Great 'Recession Survival Tips' Hunt

benood

The above advice is great for us as individuals but if all society heeds it the forthcoming recession will be much deeper.

So if you can't bring yourself to cut back justify the ultimate pain by realising you're spending for the greater good.;)

MichaelAP

Loose change is not just for spending.....
Try to put away a small amount each time you empty your pockets.

HappySad

Constantly think free or virtually free when you are buying/getting things. I get most of my clothes, newspapers, furniture from friends & family for free. Friends who are keeping up with the Jones/fashion are great as you can have their cast offs for not much or free..Freecycle. Charity shops for everything else like reading & educational books for children, toys, clothes, magazines.

Haggle when you buy everything. e.g discount, free delivery.

Library for books & DVDs. Never buy a new book just order it from the library & pay just 80p. Once you have read it & if you REALLY feel you must have it then buy it later... most of the time I just read it once from the library & do not feel the need to buy it. I use amazon to find the book I like then order it from the library.

If you are disable find out about all the free facilities you can have. i.e - no library fines or charges for dvds/cds. 1/2 price cinema. Discount on gas&electric. free travel. New boiler from council. .... Always ask if you can get a disabled discount.

Stock up on stuff when they are discounted each time yo buy. I ALWAYS get my toothpaste, deoderant & loo paper reduced as boots, sainsbury or superdrug will always have these discounted regularly.

Parent advice on credit crunch
Get a sling for your baby & save upto £400 on a travel system!!
http://www.snugbaby.co.uk/blog/2008-09/credit-crunch-not-baby-crunch-5-ways-to-save-money-and-look-after-your-baby/?utm_source=Credit+Crunch+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Credit+Crunch+Newsletter


Work.

• Save 3-6months living expenses in instant access account incase you loose your job.
• Write down all the things that you do extra at work that add values to the company & make sure your boss & bosses boss knows about the value you are adding. Think of more easy ways that you can add value to company easily & take to your boss & bosses about you being able to implement this while still meeting the needs of your usual work requirements. Let them know what you have achieved in the pass & intend to achieve in the future.
• Write your CV now! If you loose your job you will be ready to send it out straight away without delay.
• Never think your job is secure. They can always get someone else in the company to do your job along with theirs.
• Network network network. If you loose your job this network will ome in handy when you come to look for another job.

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jak

Use coupons to get money off in the supermarket. It astonishes me that more people don't do that! It's money in the bank! I love supermarket shopping now. I've got it down to a fine art!
J
X

digit_2

Just moved house in the 70's and my youngest was 9 months old. Cashed in some premium bonds that Mum and relatives had sent me over the years (so there is an idea instead of a birthday card) and bought a sewing machine.
The cost of new lined curtains (no double glazing) for my 3 bedroomed new house which had two enormous bay windows would cost hundreds of pounds because I wanted velvet in the lounge at both ends from floor to ceiling.
The firm my husband worked for had businesses that could offer discounts. I bought all the material for the curtains and linings at discount.
By the time I had finished just the lounge curtains the sewing machine had already paid for itself.I went on to make curtains for the rest of the house. A friend of my husbands offered to wallpaper for us if I made curtains for his house.
My husband bought a scooter for work. This saved us alot of money too.
I used to and still do make wholesome soups. When preparing lunches use all the left overs after chopping and peeling vegetables. Chop very fine add absolutely anything else, a handful of lentils/pasta/baked beans/peas. Add a stock cube and any herbs that you have left over. Have fun with seasoning. A little curry powder leaves a nice warm feeling behind in the soup. Cook for 20mins then use one of those handy sauce makers. Makes lovely soups and some of it can be frozen in yoghurt tubs making it a very handy snack. Ready in a jiffy. Digit.

diddlydoos

Buy stuff in bulk now and store (and use). e.g. I always buy pasta and rice this way. I have two big tubs with a mug in each. The tubs take a big bag of 4kg rice and the equivalent of pasta. I get it from Tescos (its the cheapest I have found) and its so much cheaper than buying individual bags.

The bags also keep so I have one bag "in use" and another behind it waiting for its turn!

We also plan our meals each week and made a decision to have a few more "no meat" days. Quorn mince is great, cheap (I won't buy cheap meat, its false economy) and quick to cook. You really can't tell the difference in lasagne for instance. (my step dad is Italian and he doesn't know! lol).

And the most important tip I can offer? GROW YOUR OWN VEG. You can do it in a window box, or even in the kitchen. Saves a fortune as fresh fruit and veg is really expensive.

catznine

I have to agree that paying down your debts and building some emergency savings is the best advice.

During the 1991 recession we were parents of 2 young children with a mortgage and not a lot of money for going out, so we used to get together with friends and have dinner parties with the challenge of £5 for all the food (probably would be about £10 in todays money!:rolleyes:) Our friends would do the same with the wine. The other popular thing was to take turns to host a dinner party serving the main course and one couple would bring the starter and the other couple would bring dessert.

Save up for things and use cash rather than store cards. Our first born was just a toddler in the earlier 1980's recession and I can still remember buying most of his toys 2nd hand for his birthday. I also used to make a few of his toys, they weren't really very good but he loved them, even the felt duck that looked more like a crosseyed chicken!

Menu planning will seem such a faff but it really does work and avoids food wastage. Stock up on certain items that keep, if the price is right, and shop from your store cupboard.

Ask your parents how they coped, and don't panic, people have survived worse just by taking care of what they already had.

Margaret54

Hi Yes there is definitely lots we can all do to help ourselves. There are a lot of lovely toys in charity shops all year round, which would save a lot of money, and I always see a lot of lovely clothes especially for little ones which are like new, and there is money to be saved there alone. So many people would not buy secondhand, yet when you need to watch the pennies it can save quite a bit of money. There is nothing wrong with buying clothes etc. from there and I do it all the time, and am delighted with my finds:) Babies and young ones never wear out their clothes and toys so it is good to be able to pass them on, and help a charity as well. Menu planning is a very good idea and cuts down on waste too, which we now do more of, so lots of little ways to help us all. I have just received a letter today to say the electricity is going up on the 1st of October which will mean around £2.81 a week to the average household!!!!!!!!

jonny2510

Primrose wrote: »

The time to have prepared for a recession was a few years ago when times were good, putting away savings for the "Seven Lean Years". Sadly, if you haven't done so, you'll be ill prepared now and the sacrifices will come harder.

For those who aren't prepared, it's not too late to start preparing now. For some (due to individual circumstances) it may not have been possible at the time.

Rather than wait until things get really bad/unbearable, why not start preparing straight away (prevention is better than cure). This can be as simple as cutting back wherever possible, and putting the money saved towards paying off debts / savings for emergencies in case of a (very) rainy day!

For those really worried, try following Martin's Money Makeover to free up some cash, again for the above



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Hacker_2

Shop at Lidl. It is way cheaper and quality often is better than at Tesco.