Great '2011 MoneySaving resolutions' Hunt

a_sav

Heard on the radio when in the supermarket just before you queue put back10% or a couple of items tried it and amazing how the junk reduces
Also dont take a basket for a quick shop

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

-weigh out ingredients and stricter portion control (I lost 2 stone doing this last year!)

- dont go shopping

- if I go shopping, take a list

- bulk buy stuff when cheap and use storage space

- continue using charity shops

- save copper coins and bank them when decent amount

- this year I want to save up! My goal is £10k as an emergency fund (!) seems difficult but I am going to put try.

- use things up

- carry on with frugal ways while trying to have fun and not be a skinflint!

Pookie_lou

What a great thread, some great ideas on here!

We already meal plan and watch the pennies but as we are expecting our first baby this year, we have a great incentive to work harder at saving

* Ebay ebay ebay! I list something every week, but have actually given myself a target amount to try and reach each month, the funds will go straight into our savings and we de clutter at the same time.

* Use the libary more.

* Read newspapers online daily, we saved a lot of money last year doing this

* Do not buy any lotions/ potions/ body creams/ cleaning products until I have completly run out.

* Buy from local farm shops and butchers and take more care about what we eat, also try out new receipes to keep meal plan interesting and easier to stick too.

* Continue to shop in charity shops, there are some fantastic bargains to be had.

Amanda65

Had a very hard January, cc are wayyyyyy too high and bank balance wayyyyyy too low, so OH and I have agreed the following:

• Sit down once a fortnight and go through bank account together. Up til now it's always been me who does the finances and I need OH to take some responsibilty as well. The two weeks are once at the end of the month to review coming months spending and again 2 weeks in to make sure we are on track and adjust accordingly.
• Try and use up the contents of our very full freezer and plan meals around what's in there, meaning food bill will be no more than £50pw for 6 weeks. Bit worried about the night we have to resort to a prawn ring, breaded jalapenos and a 26 piece Indian mix though :rotfl::rotfl:(rather overbought at Christmas)
• Have phoned Sky after advice on the Grabbit board and got our monthly bill halved from £52 to £26 for 6 months :j
• Take a list shopping and only buy what is on it, unless there are really good woopsies
• Walk up to our local village to the post office (5 minutes) instead of taking the car (2 minutes) each day
• Read books (which I love) instead of wasting money on any magazine that promises I will lose a stone in a fortnight;)
• Only buy things we really need and keep a note of our spending on the spending diary site mentioned in an earlier post on this thread
• Check all cc and bank statements properly and not miss payments by a day or so which means they charge me
• Open every letter I receive on the day I get it and not months later, only to find I had been charged something in error and it's too late to correct it:o:o
• Keep reading MSE to make sure I don't miss a bargain

That's about it for now but will follow this thread with interest for other tips. Thanks OP for starting us all thinking

[Deleted User]

I will definitely be using my car less as I have just filled it up and it only needed three quarters of a tank and it cost me £60.00:eek::eek::eek:
It will only be used for journeys over three miles I think and then only if I can't get a bus there:mad:
went to my local shops toget a few odds and ends needed for next week and I only spent just under £16.00 which was good as if I had gone to the supermarket I know I would have spent more I only bought fruit and veg and bread,bacon and eggs, all for local small shops

sistercas

1: saving a £1 a day for christmas
2: grow more veg and fruit
3: meal plan and take a list for shopping ( and dont take DD's or DH )
4: use up leftovers and try not to waste stuff
5:turn thermostat down a couple of degrees
6: dont use TD actually its broken so aiming not to replace it
7: dont use the car as much ( Dd1 is learning to drive but i have said she can only drive if we need to go somewhere , rather than taking her round and round aimlessly)
8: walk to work and back ( 4 miles) when the weather is better
9: reduce the temp and duration of the WM
10: get my tightwad gazette out and re read it for more ideas

Fruball

I also will be checking the amounts of liquid sold in bottles - ie washing up liquid/febreze/softener/vinegar/squash etc - It might not make a huge difference but all small differences add up to a big difference

emmilou

Meal planning and sticking to the shopping list (saves quite a bit)
have joined spending diary (thanks to the poster for that tip)
ebaying more (made £122 last week on the kids toys)
turning lights and heating off more
driving more carefully to save on fuel - not accelerating/braking harshly
cooking from scratch
DD on packed lunches not school dinners
growing more of my own again but not letting it die before picking it!
Using my new slow cooker lots
Downsizing on brands have been a bit snobby lately buying the 'finest' or 'taste the difference' so today bought the basics range in fruit & veg

sure there will be more ideas along the way

just thought of another OH is brewing his own ale and we have made hedgerow wine (don't know if it will save money or just make us drink more) lol

annie123

Frugal wrote: »

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!)

Frugal that is a dangerous web site!!!

I've just spent £6.10p on more seeds:o

but they should end up feeding us so cheaper in the long run

Really pleased to get the tomatillo seeds, and the hot chilli collection is good value too, so were many others, but that's the problem with gardening, so many things to grow so little space

Fruball

annie123 wrote: »

Frugal that is a dangerous web site!!!

I've just spent £6.10p on more seeds:o

but they should end up feeding us so cheaper in the long run

Really pleased to get the tomatillo seeds, and the hot chilli collection is good value too, so were many others, but that's the problem with gardening, so many things to grow so little space

I spent £15 but that was starting from scratch again as lots of my seeds were very old and germination was poor.

I worked out that if I get just ONE meals worth from each WHOLE pack I have bought, then I will save money