How can I save?

AliceBanned

thevinternet wrote: »

Ah - I am the QUEEN of economical driving, even if I do say so myself. Recently managed 400 miles of driving on £42 of petrol, a new personal best :OD. So here are my top tips for you:

1. Check your tyre pressure - if it's wrong, you will end up using more petrol than you need to.

2. Make your car as light as possible, no empty roof racks, no spare bags in the back or anything!

3. Try to never let your revs go about 30, certainly never above 40 - I have an automatic so this is a lot easier for me, but it's harsh accelerating and breaking which use up the fuel. Use the lightest touches on the pedals possible, and keep a good distance from the traffic in front so that you can anticipate speed changes. Night-time driving is better than rush-hour for this, so avoid rush-hour driving where you can.

4. If you want to drive slower on the motorway, my favourite tip is to get into the left/slow/crawler lane behind a lorry and stay there. They are instructed to go at around 56-60mph and tend to try and save petrol themselves, so start copying their behaviour. You will avoid the flashy lights from others too by doing this, as you aren't holding anyone else up.

WARNING - this kind of driving can get extremely boring, so make sure you stop regularly/keep the radio on. I personally try to turn it into a game, I have a doodah on the dashboard that tells me how many miles approx I have left in the tank, so I try to keep this the same for as long as possible. NERD!! lol

Hi again

This is very helpful. When I tried just reducing my speed to around 55-60, surprisingly the journey only took me 5 mins longer. With the SatNav I think the time given is allowing for generally being at 70 on the motorway and maximum speed limits, so it is helpful to use it to see how little extra time it takes - easy to go around 50 and not "waste" time. My car is an 18 year old Fiesta so to be honest it isn't that boring compared to driving it the rest of the time. :rotfl:Still life in the old girl yet. I think if I drove her to work etc it would get on my nerves and feel more tiring. I've no idea how many miles to the gallon I'm getting. You did amazingly!What car do you drive?

Tyre pressure - had MOT 3 weeks ago and for some reason the recorded tyre pressure is not the same for each tyre. Odd and I'll have to look into this.

I did a speed awareness test a few years ago (! clever incentive in that they don't put points on licence if you do it, but I actually didn't mind doing it) - it was useful as also went into fuel economy, right use of gears etc. most people had not learnt in an economical way; as we all did test years ago. Until this course I had never even looked at the revs dial (didn't really know what it was lol) but now keep an eye on it and they did say stick between 25-30 otherwise you are in wrong gear. Think this helped but mainly I am wasting fuel by travelling at too high speeds - around the maximum and sometimes sloppily a bit over the speed limit until i was re-educated by the fine etc. I have also been a calmer more relaxed driver since the course. It was run by the police and they basically knock some sense into you. I was not a girl racer or anything but was sloppy when reducing from eg 50mph to 40 and of course that's where cameras are hiding in mobile vans..

Err might be the appearance of my car but one of the flashing lights WAS a lorry lol. I think he was coming onto the motorway or something and so was too close behind me at first - I had to speed up! But you are right about sticking behind them as I found I was doing last night. It does take some discipline but I have noticed in the past 3 years or so, even before petrol was ridiculously expensive but just started to go up in price, people on the motorway were generally driving more slowly than they used to. I think it is becoming more acceptable to do so. My car accelerates very slowly at junctions etc so it is here that I need to go easy on the pedals!

Thanks again for your advice.:)

AliceBanned

Thanks determined new ms. It is already becoming a bit of a game, I agree with that. I spent my Nectar card points for the first time (had it for years) on something I needed to get. I have started to look where I can make savings in places I had not thought of. You are right, in London there are so many free things to do. I'll look out for them more.

I do have an allotment actually but only manage to "break even" each year (Council DOUBLED the site charges last April) and I get back pain so can't go too OTT there, but it is a friendly place and if I stand around looking hungry enough I even get given other people's veg. . Mine isn't quite successful enough for self-sufficiency yet but will be in a few years I hope..also I mentioned earlier about being too solitary so I do limit the amount of time I spend there. The allotment was never particularly about money saving for me in the first place, I just like the muck for some reason, but it does provide hours of free exercise and fresh air as I don't have a garden and really want to have one one day.

I'm sure the allotment means there is another whole section of this website that I should be tapping into..:)

determined_new_ms

alice that made me remember - kinda! - that there is a website where people advertise to share garden space - you could advertise and then get 1 or 2 or 3 to share the allotment with you. I will have to try to remember what its called and come back to you. Or maybe one of the lovely helpful people out there know of it?

Really impressed with how ur now feeling more positive. I've seen so many times people who baulk at every suggestion then turn it round and become the most frugalisitic people out there! I guess we all process stuff at our own rate. Be strong u'll get there and be so glad you did x

thevinternet

determined_new_ms wrote: »

Really impressed with how ur now feeling more positive. I've seen so many times people who baulk at every suggestion then turn it round and become the most frugalisitic people out there! I guess we all process stuff at our own rate. Be strong u'll get there and be so glad you did x

Hear hear. Alice you are doing great. :T And hell yes, why not make it a diary?!

AliceBanned

soxxxxy wrote: »

Hi AliceBanned,first and foremost well done on asking for help.I am no financial expert and everyones situation is different but i am sure you will find ways of saving thanks to all the wonderful people on here.I would suggest that you take on board all the suggestions that are made,but remember you dont have to follow all the advice.Mull things over for a few days,read as many of the money saving threads as you can and just begin by making small changes,that way you are more likely to stick with it.Although i am married i do know what its like to be in on your own alot as my OH works away most of the time and my kids have grown up and have lives of their own.I find that time flies when i am on here and never feel lonely because there is always people to chat to on here and you save money at the same time,so thats a win win for me.My only recommendation would be to join one of the challenges like the save £10 a day challenge or pay a debt in 100 days. What ever you decide to do i wish you lots of luck and i will follow your thread.

Hi Soxxxxy sorry for not replying. Me too, I've enjoyed being on here recently it is like little community, even though it is virtual, still supportive. I will check out the challenges, I'm sure doing some of them will help.

AliceBanned

determined_new_ms wrote: »

alice that made me remember - kinda! - that there is a website where people advertise to share garden space - you could advertise and then get 1 or 2 or 3 to share the allotment with you. I will have to try to remember what its called and come back to you. Or maybe one of the lovely helpful people out there know of it?

Really impressed with how ur now feeling more positive. I've seen so many times people who baulk at every suggestion then turn it round and become the most frugalisitic people out there! I guess we all process stuff at our own rate. Be strong u'll get there and be so glad you did x

Yes, I tend to overreact to anything I perceive to be criticism at times but once I've calmed down I'm much more open to things.:)

I am just coping better - thanks for saying this but I don't feel that positive; I think I realise that I have to force myself to take action and at least aim to be positive, whether I a manage it or not is another matter but I can only try..yes I can be very frugal - I have it in me!:D

AliceBanned

thevinternet wrote: »

Hear hear. Alice you are doing great. :T And hell yes, why not make it a diary?!

Thanks for your support, it does help to have encouragement. It does make me realise that it hasn't been all that available in my life but maybe I've decided to go looking for it (encouragement)!

Is a diary just a thread? I guess it can be a diary - a bit public though isn't it!? lol:eek:

thevinternet

AliceBanned wrote: »

Yes, I tend to overreact to anything I perceive to be criticism at times but once I've calmed down I'm much more open to things.:)

I am just coping better - thanks for saying this but I don't feel that positive; I think I realise that I have to force myself to take action and at least aim to be positive, whether I a manage it or not is another matter but I can only try..yes I can be very frugal - I have it in me!:D

If I feel down, I try to just count my blessings.

Keep it up for one month, and those new habits will be formed. If you have an addictive type personality (like me ), then saving cash soon becomes addictive too.

Also I find it's best to be honest with mates, if you tell them you are trying to save cash, and can you stay in and watch dvds etc, then good friends will understand.

magpiedawn

Just found your thread and subscribed to it and i would like to say, i do think you are doing well and that you also sound a lot happier now.

Thanks for the advice you all gave on driving, it did make me look at my own bad driving habits

Good luck to you all
Magpie

AliceBanned

magpiedawn wrote: »

Just found your thread and subscribed to it and i would like to say, i do think you are doing well and that you also sound a lot happier now.

Thanks for the advice you all gave on driving, it did make me look at my own bad driving habits

Good luck to you all
Magpie

Thanks Magpie. I didn't realise you could subscribe to threads. I've used this forum for a while and never had so many responses or help as in Debt Free Wannabe! It's great.

Just discovered that my car has an oil leak - not sure how serious :-(. I WILL be positive about it whatever happens - just spent £500 on MOT and service and wanted it to stay in one piece for just another year..:cool: