Great '2011 MoneySaving resolutions' Hunt

cyclingyorkie

meal planning! And it's working! I am currently working my way through the contents of the freezer! Sausage tonight in an attempt to use up a load of sausages I discovered when I defrosted the freezer before Christmas!

I have got anothere sealed tin for £1 coins. I bought one about this time last year and the rest of my family ridiculed it! It claims to hold £500 - and it's very nearly full - and I didn't notice any difference in my finances when i was putting spare £1 coins into it!

I am also going to bank change this year. I have so much around the house, already bagged. There really is no excuse for not banking it (except laziness of course!)

Charliex

My plan for this year is to:

Buy more 'value' stuff from the supermarket. This week I bought loads more economy things and instead of the £100+ I normally spend, I brought it down to £65!!1 :T
Meal plan - I throw away about £5 - £10 worth of food a week :eek:
Use Ebay more for clothing
Consider using re-usable nappies although undecided right now.

I am a uni student with a 2 year old daughter and my second is due in May. I won't have any maternity pay this time round as I'm a student, so I really need to learn how to budget properly. I have a big mortgage and am worried about rates rising.

BitterAndTwisted

To stop messing about pretending I'm going to balcony-garden and actually get on with it this year. I've got a drawer full of seeds here so I just need to get off my fat bum, do some germinating when the time comes and get some grow-bags from around the corner. Now that I've finally bought a shopping-trolley-thingy it won't be too hard to get them home and up the three flights of stairs.

Turning the room-thermostat down on the central-heating one degree proved to be a substantial money-saver so when the sub-zero temps come back, which they inevitably will I reckon, it's going down one more degree.

bluebag

Savannah02K wrote: »

I'm really going to try and not use the car at weekends unless I absolutely have to. Suddenly struck me the other day that it was exceptionally stupid of me to be taking the car to the supermarket (1 mile away) on a Sunday morning to do the 'big' shop when I drive past the damm place every evening on my way home from work. So, last night was first time of the new routine, stop on the way home and do big shop then. If we need fresh stuff, we can walk to the supermarket on Sunday morning. I'm also planning what I do when I meet my clothes-aholic friend most weekends. I invariably end up buying clothes too (three double wardrobes, one double chest of drawers, four single width chest of drawers full - do I need more clothes?!) so when we make arrangements to meet I'm suggesting museums, rambles etc.

I have a clothes-aholic mate too, we always meet for lunch, usually use a buy one get one free voucher for the restuarant.

She still buys stuff, but I don't. I just comment on how nice the stuff she is getting is and help her choose things, but I keep my purse firmly under wraps. I don't need or want an overdraft.

Butterfly_Brain

Needhelpsaving wrote: »

I really want to do a car boot sale, but haven't got a clue about how to find out where they are held etc - what is the best way of going about finding out?

They are always advertised in the local papers

Butterfly_Brain

• Not putting the heating on until everyone has three layers on and is still cold.
• Keeping the thermostat at 17 - 18 c and on frost overnight we will use blankets and hot water bottles if it is really cold
• Turning off everything not in use at the plug.
• Only use stardrops, bicarb, lemon juice and soda crystals for cleaning.
• Using proper dishcloths that can be boil washed in a saucepan
• Turning off hotplates and the oven 10minutes early and just use the residual heat.
• Repair clothes and shoes before even considering buying anything more
• Taking lightbulbs out where they are rarely used and in the summer take them out of the kids rooms
• Keeping computer time to 2 hours a week
• Grow more veggies but do it so that everything does not grow all at the same time.
• More foraging
• Cut back on the food shopping ,meal plan, list and only take cash - then any cash left over will be put into a sealed tin for Christmas
• No holiday - can't afford it - will just go for picnics and country walks - luckily we are surrounded by countryside
• Save on car use by DH using his bike to get to work
• Only buying for DH and the kids and cut the amount of presents they get they are grown up now and can understand Mil AND Fil will have a HM hamper and that will be it
• More soup and pudding nights
• Keep the pantry and freezers topped up for when things are tighter like hefty utility bills or car bills
• Knit and crochet more (mind you wool can be pricey so I will only use the cheapest that I can find)

I can probably think of loads more as well

valk_scot

I'm just going to carry on doing more of the same, because it works for me. But the one thing I'm going to be 100% with rather than skip it if I'm in a hurry or tired is to Check My Receipts. So far in just 14 days I've been overcharged a total of £19.50 in Tesco (most of it on three of the same item, admittedly) which means not only that £19.50 back in my pocket where it belonged but I also gained another £19.50 due to Double the Difference from Tesco. I'm going to keep track of it over the year and see how much better off I am.

wendywitch

Needhelpsaving wrote: »

I really want to do a car boot sale, but haven't got a clue about how to find out where they are held etc - what is the best way of going about finding out?

They are normally advertised in our local papers so keep an eye out for the ads. Most of the schools in our area hold bootfairs once it gets warmer so you could try asking them.

Red_Doe

I`ll be plundering my entire home for anything I can sell on Ebay, plus once my hens start laying again, putting out an honesty table by the gate to sell any surplus. Also not buying a single item of clothing this year...so long as I watch my weight, I have enough to last.

Fruball

I'll be growing lots more veg, salad and some fruit. Plus sprouting seeds. Just ordered all my seeds from THIS website as most packs are just 50p each. (edited to add that I ordered these on the friday and they arrived saturday morning! Brilliant!)

Also, once its lighter in the evenings I will walk up to the local co0p to check their whoopsies as they drop the prices right down and some real bargains are to be had. We are still eating apples from the bags I got which were reduced to 20p a bag! One or two have been thrown out but the rest have been fine

I'm also going to start making things ready to sell at the Xmas fayres later this year!!!