Great 'Isn't it obvious?' MoneySaving Hunt revisited

[Deleted User]

I use my cash back credit card for all of my purchases and pay it off at the end of every month so its used like a debit card.Last year I had almost £60 in cash back for the privilige of spending my own money,it gets put on your card in January when things are always a bit slim anyway after Christmas I have been doing this for around 4 years and think of it as an extra bonus for after Christmas with which to use in the sales and buy birthday presents for the coming year

Lazy_Liz

A couple of years ago our really good cash back credit card was withdrawn from us becaues we were not the sort of customer they wanted ie we paid back all our debt every month! At the time we couldn't find another cash back card so we got a Tesco card and get points where ever we use it. However don't use the Tesco CC abroad, extra charges!

Paulap

Wear a hat.
Do your batch baking/cooking on cold miserable days, and loiter in the kitchen - this means you dont need to put the heating on elsewhere in the house.

SacreVert

I have not read all of the entries her but my best advice is to read and check your supermarket receipt. I have had refunds of over £250 in one year from one major supermarket just because they keep overcharging for items and not applying their advertised offers at the till. I went for 9 months and never left the store without finding an error and getting a refund for something.

HappySad

Great everyone! I really love what everyone has written. I alot I already do myself and I have learnt a few more tricks too.

Each year I call all companies that I subscribe to and say "Reduce or I leave" I usually get a reduction of some kind. Mobile, pet insurance, tv/broadband/internet etc.

I too carry water everywhere & pack lunch. Charity shops are my friend. Reuse envelopes & carrier bags.

I too believe that "time & friendship" is much more valuable than collecting stuff to keep up with the Jones. We love getting old stuff that is no longer in for virtually free. Old large TV, large monitor for computer screen, playstation 2, video children programs etc. "Living behind the times" I once heard it called. I got a wonderful large freezer from a friend for free as she was upgrading to those american style larder fridge/freezer. Keep car going for 10 years and even with out central locking (would love this for future car now we have kids) and manual windows and no CD player (we chat and have a conversion while we drive). We got rid of one of our cars which saves loads. We walk & bus it around for school run etc mostly and use the car for weekend trips.

I also water down my organic body wash and use if for hand wash too. They come in a pump dispenser to it measures out the same amount each time.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle>>> We aim to reduce the stuff we buy. Reuse stuff around the house before we buy. It's can have many lives. ... bend stuff too.

I must sign up for Tesco rewards card plus look into a bread machine. Boys eat loads of wholemeal buns and making it could save me a lot.


Food delivered for free from Sainsbury's when ordering over £100. I order food once a month from them so can easily make £100.

Also the main thing I have learnt about moneysaving and MSE.. If you hear someone say "I have done everything to save money and there is nothing more I can save".. then you know they have that person has not done much to save>> because money saving is a life long experience and there is ALWAYS LOADS to learn and much much more that you can save .. the more you save and know the more you save and know!

HappySad

SacreVert wrote: »

I have not read all of the entries her but my best advice is to read and check your supermarket receipt. I have had refunds of over £250 in one year from one major supermarket just because they keep overcharging for items and not applying their advertised offers at the till. I went for 9 months and never left the store without finding an error and getting a refund for something.

This is something that I will from now on start doing. I never check my receipt till but I will definitely will....... Thanks

Carlakoala

Agree with checking till receipts. Have an idea of the cost of things - would you believe Marks n spencer is often 1p cheaper on veg than Iceland - say 3 onions pack £1 iceland, 99p M&s though of course markets and greengrocers trounce that.
My back route around town takes me past the back of one charity shop and their skip - I have taken to calling this the Universal Ordering Service(what I want turns up..) They dont mind you having a rummage with what they throw out. Many items including a roberts radio which needed a ariel - works fine. Brand new photo album. Numerous pieces of crockery, esp those slightly floral designs that used to be called old fashioned, now are called vintage. cool. old books, several of which I took and re-sold to the vintage shop up the road. LP's which have given us much fun as we listen to really odditites we might not have listened to normally. Old Maps. Fitness balls - the list goes on. If Idont need them I make sure they get passed on to those who do.
Remember when family and friends express an interest through the year on particular subject or items of jewellery etc then go and get them during the year, ideally in a sale, and come to Christmas/birthdays you have their prezzies and mucho brownie points on the `how did you know I wanted that' line.

carrie_grace

Also, get to know the staff in the charity shop(s); if they know what you're looking for, they might let you go through a bag of stuff they haven't sorted through yet - you get first dibs and it's often cheaper..

ThinkingOfLinking

Pretty much all of the above...and more besides.

Saturnalia

I second the tip about women using men's razors. I've got a Mach 3 and the blades last months on leg & armpit hair, it probably works out a lot cheaper than even poundshop razors do! Also buy unscented men's antiperspirant, they work whereas I've never found a woman's one which does. (And that means you can get two days' wear out of your top and save on washing costs!)

Never fill the kettle fuller than you need to, I don't know how much electricity it saves but the time it saves is worth it.

If you take packed lunch to work, put the sandwiches in sarnie bags then put that inside a carrier bag before putting it in your work bag, the point of that is it keeps the sandwich bag clean on the outside and you can turn it inside out and use it the next day!

Don't buy travel-sized toiletries, get little bottles & pots out of Superdrug (theirs are a decent size and stand up to a lot of abuse!) and decant toiletries into them.

I'm white as a sheet and get through lots of high-factor sunscreen, and have found buying it on Ebay is much cheaper than the shops. (Although Primark's SPF 30 is very cheap and excellent quality.)