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.

NB Library users - make sure you take your books back on time or ring to renew/renew online. Also take your kids for library books.

clear out any old clutter and have a car-boot sale.

bloss, i like your ideas - I'm going to try and cut down on the washing bills and dishwasher (we got in the habit of using it daily when ds had bottles to wash, but these are gone now -hurrah!) I'm aware we spend a fortune on babywipes and just wondered whether you meant using a damp cloth for nappy changes? I can see this would save money but we would end up with lots of pooey cloths to wash (and keep somewhere in the laundry basket before they got into the wash...mmmmm!!) Anyone else out there managing without wipes??

Yes, we don't use wipes at all, but we do use cloth nappies, so the wipes go in with the nappies. You could just use wipes for bottoms, and have a separate damp cloth for face/ hands.

Meant the cloths go in with the nappies

I've just been thinking that my internet usage is definitely something I could save on (!) At the moment I dial up to the server at work which costs me the price of a local phone call - can anyone suggest something cheaper? Our street isn't cabled unfortunately.

Also utility bills - we are still with the standard british gas/northern electric - I've been rather put off changing by adverse reports in the press, but has anyone found a good deal they're happy with? Similarly with phone - any thoughts on the best non-cable option? We have ntl (previously mercury/cable and wireless) for long distance at the moment but I'm not convinced that it works out cheaper than bt.

Thanks for any ideas. Not sure what I can add that will help others - we do a lot of what has already been suggested, namely make own sandwiches, make a list before goign to the supermarket, mainly cook from scratch, always pay off credit card etc etc. Great thread though.

Tissy, already do that -it never occured to me to use wipes for hands and face!
And I always use toilet roll/kitchen towel for snotty nose rather than tissues.

Elliott we're with ntl as well and it does work out much cheaper for international phone calls rather than bt. My friend is on bt and has used Alpha and Tele Discounting which works out cheaper (5p per minute to South Africa for eg). HTH

I use handkerchiefs for snotty noses (softer on the skin) and j-cloths or sponges for wiping up, which last for ages.

Also bring home paper from work (memos, schedules etc that would otherwise go in the bin) for ds to scribble on the other side. Am about to make next year's gift tags by cutting up this year's xmas cards. More fun for ds with the pinking scissors and hole puncher! Also intend to make play-dough from recipe given in a past thread.

www - very impressed you've sold a book already! Think I'll give it a go as we've too many books & it's more profitable than stuffing them in the attic.

Get rid of (or at least disconnect) your answerphone if you have one. Then instead of you paying the bill to call them back, they'll call again if it was actually anything important, and it'll go on their bill, not yours.

Yes - I've sold a book too ( only £6 profit for me as it took £4 in postage!)- in less than 24 hours - after following WWW's advice - so all of you get out there and find some books/CDs to sell!!

Somewhere I saw a recipe to Make Your Own babywipes but I can't remember where...I'll have to have a browse around.

On the subject of libraries, DH borrowed a set of language CD's from the library, then copied them.
The language course had originally cost around £60 in the shops. He does the same with music CD's, for his own use, of course.
Also, when you have used up your shower gel, keep the bottle and refill it, from a large bottle of bubble bath bought from a cheap shop.

There's a baby wipes recipe on www.gaia-exchange.sunmaia.net
Although it looked like a load of faffing about to me. You can't beat the old fashioned flannel and warm water!

didnt think i had a tip in me and am amazed by everyone. however jac 34 reminded me of a tip.
dont buy bubble bath especially if you have older kids they see it and the whole bottle is gone in three days. well it is in my house anyway. so i buy a stores own brand shower gel and squirt that in when running a bath. the kids dont use it unless i put it in the bath becuase the bottle it comes in looks naff and so doesnt have the same appeal as bubble bath. and it gives bubbles long enough to have a decent bath - but then they start to fade when it comes time to wash hair.

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can you please explain what a mooncup is please.

breeze, its a sort of rubber/ silicone cup that collects menstrual blood. You just empty it and rinse it out before re-insertion. IIRC, you don't have to empty it as often as you change a tampon.

Never used one, mind you, but considering it- bloss do you ever get leaks

Hereis the Mooncup site

If you look at the "soapbox" section ignore the first two messages, unless you're into "honouring the flow" or returning the blood to the earth goddess the rest of the site is pretty normal!!

Eeek! "use it as a plant food"??? Nooooo!

I have to say I find the thought of a moon cup really makes me feel ill. Silly, I know but it sets my squeamishness running full speed I don't know why I should find it so bad as it can't be worse than changing tampons.

Well, since I have successfully adjusted my thinking to that of a really tight person, I can't bring myself to buy a mooncup while I have tampons to use up in the house I could use one I think, it sounds similar to a cap and I got on OK with that. Probably not for the squeamish though. My Amazon sales are now up to £30!!! So I've made 1/3 of the amount for one credit card payment in 3 days, hurrah!

I've been using a mooncup for 18 months and have never looked back. I used to leak like mad after an hour with tampons and get chronic cramp and backache, not so with the mooncup.

After I overcame my ideas about ' new age things!!' I think it's fantastic and I have saved a fortune on tampons, used to buy three large boxes every month.

I have just thought of something that may help some people (well it's saved us money); we used to buy mineral water (I drink lots) and even with Asda bulk buys would get through 5-6 big bottles a week ie about £2-£3; got a water filter and hey presto! In fact even cheaper than the water filter is drinking tap water (radical idea i know; I'm sure all you sensible people do this already) - it actually tastes OK where I live tho when I was in London it was undrinkable. Never thought I would give up on my beloved mineral water but I guess that's growing up for you. Eeek!