Please discuss/feedback/report your Downshift Savings

Haveing been a peanut addict for years, I find that I actually prefer tesco value peanuts and I also think tesco value carton orange juice is good

OK, here are mine which I have gradually introduced since summer just gone:

No daily newspaper (was 50p per day 5 days a week)
Insted, I get the Metro/London Lite/London Paper (or all 3:D )
Saving: £2.50 per week or £10 a month

Skimmed milk in 2 liters rather then 1 pint
Saving: aprox £1.40 a week or aprox £5 a month (Depending on which type I buy)

Freshly prepared fruit salads which I used to have daily
Instead I now have an apple and a pear or orange
Saving: £10.50 a week or £42 a month (justified save but sorely missed )

Bottled water daily bottle
Saving: £7.20 a week or aprox £30 a month

NO Ketchup/brown sauce/majo! instead I use vinegar and salt
Saving: £5 a week or £20 a month

Frozen instead of fresh vegetables
Saving: £10 a week or £40 a month

Making sure I have a source of protein which does not cost more then £1 twice a day
Saving: up to £15 a week or up to £60 month

Downgrading my gym
Saving £52 a month

Not buying as many clothes and not using my mobile phone (it got stolen, I didn't replace it though am paying off the contract 'till August) is my next goal. Hard and working on it, but its too hard to calculate at the moment.

So in total over the past 7 months I have saved up to £260 a month or £3120 a year!! WOW! Thanks alot OP- I think I have again found my motivation! it all feels sooo hard and now I can see why- there is a point!

Its just hard to see how I managed to spend that before- I mean, I know how easy it is to spend it etc etc, but I didn't have it back then just like I don't have it right now! (lost job through no fault of my own) its scary to think that I could have so easily had let that type of spending continue- everyone, write down whatr you spend and add it up- write a budget, know what you can afford, only take out just enough cash with you....be careful, overspending is a slippery slope!

Agree with post 3 about the jam. We also used to use Bon Mamam and now only buy from Aldi. Also Sainsbury's value mozzarella is fine on our HM pizza, Aldi bars of chocolate are much cheaper than well known brands and just as good. Value peppers - OK they are sometimes funny shapes but it doesn't matter if you are chopping them up anyway better than paying about 70p each when buying individually, most value veg is fine, maybe not perfect shapes but tastes to different to the more expensive ones.

It's important to check the ingredients list when 'downgrading', if healthy eating and what's in your food are important to you.

For instance, a shop brand tub of soft cheese costs around 65p. The 'value' version is about 6p cheaper, but is not simply soft cheese (although you wouldn't know this from simply glancing at the front). Stop to check the ingredients and you will find that added ingredients in the economy version include 'wheat fibre, citrus fibre and xanthan gum'. Similarly, economy desserts often include gelatin (derived from the bones & tissues of animals) as a cheap setting agent, whereas the more expensive versions may not.

If you don't care what you eat, so long as it's cheap and seems to taste okay, then perhaps this isn't an issue. But if the quality/food value/processing is important then always remember to read the label. Cheaper is not always cheaper if the food is bulked out with 'fibres' or added water.