Want to start money saving but where to start?

OK, start with food - it's a big topic on this board. Tell us what you spend most on and the home made versions will flood in!

It would be a little hard to say without knowing where your biggest outgoings are.

Foodwise - never shop when you are hungry, prepare a meal plan for the week and work out what you need to buy and make a list. Stick to said list. Only buy a BOGOF if you would use it anyway and try to use as much of the shops basic ranges as you can. Use a local market or greengrocer for fruit and veg as these are usually cheaper than the supermarkets.

Shoppingwise - really think about what you are buying, do you really need it? Can you get it cheaper elsewhere? Always look on the voucher forum to see if you can use a voucher to knock a few pounds off.

Vouchers/coupons - send for as many as you can find and always cut them out of papers and magazines if you see them, don't forget that Tesco and Asda will take them even if you haven't bought the product.

brain gone dead now, if I think of anymore I'll let you know:D

I've found the best way to drastically cut costs is to ask before you buy anything:

Do I really need this?
Do I really need this NOW? or can it wait a week/month whatever
Will my life be terrible if I don't buy it/replace it?
If I do need it can I get it cheaper?

12 yrs ago Mrs MATH and I were childless and both earning really good salaries yet we always had an overdraft cos money just frittered away on things that we didn't need, added very little value to our lives and now we don't have them we can't even remember what they were.

12 yrs ago I spent £50 per week on groceries for two of us (an we ate lunch out every day and at least one evening a week)

Now I spend under £30 most weeks for five of us and none of us feel deprived or that we are missing out.

Take a look at the Pin Money Savings Challenge because members post not only the money they have saved but *how* they have saved it. (also links to budget advice)

Also Save Zillions on Cleaning Products will give you another perspective on whether you really need Mr Muscle and his crew.

You shouldn't go a month without reading the Grocery Challenge

You could learn a lot about Menu Planning from this bunch and ideas on Cooking From Scratch and of course the Cheap Meals thread

We've recently had some Now and Then threads and you can garner a lot of tips from reading those:
Here's one
Here's another
Here's a third
Here's the original

All the highlighted words are links to the relevant threads.

Good luck, you'll soon get the hang of it

Lyndsay: begin with Baby Steps.

Tonight, write down what you have for tea. Either check out how much that meal cost via your receipts, or make a guess. Write it on your calendar, diary or notebook.
Then, ask yourself, "Could I make it cheaper? Make smaller portions?" and take a few notes.
Do the same with all the meals you eat this week.
By the end of the week, you should end up with three things:-

1. what you've eaten all week (hey! That's a menu plan!!)
2. how much you think it's cost, on average anyway.
3. whether or not you can make it cheaper (ie: cheaper ingredients, less ingredients, cheaper version of ingredients?)

Week 2: You now have an angle on your menu plan. You can either, repeat Wk 1 and challenge yourself to do it cheaper still (based on your notes and observations) or, you can look through your fridge, freezer and pantry and see if you can make up a menu plan from what you have on hand. Perhaps you've seen a meal idea on here that has inspired you. Whichever, keep writing down for week 2 what you have for meals and any other appropriate notes.

Do anything for 1 month and it will become a habit. At the end of one month, you will definately have one months worth of menu plans, a good idea of how much it is costing you and now, armed with all that knowledge, you can begin to see where you can cut back (if needs be), adapt, stretch and plan for the month ahead.

Goals are very good motivators! So, how about, you hold back on buying that slow cooker and make it your personal goal to cut back on what you already spend on your food bill and put the savings towards a slow cooker so you can then use it to cut back even more?

HTH