Great 'ways To Cut Back' Hunt

dollydaydream07

always but the cheap value/smartprice stuff, if you dont like it then dont get it next time - at least you will have only wasted 50p instead of £1.50

i have just bought a tube of smartprice toothpaste 21p and its great, its not too harsh and isnt such a strong flavour and have found my teeth to be a lot cleaner and whiter than if using colgate whitening toothpaste

Domthemon

This one is one that often gets laughs from people who think it is toomuch hassle - it isn't!

Buy your alcohol in advance (6 months supply) from Calais. You might think of the water between us and France.... but there is a tunnel and a train,if you get Tesco Clubcard vouchers you can buy a day return trip usually for15 quid Clubcard vouchers = 60 quid in deals.

Green card on my insurance is free.

My car does 50-60mpg. Even fromthe North Midlands it only costs about 40 quid in fuel.

Now, this is the good bit. Wine is dirt cheap in Calais warehouses. I get most of mine from Eastenders, where you can get a decent bottle of plonk for a quid, thats like a 3 quid bottle in UK. They have dearer wines of course, whatever wine you like you are saving a fortune. We don't drink much more (admittedly though it is no good for alcoholics!) and we store it in a locked shed. For plonk lovers they do perfectly acceptable 10ltr wine boxes (thats about 13 bottles) for a tenner. Tesco Calais has 20 packs of own brand 5% French Lager (it comes from St Omer) for around 2.50, its over twice that at home. I don't think spirits are somuch cheaper really but worth the couple of quid saving if you are going anyway.

If you smoke then whizz up the motorway (it is a direct road around 37 miles each way) to Adinkerke where 200 cigs is around 27 quid, hand rolling tobacco in Belgium is very cheap, a 50g pouch of Golden Virginia is just 3 quid as opposed to over 10 quid at home. It keeps for over a year as it is in sealed packs.

I don't understand any 10+ a day smokers buying their cigs in UK. The long-term investment pays off. Best advice is to plan and do a shopping list and don't be greedy, check your ''guideline'' amounts. Don't mix cigarette brands as it has to be for your ''own use'' so if you have 200 of B&H,200 Lamberts, 200 Richmond etc they get suspicious if they check you (I have been 5 times and never been searched)

For more info https://www.daytripper.net

If you like a glass of wine a few times a week or a few little stubbies of lager etc it really is a worthwhile trip. Two sceptical mates of mine from work love it and couldn't believe the savings to be made.

EagerLearner

Just a reminder for anyone who hasn't done it yet to join cashback sites and a little earned on each site goes a long way as all you have to do is click your mouse to get the money. Takes disclipline but I have an A4 Daily Click routine if anyone wants it to put on the wall/on your desk. You can pick and choose which sites to join, I am with 4 which I find very good. An MSER helped me get onto it so I am happy to help anyone else out too with questions etc.

PS: Also check out my Debt Buster thread in my sig if you want a spreadsheet to help you knock down the debt...

TheBaldwins

sell unwanted books on Amazon!

Nelle_2

Always check your till receipts. Tesco will refund you the price and give you the item if your receipt is incorrect. I'm sure most supermarkets have a similar policy.

Also, if something is not up to top quality and you have paid full price - take it back. At our local Co-op, we returned a bottle of red wine that was corked and we got a refund and replacement.

ruthiejane

Nelle wrote: »

Always check your till receipts. Tesco will refund you the price and give you the item if your receipt is incorrect. I'm sure most supermarkets have a similar policy.

Sadly this was only true until a couple of weeks ago. They now refund "double the difference".

dianadors

Ive stopped going to supermarkets just for "something to do" (as I always came out at least £75 lighter) and we dont eat out as much as we did (unless its free with Tesco VOuchers etc). We are all enjoying being creative and inventive with our money saving ways (even the kids have caught on!) and I am thrilled not to be overdrawn at the end of every month. We seem to get so much more for our money these days, and we certainly have more fun. Thanks to all who contribute to all of this site.

discodiva123

Send away for all the freebies you see.

Only buy items online when you find a discount code for the site your buying off.

Instead of going out arrange a night in with mates, all you need is some dvds or music and ask everyone to bring a plate of snacks/ food and a bottle much cheaper than going out and nice to do every once in a while.

Look for local restaurants/ pubs that are buy one get one free on meals.

Shop in Alid and Lidi for some of your weekly shop/ montly shop.

Domthemon

discodiva123 wrote: »

Send away for all the freebies you see.


Shop in Alid and Lidi for some of your weekly shop/ montly shop.

Yes I agree 100% - also would add Netto to the list. A lot of people won't shop at these stores for snob value. Certainly our Netto does seem to attract some of the more down at heel members of society but our Aldi usually has a selection of big 4x4's etc outside and fullof very savvy people!

If you haven't tried Aldi in the last few years I think you will be pleasantly surprised. A superb selection of continental cold meats etc, and a lot of the own label stuff is really very good and there is a good selection. It is amazingly good value,especially things like own brand washing liquid but most stuff is good quality and good value. It is ages since I bought anything that was cheap and nasty in Aldi.

I would also urge people to make the best of Tesco points by NOT spending them in store. Have a look at their Deals on the website, there is an amazing range of things you can spend them on and your coupons are worth four times their face value on Deals. You can eat out, hire a car, go to Paris on Eurostar, go on the Channel Tunnel, loads of days out, jewellery at Goldsmiths....

Dom

skysky69

I also vote for Netto, it has some amazing deals on sometimes. I always like the ones that are limited to 3 per customer because they are always cracking deals - they had one on the other week for loo rolls, Lotus for nearly as cheap as Tesco value loo roll. I went in twice and bought 2 lots of 3 - won't be need to buy loo roll for a while but works out so cheap per roll. While I was in there, they had fairy liquid tabs for the dishwasher - 3 bags selotaped together for £4.00 - it looked like a bag in the box had possibly leaked so the packets were a tad sticky but the tablets are all fine inside. Worked out to 5p per tablet which is the cheapest I have found.

I buy all my veg from there as well as they often reduce this. I bought 3 tubs of mushrooms the other day that were reduced from 75p to 25p and there was nothing wrong with them! BARGAIN!