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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Ebay. Enough said.

Since January we've cut our weekly food shop from £120 to about £85-£90 per week. We also try and go every 9-10 days rather than every 7.
We recently tried a different supermarket and after doing a comparison like for like we worked out we saved £20 in one shop.

I'm a member of receipt hog so by just downloading any receipts I get or happen to find I get coins.
The more coins you have the more money you get. Between Jan and xmas I should have enough for a £50 amazon gift card so that's pressies and all for free
I'm also a member of some sites where you get cashback for weekly goods and as long as you only take up the offers for things you would normally buy it can add up.
Over three different sites I've got £15 already saved and I just got £35 cashback for setting up my dds new phone contract via a website.

I used to buy skincare at least £15-£20 per item.
I now buy the Aldi lacura range. A day moisturiser a night moisturiser and a serum for under £10 and they are the best I've ever used.

We have cut down eating meat seven days a week to about three and the money saved on meat is spent on more fresh fruit and veg so we are all eating healthier aswell

I found ordering on line means we spend less - even allowing for delivery costs. Mainly because I don't buy extra treats or things i just fancy because I've seen them when hungry. I also will go pop to the kitchen before checking out to see if I need rice/pasta/onions etc, but often in the supermarket, I can't quite remembr if there's enough in and put another pack in the trolly...

Another vote for meal planning, I admit I'm not great with money but meal planning means I don't spend extra on multiple trips to the supermarket. I've also recently switched to Lidl for most of our food and Home Bargains for cleaning products. I also raid the reduced sections at asda and Lidl for meat and bashed tins are usually half price.

1. Making homemade take outs - healthier and cheaper! Here's a photo of a pizza I made for dinner tonight, £3.50 for the whole thing.

2. Make pack lunches for everyone in the family.

3. Save change up in a money box, and use it for a cinema trip at the end of the month :)

4. Using cashback sites and shopping around for deals before buying anything to ensure I get the best price.

5. Buying the basic brand for some things when I can't notice the difference (I try them out sometimes, a "downgrade", to see if there is a notable difference in quality), such as digestive biscuits, pulses and some vegetables.

If you shop in a Supermarket, start with the cheapest option. If you don't like the cheapest, scale up one at a time.

We've had a big change to finances this year so I've really had to look at how we spend, these are a few of things that have helped us;

I do one big shop a month and batch cook. We've cut our shopping for £100/week to £150 a month. It also means we are eating proper meals (providing I remember to take it out the freezer). We also withdraw the money at the beginning of the month and use cash to shop. Can't go over budget if you haven't got more money with you.

For days out we always take a picnic, saves dropping £20/30 on lunch and snacks. Oh and buying a decent drinks bottle each, this was an expensive outlay but saves on bottled drinks.

We've also changed our choice of days out. Previous school holidays would have been trips to the cinema or maybe a farm. Now we take a friend to the park and Dd is young enough to love this.

Like others as soon as we get paid putting £50 in to savings (would love to use this money but I think it's important to have an emergency fund) and another £50 in a separate account so when insurances are due we can pay them off in 1 lump sum and save in that. Also shopping around when insurances are due and using cash back.

At the beginning of the month withdrawing the amount we need for school clubs and having it in a set jar. Means we don't take a tenner out and waste the change, it saves faffing for change as well.

Sure there are loads more ways I can save so I'm watching this with interest.

We shop around.. for food, insurance, utlilties. I'm not brand loyal as I can't afford to be!

I shop in aldi and cook from scratch. We've got meat free for one meal a week which saves a fortune.
Pack ups for work and school.

Shop in Aldi. Meal plan, it saves so much money, for example roast a whole chicken one day, use half the leftovers on day two in a pie, then the other half on day three in a curry/stir fry/pasta sauce.

Batch cook and freeze - bulk out meat with lentils to stretch it further (in bolognaise or cottage pies etc).

Reuse anything you can.

Grow any food you can - salads and herbs save lots of money.

Keep on top of utilities and mortgage deals.

Menu plan - I just have a rough idea what I'm doing for the week, based on what's in the fridge, needs using etc. and have a kitchen blackboard for menu list and shopping list and assorted doodles

Never throw food away - make soup instead.

We meal plan for everything and shop in Aldi, this has saved us loads. Recently we got rid of our second car and that has made a huge difference to our spending. It requires a bit of planning but actually we don't miss it at all.

Make the freezer your friend. We grow quite a bit of fruit and veg and freeze a lot. We also pop across to our local Tesco Express on an evening for last minute marked-down bargains - many of which can be frozen. Avacados are good to freeze as they can be used for dips, mousses and baking. Any veg of course. We also buy bread for 5p for feeding the ducks which makes for a cheap outing.

My biggest tip is shop around - I go to different shops to buy different things. For example, I always buy branded washing liquid and tea bags from home bargains because it's a lot cheaper for the larger bottle/box.

We put all our change into a large bottle and take that to a Coinstar machine every few months.

I am also a member of a shopping panel where I scan my shopping and submit the barcodes in exchange for points which I can exchange for vouchers online.

We also plan on starting a savings account for our two little boys once we start to get more money coming in.

i find by doing my food shop daily i save money as i can buy the foods that are dated for that day! i also eat what i fancy on the day and dont waste anything!

Meal planning is the way to go - make a list of what you need for the weeks meals and stick to it

Buy supermarket own brands there is hardly any difference in taste and you can always add some spice or herb to any meal to give it more flavour and have a List of what you making each night for Tea so you stick to that make your own cakes and bread it is so much cheaper than store bought and nicer.
Save up each year for birthdays , Christmas and holidays put a set amount each week or month away and stick to that amount so you know exactly how much you have to work with when the time comes to book your holiday , buy that birthday present and Christmas present.

Ignore 'best before' dates and just use common sense, if it looks OK and smells OK eat it.

I shop around to get the best deal on cleaning products, toilet rolls etc, I always look on the 'happy shelf' for reduced items in the supermarket.

I take a travel mug on my commute so I can make tea at home instead of buying one.

I put £2 coins into a piggy bank to save up for a treat.

I have lots of saving pots for different things and I empty spare change from my purse into each pot.
Only use the tumble dryer if absolutely necessary.
Always look online to find the cheapest price for everything and go through quidco
We never go to a park right before dinner, I always ensure we have had dinner or take snacks to avoid buying from a cafe

I never buy anything before scouring the internet for money off deals - there are so many fantastic websites available now which make it so easy for you!

I also plan everything out for the week ahead - we have a food shop budget and stick to it, it really makes a difference when you're not chucking random things in to your basket.

First things first, on payday we transfer a sum into our savings account which is used for Christmas, holidays etc, so that when these events roll around we're not "taken by surprise" and trying to fund them out of one month's pay.
Next, I keep a detailed spreadsheet of every penny that comes out of our current account, be it direct debits, card payments, cash withdrawals etc. That way I can see at a glance exactly how much money we have left over at any given point in the month.
I also make sure to write a meal plan every week, I then check what we need to stock up on, make a shopping list and rarely stray from it when doing the food shop. I don't do all my shopping in one place though, for example I know that Aldi is cheapest and best for stuff like cereal, pancakes/crumpets, butter, yogurt etc so I buy that there. Household stuff like tissues, toilet rolls etc come from Home & Bargain. Most frozen stuff I get in Iceland, and anything else that is not cheaper elsewhere I go to Tesco for. It means that the weekly shop takes about 2 hours but it's worth it as I have cut my shopping bill from around £120 a week to around £85 - that's for five of us, and always includes a bottle of wine too.

Taking your lunch to work, saves a fortune! :)

I plan my meals in advance to avoid food wasteage.

Buy non-branded medicine, which usually have the some active ingredients but at a much lower price