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

[WideWebWitch]

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.

Agree with all the own brand comments. We've recently switched washing powder/dishwashing tablets/fabric conditioner to own brand stuff and really can't tell the difference - have no idea why we've been wasting all that money for so long on buying brand names - just always assumed that it was somehow "better". I will say though that own label cornflakes were just dire...

i had the same problems with the cheap cornflakes, i ended up making chocolate cornflakes for my sons play-school.

WWW, spending money online doesn't count because you never pay for it IYSWIM. You don't physically hand over your card or cash so it doesn't seem like paying. I bought far more from Lush online than I would in a shop a) because it wasn't real moey and b) I didn't have to carry it home (and c) I love getting parcels).

Re own brands, Tesco's value weetabix are completely different to ordinary Tescos weetabix. They look awful and have larger bits in them. DS1 was not amused (although he's since forgotten what "proper" weetabix look like and will eat them occasionally).

I NEVER buy my DS new clothes (except shoes), I get a lot of 'hand-downs' from friends & he gets the odd new outfit as a birthday or Christmas present from doting grandma or aunties.

I also love trawling round charity shops for bargains for myself(in fact if you have a spare couple of hours it's worth volunteering once a week as a sorter - get the chance to buy the best stuff as it comes in, worked very well when I lived in a 'posh' area!!)

WWW - have you managed to cut your mobile phone bill - be like me, just don't have one!!

crikey 18 odd percent on a credit card. I find it's much cheaper to take a cash advance off my credit card in order to pay the thing off in full every month (so no interest at all, just 1.5% on the cash advance). They even let me do that over the phone (but it helps that my card and account are with the same bank)

Dp's money saving tip: give up washing! (he was joking - I hope)

Wow! I'm very excited - as a result of reading this thread i've just been onto Amazon and listed about 10 books for sale- and only stopped at 10 cos I was bored with typing in numbers (dh spends seemingly HUNDREDS of pounds buying ridiculous hardback books which he often just gives to the local fete after having read them - the 10 I put on were all destined for said fete) I am very excited that someone might want to pay me money for them - but I don't understand how Amazon gain from it!!!

bayleaf, Amazon take a percentage of the sale price as commission, that's how they make their money. Let's hope someone buys all our cast offs hey?! I did get fed up with being sent a separate email for every item I listed though. Ah well.

Re coupons and secondhand - my mum used to say 'that's how the rich stay rich' and how true it is!

Most of the well-heeled people I know minimise their losses by buying secondhand and re-selling. Trawling through charity shops, factory shops, NCT sales and car boots are second nature. If they buy something secondhand it goes back in the sale a year later when outgrown at the same price they bought it. WRT to NCT Nearly New Sales this includes toys, books, videos as well as clothing.

They also sell their own clothes through dress agencies - we have three locally, about five miles apart in a triangle, IYSWIM. One sells secondhand everything from Dorothy Perkins to Frank Usher; another sells top quality brands (a friend picked up a Windsmoor suit which was originally £300 for £80) and a third which is 'by appointment only'.

I have a once worn posh frock which is now a few sizes too big and cost a fortune - I should really get rid but probably before Xmas would have been the best time. When you think about the number of outfits that are bought for weddings/posh dinners that are only worn once it's mindblowing.

Going back to Amazon for a second, I've never worked out how they get anything for it, as the amount they pay you for postage has always been more that their profit! Still, I'm not complaining

Since I'm a sahm and DH works in web design (which can be unpredictable) I have been forced to learn to be super-frugal. Here are some of the things I've found to help:

-Coupons!
-Cooking from scratch. Convenience foods are so expensive.
-Second-hand shops, as already said. I rarely if ever buy new clothing or large items (ex.:I got our changing table for $2 instead of $60)
-My biggest one that I encourage everyone to do is use cloth diapers! They are really no more trouble than plastic/paper disposibles, and are insanely cheaper in the long run. I've spent under $300 for newborn and toddler diapers combined (plus accessories), and they will easily last through at least one more child. The average expenditure for disposibles from birth to potty training is around $3000.....compare that to about $300 and you've saved a whole lot of money! Not to mention they do not contain harmful chemicals as do disposibles, and don't leave untreated waste in landfills to polute water tables.

Hmm...do I like cloth diapers? LOL! Sorry I don't have the slightest clue what the coversion between dollars and pounds is right now!

Costco for everything!

Amazon have yet to make a profit - least they hadn't up till last year when I think they made a tiny weeny one for the first time !

When they started they literally had some people with bikes who they used to send off to other bookshops to fulfil their online orders - of course all that's changed now - but they are only breaking even now !

Hey there are some really great tips on here, yes Corbin cloth nappies are a good idea, also ideas about taking own sandwiches to work (amazing saving) and getting out so much cash per week - I have done that for years and years. Amount does fluctuate, oddly enough, it's now less than when I lived in London 10 years ago. A couple of small things, take fruit or even supermarket-bought yogurts etc to work instead of using the choc/crisp machine, also drink free water from the cooler instead of expensive vending machine coffee (sorry no use those if you don't work) - better for you as well. They've moved the snack machine at my place to a really long walk away and DH and I have noticed massive reduction in spending at it! Another idea is cut out the Friday night takeaway at £15 or so a time. If you really must have an Indian, Asda do a good deal for less than half the price (or you can make your own of course, but I do think the cook needs the odd night off). Find I spend so much less ready cash nowadays with no nights out at pub/cinema anyway, on the other hand prezzies for kids got a bit out of hand at Christmas..

excellent idea;s i have added saving money to my new years resolutions, i just went out for an hours walk and on the way back ds wanted a drink and packet of crisps, i ended up paying 1.90 even though i was going to be home in 10 minutes and we have much cheaper crisps and drink there.

If you do still using washing tablets (rather than gloop) then I never use more than one tablet and my wash is just as good as using the recommended 2 and, obviously, lasts much longer. Also, I break my dishwasher tablets in half, mostly as I didn't like so many chemicals swishing around but I can honestly say that everything comes out just as clean, again saves a heap as these aren't cheap either.

Always cook from scratch. My particular favourite is pumpkin soup. I always have some in the fridge. Heat it up, add some cheese/yoghurt and or bread and it works as a warming meal in these cold winter nights or a snack instead of crisps etc.

Something that has always worked for me is what dh and I call the 'extra money account'. We have a 30 day deposit account. Every time we get any unexpected money - from overtime, presents, refunds etc, the money goes in there. Because it's hard to get to, it builds up surprisingly fast, but is still accessible for real emergencies. use this to pay off big bills.

One thing that I have come to a conclusion about this year is that if you want to save money then dont eat out 5-10 times each week (mostly dinners) I know that sounds crazy but I hate to eat my own cooking and I just have an addiction to eating out. Thats probally my biggest New Years resolution. I hope I can stick to it.

SueW, I know it is a pain to register for each different area, but this is to stop bogus entries, and all registrations are free and you can use the same username and password for each.

Yes you do have to spend some time keeping the site uptodate, but they also pay you £1 for each new member that registers, so that's an incentive to stay on top of it! Plus you can always quit if you've had enough. Most people do it out of love, I've learnt so much through it and gained so much confidence in myself, it's worth any extra hassle. Sorry, I'm not paid for plugging it! Just think it's a great service!

Thanks for the extra info Rhubarb.

So if I register for say 10 or 12 sites, then each 'site keeper' will be paid £1? It's still possible that someone would already have taken my chosen nickname on another site though surely? Particularly for something that's maybe attracting more punters, like Kensington and Chelsea or Wandsworth? Or is the nickname checked against a central record before you are allowed it? It really does put me off though, having to type all that info again and again and I'd be tempted to see what was the minimum I could get away with (since I don't remember there being any guidance as to what is compulsory).

Make your own Xmas/birthday pressies and cards!

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No one else has said; see if there is a toy library in your area. I must save a fortune on toys for the kids, that way. And cheap video hire.

Funny enough I haven't saved a lot of money on cloth nappies for just one child, though; don't know where that $3000 figure (about £2000) came from. Usually I think I see estimates of £5/week, or around £700 for 2 years in disps....

No one else has said; see if there is a toy library in your area. I must save a fortune on toys for the kids, that way. And cheap video hire.

Funny enough I haven't saved a lot of money on cloth nappies for just one child, though; don't know where that $3000 figure (about £2000) came from. Usually I think I see estimates of £5/week, or around £700 for 2 years in disps....

I saved about 7 quid a week by changing our cats' food from Hill Science diet to Asda own brand. The nutritional breakdown on the side is roughly the same amount and they eat all kinds of stuff now they are outside (dread to think).

Wheyhay! Just sold my first book on Amazon. It's only £7 but it's a start!