Great 'ways To Cut Back' Hunt

newlywed

atypicalblonde wrote:

:j When printing things off, save ink by clicking on 'printer settings/preferences' and changing it to 'draft' - it still prints just as well, but uses much less ink!!

:beer:

Or if you have a print preference to print two pages onto one sheet then it saves you half the paper!!

DebtlessDolly

Stop colourng your hair. Grey is supposedly the hot new haircolour in New York. I have saved £560 since January and some folks actually like my natural colour!:rolleyes:

goodgodthatonesevenbigger

Does anyone have any real money saving ideas??? i know every penny counts, but a penny from a huge bill makes no difference on the bill.

rubix_76

goodgodthatonesevenbigger wrote:

Does anyone have any real money saving ideas??? i know every penny counts, but a penny from a huge bill makes no difference on the bill.

True, but if you cut back on many things, they soon add up, I can certainly vouch for that !

You have to put things into perspective, 50p a week on 3 bills equates to £78 in a year !!!

I managed to save almost £300 (per Year !!!) when I switched energy provider from british-gas to n-power. by cutting back on weekly shopping £20 per week (not really that hard) made another £1000. . . . . . See it does all add up.

goodgodthatonesevenbigger

Though that is true, but what i'm thinking is of ways to cut my bills by at least 1/4, don't get me wrong i'm not going to moan about the extra money i save buying shops own, taking my own lunch to work, but i would like to know how i can make some really big savings.

Piggybank_2

Don't get fooled into thinking you have to do a full shop every week. Once a month or so have a week off and use up things in cupboard and freezer - only buy fresh fruit / bread/ milk if needed. Amazing how much you can save!:j

EagerLearner

My top ones:

- Use Megabus rather than train or National express if you can
- Use less washing detergent in your clothes wash
- Make your own fabric softener with vinegar and essential oil
- Stay at home at least one Saturday a month - don't let the shopping bug get you!
- Do a Cook-A-Thon on Saturdays - keeps you entertained - invite friends and split the cost - and the lovely food!
- If you rent lots of dvd's - join an online supplier like lovefilm.com for £9.99 a month rather than £9.95 per rental down the road
- Reduce your grocery spend my making a list and sticking to it
- Get meat from butchers, veggies from market, spices from Indian deli etc - will save you loads compared to supermarket
- Get books from your library rather than buying
- Dowload music on the internet for far less than the cost of albums
- Visit the Pound Store more often - you'll be amazed how much you can save
- Make your lunch food and take it to work rather than buying ready-made
- Don't have electrical items on standby

Hope this helps!

GreedIsGood

dpf2005 wrote:

Having driven for about 40 years I continue to be amazed to see the amount of fuel that other drivers waste when driving. These are probably the same drivers that keep complaining about fuel prices! You could easily save at least 20% of your fuel bills with a bit more thought. Every time you press that brake pedal you are wasting the energy (fuel) you have used to build up to speed and then dissipating it as heat through your brake discs/pads to slow down/stop. Every time you come to a complete stop you are having to move almost one ton of dead weight back up to your cruising speed again. I regularly get, with mixed driving, at least 70 mpg with my Skoda Fabia diesel but even if you don’t have a diesel car the following tips will save you fuel and money.

Keep to the speed limits. Besides risking a fine, endorsements and higher insurance costs at next renewal, the faster you go the more fuel you use.

LEARN TO READ THE ROAD. When approaching traffic lights and they turn to red immediately lift of the money pedal, sorry, accelerator pedal. Sometimes they will change back again to green or at least you will only have to change down one or two gears and not come to a full stop. Do not continue at same speed and jam on your brakes at the last minute.

If you use a route regularly make a mental note of the traffic light sequence. Some lights are on a fast 15 seconds change, some on a 1 minute change. Try and arrive at the lights when they are on green. Some lights, if you have just missed the green you can have to wait 4 or 5 minutes. If the wait is longer than 2 minutes it saves fuel if you turn off your engine.

When approaching roundabouts the idea is to filter into other traffic without coming to a stop. Do not approach the roundabout at high speed to be surprised by another car arriving at the same time and having to do virtually an emergency stop. I find with most roundabouts that if I ease off on the accelerator about 50 yards before the roundabout without braking, I am then approaching the roundabout about 15-20 mph and then can filter in and negotiate the roundabout in 2nd or 3rd gear. I rarely have to come to a complete stop at roundabouts.

Get into 5th gear as soon as possible, some cars will pull 5th gear comfortably as low as 30 mph, but obviously don’t labour the engine.

When it traffic jams, avoid if you can stop/start driving, try and let the car crawl along in first or second gear. Most car engines are flexible enough to let you crawl along in these gears at 5-10 mph without even having to press the accelerator pedal! The fuel coming through the idle jets is sufficient to keep the car going. Keep a modest buffer zone between you and the car in front to that even though the car in front has braked and come to a full stop by the time you have reached him he has pulled away again.

If you have a trip computer just see what you can get by economy driving. You will find your journey time is very little different. On a recent 30 mile urban round trip I got 83 mpg.

To end just a couple of other motoring tips.

If having you car serviced by a garage, tell them you don’t want the screen wash refill. They charge £2 or £3 for this and you can do it much cheaper yourself.

Most garages will let you take in your own engine oil. You can often buy this at up to 50% cheaper than garage prices. For example, my car needs 5 litres of expensive VW PD diesel engine oil at a garage price of £10 per litre plus VAT. (You can buy very good wine for that sort of price!) I buy Millers oil at £25 per 5 litres including VAT.

Hello everyone, I am a consistant lurker who has finally decided to take the posting plunge....

I couldn't agree more. Excellent advice not to mention it makes everyone's life easier i.e. less tailgating etc...

Also, modern cars have 'overrun shut off' which means as you are slowing down via easing off the 'money pedal' and changing down, the fuel is temporarily shut off. When approaching a situation where you must always stop, such as a junction or motorway exit road, slow down gently using the engine, rather than braking sharply at the end. This will, over time save you money on fuel, not to mention brake pads.

Also, if not already mentioned, buy a cheaper car. Cheap does not necessarily mean bad. Modern cars are much more reliable these days and there are many people who trade up after only using the car for the school run. There are lots of low mileage bargains out there - let someone else take the depreciation!

Prior to purchase, research model costs such as insurance groups, tyres, exhausts, tax bands, mpg etc. Parkers online is good for reviews including mpg and insurance groups. Ring local garages for set prices on tyres, brake pads, exhausts - the things you'll most likely need to replace during ownership.

Generally common cars are cheaper to maintain - parts are in plentiful, local supply as are people who can fix them. Scrapyards come in very handy too.

Get rid of the whole 'image' idea when it comes to cars. This is what costs many people so much money. No-one really cares who you are or what you drive. Aim for practicality instead - buy something that is fit for purpose. Look at a car as a hammer is to bang a nail in a wall - it is a tool. Buying the latest 'trendy' car will not 'improve your lifestlye' but it may make you miserably skint!

Another hidden benefit is that when the car gets chipped or dented as all cars unfortunately do, you are less bothered. You can leave the car parked anywhere without worry!

I went for a low mileage, lady owner 1.0 (3 cylinder) Corsa which regularly returns 48mpg. Insurance and tax are dirt cheap. This has been the BIGGEST saving made in my life so far.

bigliz

Today in Tesco I noticed Bran Flakes are much cheaper than our usual Raisin Bran so bought plain flakes and a large bag of raisins!
as they say...every little helps

immoral_angeluk

Two websites..
https://www.ebay.co.uk
https://www.freecycle.org