Great 'ways To Cut Back' Hunt

tasha8

Take your credit card out of your purse/wallet. That way you can't purchase those impulse items without giving yourself time to think about whether you really need that item.

DenBo_4

tasha8, I have actually had to cut my card up!!!! was just too tempting even leaving it at home!!:eek:

givememoney

trumanunited wrote: »

Coupla tips which don't seem to have been posted -

I make my own yoghurt using two tblsp live yog, value uht and 2 tbsp value milk powder. Mix up the live yog and powder into a paste, add to hand hot milk, shove it into a thermos and ignore it for 6 hours.

Can you not use ordinary semi-skimmed milk? Also why do you have to add the milk powder is it to make it thicker?

RAS

Get a Yahoo e-mail account and sign up for https://www.freecycle.com. FREE cars, clothes, white goods, computers etc.

Domthemon

RAS wrote: »

Get a Yahoo e-mail account and sign up for https://www.freecycle.com. FREE cars, clothes, white goods, computers etc.

Think the idea is that you also reciprocate by giving things away too...

Dom

CK_Tan

I totally agree with your article.

MSE_Martin wrote: »

MoneySaving's about cutting your bills without cutting back, but sometimes it's necessary to tighten the purse strings. This can be anything and everything.

So let's use MoneySavers collective knowledge to form the greatest ever checklist of ways to cut back. If this is good, I may publish the results as an article

What am I looking for?

The shorter and punchier the better. No more than a sentence, better if it's just a phrase. Simple is best. This is to help those people who need to reduce their expenditure quickly and easily. The less pain the better.

My Starters

I totally agree with you.

1. Cancel unused TV channels

2. Grow your own fruit and veg

3. Use Govt MOT test centres (they've no vested interest in prescribing repairs for your car)

4. Take a packed lunch to work (the MoneySaving equivalent of 'cuddly toy, cuddly toy')

5. Use energy saving light bulbs

6. Close the fridge door quickly

7. Don't leave electrical goods on standby

8. Take out a magazine subscription if you buy a mag each month anyway
(or better still get 3 for £1, plus, sometimes, free gifts)

9. Quit Smoking

10. Walk/cycle instead of using the car for short distances

11. Try camping for your holiday

12. Use rechargeable batteries

13. Use empty coke/water bottles as dumbells

14. Start a compost heap

15. Use a combination of stages for rail tickets rather than a full single ticket

16. Try for student night haircuts at top salons.

Martin

PS. Please don't start discussions on this topic in the thread. It's only for suggestions, it'd be great to keep it pure and on topic - that'd help a lot more people.

EagerLearner

- Don't be afraid to try 'value' brands - my faves are tinned tomatoes, kitchen paper, tinned beans, spaghetti etc. Currently trying out value loo roll from Tesco - at £1.13 for 12 rolls has to be worth a try!

- Find a LIDL or ALDI near you - great items for so much less.

- Boil your kettle once and keep leftover water in a thermos for a quicker and cheaper cup of tea next time.

- Buy Stardrops and this will save you lots on all the cleaning products you have in your drawer.

- Join cashback sites - poss minimum earnings of £3 a day. I pocket any money gained from these to my Christmas 2007 account (PM me if you would like more info on what I do).

- See the Cinema free tickets thread on MSE - I get at least 1 or 2 free movies a month that way and pocket the savings into a Christmas 2007 account.

- Join Pigsback for free vouchers - so far £70 received in 2007 which, you guessed it, will be for xmas 07.

- Bulk cook and then freeze the portions - saves electric and means you technically only need to 'cook' once, the rest is all about re-heating and watching telly

- If you get the bus quite alot, invest in a bus pass - I pay £395 a year for mine but this is worth it as I get the bus more than twice a week, so technically any time I go on the bus after 2 rides is free.

- Join survey sites like Ciao

- Invite friends for dinner instead of going out - if you host & cook, and everyone brings a dish it will work out cheaper than going out to eat.

- In winter, after cooking something in the oven, leave the oven door open to heat the kitchen

julieanne4

if you buy washing tablets only use one per wash unless its a really dirty load. This will save £'s in washing tablets

Julie

Tesco_points_addict

am going to try living off the freezer for a month (or two!) when we return from hols (will need to then!)

cazbarfeatures

Sorry if this has already been mentioned ... Oatso simple with syrup was on a bogof for 2 weeks at Tescos and on 2 separate occasions I went shopping they were out of stock. I find that happens often with bogofs.

Anyway I went to the customer services and they gave me a rain check voucher which entitles bearer to the same offer on another occasion if the promotion has been withdrawn.

I used the rain check voucher the following week when the promotion had been stopped and lo and behold loads of em. So I got my bogof in the end.

Caz