Great 'ways To Cut Back' Hunt

When you go on holiday, switch things off!

We went away for 10 weeks, and left a freezer running, it was an old one, but the electricity it used was horrific!

Now if we go away for more than a week for the fridge (longer for the freezer), we forward plan to leave an empty fridge and freezer, we defrost if necessary and leave with the doors open.

It also means we use everything up!

Also try to go through tins and dry food cupboards once a month, and check use by dates. Anything getting close I leave out on the side to remind me to use it quickly.

purplestar1uk wrote:

I think I'd say never carry *cards* in your wallet - it's much easier to spend more on a card than if you have to count out the pounds. I'm much more restrained if I go out debit- or credit-card-less!

I agree. I have real problems when it comes to handing out cash but think nothing of using plastic.

1) I have in the past had a few too many penalty fines for late payment of bills / credit cards etc. because I couldn't afford it at the time the bill arrived, but then forgot about it or thought I'd already paid it so didn't pay it when I could afford it easier.

Nowadays, I use online banking and when I get a bill, I can log onto my account (with co-op bank, don't know online facilities of others...) and arrange a bill payment either instantly or on a date in the future. That way, if it needs paying by, say, 27th of month, and it takes 4 working days to arrive, then I count back to 23rd of that month and arrange the bill payment to go from my account on the 23rd or 21st or whenever money should be easier. That way you don't miss the payment date, but you also don't have to pay when you can't really spare the cash.

2) Get rid of your TV! I haven't had a TV for 2 and a half years now, and as I don't see anything like as many ads, I don't lust after 'amazing' products that are being marketed, as they're not being marketed to me! Stuff like smelly spray to put in the iron, and other 'innovations' that we've lived for long enough without, just don't appeal to me without the hard sell coming into my house. I obviously still see billboards and such, but it's a lot less powerful and insidious.

3) If you're going to smoke, roll your own. Infinitely cheaper. Not recommending smoking of course, but many of us are just plain addicts and will do it anyway, so smoking cheaper is better!

4) Reusable sanitary protection. Cheaper, comfy, soft, pretty, environmental.

5) Write down every penny and pound you spend for a week or so, with no exceptions. It's really scary to see how much you can spend on nothing at all, and you become a lot more conscious of what *needs* to be bought and what doesn't.

6) Go shopping with a friend and 'share' buy one get one free offers which are for things you really don't need two of (e.g. tomato ketchup, boxes of 20 fishfingers, whatever).

7) Re-use things that would normally be thrown away, or make something that would be thrown away into something else (e.g. toilet roll holders have become a desk tidy, and hamster toys; shredded paper - hamster bedding; shoe box covered with wrapping paper for envelope storage etc.)

8) Put 'envelope re-use labels' from charities, or use plain stickers to make the tons of pre-addressed envelopes you get in junk mail or within bills or whatever into blank envelopes you can use. I never buy new envelopes any more! I use re-use labels from Friends of the Earth, Baby Milk Action and Traidcraft. There will be other charities doing them too.

9) Don't have a car and don't drive.

10) Freecycling.

11) As others have said, ebay and car boots (for both buying and selling). Also buying from charity shops.

12) Use 2nd class stamps. 1st class are only a few pence more expensive so it's easy to think that you may as well use those, but when you're using 10, or 20 or more, it all adds up.