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...

lololol at damian hirst

he is the fecking emperor

diamond skull my arse

[mutter]

Get elected as an MP. Complain about your basic wage but keep very quiet about the fact you are employing your entire family in your constituency office and can claim absolutely everything on expenses.

expat - briquettes no, logs yes. You can make the briquettes with kids using a margarine tub and some newspapers - great fun but the log maker itself is much better.

Second hand school uniform - it all looks the same after 2 weeks anyway.

get pregnant - save on sanitary towels

Stop spending 27 hours a day on Mumsnet - save electricity

Make children wear same dirty clothes for weeks on end - save even more electricity

following memoo - put scruffiest child in pram outside post office with 'penny for guy' sign during late october.

Definitely give up coffees etc from Stealbucks totally waste of money and do you really want a pint of pissy coffee?!

Dare I say it - Don't drink in the week - saves money, makes you less tired and therefore you have the energy to put dinner together yourself rather than buy a takeaway.

I supermarket shop after about 4.30pm, when my Waitrose marks down all the meat... which I then freeze for later use.

Sellotape the thermostat so DP doesn't keep wacking the heating up!!

I think if you have a great skill outside of work you should exploit it - Like ComeOVeneer's cake decorating prowess!! - she could have a nice little sideline there!

Keep your shoes and socks on in the house. I can't believe the amount of times I visit overheated houses and people are wandering around in teeshirt, thin trousers and socked feet moaning about how they've had to put the heating on.

I'm warm blooded anyway, I am wearing a vest top, but my feet are toasty in socks and boots with insoles. If your feet are warm, you will be warm, and if it's not coat-and-wooly-jumper-weather outside, you don't really need the heating on,.

At least buy some really decent slippers and WEAR them!

have one child only - save money on going out and not as expensive as multiple children

Have a 'cheapy' day once a week where you strive to spend no money whatsoever. Extra points for leaving the house, eating and having fun. We spent a day blackberry picking (and eating) and then jumped in puddles for an hour.

Is making bread actually worth it?
Im thinking of getting a bread maker off ebay, but a loaf of bread costs about a quid, and Id have to buy all the ingredients, and the maker, and the electric.

Is it worth it?

No, making bread is rarely worth it. Bread flour costs about 80p a bag which makes two loaves but you have to add yeast and most folks add milk powder. When you factor in the time and electricity plus the cost of the breadmaker it works out about 50p a loaf and the majority of my loaves are crap.

Sorry if this has been said already but can't read the whole thread as need to go to bed but...buy loose fruit and veg not the stuff all packaged up - much cheaper and you can buy in more flexible quantities.

Play 'storecupboard challenge': make a tasty meal out of the bizarre stuff that has been lurking in the back of your cupboard instead of going to the shops. 5kgs of brown rice with a bottle of Tamari anyone?

Thanks wmmc

Thanks wmmc

I don't think 50p a loaf is too bad for no-additive, wholemeal fresh bread. (But then I've had a breadmaker for 4 years so I guess it's paid for itself).

Don't use credit cards - live within your means. Abandon lifestyle pretensions.

switch from champers to cava.
sack the gardener and do it yourself.
forget about going to fortnum and masons and try sainsburys/waitrose instead, it's really not that bad.
let out any spare buildings you have on your land/grounds.
we have let our gatehouse for a hearty amount a month, was previously using it for storage.

sack the gardener and do it yourself

what am I neanderthal? You expect me to replace Horatio????

make your own jam.
cut up old t-shirts for dusters.
share bathwater.
install a webcam in your bedroom, and charge for viewings of your twice-yearly marital fumblings.
sell your unwashed pants online.

thanks to my MIL for the tips; at times of financial stress, it is good to see these wise words of advice being passed down from generation to generation.

Codcakes - can't sack the gardener, he's in his seventies - so we are supporting help the aged as well as getting the lawn done

Eschew expensive sex toys. A wasp trapped in a jam jar is a very effective vibrator

'switch from champers to cava.'

i'd rather go without. cava is the boak.

Re: the breadmaker. Good Housekeeping tested breadmakers the other month. Based on the £99 Panasonic one making three loaves a week they reckoned that it would have paid for itself in a year.

we buy bread flour in bulk, ditto the yeast and it does work out cheaper for us.