mobile phone contracts (currently have a bill of £150+ a month)
No video rentals
Lidl for basics
Take food in car don?t buy at service stations
Try to sell some stuff on Ukparents or ebay.

Any others? I'm also going to put my credit cards away and pay off more than the minimum every month to try to reduce the enormous balances. We don't have a mortgage as we rent, so that's not an option. No-one's about to sue us or anything, so it's not that desperate but we have been living beyond our means for ages and it's got to stop NOW! Any and all ideas welcome. TIA.

Rhubarb ? V12 for internet usage? How do I find out about it?
BTW did you get Fabriclive for your dh? And did he like it?

Just thought, check out www.netmums.com to see if they have one in your area, as they often have special offers too. If there isn't one in your area, you can offer to start one up for them, they give you all the help you could possibly need, expenses paid, plus when you've finished a payment of £500 + bubbly. I've just done one for the Preston area (in case anyone wants to register and have a nosey please do!!!), it took me 3 months but I only gave about 3 hours a week of my time. It has been hard work but incredibly satisfying and I have found out things I never knew about Preston and met some really nice people in the process. I would really recommend this to anyone who wants a BIG confidence boost, something to crow about on your CV and a bit of extra cash too. I wonder if they will pay me for advertising......?

Oh hello RosieT! www.v21.co.uk (sorry I can't be bothered with the links tonight!) and yes, dh loved the FabricLive, thank you very much indeed! It was definitely a good tip! His kind of music and everything, trouble is he hasn't stopped playing it since! Mind you I should take it back after the leopard print and red lace bra he bought me.....!

Go on, Rhubarb. I bet you look beautiful in it!

www, ebay and loot online are great places to buy used things (like computers). You probably could have bought a perfectly good one for a lot less than 2500. Good luck!

If you're selling try advertising on UKP first, as you don't have to pay fees. If your selling books do it on Amazon as you don't pay listing fees, just commission if the items sell - and they even pay postage for you. I've made quite a bit this way.

what is gloop? that would save a blummin fortune

love the freezing of the credit card idea

As others have mentioned, pay off your credit cards and any other loans. Even if Egg will only take part of the balance, it is still worth doing it. You could also apply for another card to take the remainder of the balance. Even if you don't get 0% it is still worth it. (Sometimes you can get loan consolidator accounts where you can transfer your entire balance and get a much lower rate of interest.) In the meantime, STOP using them! Because you have a balance on them, you are paying top whack every time you pay for your groceries etc.
In all liklihood, sorting out your credit cards could lead to the biggest saving. (depending on how much you smoke vs. how big your credit card loans are.)
Also, I'd recommend you keep a really good budget - note down what you spent last year/month and then compare it with what you spend this year. Otherwise, you just won't realise how well you are doing and might be prepared to give up. It might be a while before the money starts stacking up in your bank account after all.

Gloop - is an environmentally friendly, very cheap alternative to washing powder.

Boil 4 litres of water in a large pan (stock pots are ideal). When it boils, turn off the heat and add one grated bar of unscented soap (Morrison's do one for 25p). When this has dissolved add 1 cup of soda crystals (52p for 1kg). Allow to cool slightly then add 20-40 drops of essential oil (lavendar is a good all rounder, tea tree a good germ killer and geranium is a nice smell but you can use any 'safe' oils). Pour the solution into a suitable lidded container (ice cream tubs are excellent). The solution sets into a sort of gel which can be liquified by whisking it or using a potato masher to make it easier to transfer into the washing machine. Use about 1/2 a cupful straight in the drum and rub a little into any particularly dirty marks.

You won't get scented washing like you do with commercial powders as most of the oils evaporate and the solution doesn't contain the optical brighteners that manufacturers use so you will not get quite the same performance. I miss the commercial smell so I tend to use just one tablet and some gloop in my wash to get the best of both worlds. It means that a box of tablets lasts twice as long and the 50p that it cost me to make the gloop is negligable. White vinegar can also be used instead of fabric conditioner and it doesn't make your clothes smell like a portion of chips either.

Asda and Tesco both accept money off vouchers for things that you haven't bought - as long as they stock that item. I think Asda will accept up to 10% of your total bill in vouchers but I'm not sure about Tesco. I have heard of someone who saved £30 off their total shop by handing over vouchers! Morrisons are quite tight and only accept one voucher per relevant item but they do have some good BOGOFs.

I fill my car up at morrisons too and get a £5 voucher every 6 weeks or so (their reward scheme), DH gets Sainsbury's points using his company fuel card there.

We're looking for a good deal on credit card balance transfers - a lifetime low rate would be ideal, we're currently on our third swap and are about to go to the HSBC Morrisons card which offers a low rate and gives Morrisons vouchers on the transfer. Barclaycard would only let us have £300 which was laughable so we told them where to stick it but RBS Advanta did very well for 6 months. A word of warning with the card thing though - if you have loads of credit cards this will show badly on your credit record and may score against you should you want to borrow in the future. By officially closing accounts this may get around the problem but some companies show the number of applications for credit as a poor rating.

PamT, is it necessary to add the essential oil, particularly if you are going to use a commercial tablet with it? It strikes me that the oil would be about the most expensive part of the whole recipe, with little reward if the smell doesn't get through.

I was just going to post a warning about the effect swapping cards has on your credit rating. Don't do it too often and yes, shut down the ones you've just transferred from as having too many cards looks suspect.

The list is growing, isn't it?

Here's some more tips to add:

For fragrant bubbles in the bath, lather on soap, not expensive bubble bath.

Go through your bathroom cupboards - see how much moisturiser, shampoo etc is languishing forgotten there - throw away the impossibly old but use all the rest before you buy any new replacements - I did this and didn't have to buy new stuff for six months. I find I can spend a fortune in Boots, even taking into account their fab advantage points scheme, so this was a big saving for me.

If you wear contact lenses, buy distilled water from the chemist for rinsing. (still need proper stuff for cleaning). Much cheaper than saline solution (about 25p for a big bottle).

Go to your local pound shops - mine does lots of cleaning products for a pound each, (discontinued lines) as well as very cheap stationary and confectionary.

Stop using kitchen towels - mop up with washable cloths.

Naughty this, but IF you can get away with it, make personal phone calls from work.

Do not buy a holiday - visit friends and invite them to stay at yours.

Tell close friends and family that you are on a budget. Don't keep it secret. When I have been broke, I have found people on the whole are incredibly kind - they know you can't afford to spend huge sums travelling to see them, feeding them or can say yes to their invitations to go out. After all lots of people have lean times in their lives and can relate to this - and even help. If you are offered favours, accept with sincere thanks.

If you shop at Tesco save all of the vouchers they send you about 4 times a year. They have a shelf life of a couple of years. There is then a Clubcard book to spend the vouchers on. A family day out at Legoland then costs under £20 in vouchers.

I have been saving for a long time for a trip to Disneyland Paris (£15 in vouchers gives you £60 off a holiday).

Have just signed up with V21- thanks Rhubarb. Definitely v cheap and also the only ISP I've ever seen that accepts a debit card rather than a credit card.

Enjoying all these tips and will have to try deperately to put some into action as we're stony broke following Xmas too and long stnding resolution is to start managing our money better.

Rhubarb, I had a look at netmums but was very unimpressed that I would have to register for each and every different area before I could view it. I reg'd for one which is fairly close to me - NW Leics - and then went to have a look at Kensington and Chelsea since that's where I used to live but couldn't use my log on.

Presumably if I was researching faciilties for going on holiday I would have to register with every different netmums site (a lot of typing!) and if my user name had already been taken on that site, I'd have to think of another.

A bit complicated for me, I'm afraid.

The £500 plus bubbly sounds lovely but there's still 3-4 hours a week of work to keep it up afterwards for which you're not paid. NW Leics was somewhat out of date - still running a comp with closing date 11 Oct and Forthcoming Events was November and December so some people must struggle to find the time.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea and I'm thrilled for everyone involved and I'm sure it's providing a great service when it's running properly. And, as they say, great for the CV. Good luck with it

SueW, I suppose there's no need for the essential oils if you are using a gloop/tablet combination. It would bring the cost of a batch of gloop down to around 30p. BTW, lots of cheap shops do essential oils for 99p (particularly lavendar and tea tree) so if you are wanting the scent more than medicinal properties its worth looking around.

It may sound obvious, but making sandwiches for work every day, or a batch to freeze, saves me £12-15 a week (this is in London). We never buy pre-prepared food either, except for the odd pizza, though sometimes we'll make those from scratch too. Last year we grew our own salad and saved a small fortune on those bags of pre-washed leaves you get in the supermarket, plus it tastes much better.

Join a library. It's cut back on my book-buying, and you can also take out CD's and videos and go online.

Some great tips here; makes me feel v. virtuous saving money!

Anyone who is paying by the minute for computer access could try using their local library. Ours lets you have up to one hour on-line everyday for free. But I would certainly recommend a fixed monthly price, no need to worry how much you are spending then.

Also, anyone using an Orange mobile phone might like to know that Orange will price match any tarriff offered by other providers. We went on to a pay as you go tarriff (paid monthly by direct debit at Virgin rates) when our 'boxed and ready' period ran out. We currently pay 15p per minute for calls and no line rental which is ideal for our very low usage - usual bill £2-£3.

www your list looks good to me.

Just remember that you need some treats or you'll get sick of the whole thing and go on a spending binge!

Also if you still fancy meat but can't really afford it - buy chicken legs and mince (both make meals that are comparable to the cost of a veggie meal.)

Gloop is marvellous even without essential oil. I use a bit of baby perfume instead (boughht it by accident with a pack - why do babies need perfume??) but it's fine with nothing.

My other tip is walk! (or take the bus)

This is all fantastic. I knew mumsnet would come up with great ideas. I'm going to print this whole thread out and live by it for the next however long it takes me to get sorted out. Step one was finding out what the APR was on my cards. The one I used (past tense since it is now put away) the most was 18.9%!!! And the one I used the least was 14.9% Mmmm, some very basic lessons here for me. Am trying to get them all transferred to 0% offer cards, we'll see whether I get accepted or not. I have now worked out the total I owe, which is truly terrifying, but at least now I know and have a strategy. And millions of tips below. There's a good sort out your debt plan, will post the link in a minute. Have also put lots of books and dvds etc on Amazon and vow not to spend any more money I don't have on books there. Why doesn't it seem so bad, spending money online? Sobernow, your message struck a chord: I'm still paying for things I bought ages ago too and it's galling when I think of it like that. Add the interest and everything I bought on cards was at stupidly inflated prices too.

The ivillage page with lots of tips and ways to pay off debts is here It won't let me do a link to the article (because there are commas in the address I think) but the menu on the left has some good ideas.

www hope you do manage to clear off your debts without too many problems, i do not have any debt (except mortgage), as i married a man who doesn't believe in buying things unless you have the money to pay for it, sometimes he really drives me nuts, but after reading this thread i am grateful.

www et al,

Your message couldn't have come at a better time for me. I gave up work 2 years ago when i was 5 months pregnant but because I got a good redundancy package it is only now starting to hit home how much less money we have each month. We finally decided last week to sell DH's car (we only bought it in March 02 and he loves it but it's got to go) and so we shall share the one car. Not too much of a hardship I know but we've both always had our own cars and the independence that it brings. Are we going to argue now about who gets to use the car if we're going out separately?
I remember reading an article about a lady who lived very frugally, always used plastic bags instead of bin liners, always re-used foil and clingfilm etc, re-used any foil containers that food came in and so on. I cant remember that exact quote but she was adamant that just by saving and being sensible about these little things meant that over the years, she saved enough money to have nice holidays and other luxuries. I think what she was getting at was save and scrimp on things that dont really matter (do you care if wednesdays sandwich is in the same foil as tuesdays? I doubt it) and this will allow you to treat yourself every now and then and spend money on things that you do care about.

Someone mentioned about Supermarket Value brands being just as good as the big names and although I have never checked this out, my sister has. She checks the price and content on just about everything and is always telling me some fo the value brands even have better contents than their more expensive counterparts.

Good luck to everybody who is trying to save some money. I know I'm going to need all the help and support and ideas that I can get so thanks to everyone who has posted. Keep the ideas coming please.

I am sure that things will not get to this point.....but as a reminder to use all, if debts get out of hand go to the Citizens Advice people. Their advice is free, they are not tied to a debt managment company. And they can help to sort out repayment plans that you can cope with.