Great 'Recession Survival Tips' Hunt

Optimisticpair

I am a proud member of the "I survived the last two recessions" club.

Enjoy feeding the ducks or birds some scraps over winter, seeing all the little things that are free and how you approach it that makes all the difference, it doesn't matter how little you have, it's not going to be for ever.

Davesnave

Optimisticpair wrote: »

I am a proud member of the "I survived the last two recessions" club.

Enjoy feeding the ducks or birds some scraps over winter, seeing all the little things that are free and how you approach it that makes all the difference, it doesn't matter how little you have, it's not going to be for ever.

Sorry to disagree, but I think it will be for ever, though perhaps not at the tough level that may reached for a while. The way Western society was living was unsustainable and it is pay-back time. Soon, we will be making real choices about what is important and what is window dressing.

As you say, many of the best things in life are cheap or free, but we have millions who have no appreciation of this. What worries me is how those individuals will react when they find all their toys have fallen out of the pram.

markandkate

I save all my broken chains and odd earrings and when I have got a few I take them to be weighed in for scrap gold at a jewelers. You won't make huge amounts of money but I got a tenner yesterday for some broken earrings that were no use and would otherwise have been thrown away

Margaret54

Lots of good tips here. We are also being more careful now, and am pleased with making a big saving recently. I had to retire through ill health about two years ago, and have been attending classes in a great place in my town. I had looked at prices in our local college for evening classes, and they were too expensive. I love to learn and stretch myself, and enrolled in a Gcse maths class. GCSE english one, and they are free. The other ones I go to there are Irish history which we are just waiting on a start date which is only £10 for the whole course, and finally I learned from another nice girl who is in one of the classes I go to, that there are a group of women who come every week to knit and chat and are making little blankets and jumpers and little hats booties sock and mitts for babies who are premaure and some also go to Africa etc. It is just like the Wooligans are doing and I love to knit so had a good hunt last night for all the wool I have gathered up over the years and took it along to the group this morning and we had a great laugh and chatted away for the two hours knitting, and I am looking forward to it again next week. The cost to travel is £1.50 into town and same back home but you can buy an all day ticket for £1.70 so saving some money too. I am really enjoying myself and meeting new people getting out and about and it is a real tonic and best of all it costs very little, and i am so glad I came across this place. It is brilliant. We are all ages too which is great.:)

afterglow_2

yep im in the money saving boat at the moment.....and have finally started to really assess my spending and finding ways to save that although obvious i had dismissed for too long!!
when shopping beware of false economy, i was always trying to buy the cheapest product, and have now worked out this costs a lot more! Now i buy in bulk on items i know i will need and use.
buy discounted items not the very cheapest, they will last longer and you normally get more or your money.
And give in and dont be too much of a snob, if you want to fill the freezer with food go to Iceland, the cupboards with dry goods Lidl, huge savings!!!

smh_poole

Do you smoke? If so, now is an excellent time to give up! Not only will you save LOTS you'll also be less stressed and healthier, making tough times easier to deal with!

I dont want to hijak this thread and turn it into a quitting smoking discussion, but on the subject of saving money still, I swapped smoking for running...I now run 3-4 times a week, which apart from the cost of a pair of running shoes (Approx £50 every 6 months) is free...something I can keep doing no matter how tough things get.

If you smoke 20 a day, and make your last fag tonight before bed, by the end of tommorow you will have saved around £5!!

[Deleted User]

I have lived through both recessions, the 3 day week and the 15% mortgage interest period, with a mortgage, husband and 3 small children on one salary and survived

I wrote every single outgoing in a book and top of the list was mortgage, poll tax and insurance
Took cash out of the bank once a month and split it into envelopes for different purposes. I jolly well made sure it stretched.
We lived entirely within our means and much of the time food was vegetarian and consisted of good soups and hm bread
we wore layers of clothes and didn`t have/use ch
Small tent and cheap field for our holidays
The children played with cardboard and glue. Hm wigwams etc

What we are going through now is mainly self-inflicted but that doesn`t mean that it hurts people less.We and most of our peer group started from a base that did not include a lot of debt

caroline1973lefty

i've saved a fortune on food in the following 2 ways:

1. cut down on meat. vegetarian meals - from replacing mince with tinned pulses/lentils, to buying the cheese sandwich rather than the BLT - are generally cheaper - sometimes, massively so.

2. take snacks like apples and nuts/seeds out and abput, and a bottle of water re-filled from the tap (and making sure i have a glass of water and some food before i leave the house!). i've already stopped smoking but realised i was spending almost as much on snack food for a while!

Walletwatch

A friendly tip from a guy who's been through the previous recession (apparently appeared on a newspaper during those times)...

Don't pay anything from a fiver to a tenner to get your shoes polished - use the escalators and the brushes at the edges to do the job for you while using them - saves you time and money :rotfl:

CravingSaving

Does anyone really still pay to get their shoes cleaned?

Like the idea of getting it done without the elbow grease that is usually incurred though!!