Money saving tips

[hello]

Hi girls i just thought it would be nice to have a thread where we can share all our money saving tips whether it be something we've seen on offer, a cheap meal idea or something similar. Im sure we could all benefit.
Someone mentioned early using less washing powder than it says to on the box and still works as well.

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

Less powder does work, that's what I do!
I do my weekly food shop online and get it delivered, saves me at least £10-20 a week!

 

[hello]

I made a big stew this week in the slow cooker using 99p chicken leg quarters and 99p vedge pack from Aldi and stock fed us for lunch and dinner just £1.98 bargain!! Was lush

 

[dyscochick]

we did the same but with some beef on sale (we had enough to freeze for another meal), and with some of the left over veg i added a sweet potato and made soup which did another meal!

 

[AyeshaD]

Yeah would love to know how to save every penny

 

[CARNAT22]

I have loads:

* Check all your suppliers (energy / broadband / Sky / mobile phone / insurance premiums etc) to make sure you have the most cost effective package
* Provide regular readings to your electricity suppliers and call them once a year to make sure you are being charged correctly if you pay monthly.
* Shop around - I live within walking distance of several big supermarkets so I can pick and choose where I shop depending on the deal
* Buy things that "keep" when on special offer (toilet rolls / cleaning stuff / canned goods etc)
* Go to supermarket at end of the day as lots of things are reduced - they can go into your freezer
* Plan your meals in advance to minimise waste and stop impulse food buys
* go veggie a few times per week, not eating meat saves money
* Buy Christmas presents through-out the year
* Get all your Xmas cards, wrapping paper etc in the January sales and stick them away until you need them
* Put all your silver change through-out the year into a jar and count up before Xmas - this will buy your tree / Xmas food etc...
* Look at websites like Toptable for money off deals when going out to eat.
* For trips to cinema sign up to Orange Wednesday
* Sell anything unwanted on Ebay / Amazon

Luckily we're OK for money at the moment but OH is self employed so if it all goes wrong we have options!

 

[Doodles]

ooh so glad I came across this thead! We're saving for a mortgage as of next year, as well as a car, a trip to Disney (2013) and a trip to Thomas World (We're trying to get Doodles to see all his heroes before he gets too old) not to mention doing our home up, so this thread is great! I shall add on whenever I think of/see one x

 

[MissT]

Ive got the nickname Voucher Girl from my other half and best friend as I try and save money any way I can so here a few tips from me:

Sign up to the online cashback sites so when you shop online you can get money back for doing so! They also have vouchers on there and ways to earn pennies for free!

*Before I go out shopping I always check the voucher websites to see if there are any money off vouchers (even 10% off makes a difference).
*Sign up to survey sites that pay you to answer a few simple questions or to test a product.
*Cook extra and divide into small portions to be frozen. These can be taken out of the freezer the night before and used for lunches
*Save christmas cards to cut up and make gift tags for next year. The same can be done for birthday cards
*Make sure you sign up to all the points cards available where you shop, its amazing how many points you miss out on.

I'm sure theres loads more but my brain isnt working tonight so I will post back as soon as I can think of more! We need to save as much as possible by the summer!

 

[JJ Mum]

Great ideas

I always add water to the last bit of a bottle of concentrated fabric softner for the washing machine, and shake and you can get about 3 more washes out of it.

I always add a whole diced aubergine (my kids don't like mushrooms, so these would do and are cheeper), to mince when making spagetti bolonaise sauce, and it bulks up the one pack of mince 500g, to double, and you can freeze the second batch or use to make lasagne for freezer.

I'm trying only paying cash for shopping now in 2012, and also writing down everything I buy, so there is more guilt /awareness of where money is going

I'm going to start paying for birthdays and xmas in Jan onwards, I always say I'm going to do it , and never do and xmas is alwnays a job to find the money

 

[hopefulmummy]

Ooh, jj good suggestions abou the aubergine I'll be trying that!

 

[dyscochick]

Great ideas


I always add a whole diced aubergine (my kids don't like mushrooms, so these would do and are cheeper), to mince when making spagetti bolonaise sauce, and it bulks up the one pack of mince 500g, to double, and you can freeze the second batch or use to make lasagne for freezer.

we do this with mushrooms cos OH doesn't like aubergine but we generally chuck any veg in, makes it healthier and go for up 6 or more meals sometimes.

Another one we did for a while (not sure if they are still doing it) was the asda price check. its a bit of a far but we got £5 for doing the price check and then if the shop would have been cheaper elsewhere (and before xmas it was cheaper at waitrose of all places) we got a voucher for that too! so we have nearly £9 off our next shop!

One REALLY good tip is not to be taken in by some of the offers. ALWAYS compare the cost by weight cos sometimes so called big value packs are more expensive! We buy cheese etc on the price/kilo weight which makes it easy to compare across the board and find the cheapest. Same for washing powders etc!

 

[Doodles]

a lamb stew is a yummy & cheap meal

asda smart price lamb pack £2.50 (though you can often find these in the reduced section for around £1.50)
asda frozen casserole veg £1
asda mint jelly £0.60

coat the lamb in about 2/3 of the jelly and brown the meat in a big pot while you boil the kettle
cover the lamb in boiling hot water (a kettle full), put the lid on & leave to simmer for 30mins
add 1kg casserole veg, put the lid on & leave to simmer for another 20mins

leave to stand until just before ready to serve (keep the lid on) & heat through

this does us for 2 dinners (there's myself, hubby & our 3yr old), so 2 main meals for £4.10

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instead of buying sqaush try making your own flavoured water!

a jug of water, 1/2 an orange sliced, 1/2 a lemon sliced. Put all together in the fridge overnight

it costs us £1.19 to make enough for two weeks x
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instead of buying products to shine your sinks and taps, take a few drops of washing detergent liquid and mix with hot water, put a little on a cleaning cloth and wipe over metal surfices, I was surprised at how shiny it made everything x

 

[littlemiss83]

planning meals in advance works wonders, not only do you pay less, you also dont over-eat. I buy only what I need from the shopping, I dont buy for example, special offers on crisps, I only buy one multipack each week, 1 pack of biscuts, ect ect. If I want anything extra like a bottle of fizzy juice I buy from the corner shop.

I get my shopping delivered online coz its cheaper than a bus & taxi (dont drive)

I'll try & think of some more

 

[TundraOwl]

we've found that sometimes single cans etc.. work out cheaper than the multipack versions, tesco are a bugger for this! eg, its cheaper to buy 2 single tesco value garlic breads than the same type but 2 in a paock... go figure! lol we always look at the little price on the price ticket that says how much it is per 100g/ml or what ever
its amazing how much you can save just buy doing this!

 

[Doodles]

^^ wss

 

[LaurenMM]

Got one for making money - eBay!! (Sorry if someone else has already suggested this). I'm a massive hoarder and at the moment I'm selling 40 items of clothing on ebay (yes 40, and my wardrobe is still bursting lol) and I've got some really high bids on a few items and everything is being watched! The items arent anything particularly special but you'd be surprised at how many people would buy your stuff - I'm ALWAYS looking on ebay for bargains and clothes!! xx

 

[Doodles]

I've thought of chucking a few things on ebay, but arent the charges quit high? x

 

[Doodles]

plus I never know how much to charge for potage lol x

 

[JJ Mum]

I live right by the town centre, and OH works for sainsburys , so we shop there all the time as OH gets discount. But they have just built a waitrose right near our house, takes me 2 mins to walk there, so bit close really!! I was trying not to go in there as expensive and no discount - but I have realised that as it's open till 9pm, cakes will be marked down to 20pence at 6/7pm!! and then if you go at lunchtime after todlers, then the discounting lady has been round the meat, fish and bread sections by then!! You can get lovely products all for a bargain. I think they make sure everything is really fresh as it's a good shop and so turn over the date quickly, so brilliant for me....... worth a look

Oh and they have pasta shaped like large car wheels, kids will love it!!

 

[hello]

Anyone know the best time to shop in evenings when things start getting reduced?