Help need your money saving tips to help survive - you guessed it - the credit crunch (and can anyone think of another name for the credit crunch while we're at it?)

[JustineMumsnet]

All tips/ ideas very welcome folks - the Sunday Times interested...

mooncup
kettle at work to make your own tea or flask
clingfilm on windows
bulk buy food from Costco etc if you have space
grow your own veg

Be a collectivist:
car share
set up a walking bus to school
share mobile appliances with neighbours (lawnmowers etc) if you need new ones
don't go out to eat, but have friends over/go to theirs regularly and share food.

anyone know the answer to this (bugging me)

am i better toasting bread under the gas grill or sticking it in the toaster?

likewise heating beans etc in a pan or in the micro?

We share a strimmer with my DB, although come to mention it I haven't seen the damn thing since "we" bought it last spring....

Sew linings into your curtains. And interlinings too if you're feeling particularly frugal.

We've had thermostatic valves fitted to all our radiators, so I'm hoping that will allow us to direct the heat where we need it most and cut down on bills, despite the initial outlay.

Make draught excluders.

Invest in one of those laundry pulley things that live up near the ceiling. I miss mine soooo much since we moved house. They dry clothes in no time if the heating is on anyway and save a fortune on tumble drying when outside isn't a possibility.

Write a list before you go shopping (and stick to it) or shop online to avod impulse purchases.

Apparently it's best to drive your car without a full tank of petrol because it's less heavy and therefore uses less fuel.

make sure your tires are properly inflated and have good tread/are appropriate for the weather.

don't ride the clutch and drive the speed limit.

catch some fresh air in a recycled jam jar for lunch

great with some fluff from down the side of the sofa

yum

don't get up in the morning, saves energy and food bills

get the kids to do the same

Not sure this saves much, but it's satisfying: make your own yogurt. Bring a pint of milk to the boil, cool till it's blood-heat, whisk into a bowl containing two tablespoons of yogurt (so always leave a bit of yogurt for starter). Leave in a Thermos overnight, put in fridge in the morning.

My ds likes this yogurt and honey better than the pricey little pots of kid's yogurt.

Don't wash your clothes at 30c as they are still a bit wiffy afterwards. Wash them on the normal temp but on "quick wash" instead.

Use clothes swap services instead of buying new - that way you recycle and get stuff for free.

Instead of giving old newspaper to the council invest in a log maker and make fuel for your fire.

Only buy foods with under five ingredients in (which bans expensive ready meals and most junk food).

Oliveoil

It's turning into Viz, isn't it?

Are you Rosie Millard in RL?

I tried that one this morning Oliveoil but by lunchtime I was starving and had no energy for making food, so I bought a veg samosa and 3 bars of chocolate from the shop. It's false economy I tells ya

Find someone in the neighbourhood with a manual lawnmower (the push along type). Then cancel your gym membership and mow the lawn instead, saves on fuel and tones your bum!

you do know that coinstar takes 7p in the pound filthy?

what are soap nuts???

Don't go to the shops when you are hungry - eat at home before you go out.
Turn your thermostat down at least 1 degree C. Check the timings on your central heating/hot water and don't run them when you don't need to.
Always check your utility bills and take a reading if they have been estimated.

(Rosie Millard! How very dare you, I am Carol Thatcher)

oooo, whomoved, i need to find the thread, but there was one here yesterday asking if those log maker things were worth it.

make like the Emperor and his New Clothes and stroll about in the nude

if you get arrested you save on rent while incarcerated (which I don't think I can spell)

tis a win win

Anyway, it's not a bloody credit crunch it's an economic evolution. This has been coming for a while, it's sort of our own fault (collectively as a country, rather than mumsnetters in particular although shopping at Boden accounts for at least 10% of the blame ) and it will right itself, but it will probably take a couple of years.

Have an early menopause and save on sanitary products and heating (hot flushes so no need for putting on the central heating).

"If I know The Sunday Times, and I do know The Sunday Times, their key money saving tips will involve massive outlay."

it will be 'buy a slightly smaller Mulberry bag and don't carry as much crap around in it'

Find a cow and paint bits of it gold and then pickle it. Sell it at an art auction for £10 million.

Following lilymaid: instead of wasting money on dummies, pop a nipple in your baby's mouth. NB this also saves on formula and keeps your boobs warm

Oh God yes CrackFox. Speaking of Emperor's New Clothes...