What are your thrifty money-saving tips? Share with Scottish Friendly to win a £300 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AmeliaMumsnet]

Scottish Friendly are launching the Great British Savings Challenge to encourage people to think about their saving habits and financial security. For young people in the future, saving for a financially secure family is going to get tougher, so Scottish Friendly want to encourage a positive discussion on the subject, by asking you for your top thrifty money-saving tips.

Here’s what Scottish Friendly have to say: ‘The Great British Savings Challenge will follow 2 families from across the UK spanning a range of family and financial circumstances. Each family will take on a series of challenges; ranging from only using cash for a month to see if they keep track of expenditure more closely, to swapping the brand they buy at the supermarket.

Each family will produce blogs and vlogs each month to be hosted on the Scottish Friendly website. Readers will able to keep track of their progress, the problems each family faces along the way and how they work through these.’

So, whether you put aside percentage of your wages, or just rifle around the sofa cushions every few months for small change.. Maybe you plan all of your lunchtime packed lunches to avoid expensive coffee shop sandwiches or have a cheaper home-made alternative to branded cleaning products.. Share your top thrifty tips for saving money on the thread below and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

For another chance to win, add your money saving tips to Scottish Friendly's Facebook post to be entered into a prize draw for a £10 gift card.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

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[AmeliaMumsnet]

@Ren1974 Has won a £300 voucher!

[charliejr]

My 15 month old HATES vegetables, when I say hate, I mean really hate. He eats plenty of fruit but can sniff a vegetable a mile off. How can I get veggie goodness into his diet?

[catgirl2]

I ban myself from popping to the shops when I am lacking inspiration for cooking. I pull everything out and with some googling work out a recipie I can cook with what I have. Also reducing how much meat we eat has helped. Tend to have meat once or twice a week max and then have alternatives like halloumi.

[pinkunicornsarefluffy]

I do an online shop once a week. That stops me popping out to the shop for milk or bread and picking up extras. I only buy new clothes when something falls apart. I buy a lot of DD's clothes in charity shops.

I don't have any debt apart from a car loan on a 0% credit card.

[mummytosophia]

Shop at night time about an hour before the store closes. I often get meat reduced. My best buys have included mince reduced from £5 to 38p and a whole chicken for £1.49!
Also at bank holidays and christmas, easter etc they usually have lots of things (cards wrap etc) reduced after the event ends so stock up then.

[Polyanthus]

Meal planning is great - it's saves time, hassle and money.

I try not not to impulse buy. I like a shopping trip with my friend or daughter. (Or just on my own!) but I tend to browse not buy. If I see something I like, I'll try it on but almost never buy it there and then. If I go home and think about it and still want it the next week, I'll buy it then. But very often i decide I don't actually want it,

And if I am in the mood for actual shopping, I love a trip to charity shops. I go to a "naice" town where there will be good stuff. And I mentally assign any money I spend as a charitable donation - if I find something that does earn its place in my wardrobe that's a bonus but I don't feel bad if I end up giving the item back to a charity shop if not.m

[IllMetByMoonlight]

I try to think in terms of the planet and making the best use of limited resources, and find that this saves me £££.
I buy as many items of clothing and household goods as I can on eBay or elsewhere second hand.
We eat very little meat and rarely drink.
We grow most of our own fruit and veg for about a third of the year.
I use reusable sanitary products.
We holiday in the UK.
We try to tune out of the societal narrative (and expectation) of consumption, which tends to foster discontent with what one has.
We ask ourselves whether it really is necessary before we chose to buy / replace as opposed to fixing or tweaking.
We budget fairly carefully and save approximately one fifth of our joint income each month in a high interest bond, as a non-negotiable which goes out of our current accounts the day after pay day.

[AwkwardAnnie]

At the start of the month I have standing orders to pay money into savings for the kids. I also have one for £200 into my savings account. My aim is to not spend that money. Some months I end up moving some back but it's there​ as a back up or for birthdays etc If the amount gets large (doesn't often) then it gets transferred to an account which isn't as easy to access.

Don't buy your lunch from the supermarket.
I used to pop into a supermarket to get lunches for a few days and spend £20- £40 a time on other bits. We moved office a while ago and i now go to the sandwich shop and spend £10 a week. The first month after we moved i had £200 left in my account at the end of the month where usually I'd be dipping into savings.

I've also done the penny savings thing (save 1p on 1st Jan, 2p on 2nd Jan) except I do it randomly across the year so that December isn't stupidly expensive. Last year i managed it all, saved over £600 which paid for all the Christmas presents.

[BoodlesMcToodles]

Meal planning, shopping list, and full tummies before starting the shop. Or better still, shop online

[okilydokily]

Charity shops and local Facebook selling pages for books and toys (and clothes sometimes!). I also plan meals and cook in bulk and freeze extra portions. Take a flask of tea or coffee on a day out.

[IonaAilidh11]

i check offer in supermarkets and shop around

[Badders123]

Shop around!
For everything!
Just saved £150 a year on our home insurance and will get £50 in vouchers
We've just locked in a great deal for our remortgage
I'm not brand loyal at all - I shop wherever it's most convenient or where the good deals are that week
Amazon prime is a godsend - free next day delivery 📦 on so much stuff!
Agree on at least 2 meat free days a week
Cut down on wine etc only at weekends

[Happyhippy45]

I bulk buy staples such as rice, spices, soy sauce, sesame oil, noodles, flours etc from the Asian grocers.
Also bulk buy loo rolls and laundry detergent.
I cook from scratch and don't buy jars of sauces etc.
I don't waste food.
I use basic brands of toilet/kitchen/bathroom cleaners etc.
I check out the reduced section of the supermarket and only buy if it's something I'd normally use.
I make packed lunches.
Don't buy takeaways and very very rarely eat out.
I turn the heating down a bit and put a jumper on if I'm cold.
Wash clothes on a low temperature.
Line dry clothes instead of tumble drying.
....there's definitely more things I do.......oh yeah, instead of going to the barbers for a buzz cut, I cut Ds and DH hair at home with a pair of clippers.

[mugglebumthesecond]

Don't ever leave the house unless you really have to! It will always cost you something. And remember if you buy something you don't need you're only stealing from yourself.

[colleenw]

Set up a savings account now - whatever your age and for whatever the reason just get it going!
Get a private pension - it may seem like a long way off now but you'll thank your young self for doing it when the time come!
Budget every month - limit how much you spend on the things you want each month. Waiting for it will make you appreciate it all more!
Lastly - shop around for essentials, grocery shopping etc....

[Perihelion]

When we were in debt years ago I made us write down every spend for three months. It helped to see where money was going and reduced spending as it was harder to justify frittering money away when we could see how small amounts add up.

[lifelongfrugaleer]

Shop around for best price, research coupons/discounts, use cash back sites.
Sometimes paying extra for quality is better - remember buy cheap, buy twice.

Not being brand loyal, using own label ranges, using local suppliers such as butcher. Not always cheaper but better quality so less is needed.

Looking after things to extend their life such as clothes not always being tumbled.

My biggest thing though is planning. Plan the next week, months, year to minimise expensive surprises

[annandale]

I'm quite brand loyal to some things - mainly Fairtrade and Waitrose. Therefore I know we spend more on food than we need to. However I am happy with the food we eat and we almost never eat out in order to afford it. DH does the online shop and that keeps our costs more predictable.

We check our gas and electricity bills and ask for a payment reduction if we're in credit. It's a pain as they always want a new meter reading but we need the money more than they do.

I started saving for ds when he was very small and we were quite skint, but I managed £1 a week into a building society account with the best interest rate I could find. Fast forward a decade and I'm up to £20 a month. However when we got the inevitable 'cutting your rate to 0.8%' letter, I took out the money and bought 5year National Savings bonds which at least give us 2.5%. The account stays open so there is a bit of cash he can access when he's older.

[del2929]

stocking up when theres an offer on
using coupons
reward schemes

[goingmadinthecountry]

With 2 children at university (1 post grad so no living costs loan available) money is really tight right now.

I meal plan and stick to it - also no coffees out unless really really needed. Make up for this by only having lovely filter coffee at home/work.

For shopping fun I put stuff in my online basket then cancel - all the fun of shopping without the cost! Sad? Maybe, but it's filling a hole this year.

[SreeSai]

On top of maintaining an accounts book where I record the family spendings every day I also spend some time looking for websites, apps where you can earn money for free like FreepostCodelottery (most of the MNters know this I guess). I also saw an app called Winaton, which is a relatively new app. I saw the advert in the small biz forum just today. says you can win up to £1000!

[librarypictures]

I check my supermarket for prices on more expensive items they can usually be found on offer somewhere. Luckily I live near a large Tesco and work near Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Waitrose so shopping around is quite easy.
Any clothes, electrical items, CDs etc that are no longer being used go on eBay - most don't sell for much but it does quickly add up.
Use cash back sites and look for discount codes on Hotukdeals, MSE etc.
When buying cars consider looking further afield - main dealership had a car locally I liked but another branch of same dealership about 1 hour away (less prosperous area) had the same car, less mileage for £2k cheaper and still able to use the local branch in case of any problems, servicing etc.
Buy a Contigo (or similar) non leak travel mug and religiously fill with coffee before going out. I've saved loads taking my own drink and it stays hot enough for a couple of hours. Always take own snacks or sandwiches too.

[Northgate]

Grocery shopping online - much easier to avoid impulse buying stuff we don't really need if I'm not physically in the shop.

We're trying to get a bit more organised with packed lunches too, both for DH at work and on days out. Buying food out can get expensive very quickly.

[Rae1000]

So many. don't go to the shops too often. Buy reduced items & freeze them. Buy kids toys or the like if on good offer & stock up for kids parties. Cook from scratch is another money saver!

[Andbabymakesthree]

We have a milk man and also freeze bread to prevent those last minute trips to supermarket!