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...

Bypass the cash economy! I've been given some lovely toys, books, clothes and I given my used items away. Helps out friends and it's so nice to be be given something you'll use. I've also been giving apples away and when my friends have something in surplus they know I'd use they'll pass it my way!

vixen - I'd def recommend a breadmaker then we got our from freecycle and if u buy flour in bulk its worth it. You cna also make tea loaves, ciabatta, rolls, pizza bases etc

Aldi is our saviour....am always at prices in Tesco now

For me, it's the small things/treats (a daily paper, a Gu chocolate pud, a tub of Haagen D) that make life so enjoyable. Disproportionately so. I would therefore look to the bigger things and keep the lovely small things as they are.
Are you a 2+ car family, could you get rid of one?
If you have a lovely home, house-swap for your holiday with someone else who has a lovely home.
Could you cycle to work/school?
Could you rent out a room in your home to a paying lodger? You can earn just over £4,000 per annum tax free under the Government's Rent-a-Room scheme.
If your child goes to an independent school, could he/she change to the state sector for sixth form?

So has the Sunday TImes cut back spending or are their journalists too bloody lazy to do their own research?

Batch cook things like stews and casseroles that take ages to cook. I usually make enough for three meals and freeze the extra. Ditto mashed potatoes, bolognese, chilli etc. Be organised enough to take them out of the freezer the night before you need them and they'll only take five minutes to heat up on the stove.

Shamelessly panhandle relatives for useful birthday presents for your dcs instead of yet more plastic crap things they don't really need. DD got a coat from my Mum, school clothes from IL's and a lunch box from us for her birthday (alongside pink stuff of course). Admittedly this only works for little ones - I can't see a 14yo being that impressed with a sensible coat or a lunch box for their birthday but dd was delighted.

Swedes, if I bought a tub of Haagendaz I'd have to file for bnkruptsy. Is it really only a 'small thing' to most people? Am I really that poor?

we have named the credit crunch- Captain Crunch.

now if we can't afford to go out we say it's Captain Crunch's fault.

My tips
Car Boot everything you would normally give to charity
Ebay stuff that is still got life in it
Drive carefully- no revving or screetching
keep revs below 20.
unload all crap out of car and do not use the aircon ever
stop buying magazines or organize a magazine swap with friends
join freecycle
join Gumtree
Never 'just call in' to Marks and Sparks
Stop buying take away coffee
Make your own packed lunch
Get out and pick masses of blackberries and make mountains of jam

I don't collect change

I spend it

if someone says "that's £1.48 please" I give them £1.48 exactly if I have it

I don't understand saving change at all. It makes no sense to me

are you 78?

I bet you are popular at the till Cappy

well actually Olive they are always happy to take change

smaller shops go "Oh that's lovely thank you"

little shops have to fetch their own change you know the change fairy doesn't bring it down in little golden bags

giving a fiver for everything is idle

idle I say

the little things that make life enjoyable for us include things like heating and electricity.

this fecking house is so damp even towels that you use to dry yourself after a shower are wet the next day.

haagan daaz just winds up on your arse and most newspapers here are just full of Rosie Millard type shite.

this dude's going to have to sink some serious dosh in this place to damp proof it or it's going to be rubble in a couple of years if this weather keeps up.

but at that point we'll be long gone!

I have tried dropping a brand in supermarkets as per Martin Lewis on moneysaverexpert - really does work.

I found supermarket washing brands crap - so buy whatever has a deal on and only use one tablet etc - really works. If the washing is a bit stained then I add some oxiaction - but very rarely.

Get thermostats on radiators and turn off ones in rooms not being used.

Get thrifty with cooking - always use leftovers or freeze etc.

Make the most of special offers in supermarkets e.g. soft fruit - bung in the freezer - great for adding in smoothies straight from the freezer etc.

Freeze leftover wine (if there ever is any) ala Nigella, so when making sauces you have what you need rather than opening another bottle and quafing the rest!

Freeze chicken carcasses and make your own chicken stock - dead easy.

I do only buy organic meat - so have very little.

Have children of the same sex - so you get a lot more wear out of clothes!!!

I'm sure I will think of more - this thread is really good!

I think I'd rather give up a tub of Haagen Das than take my child out of private school for sixth form actually.

Haagan Daas isn't as good as Ben and Jerry's, anyhow .

Cherry Garcia every time

Biggest thing is to stop your morning pret/eat/starbucks coffee and whatever you have to go with it. This saves you loads.

Then, if you can remotely get organised, make your lunch too.

Exercise brand downsizing from whatever you normally buy. If your a lancome girl, go Garnier instead. If you're a Garnier girl, go Simple. If you're a Simple girl, go superdrug own brand.

Leave your cards at home - take cash to work.

Don't wander shops in lunchhour - go for a walk or read a book instead.

Stop buying organic.

Bulk buy BOGOF or reduced items if you have the freezer space.

Ebay everything that isn't nailed down. Other people need the bargains now, and you need the cash.

gergimama - I don't think giving up your ice cream habit, no matter how serious, will be the monetary equivalent of independent school fees for two years. That's the point I was trying to make.

If you are really struggling to find further economies, it is sometimes better to ask yourself how you can increase your income rather than how you can reduce your spending.

Shopping in Netto dressed in failing-lycra leggings to save a few quid isn't the only way to beat the crunch.

Um, I don't wear leggings, with failing lycra or otherwise. I don't really buy ice cream either.

We don't have a Netto, not even sure what it is.

Perhaps a thread about trying to save money is not the place for you to sneer about those who cannot afford any better.

You seemed to be suggesting that the small things (such as ice cream and other small luxuries) made life so much more enjoyable that it was worth doing without bigger things, such as a second car or school fees, to keep them. I don't agree. Is that OK?

Georgimama - I didn't mean to be sneering.

Make a budget and take out weekly money available for food etc. Menu plan and shop to the menu. don't spend on any debit/credit cards - just the cash taken out. Use supermarkets 'basic' ranges - lots of things perfectly good.

Ignore shite like this

I buy all the reduced bread,that needs eating that day.
It's usually £1.70 a loaf, reduced to 30p a loaf ( best bargain was 7p!), and stick the loaves in the freezer. We get through a loaf a day, and I've not had stale/mouldy bread once.It's saved me a fortune!

Also I've found the local Waitrose reduce things at about 5pm, and there are absolute bargains to be had.
I stalk follow the girl around the shop as she reduces things! It's the most thrilling part of the week I tell you!

at that article- the greatest tng to come out of the 40's is a tea dress then? And not the downfall of Hitler or the end of WW"? That's me told then! And damn my lack of a hidden tattoo ,. PMSL!

For internet shoppers, a good tip is to make your menu plan after checking out whats on offer tis week- rather than the other way around and buying extras after the main shop!.

Remember to factor in the cost of petrol to the supermarket if you drive, it can make all the difference when deciding which one

School dinners haven't gone up much; a child who has eaten one only needs a tea, that is usually cheaper on balance if you don't have lots of kids

Collegesw often have cheap hairdresers etc in their training departments

It's better to spend £100 on a huge weekly shop than £75, think you've done well and then end up buying £40 worth of top ups all week long.

Check te cupboards and freezer before you shop, you may be amazed (I seem to have 6 packs of noodles in mine LOL )

Don't buy boks. Join the library.

And if a tub of ice cream (insert treat of choice and expenditure level) with your dh on a Saturday night just helps you deal with all the cut backs you have made then why not? If you can afford it. And obv. if its cheaper than the cutbacks!

make birthday cards, or buy a pack of nice notelets and send them instead. Cards are so expensive in shops.

use half a dishwasher tablet instead of full, cos thats usually all you need.

join a toy library

Use moneysavingexpert website by Martin Lewis, he's the guru!