Great 'ways To Cut Back' Hunt

victor2vt

If you're cooking using pans, place your plates on top to get them heated, instead of the lids.

Norma_Desmond

Don't buy ANYTHING 'new' (except food and underwear!)

victor2vt

Look for the short dated, reduced food section at your supermarket.
Only buy what you know will get eaten and freeze, check the label to make sure you can, as soon as you get home.

Murtle

Norma_Desmond wrote:

Don't buy ANYTHING 'new' (except food and underwear!)

and possibly shoes, toothbrushes etc :eek:

turn off lights if you are not in the room

use vinegar instead of numerous cleaning products

use left over coke to clean your toilet

recycle items like old envelopes as shopping lists

plan your meals in advance and stick to it

shop only for your planned menus

grow your own veggies if you can

recycle old potatoes in a pot, they come out just like new :rotfl:

retain your mobile instruction book - they often give you money back if you return it! £5 with 3!!!

shuffle your money around high savings accounts, don't leave it festering in accounts that aren't earning you money or worse that you are paying them for the pleasure of holding your money

pay off debts by snowballing

remember quality not quantitiy when shopping for yourself and quantitiy not quality when food shopping for the kids

water is cheaper and healthier then fizzy pop

Make things, if you can rather then buying them, surprise yourself be arty!!

if using storage heaters watch the weather forecast, you might be able to turn the things off for a day or two - no point wasting electricity

Sooler

Don't use vending machines - particularly for drinks and cans - buy a flask and save a fortune.

jimjoeray

Arrange for seperate credit card bills for your partner and yourself. It will amaze you (and your partner!) when it is clear who does all the spending!!

Iona_Penny

Use Bold liquid detergent. For daily laundry use half the recommended amount in the ball-goes twice as far and you don't need fabric softener. For dirtier stuff up the amount.

Only wash clothes on a 40 degree wash - I do everything on this except bedding and towels which I do on a 50 degree. I personally think peole get a bit precious about the soap powder they use and having 20something programmes to choose from and feeling they have to 'boil wash' whites!

sara2323

Buy toys and children's books from the Car Boot Sales prices start around 10p!

On days off cook meals and freeze them espeially for days when you're to tired to cook and would normally end up with a take-away.

Find out about loyalty cards espeially when you shop there anyway, Boots, Sainsburys Tesco all have loyalty cards.

If you're driving by a cheap store like Netto, Aldi , Kwiksave and would not normally go there due to distance from home etc if you have the time go in and pick up a special offers leaflet ASDA will price match and leaflets normally valid for two weeks.

List unwanted items on ebay, reserve those items you're not sure will sell for free/5p listing days.

I personally don't recommend lending books from libraries after just paying £15 in late fees, maybe money saving for those who are organized enough to return books on time!

Set up standing orders for credit card payments to avoid late payment charges, if you do end up with charges always ring the company to see if they will waive or reduce the charge.

35moss

Move all your monthly payments to a couple of days after you get paid - most utilities etc. allow you to choose and most importantly, to change the date of payments in the month, so moving from before you get paid to after you get paid effectively saves you a months payments - make a one off saving of over £1000! :rotfl:

squeaky

More to the point - moving direct debits to just a few days after you get paid (allow enough days to feel safe about late pay in) means that there should always be money in your account to pay bills and so avoid overdraft charges you might incur when paying bills toward the end of the month as your balance drifts lower.

This also means that very early in the month you find out how much you've got left to budget with.