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

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Menu plan for the week, before going shopping (preferably to Lidl ).

Dramatically reduces good waste and has the benefit of reducing brain ache, wondering each day what is going to be for supper. Somehow doing it in one go is less effort and means one thing ticked off your "To Do" list

Use a free downloadable monthly meal planner, doubling up for each meal. Using your planner, do a weekly food shop online which will prevent you from putting extra things in your basket that catch your eye (especially when you go food shopping when you're hungry and end up with a trolley full of biscuits and cakes).

Instead of buying coffee on a day trip Buy a really nice pack of coffee and use a cafetière to make a flask full. I usually find it's far nicer than the coffee you buy on a day out.

Reusable wipes for hands and faces at home. You can buy mini towels from ikea for 30p each which can just be thrown in the wash.

Reusable baby wipes and cloth nappies.

I use eBay a lot for both buying and selling. So I manage to get a fair amount on my PayPal account and buy cheap stuff on eBay (kids clothes etc). I have recently also been cutting down on luxuries and making sure i really need something before buying. I used to waste quite a bit of money this way!

With a big family like myself money always seems to be tight so am often on the lookout for savings and money saving ideas a few tips that work for me and my family are finding days out with the kids which cost very little or free often going to a museum which is also educational and making sandwiches for picnic at the park. I also use websites such as groupon and wowcher for amazing deals up to 70% off and websites such as preloved and gumtree for cheaper or free furniture or even a trip to my local charity shop which makes me feel good as I'm also giving back to my local charities

I will always look for the best deals, using voucher codes where I can. Also trying to think if I really need whatever it is I am buying in the first place. Putting loose change in a jar also brings in a bit of a rainy day fund and definitely taking your own packed lunch to work.

I buy all my presents in sales for birthdays and christmases throughout the year and put them away

I use price comparison sites and cashback sites for online purchases. I do the main food shop at Aldi which saves a considerable sum and I never over stock the cupboards or the freezer which cuts out any food waste.

Well we do the obvious. At renewed time we compare and swap if need be on car, bike, pet and home insurance. At the end of each deal we always see if there is an energy provider with a better deal and we swap. It's so easy and over the years we've been with a few. We've recently had smart meters put in which promoted DH to swap the light bulbs for LED ones. More expensive in outlay but more energy efficient and don't blow like the last ones. Any debt on credit cards are swapped to one with a 0% on balance transfers. At the end of the month there isnt anything to put away for our savings but I put £20 a month away into DDs savings account and have done for 3 years now. We've changed our shopping to aldi and we always menu plan to avoid food wastage. That's pretty much. Owt we manage but it al helps.

Definitely at least try the non-brand items! Some are better than the branded. Try to stop food waste by only buying in bulk if you're definitely going to eat it before it goes off. Be sensible with best before dates, things don't automatically go off at midnight.

eBay and local Facebook selling pages/second hand markets/charity shop can save you LOADS! You can get some great quality stuff second hand.

Look out for free things to do with kids, e.g. at libraries, parks etc rather than expensive kids classes. There are also loads of activities to do at home using stuff you already have/cheap stuff - just look it up on the internet.

In store they usually have good savings on end of line items which are much much cheaper than online so it's worth skulking around shops if you have a spare hour or lunch break

Sell unwanted items and register unused gifts.

Check out you utility bills and see if you can get cheaper elsewhere and make sure you check direct debits - I have had some that have carried on collecting payments after the term is up.

If you have a talent, making clothes, baking etc see if you can provide a service in your area. Whether it be for payment or trade swap you will be saving money in the long run.

Put extra pennies away at the end of each day. If your.m bank balance is £12.54 transfer the .54 or even the 2.54 to a savings account. You will be surprised how soon it adds up.

We tend to buy meat close to its sell by date with yellow labels and then freeze it

It's a small thing but I've recently bought a reusable water bottle and a plastic coffee cup. I save money because I'm not constantly buying bottles of water. Most coffee shops give a small discount if you use your own cup. And it's better for the environment too!

Use coupons and vouchers

I do not do top up shops i buy enough for the week once its gone its gone . I meal plan what i need/we eat.

We dont each much bread or milk this dose help i suppose

Other tip is very simple packed lunch
Salad
Soup
Wrap
Fruit
Water

We all eat the same evening meal im lucky the kids are not fussy.meat or fish with jacket or rice salad or veg

At the end of the week i put all the money in my purse in the change jar.this is then used for a day out as a family normaly weekend away in uk

Reduce washing by wearing clothes more than once

Rainy day play with bag of flour salt water and food colouring is very cheap fun

Make extra for tea each night and that's your packed lunch.

Our joint account is just for direct debits. I diarise when a deal is up and search via comparison sites/money saving expert for a better deal.. checking it with cash back site Quidco to see which will work out the best. I then try to haggle.. sometimes it works, otherwise I switch!

on payday we pay straight into savings so we know what we have left for rest of month.

Always check prices online to see if I can get cheaper elsewhere. Don't use branded goods unless they work out cheaper (will often pop into home bargains to help with this!)

Oh and switch banks depending on incentives.. currently with the ones who pay most interest on current accounts

My suggestion is don't have children! I used to have loads of savings but since having children it has all dwindled away.

I think I underestimated how much money gets spent once children are in school, e.g. Extracurricular activities, snack money, family days out, etc.

I have always been a strong budgeter, I know where all my money goes, but taking part in activities, to give my children a good, well rounded childhood, is more expensive than I thought.

Checking end of line items in shops tends to be much much cheaper than just looking online.

Dh grew up being very thrifty and does lots of things that I had never thought of. When I've finished cooking he'll leave the oven door slightly open once it's off to let the heat warm the room; he cuts open toothpastes etc once he can't get any more out to get the last drops out; and we're very good at using leftover food the next day or batch cooking to reduce food waste.

My first tip is to look at your savings account as an outgoing. As soon as I get paid I put money into my ISA.
My second tip is to shop around, as you are more likely to find items cheaper elsewhere. I use the following: Aldi, Morrisons, Home Bargains, and Iceland.
My third tip is to use cashback sites like Quidco, and Topcashback. I have made around £100 back in the last 8 months. Apps like Shopmium, Shopitize, and check out smart are also great for freebies and discounts.

I buy everything in sales all clothes xmas/birthday gifts and anything else I find. I buy loads of yellow sticker products in the supermarket. Shop around for best deals. Use cash back sites. Use coupons. I have 3 boys so clothes etc get handed down if still in good nick. Always take lunch to work. Take picnics on days out with the kids.

Just make the effort to cook things yiurself from scratch. You can introduce so much variety and chill or freeze extra portions for the next day or another time.It's so expensive to buy ready meals. Also, do your shopping to last a week - don't keep going back for thinsg or you will spend more.

Take a look down each aisle in the supermarket. So much of it is rubbish or convenience foods at high retail margins. Miss out these aisles altogether.

Use your local fresh food outlets like the butcher or the baker - they need your support.