Fresh Start

LisaJane

Hello.

I used to be on here every day and have picked up a lot of tips and advice, and put a lot of stuff into action. However the past year or two have been an amazing whirlwind which has involved lots of spending!! I got engaged, married, had an amazing honeymoon...followed by an impromptu trip to New York for St Patrick's day and I just got home yesterday from an 10 day holiday to Italy.

My husband and I are lucky that we both have reasonably good jobs...however our extravagance over the last year of two has meant that we are still renting and driving a 12 year old car and have just finished paying off our "honeymoon" credit card from a year ago!! We have agreed that now we are home from Italy, it is time to knuckle down and save for a new car and a home of our own and maybe even try for a baby in the near future.

Today I cleared our holiday credit card bill and am ready to do whatever it takes to start saving as much as possible! So I am hoping for a fresh start in my relationship with this forum and would be grateful for any tips you might have for good ways to save...I have started out with a few herb pots, from which DH is using some parsley for tonight's tea.

Is anyone else in a similar position where they are trying to save for the future? What tips or advice do you have for every things that we could save on/make money on??

bargainbetty

First tip is to do a full inventory of everything in your cupboards - kitchen, bathroom and pantry. Work out what you need to buy for the week, rather than your usual 'sling it in the trolley' routine and stick to the list.

You'll get a better idea of what you actually need and use, and it will help bring your budgets under control.

Use the OS boards to get hints on cleaning products that don't cost the earth, great menu and recipe hints and smart shopping.

Best of luck