Give me your best money saving tips please!

[ohnelly]

Hi I have two DS's aged 4.5 yrs & 6 months. The weekly shop seems to be getting bigger & money tighter as im sure is true for a lot of you. I have been trying out differerent supermarkets own brand nappies (always used pampers for DS1) and just use pampers at night so I know he is dry. What are your best money saving tips please? Thanks

my friend swears by tescos nappies for her DS. They are significantly cheaper than pampers.

We use the pampers babydry for DD (23 weeks). They seem to market them as night time nappies and they are very good during the day too. They keep her dry for longer so we use less of them iyswim.

Meal planning works for us and switching to basics.

Regular check your getting the best deal with your eleccy/ gas/ internet - not really a major pita to switch but something that tends to get forgottem.

Terry nappies. Mini muslins with water instead of wipes. Charity shops. Freecycle.

Meal planning is a good one. Make meals from scratch, make double portions and freeze. Never throw out old fruit and veg- puree and freeze for the baby.

Aldi nappies. Fantastic and loads cheaper than pamper (wish I had discovered them when DS was a baby).

Yes meal planning too and if you have space make a bit pot of food and freeze portions.

I concur with non-branded nappies - Sainsburys ones are fine, even the basics ones - though dd has washable nappies during the day.

Clothes from ebay!

The last month I've done proper meal planning which has saved my weekly shop by over £20. I used to go to the fruit and veg and just load up the trolley rather than working out quantities which might be eaten. Brought 5kg bags of rice etc so that works out cheaper per kg. You can often pick up lots of toy bargains in charity shops too.

menu plan plan plan-often on line is good no distractions!!!-also you can buy some frozen veg for soup from cheap places such as farm foods.I have a good lentil recipe which is 59 p pp-cook onion, then add -celery 2 sticks,carrots -2 ,frozen leeks,chuck in,cook ten min-add I pepper and some lentils as well as 1.1/4 pint stock.cook 20 min and whizz,double quantity and freeze.Also there was a tread recently about feeding a family well and cheaply and it had some good recipies ...good luck xx

Thanks all - Ill definately check my electric etc suppliers - havent done that for ages. I never really meal plan either but will give that a go too. Ive tried Tesco, Aldi & Sainsburies nappies so far - all good apart from DS did have a slightly sore bum at one point with the sainsburies ones so changed back to pampers for few days to clear up. How do you all find the supermarket versions of baby lotion/baby bath? Johnsons is expensive. I use cheaper wipes (unless the others on offer!) and find most of them fine. Please add any more! thanks again

We love Tesco nappies (although will buy whatever is cheapest especially if I have a money off token). However, we only use them occasionally as we use reusables (they will have saved us hundreds). Keep an eye out for supermarket sales (Asda usually have week of cut price baby items) - I stock up then.

If you can, sit down and work out your budget. We did this ages ago and actually switched to having jars in the kitchen for shopping money. When you have £x to last the month it does focus the mind on what you're prepared to splash out on and what you'll buy from the value range.

Our slow cooker is fab too as you can prepare loads the night before and just turn it on before you go to work the next morning. Ideal for when you return home knackered. Also allows you to use cheaper cuts of meat.

Menu plan and shop accordingly - use love food hate waste for recipes for your leftovers.

Clothes from ebay and Aldi nappies are great for daytime, but I always used pampers at night.

Make your own food when you wean your DS2 and freeze batches of it in ice cube trays - saves a fortune - for example a couple of sweet potatoes and a pear costs about £1 and will make 10 tasty and nutritious meals.

Sorry I meant:

Clothes from ebay. Aldi nappies are great for daytime...

What a difference a missing full stop makes!

We use Lidl nappies (Toujours) at night (cloth in the day) and they are fab and pretty cheap.

Agree that meal planning and freezing definitely helps keeps waste down.

Do you have an outdoor market nearby? They're great for cheap fruit and veg (especially at the end of the day) - if it's very ripe then use it for soup/stew/baby food.

Cheap bags of frozen veg are also good and often fresher than fresh stuff.

Own brand baby products are mostly ok too and sometimes actually contain less chemicals and rubbish than well known brands like Johnsons. We sometimes use chamomile tea if DS has a sore bum - it seems to work really well.

HTH