Tips and Quick Questions on “How To Start Being Old Style”

Primrose

Firstly work out a budget and as soon as you get paid, put any surplus money straight into savings accounts. Some people like different pots for different kinds of expenses. Choose what you think will work best for you.

As for day-to-day savings:

Cook food in bulk and freeze portions to save fuel.
Cook all your veg in the same pan, cut to different sizes as appropriately.
If you make caseroles & stews, buy a ARIS simmer plate from Lakeland and cook them in a saucepan or caserole on top of your hob. You'll use a lot less fuel this way than heating a whole oven.
Only fill the kettle with enough water for what you need.
Turn the thermostat down one degree and wear an extra layer of clothing.
Diarise the date your house/contents/car insurance is due and start searching around for better deals a month beforehand. If you save money on this, put it in the savings pot. Don't spend it.
Could you start growing your own vegetables? If so, start preparing suitable ground over winter.
Consider every penny you spend. Think "Do I NEED it? NOT "Do I WANT it?
Make lots of home-made soup. It's cheap and it's filling.
If you need new clothes, check out charity shops first.
Trade down from Premium brands at the supermarket to Own label.
Don't buy branded shampoos or washing up liquid. And transfer it into hand pumps so that on each use you only pump out what you need instead of accidentally emptying half the bottle.
Read a newspaper online instead of buying one.
Join a library and borrow free books, and cheap films instead of going out to the cinema.
Take a packed lunch to work instead of buying shop-made sandwiches.

Am sure others will come up with more suggestions.

strawberrypud

Thank you for taking the time to write that primrose :j Great stuff!

squeaky

This thread should help you out too...

Welcome to Old Style

Decluttering

Try to buy new clothes out of season, e.g. summer in winter and winter in summer (although this doesn't work with charity shops as they tend to put away out of season stuff until they're in season) from a sale rail. Also, if you see an item of clothing you like but has a flaw (e.g. a rip in the fabric), take advantage of the discounted price and get the sewing kit out!

Invest in some warm blankets and jumpers so that you don't have to turn on the heating as frequently.

If you really feel the need to keep using a premium brand of a certain item (or would prefer to), work out a price at which you would consider it a bargain and stock up when it's on offer in the supermarket.


(I'm sure there are people who can come up with better suggestions than this, I'm just a beginner!)

Butterfly_Brain

• Meal Planning is a must and so is writing a list and sticking to it.
• I take cash with me when I go shopping which helps to stop impulse buys. any money left goes into a pot for Christmas
• I agree with primrose about bulk cooking and freezing.
• A slow cooker is a great MSE thing to have because it uses very little electricity.
• Make your own bread or buy a breadmaker or even use a mixer
• Dry your washing on a line or use an airer - Tumble Dryers use loads of power.
• Another power hungry item is a hairdryer - better to let your hair dry naturally
• If you boil a kettle pop any left over hot water into a flask and make your next cuppa from that rather than putiing the kettle on again.
• Keep doors closed when it is cold and draw the curtains at dusk to keep the heat in.
• Line thin curtains with fleece blankets for extra insulation.
• Make a door curtain, and draught excluders to keep drafts at bay
• Grow your own veg
• We have soup and pudding night once a week and also a vegetarian night.
• Learn to knit , sew and crochet you can make lots of your own things and save money. Hand knitted jumpers are warmer than bought ones and last for years.
• Look for the best deals on Car insurance, House insurance, Energy bills etc
• Make your own cleaning products
• Start a penny jar and put all your loose change in to it.

I am sure there is plenty more.
Start with Baby steps and you will be as OS as the rest of us

strawberrypud

Some of these are fantastic ideas...I never would have thought of many of these. Getting quite excited about implementing them....is that really sad? :rotfl:

Doingmybest2bgoodhurrah

Hi, I'm quite new to this board, but was suprised to find that I'm already doing quite alot of the things which really help already. However, I've discovered things through the board which are helping me so much more:

• A slow cooker is an absolute must. I got mine last week at Argos for £14.99 reduced from £29.99 & paid with Nectar points. It holds 6.2 litres & it fab. I can feed us from it for days & still freeze the surplus!
• As others have said, shop around for insurance policies well in advance. In the past I've found a policy on line, then rang them up & got an even better deal just for being cheeky & asking.
• If you drive, find out your cheapest local petrol before filling up. Also, drive more conservatively; knock yopur speed down to 60mph on a long run, try to keep in the higher gears in town & drive as smoothly as possible to avoid over-revving.
• I did my sums & worked out that it saves me about £3.50 a day to go to work by bus because the petrol for my car is so dear, so I try to do that 2-3 times a week.
• One area where I'm making really noticeable savings is that I now take my own lunch to work instead of buying sandwiches. There's a monthly work lunches thread on this board; the people are so supportive. I'm putting the money I've saved into a jar every day & on Wednesday 1st December I shall be paying it into my savings account. It's really helping me by seeing the money I've saved going into that jar!
• I try really hard not tp throw any food at all away. You'd be amazed at what can be frozen. There's always people on the board asking for recipe ideas to help them use things up before they go off or if they've got a surplus of something.
• I shop around for certain things. I get washing liquid, washing-up liquid & toilettries from Savers as its all so much cheaper than the supermarket. I try to get 2 or 3 of everything to save time & petrol. I buy our favourite coffee, tea, cordial & toilet paper & tinned tomatoes when on special & stock up siege-style.
• As others have said, a food budget is vital. Start by keeping all your receipts for a month & add them up. Next month, budget to spend, say, £50 less. You might decide that £30 is more manageable, or £70, it depends on your circumstances. If you manage that, reduce it again the following month, and so on. The important thing is to make it achievable so that you dont get disheartened.
• I am currently attempting to menu plan a week at a time. Again, there's a thread on this board for help & support. I think that if you know in advance what you're having, use a shopping list (&stick to it!) & get everything in one go, you won't have to shop again (except for milk etc), so you won't get tempted & have a spend-up.
• If you get milk delivered & make your own bread you won't have to do that mid week top-up!
• I've read that some people find that having groceries delivered saves them money because they're not tempted to buy "treats" all the time in store which more than pays for the delivery charge.

There's tons of lovely people on this board who are only too willing to help, so don't feel you're on your own. Good luck x

Linda32

strawberrypud wrote: »

Some of these are fantastic ideas...I never would have thought of many of these. Getting quite excited about implementing them....is that really sad? :rotfl:

No, not at all, just a little tip if you think you are denying yourself, tell yourself, "its our money, we work hard for it, so why the hell waste it/give it away", it works for me every time

Doingmybest2bgoodhurrah

Linda32 wrote: »

No, not at all, just a little tip if you think you are denying yourself, tell yourself, "its our money, we work hard for it, so why the hell waste it/give it away", it works for me every time

I think that's great advice! I shall be using that one myself from now on. Thanks :j x

[Deleted User]

best advice I can think of is take one day at a time and implement things gradually so eventually they will become second nature.also be good to yourself and have a treat now and again ,even if its only a Krispy kreme doughnut ,Life is going to get increasingly harder for a lot of folk but never lose sight of the fact that life is for living and not existing and a treat now and again will cheer you up and help keep things on an even keel
Good luck I have been frugal for the past 50 odd years and don't even notice it anymore