Your best money-saving tips!

[Flowergirl14]

Use cash back sites when buying online. e.g. I use Quidco when renewing car and household insurance, and often get £30-£40 back. I use them and then go through gocompare.com or some such site.

Shopping list when shopping, or order food shopping online.

 

[MrsLucas]

When we have a project planned for the house we do majority of our food shopping at Aldi. It does save a lot of money. We’re a family of 4, 5 including my dog . We don’t really budget as such because life is very short and we work hard. but if we do want to do something big like we’ve just Almost completed our loft conversion. Lock down helped because we weren’t taking the children out or going out our selfs but we just did majority of our shopping at aldi. I also use the cash back online that’s a really good one actually. Prices are rising for just about everything these days and I know life can be extremely difficult for families.

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

-As soon as I get paid, I move a certain amount of money into each of my savings accounts.

-I make a meal plan each week and cook most meals from scratch.

-I buy high street or supermarket clothes, bags and shoes rather than designer.

 

[lokiofasgard]

I shop at the second hand stores. You get a lot of unique clothes and we have a chain in Estonia called Humana, it has normal prices, then as weeks go by before new stock, everything is 3 euros, then 2 euros, then 1 euro until they get next stock. It is difficult to find things when most of the good stuff has gone, but I have been lucky some times as well.

Most of my money goes on food as well, but I refuse to hold back there, hahhaa.

 

[Bubblesandflowers]

I work on a zero based budget. This means that every single penny has a purpose. I will make sure every part of my money has a purpose and gets sent to the right place on pay day. Make sure you do budget to have fun because that way you won't feel so guilty and you are less likely to go off the budget rails.
As others have said - pay straight into savings on payday! Pay yourself first.
For me I put money into savings in two points of the month. 1) Payday (22nd) 2) 1st of the next month. I have a lot of regular savers which I fund and rotate so they always get paid on 1st. I will hide the money I'm due to save into a different pot for the week or so.

In terms of saving money I am trying to use more supermarket own brand products.

Cooking from scratch and freezing. I also have some birds eye chicken boxes in the freezer for the busy/lazy nights to help resist a take away.

I will always have left overs the next day for lunch.

 

[laughing]

Order on line food shopping for exactly what you need. If you don't go to the supermarket, you don't end up buying more and spending more.

 

[Flowergirl14]

Use Olio app for food.
I donate to it too, so I feel it balances out.

 

[Former_Antelopee]

I put money straight into my savings account when I get paid. I use premium bonds as my savings account, as it means I can’t get the money out straight away if I decide I want to buy something so I usually don’t end up taking it out as I can’t be bothered/by the time it gets into my account I’ll probably change my mind about buying it. I also think I’ve made more from it than if I put it into a savings account - last year I think I won £100 or 125 and this year so far I’ve won £50).
I work out how much everything costs and how much monthly spending I’ll give myself usually around £300. I usually over estimate bills/activities slightly so if I do go a bit over I’ll have spare.
I use plum as well although I usually end up transferring it out often but it often it works as a little extra spending per month if I need it. Like this month I have £10 left in my account until pay day which should be fine but I’ve got £50 in my plum account so if I need it I can use that.
I also save on presents by buying whenever sales are on - I bought all my Christmas presents in April (apart from one) when Debenhams was closing and I saved around half on what is usually spend.

 

[*tongue-pop*]

Find out when your local supermarket does the final yellow stickers. It’s a game changer and a life saver. Money is very very tight for me and has been for a while and tbh before this i never even thought about reduced foods just used to buy everything full price.

I hate being one of the “regulars” but I’m respectful of staff and not a pusher or a shover I promise
some of the regulars are a bloody nightmare though! It makes me cringe

It has honestly helped us get by the past 6 months and at least the food is not just being thrown out.

if you have a Morrison near you their reductions are incredible. My local tends to do their final reductions about 6.30-7pm and I pop round 2-3 times a week and manage to get a good variety of stuff to last us. When I say cheap I mean cheap. Their bakery items go to like 10-20p. Fruit is always less than 30p and ready meals and meat generally between 50-70p.

also apps like Shopmium and checkoutsmart are good. You do have to buy the initial product but all you have to do is scan your receipt in and they pay you back the money in a day or so.

when I (rarely) buy clothes I only shop in the charity shops now. My local YMCA is awesome and nothing is over £3

My dad is a yellow sticker fiend! Always dropping us off pastry's and fruits and bits and Bobs that were 10p each still mega tasty!! I'm going to start going to my local Asda and do some yellow sticker shopping as I think it will save me a fortune

We do grow a lot of food on our allotment such as spinach, lettuce, rhubarb etc

I use topcash back for most online purchases although I am trying to limit myself nowadays

I purchase all of our soaps from https://www.naturalsoapoffcuts.co.uk/ (not sure the link is allowed?) As I use shampoo bars for my hair nowadays and we use hand soap as we are also trying to be zero waste- each 1.4kg box is under £8 (whereas I was paying about £7 A BAR!)

Little things like I turn all plugs off when not in use, charge my phone up fully and use the battery saver settings to make it last longer, walk where I can instead of taking the car or public transport, putting on an extra layer instead of turning the heating on where possible,

We used reusable nappies for the majority of babe wearing nappies

I do the washing with soap nuts and I'm still on the first big bag I purchased which was well over a year ago now (the bag was £10 ISH from bodykind where I also accumulate points for spending when I buy eco products)

We take picnics rather than eating out although will treat ourselves to an ice cream etc

I make a lot of my own beauty products where possible - body scrubs from sugar mixed with coconut oil, face masks made from bananas etc (haha I sound crackers)

Facebook marketplace can often have quite good bargains and I've found people tend to leave some amazing stuff outside thier houses they no longer want ( I live near a city so may be why) for example I've got a beautiful wooden patio set (a round table and 4 chairs) I have sanded down and just need a lick of paint - they look new and I could leave them as they are but I have a colourful garden we also got a lot of things for little one such as a ride on bike, scooter, lots of little cars etc ... People chuck away some brilliant stuff!!

I can't think of any more right now

 

[mcfeez]

Reduced food in the supermarket or local shops is a great way to save money! Sometimes we've got amazing bargains. You can often learn when the best times to go is, or even ask the staff. I got great quality beef burgers.

Online shopping for "big shops" is a good way to make sure you only buy what you need - plan your meals out and look in your freezer/cupboards, use what you already have.

Quidco for when you are buying anything! But especially when doing stuff like changing your internet or insurance providers.

Reduced food in the supermarket or local shops is a great way to save money! Sometimes we've got amazing bargains. You can often learn when the best times to go is, or even ask the staff. I got great quality beef burgers.

Online shopping for "big shops" is a good way to make sure you only buy what you need - plan your meals out and look in your freezer/cupboards, use what you already have.

Quidco for when you are buying anything! But especially when doing stuff like changing your internet or insurance providers.

I posted this without finishing ah cringe. Haha meant to say I got "burgers for 20p!" the other week and we BBQed them.

 

[hypoharpy]

Meal plan every week and online food shop. Use a supermarket with a monthly smart pass to save on delivery costs. I lost count of the times I went into the supermarket for milk and bread and spent £40!!

Make a shopping list. Saves us a lot of money and you don't forget anything.

 

[Kim Mild]

Martin Lewis said renew your car insurance 23 days before your renewal date.
I have just done that and it is 40% cheaper than last year!
I did it via gocompare and Quidco, so I will also get £35 cash back...

Car insurance quotes go up closer to renewal, they know you have to sort a policy out .

 

[Loopylips]

In terms of food shopping for a family what do people find is the cheapest main supermarket or do people find that buying in bulk is cheaper? Really need to tighten our belts as husband is changing jobs and I’m going to university in September and we spend so much money on food.

thanks in advance

 

[wishiniwasskinny]

My dad is a yellow sticker fiend! Always dropping us off pastry's and fruits and bits and Bobs that were 10p each still mega tasty!! I'm going to start going to my local Asda and do some yellow sticker shopping as I think it will save me a fortune

We do grow a lot of food on our allotment such as spinach, lettuce, rhubarb etc

I use topcash back for most online purchases although I am trying to limit myself nowadays

I purchase all of our soaps from https://www.naturalsoapoffcuts.co.uk/ (not sure the link is allowed?) As I use shampoo bars for my hair nowadays and we use hand soap as we are also trying to be zero waste- each 1.4kg box is under £8 (whereas I was paying about £7 A BAR!)

Little things like I turn all plugs off when not in use, charge my phone up fully and use the battery saver settings to make it last longer, walk where I can instead of taking the car or public transport, putting on an extra layer instead of turning the heating on where possible,

We used reusable nappies for the majority of babe wearing nappies

I do the washing with soap nuts and I'm still on the first big bag I purchased which was well over a year ago now (the bag was £10 ISH from bodykind where I also accumulate points for spending when I buy eco products)

We take picnics rather than eating out although will treat ourselves to an ice cream etc

I make a lot of my own beauty products where possible - body scrubs from sugar mixed with coconut oil, face masks made from bananas etc (haha I sound crackers)

Facebook marketplace can often have quite good bargains and I've found people tend to leave some amazing stuff outside thier houses they no longer want ( I live near a city so may be why) for example I've got a beautiful wooden patio set (a round table and 4 chairs) I have sanded down and just need a lick of paint - they look new and I could leave them as they are but I have a colourful garden we also got a lot of things for little one such as a ride on bike, scooter, lots of little cars etc ... People chuck away some brilliant stuff!!

I can't think of any more right now

I think you’d like an insta account called Simply Living Well - she has loads of recipes and ideas for slow/sustainable living and making her own cleaning and beauty products! Plus her photos are beautiful

 

[laughing]

Martin Lewis said renew your car insurance 23 days before your renewal date.
I have just done that and it is 40% cheaper than last year!
I did it via gocompare and Quidco, so I will also get £35 cash back...

Me too! I have made everyone put a diary note in to do this

 

[LaurieLaurie]

The biggest thing for me is not doing a weekly food shop. I am terrible at meal planning and food shopping - literally never stick to it. So much food waste and it’s expensive. One of us now picks up dinner stuff on the way home, we have all the usual pasta, rice, milk bread etc but we buy the fresh stuff in smaller quantities on the day. Smaller quantities are more expensive than larger ones, but it’s still a lot cheaper than buying larger ones for less when you end up chucking it all out anyway. We are saving a horrific amount of money doing it this way, I dread to think how much we wasted on food before.

I drain money doing it this way because I’ll always pick up extra rubbish.