Making savings before it's too late

blackcatsx2 · 24 January 2018 at 9:40PM

That is a significant saving over a year. Amazing how easily the supermarkets taking a few extra pounds from our purses on a regular basis adds up in their favour to a significant amount.
I’ve been mainly shopping at L*dl which saves lots. I popped into W***rose yesterday for bread and milk as it was the nearest shop to me on my way home. I was taken aback by really lacklustre customer service, the high number of self checkouts compared to staffed checkouts and most of all the high, high prices of things there. I could hardly believe it when I found myself thinking that I prefer shopping at L*dl. I didn’t even bother to claim my free cup of tea I was so disappointed with the place - and I am a prolific tea drinker, never normally known to refuse a cup.

mardatha · 24 January 2018 at 9:46PM

Most of the difference is because Sainsbugs minimum spend is £40 and Asda is £25. So I can save £15 right away plus get more for my money as most things are cheaper.

trailingspouse · 24 January 2018 at 9:58PM

I reckon I'm saving £25 a week shopping at Aldi rather than Sainsbury's - that's £100 a month!!

Although in the month since Christmas I've only spent a total of £50, we've been so busy using up the stuff we bought for the big day.

Just as well, as I paid our tax today. Need to start saving for the July payment now...

Molillie · 25 January 2018 at 12:03AM

I like these threads, they help with ideas and motivation. For those stopping, or considering stopping, tinting their hair, coloured dry shampoo can be really useful as a sort of half-way house. A can lasts ages, and you only need a tiny bit. I have also seen on youtube someone using a mix of cornflour with cocoa as a cheaper alternative. (obviously for brown hair) Most of the commercial ones are based on cornflour. I started using a bit of dry shampoo for my long and fine hair, on the advice of a niece, as it stops it being too flyaway. It is another product which isn't strictly necessary, but can be worth trying.

[Deleted User] · 25 January 2018 at 8:39AM

hi molillie, welcome to the thread

I had a final reminder re the car insurance yesterday, I paid it by phone from my halifax debit card. The year starts on feb 1st but I always need to get bills paid quickly, thats just me. I am monitoring when cash gets taken from my account, wasn`t removed today. I checked m/s money before I phoned and had made allowance for yesterday, so all is good

I need to get a few things from the supermarket but I am making a short list and will try to hold off going as long as possible, a round trip of ten miles in the car

tori.k · 25 January 2018 at 9:53AM

Ged gedyah I made it to payday

It's felt like a long month but I'm ahead of where I wanted to be.
The month is stepping up clearing out the food cupboard and freezer, and tackling my workshop.
So better portion control and meal planning.
I'm losing my 18ft by 10 workshop in the move and only have room for a 7ft by 5 shed to house my gardening tools and the camping gear, I run a tiny tiny business making up hanging baskets and pots mostly for holiday let's and a couple of pubs it's not a business I want to grow but it helps towards my own gardening costs.
Shed I've found is £270 I'm hoping to find the cost of this over the next couple of months within my grocery & household budget.
DH has no interest in soft landscaping other than to moan plants costs to much, so I have no budget but big plans for the new house. I've yet to tell him I have my eye on a lovely tree fern

nor does he have any idea of the cash value of the plants I will be leaving in this house.for the sake of my marriage that will be a conversation best left unsaid :rotfl:

tboo · 25 January 2018 at 11:10AM

I would like to save on the shopping budget but fail miserably.

My nearest Asda is a local one; we don’t have an Aldi in town.

So the alternative is Tesco or Morrison.

We do however have a Lidl but I find it doesn’t have the goods I want so it means shopping in the other supermarkets as well to top it up.

This results is me spending a lot as I don’t stick to the list (me bad) – so I find I don’t big shop there anymore.

I therefore can spot the increases in prices by them which is often weekly.

It doesn’t bode well if you have a tight budget.

I do make savings on bulk buying the loo rolls from the cash and carry as the prices are ridiculous in the supermarkets.

I may have to rethink my menus to fit in with Lidls and then just go with cash - seems like a forward plan:)

[Deleted User] · 25 January 2018 at 11:27AM

tori.k wrote: »

Ged gedyah I made it to payday

:T oh I know that feeling. Very well done, it has been a very long month

tboo, I always use cash when out shopping for groceries and I always have done. When younger and times were almost impossible, then I took out all the cash for a month and divided it up, using labelled envelopes. The aim was always to have a little left over for a treat.

I have been through the times when I spent every last penny in my purse and only then did I stop, like eating chocolates or biscuits. Spending is euphoric but the feeling after the high is not nice. The feeling from having a little left over from a budget, well that is truly good. I spent far less every week if I did a meal plan for the week

tboo · 25 January 2018 at 11:54AM

Thanks Kittie.

My sister has for the past 2 years used the cash purse technique – styled from the moneysaving goddess that is JackieO.

I tried for a couple of months but failed.

I couldn't seem to make it work as I’m paid in the middle of the month and my dds are set for the beginning – I have no chance in changing them so it’s quite bothersome working out the budget.

I can trial it again for February and see if it works this year especially knowing my sister swears by it – she has money left over and her hubby is a convert too

trailingspouse · 25 January 2018 at 2:28PM

Cash - noooo!!!

We have a Santander account that pays 1.5% interest, so the longer we leave the money in there, the more interest we get. We also have an Asda credit card which gives 0.5% cashback.

I use the credit card for everything, even quite small purchases now that we have contactless. But we always pay it off at the end of the month.

So - imagine you withdraw £100 on 1st January. That money stops earning interest the moment you withdraw it - but you might not actually spend it for a couple of weeks. If you spend £100 at the supermarket - if you put that on your credit card, you won't be paying the money out of your account for between 3 and 6 weeks (when the credit card is due). So instead of getting no interest, you're getting between 3 and 6 weeks' interest, plus 0.5% cashback.

Using cash - no return between 1st Jan and (potentially) 7th February.

Using credit card - 1.5% interest on the money in the current account for potentially 6 weeks, plus 0.5% cashback from the credit card = 70p

Now, it doesn't sound much, but that's 70p back on every £100 - and that mounts up. Or put it another way, if you could buy something for £100 or exactly the same thing for £99.30, which would you go for?

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Making savings before it's too late

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