Fundamental principles of saving money

amcg100

All of the tips and tricks are useful, but I think being thrifty is a way of life, a part of your personality. It is pointless learning about laws if you know nothing about legal structure and process. I came from a thrifty family - it's in my blood.

The basic principle I want to show you, is to understand what you are buying. To pay attention to the constituent parts of your purchase, and ask yourself what it is and what it is for.

For example - What is in a bottle of bleach ?
Answer - Bleach.

OK, some manufacturers put perfume in, so now ask yourself what it is for ? - Is it to kill germs, or is it to make things smell nice ?
Answer - to kill germs.

There is no such thing as good bleach or bad bleach. The only difference between brands will be the concentration of bleach in water ( and what it smells like ) , and the container it is sold in.

There are many bleach products which are very expensive, but are so because of the design of the container, not because of the contents.

I have two bleach spray bottles, and one toilet bleach bottle, but I have not bought a bleach product in nearly a decade. This is because I bought a large quantity of strong bleach ( unbranded) and water it down to an appropriate strength. Strong for the toilet and weak for the spray bottles.

I have just checked the price of a small bottle of Domestos and it is £1. The bleach inside is worth no more than a tenth of that. You pay for the brand , the advertising, the convenient packaging etc.

The point I am trying to put across is the basic principle, that to be thrifty, you need to know what you are buying and what for.

Staying with the bleach example, another fundamental principle is to buy things in large quantities when they are available to you at rock bottom prices. Never put yourself in the position of having to put something on your shopping list because you have run out. If I come across a very good deal on bleach, I will buy it : but not because I need it.

Another example - The frozen Pizza
What is it - well its a lump of dough rolled out in a circle with a scattering of scraps on the top on some tomato puree.

What is it for - It is for the convenience of not having to cook.

Now dough is easy to make, it takes about 15mins ( although it will need hours to rise) It keeps well in the fridge, so 15 mins probably makes you enough dough for ten pizzas - more importantly, the cost is so insignificant it is barely worth a mention. A little bit of watered down tomato puree, some cheese and whatever else you fancy gives you a meal of quality for under 50p.

So what do you want to do - spend a couple of quid every now and again on flour ( and enjoy brilliant pizza ) or a fortune on tasteless boxes of pizza which taste about as good as the cardboard boxes they come in.

The pizza example requires a little effort, but I frequently see customers in supermarkets buying packets of sliced cheese which is twice the price per Kg than the same brand of cheese in a block.

Surely everyone except severely disabled is capable of slicing cheese.

My three principles then - know what you are buying, know what it is for and never run out ( thus leaving yourself exposed to the supermarkets )

surfsister

some good points - my principles are if it aint bogof, 20p in the evening reductions, or free, I don't buy it unless I really really need it!!

Always use topcashback or quidco and a cash-back/points credit card, always get any nectar/Tesco/boots points when a very cheap or free deal.

Always use a taste-card (free with £2 mags subs) or vouchers for any meals out and never buy take aways. Always take meals/drinks to work.cook from scratch or whatever was 20p last night!!! grow your own too!

any more tips folks!!

etc etc

Ken68

Couldn't agree more, am..but how do you cancel out the heavy advertising and the subtle persuasion technique of the supermarkets. And how can you fit in the wifey bit of shopping and cooking and preparing and adding value to the meals.
Most stuff in the shops are fattening rubbish.
On Radio 4 this morning a presenter said that when
he was young, poor people were skinny, now they are FAT.

tessie_bear

buy what u need and some meals such as a quiche hm are nicer and cheaper than a reduced ready meal....also use all leftovers and chuck anything that u can in the freezer for another day

VfM4meplse

I don't disagree with the principals but I think you are preaching to the converted on MSE. Have a search, there are some brilliant existing threads of OS moneysaving ideas in these boards.

amcg100 wrote: »

Now dough is easy to make, it takes about 15mins ( although it will need hours to rise) It keeps well in the fridge, so 15 mins probably makes you enough dough for ten pizzas - more importantly, the cost is so insignificant it is barely worth a mention. A little bit of watered down tomato puree, some cheese and whatever else you fancy gives you a meal of quality for under 50p.

It depends on whether you consider that to be a genuine meal of quality (I don't, but then I make amazing pizza from scratch).

amcg100 wrote: »

The pizza example requires a little effort, but I frequently see customers in supermarkets buying packets of sliced cheese which is twice the price per Kg than the same brand of cheese in a block.

Surely everyone except severely disabled is capable of slicing cheese.

The last cheese bargain I bought came sliced at £2.45/kg - beat that.

amcg100

Yes, and I have even seen grated cheese cheaper per Kg than block cheese ( same brand ) . The point is that we need to check the price per Kg. Although the price per Kg is displayed at point of sale, when there is a bogof, this is not taken into account. With bogofs you still need a calculator or a good arithmetical brain.

redfox

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

TM6

amcg100 wrote: »

All of the tips and tricks are useful, but I think being thrifty is a way of life, a part of your personality. It is pointless learning about laws if you know nothing about legal structure and process. I came from a thrifty family - it's in my blood.

The basic principle I want to show you, is to understand what you are buying. To pay attention to the constituent parts of your purchase, and ask yourself what it is and what it is for.

For example - What is in a bottle of bleach ?
Answer - Bleach.

OK, some manufacturers put perfume in, so now ask yourself what it is for ? - Is it to kill germs, or is it to make things smell nice ?
Answer - to kill germs.

There is no such thing as good bleach or bad bleach. The only difference between brands will be the concentration of bleach in water ( and what it smells like ) , and the container it is sold in.

There are many bleach products which are very expensive, but are so because of the design of the container, not because of the contents.

I have two bleach spray bottles, and one toilet bleach bottle, but I have not bought a bleach product in nearly a decade. This is because I bought a large quantity of strong bleach ( unbranded) and water it down to an appropriate strength. Strong for the toilet and weak for the spray bottles.

I have just checked the price of a small bottle of Domestos and it is £1. The bleach inside is worth no more than a tenth of that. You pay for the brand , the advertising, the convenient packaging etc.

The point I am trying to put across is the basic principle, that to be thrifty, you need to know what you are buying and what for.

Staying with the bleach example, another fundamental principle is to buy things in large quantities when they are available to you at rock bottom prices. Never put yourself in the position of having to put something on your shopping list because you have run out. If I come across a very good deal on bleach, I will buy it : but not because I need it.

Another example - The frozen Pizza
What is it - well its a lump of dough rolled out in a circle with a scattering of scraps on the top on some tomato puree.

What is it for - It is for the convenience of not having to cook.

Now dough is easy to make, it takes about 15mins ( although it will need hours to rise) It keeps well in the fridge, so 15 mins probably makes you enough dough for ten pizzas - more importantly, the cost is so insignificant it is barely worth a mention. A little bit of watered down tomato puree, some cheese and whatever else you fancy gives you a meal of quality for under 50p.

So what do you want to do - spend a couple of quid every now and again on flour ( and enjoy brilliant pizza ) or a fortune on tasteless boxes of pizza which taste about as good as the cardboard boxes they come in.

The pizza example requires a little effort, but I frequently see customers in supermarkets buying packets of sliced cheese which is twice the price per Kg than the same brand of cheese in a block.

Surely everyone except severely disabled is capable of slicing cheese.

My three principles then - know what you are buying, know what it is for and never run out ( thus leaving yourself exposed to the supermarkets )

Brilliant way of looking at it :beer:

thriftwizard

Nodding agreement here; I was also brought up in a thrifty household! Though sadly I rebelled and lost my way in my late teens & twenties; it took struggling with a soaring mortgage (remember 15%, anyone?) to remember how it's done!

If any of you have read The Tightwad Gazette she recommends some sound ideas like keeping a price book so you know a good deal when you see it. It's very easy to be fooled by the BOGOFs and Buy-Two-Get-One-Half-Price kind of offers & not see that sometimes they're hardly bargains at all, but a covert way of putting prices up. I know we can use price comparison sites now, but how many of us can use them when we're actually out there trawling the aisles? So keep a note of current best prices for things you will actually use. And don't buy stuff unless you WILL use it; it's not a bargain if it explodes at the back of your shelves 15 years later.

Butterfly_Brain

After working in Tesco for 15 years I learned a lot of their marketing tricks.

• lower priced items are on the bottom or on the very top shelf.
• Bogoffs are usually unhealthy. Only buy what you would usually buy.
• Have you ever noticed how you have to trek to the back of the store to get milk? Then spend your time traipsing the aisles looking for bread? This is done on purpose. Essential items are placed at the back of the store and far away from each other to encourage you to spend more time and money inside. While you need a map to get from bread to milk, this isn’t the same for treats. Items such as tortilla chips will have dips stocked next to them to encourage you to indulge and treat yourself to both.
• supermarkets love to put organic and fair trade products on their shelves because it makes it seem as if they have a social and ethical conscience. In reality,
• organic and fair trade lines sell for more than the standard equivalent because they retail for a premium price. And as supermarkets expect to make a profit margin of a minimum of 36% on anything they sell, the higher the cost then the greater their net profit.
• So while you think that you are helping small, ethical suppliers by choosing fairtrade and organic goods, you are actually handing an even greater chunk of money to the supermarket giants.
• Another trick is changing the shelves around which disorientates you and makes you hunt for what you want in the hope that you will buy something else.
• To avoid impulse buying, make a list before you shop and stick to it!
• Having a big product display is another trick. A product with its own display suggests it’s on offer when it really isn’t and encourages you to buy something you wouldn’t normally. These can be placed at the end of aisles to make you go down them. Make sure to have a look around to ensure you get the best deal and don’t be tricked into buying the first thing you see.
• 'Half-price' or '£1 off ' banner might relate to the priceper-kilo, rather than the price-perpack, meaning that on relatively light items, such as spinach, the heavily-promoted reduction is, in fact, utterly insignificant. Equally, when you rush to buy those two-for-the-price-of-one punnets of blueberries, you may not notice that the pack size has been reduced from normal - leaving you paying the same price by weight as before, while thinking you've got a bargain.
• Incidentally, while greengrocers, butchers and fishmongers tend to advertise their prices in kilos, supermarkets specialise in arbitrary pack sizes, like 225 grams. This makes it far harder for customers to work out how much they are paying for what quantity.
• Have a price book of things that you use regularly to keep track of prices and any changes.
• But if you look at the small print in the terms and conditions and calculate the amount you would have to spend to generate that 'free' benefit, then it soon becomes apparent that they are primarily just another way to buy customer loyalty and encourage shoppers to spend more.
• in order to qualify for a 'free' trampoline worth £3,000 from Tesco, parents would have to spend the equivalent of £1 million at the supermarket tills.
• Scrape the very last bit of anything out of the pot or jar
• Make your own bread, yoghurt and butter, easy cheap and much nicer than shop bought.
• Reuse what you can and find different uses for things...think outside the box ......ie my DH made me a crutches holder for my mobilty scooter using 2 lids from washing gel (Aldi) an old umbrella handle and some cable clips, works great.

Austin_Allegro

My personal philosophy on saving money can be summarised in the following quotes:

1. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure £19/19/6, result happiness. Annual income £20, annual expenditure £20/-/6, result misery (ie, live below your means)
2. Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
3. A penny saved is a penny earned.
4. Every mickle maks a muckle
5. Penny wise is pound foolish.
6. Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar.